GI Joe Collector's Club Teases New Figures

[nickvree]

Now as far as Hasbro exclusives go, they've cut out the middle man (retailer). So, why would the cost of an online or convention exclusive be 3 times the retail price? If you look at the FSS figures (or most modern Joe figures for that matter), they are using Pre-existing molds, so there shouldn't be any extra "tooling" cost (or it should be minimum in the case of a new head sculpt). And then apparently from the post above Hasbro is also getting a cut from Fun Publication.

For the most part, Hasbro hasn't cut out the middle man; instead of Walmart, the middle man is now Fun Pub. Plus given the expense of the new tooling they do, plus the short runs, the cost for them is higher.

For the SDCC exclusives, you could argue that they did, but those exclusives have typically used new tooling (Zarana being the obvious example, Slaughter and Jinx also being new I believe), and being such a short run, they have to pass that tooling expense on somehow.

I understand the frustration about having certain characters only available by exclusive, but as I stated earlier, we barely get any new figures, and the business model must not be there to put the classic characters in their classic uniforms in the new line in place of new characters.

[tmc008]

The point of my post was to let you know that Hasbro has NOTHING to do with the figures that are released from the club. The cut that goes to Hasbro is what makes the Club prices go UP. It's like a tshirt with a general graphic versus an officially licensed graphic by let's say the NFL, the price variance is upwards of $10. It's not that the tshirt company is making any more off the licensed nfl shirts, they are just covering the cost of the licensing. SDCC exclusives are released by Hasbro, prices are therefore cheaper. The Starscream skystriker that came with CC was $80 at the Con. The Night Boomer that was made by Fun Pub and released at JoeCon 2013 was $145 with no figure or extras. Unfortunately people think that Hasbro and The Club are one in the same but they are two separate companies completely unrelated. $30 for a figure on the card with the cost of designing the art, printing the card and then sculpting some unique pieces I think is pretty fair for the limited run they make. I don't feel that I am one of the "elite" just because I am willing to buy them. I only want a few of the figures but I don't want to pay scalper prices on ebay or the elevated price on the club. So I will keep the ones I want and sell the rest on here or on ebay.

[tmc008]

For the most part, Hasbro hasn't cut out the middle man; instead of Walmart, the middle man is now Fun Pub. Plus given the expense of the new tooling they do, plus the short runs, the cost for them is higher.

You are on the right path but not quite correct. Fun Pub is the producer of all the club items. The have to contract factories in China to make the figures. Then they contract the artwork and then printers. Then they have to contract a shipping company and people to package everything. It's really a big ordeal. Hasbro is just the approving authority of what they can use and then takes their money and off they go.

[jlw515]

The point of my post was to let you know that Hasbro has NOTHING to do with the figures that are released from the club. The cut that goes to Hasbro is what makes the Club prices go UP. It's like a tshirt with a general graphic versus an officially licensed graphic by let's say the NFL, the price variance is upwards of $10. It's not that the tshirt company is making any more off the licensed nfl shirts, they are just covering the cost of the licensing. SDCC exclusives are released by Hasbro, prices are therefore cheaper. The Starscream skystriker that came with CC was $80 at the Con. The Night Boomer that was made by Fun Pub and released at JoeCon 2013 was $145 with no figure or extras. Unfortunately people think that Hasbro and The Club are one in the same but they are two separate companies completely unrelated. $30 for a figure on the card with the cost of designing the art, printing the card and then sculpting some unique pieces I think is pretty fair for the limited run they make. I don't feel that I am one of the "elite" just because I am willing to buy them. I only want a few of the figures but I don't want to pay scalper prices on ebay or the elevated price on the club. So I will keep the ones I want and sell the rest on here or on ebay.

Ah! Ok we'll that explains it better. See being a newbie to modern collecting I thought the club was Hasbro. Well then that makes sense. And I have paid $30 for an action figure before, but there's not any of the figures listed in the FSS I would pay that price for. Out of curiosity how much was the Night Force Lady Jaye at the convention if any one here was there? Seems the base price for that figure now is 179.99 on average.

I think with the success of the movie, right now and next year onward to GI Joe 3 would be the best time for Hasbro to start putting out updated Joe products. If their marketing guys were on the ball Hasbro productions would be introducing a new Joe cartoon this fall. A blockbuster movie, a comic book, AND a new cartoon (I think) would move some products off the shelf!

Jason

[nickvree]

Ah! Ok we'll that explains it better. See being a newbie to modern collecting I thought the club was Hasbro. Well then that makes sense. And I have paid $30 for an action figure before, but there's not any of the figures listed in the FSS I would pay that price for. Out of curiosity how much was the Night Force Lady Jaye at the convention if any one here was there? Seems the base price for that figure now is 179.99 on average.

I think with the success of the movie, right now and next year onward to GI Joe 3 would be the best time for Hasbro to start putting out updated Joe products. If their marketing guys were on the ball Hasbro productions would be introducing a new Joe cartoon this fall. A blockbuster movie, a comic book, AND a new cartoon (I think) would move some products off the shelf!

Jason

$30 for NF LJ at the con. And glad we got the confusion straightened out

And yes, I think most of us are frustrated that there isn't a cartoon or any other sort of Joe presence out right now besides the movie.

[Geek-Viper]

I think with the success of the movie, right now and next year onward to GI Joe 3 would be the best time for Hasbro to start putting out updated Joe products. If their marketing guys were on the ball Hasbro productions would be introducing a new Joe cartoon this fall. A blockbuster movie, a comic book, AND a new cartoon (I think) would move some products off the shelf!

Jason

That's your problem right there. There seems to be a major disconnect between Hasbro Execs and the GI Joe team. The guys on the team seem like fans of the franchise and like to get us all product that we can enjoy. But then when it gets to boardrooms those guys don't seem to care. I came across the Hasbro presentation to investors a couple months ago and there was maybe 2 little pictures mentioning GI Joe. The rest of the time they spent on My Little Pony and Nerf. Hasbro doesn't really care about Joe or its fans. Not sure what we can do about it either.