LSD Jellyfish wrote: ↑Thu Jun 01, 2023 3:50 pm
Spiral, a relatively new company, is now making vinyls, to sell in America. However, these vinyls are the same price, if not more expensive, than the Marmit and other specialized vinyls. However, these Spiral vinyls are much more mass produced(?) and the perception is that they're easier to make, but retain the same price as the Marmits(?). The same can be applied to statues and other products.
The issue I have is they aren't in the same ball park for a typical new Marmit or similar release, which generally hover around $150-$180 from personal experience and depending on size and general means of getting the new release (exclusives, etc). They are priced at after market prices. A simple Marmit Godzilla will not sell for over $200 unless its something EXTREMELY unique, super bigger, or super limited.
Now, MM and a few others are worried that because of this trend, Marmit or some Japanese company will raise their prices to match/exceed Spirals because people in America are buying what is perceived to be lower quality/more accessible for a lot more than they are selling their own products for. All of this coincides with a general overall trend of more and more people buying collectibles for properties they are not familar with due to modern internet hype/consumer culture, which is causing MM to be frustrated.
Am I correct in my breakdown?
More or less. I've already noticed a solid trend on X-Plus figures becoming more expensive as similar lines take off. Even back when they released the 30 CM Megalon a few years ago, I was able to snag one for less than $200. While I don't follow X-Plus nearly as much as other lines, I'm fairly sure that there hasn't been many, if at all, less than $200 30 CM releases for sometime. Coincidently alongside other "newer companies" doing similar, large scale vinyl statues/figures that may be a bit smaller or bigger than your typical 30 CM.
My point with that is these companies all exist to make money. Bandai, Spiral, X-Plus, Marmit, etc. Every single one of them is watching what sells, how it sells and how much people are willing to spend. If one company sees another company is raking in a monstrous amount of cash for a similar product that they're selling, that company is going to start looking to get a bigger piece of that pie. This is a fact. It is how business work. Legion is 100% right with his complaints about Bandai in that thread, even if he was just using it to try and poke the bear sorta speak (or not, lol. Idk, Sorry Legion, but you and I went at it enough in the past).
So yes, I am EXTREMELY frustrated over this turn of events and how
some people are openly and blindly embracing what they are doing. This isn't a small creep in price like Bandai over a few decades, or making a new BS premium line for the sake of collecting the almighty Yen from collectors dumb enough to buy certain releases that are barely any better than the MMS releases (looking at you, Premium JJ). It should also be noted that most of Bandai's stuff IS directed at kids. The MMS line IS a kids' toy line. Trying to compare the price hikes in the MMS line from 1990whatever to today to what Spiral just did is like trying to compare the price hike from a Playboy magazine to an iPhone.
This is straight up jacking straight to after market releases for a non-limited, not hard to aquire release.
So if me saying "You're part of the problem" makes you salty because you're willing to shell out $225 for something like this release. Well, oh fucking well. Because you
are part of the problem.