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Yeah, I couldn't resist. It was the first thing that came to mind. $50 for a 5-pack (because let's face it, it's a five pack) is crazy, but is it too far out of line with where inflation is at? I'm balking at the price, but EVERYTHING is going up. Not just Minimates. 

 

On the plus side, we get a really nice Mr. Freeze custom base!

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21 minutes ago, TM2 Dinobot said:

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Yeah, I couldn't resist. It was the first thing that came to mind. $50 for a 5-pack (because let's face it, it's a five pack) is crazy, but is it too far out of line with where inflation is at? I'm balking at the price, but EVERYTHING is going up. Not just Minimates. 

That Spider-Man minimate (minus the cape) is just a repaint. It was originally released in 2017 when Homecoming came out. I bought it for ~$3.50.

Five years later, Diamond Select is releasing the same product for ~$10.00 and telling us it’s because “inflation”.

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This is a big disappointment. 4 repaint zombies, spidey w cape and a glorified accessory for $50 is a pass. It comes off as a low effort but max profits set. 

As others have said the most exciting thing is the possibility of making a mr freeze custom.

This just makes me miss MCU mates more. A “What If” set should have included Captain Carter, Ultron and the Watcher.

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2 hours ago, Swarm198 said:

That Spider-Man minimate (minus the cape) is just a repaint. It was originally released in 2017 when Homecoming came out. I bought it for ~$3.50.

Where? I believe SRP in 2017 for a two-pack was still around $9.99. If you bought it at Toys R Us, well, you may start to get an idea of how things go when you underprice products. (See also: Walgreens' toy section.)

2 hours ago, Swarm198 said:

Five years later, Diamond Select is releasing the same product for ~$10.00 and telling us it’s because “inflation”.

I am not an economist, so I don't know how to define inflation, but I know that there currently IS inflation. So putting quotes around it seems... wrong? A global pandemic caused so much havoc with the global workforce and global freight lines that labor and shipping have both skyrocketed. It's not like there is no reason given for the price increase. 

1 hour ago, fwoosheyman said:

This is a big disappointment. 4 repaint zombies, spidey w cape and a glorified accessory for $50 is a pass. It comes off as a low effort but max profits set. 

Fun fact, this set was conceived shortly after the episode aired, as a way to get new MM out relatively close to the episode, with no new tooling. So it was done for speed, not cost. BUT after the first round of designs, it became apparent we would need some new tooling -- Scarlet Witch's hair, and ALL of Scott Lang. THaqt pushed back the release date a little. We could have just swapped Scott out for Zombie Hawkeye, but Scott made for a much better set.

On a related note, if you look at the detail put into each figure, calling it "low effort" is a huge smack in the face to the designer/artist. Barry did an amazing job.

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i zoomed in on the spider-man and i think that the paint app has a ton of cool new detail.

as for the cost, it is what it is.  

i see complaning about rising costs the same as complaining about getting older -- its gonna happen and the alternative is worse.

in this case the alternative is no new minimates.

someone else mentioned it but i second it -- the higher costs are offset by the fact we don't get that many as we used to.  so yes, we are getting fewer minimates but we're also not having to decide which ones to buy and missing out on some

 

 

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1 hour ago, DSTZach said:

Where? I believe SRP in 2017 for a two-pack was still around $9.99. If you bought it at Toys R Us, well, you may start to get an idea of how things go when you underprice products. (See also: Walgreens' toy section.)

I am not an economist, so I don't know how to define inflation, but I know that there currently IS inflation. So putting quotes around it seems... wrong? A global pandemic caused so much havoc with the global workforce and global freight lines that labor and shipping have both skyrocketed. It's not like there is no reason given for the price increase. 

Fun fact, this set was conceived shortly after the episode aired, as a way to get new MM out relatively close to the episode, with no new tooling. So it was done for speed, not cost. BUT after the first round of designs, it became apparent we would need some new tooling -- Scarlet Witch's hair, and ALL of Scott Lang. THaqt pushed back the release date a little. We could have just swapped Scott out for Zombie Hawkeye, but Scott made for a much better set.

On a related note, if you look at the detail put into each figure, calling it "low effort" is a huge smack in the face to the designer/artist. Barry did an amazing job.

I'm not hating it in the least. How long has it been since people had Marvel Zombies? This is a really nice set. I'm just balking at the price. That doesn't make it not worth it, or detract from the set, or is an any way out of line with what everything else is doing right now. But it's just one more thing, you know?

Edited by TM2 Dinobot
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you can try to justify the price with global pandemic and high shipping costs etc, but when you have another soon  to be released set, (that in its self is over priced but lets disregard that fact for now) the FF set that offers 6 figures and one glorified accessory(herbie) plus more actual accessories compared to this 5 pack with one glorified accessory (scott) both of which are new tools,  for the same price there really can be no argument.

Edited by Mattallica
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2 hours ago, DSTZach said:

Where? I believe SRP in 2017 for a two-pack was still around $9.99. If you bought it at Toys R Us, well, you may start to get an idea of how things go when you underprice products. (See also: Walgreens' toy section.)

Even at $5.00/minimate, charging $10.00 now is a 100% increase (a year or two after another $1.50 increase pre-pandemic). I love minimates, but that is ridiculous for repainted figures that have already been released. I'm literally holding the Spider-Man figure with a Dr. Strange cape up next to the screen and it looks the same. Some dry brushing and I don't think anyone would be able to tell a difference.

 

3 hours ago, DSTZach said:

A global pandemic caused so much havoc with the global workforce and global freight lines that labor and shipping have both skyrocketed. It's not like there is no reason given for the price increase.

Funko, McFarlane, and multiple smaller/indie toy lines have not doubled prices on their products. Even Marvel Select figures have only gone up ~$5.00, from $24.99 to ~$29.99 with some still at the $27.99 price point.

 

2 hours ago, DSTZach said:

Fun fact, this set was conceived shortly after the episode aired, as a way to get new MM out relatively close to the episode, with no new tooling. So it was done for speed, not cost.

DST failed at both of those.

 

2 hours ago, DSTZach said:

BUT after the first round of designs, it became apparent we would need some new tooling -- Scarlet Witch's hair, and ALL of Scott Lang. THaqt pushed back the release date a little. We could have just swapped Scott out for Zombie Hawkeye, but Scott made for a much better set.

A little? The last episode aired on October 6th of last year. That was like like nine months ago.

Making this an all zombie set with an extra figure instead of a glorified accessory, closer to the original release would have been the better call.

 

2 hours ago, DSTZach said:

On a related note, if you look at the detail put into each figure, calling it "low effort" is a huge smack in the face to the designer/artist. Barry did an amazing job.

I feel like this is just gaslighting at this point. The figures look great, but they are repaints. 

I've done plenty of customs. Some are just part swaps and some are paint and sculpting. I have no issue with objectively referring to some of them as "low effort". That is not a slap in the face.

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I'm not going to explain profit margins again.... okay, I will. higher-priced items can absorb a cost increase easier than a low-priced item. Marvel Select went up to 29.99 before the pandemic because of general inflation, after holding out a looong time -- they have not gone up again during the pandemic because they have so far been able to absorb the cost increase, although there has been a loss of accessories. Minimates have fewer accessories to cut.  

The number made also affects cost, so it affects price. McFarlane and Funko are in every store, so any cost increases are spread across more figures, meaning smaller price increases. And Pops HAVE gone up in price, they are $13 now, if GameStop is any indication. Pretty sure they were once $10. Reaction figures are like $15. I don't even KNOW how much they used to cost, but it was still too much. 

And count Scott as a figure, please. He has as much new tooling as any figure if not more. 50 divided by six is eight. If they used to be $5, the price has not doubled. And before you point out that that is still a 60 percent price increase, I know it is. That is the new price. Costs have increased. I have been told that if we were to offer a two-pack again, it would be $15-16. Nobody is making a mint on Minimates by overcharging. We are charging how much we need to. 

Sorry for the price increase. The alternative is we don't make Minimates. I would rather this. 

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I think the set is fine for what it is, my only issue is that we are getting a set of What If Minimates long after the first season aired, but a second set of Endgame figures with the Final Battle was out of the picture due to “timing”.


Can we please get a $50 Hex set of Endgame final battle figures?

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9 minutes ago, DSTZach said:

And count Scott as a figure, please. He has as much new tooling as any figure if not more.

Zach- is the cape detachable from the jar? Seems like a great opportunity for some new Doc Strange posings if so...

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24 minutes ago, DSTZach said:

And count Scott as a figure, please. He has as much new tooling as any figure if not more. 50 divided by six is eight.

That is borderline insulting. Scott is not a figure. There's not even a body. I'm pretty sure I can make that with two fodder pieces and a marker cap. And you're arguing in favor of charging $8.00 for it?

The fact that he has more tooling than the rest of the set is the problem here.

If tooling is all that matters, why isn't H.E.R.B.I.E. considered a figure? The marketing lists the FF box set as six figures.

 

32 minutes ago, DSTZach said:

Sorry for the price increase. The alternative is we don't make Minimates. I would rather this. 

I think you'd have a lot less complaints about the prices if the figures were better.

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