william-james88 wrote:-Kanrabat- wrote:Rated X wrote:
I stand by what Ive been saying for years. Hasbro versions only exist to justify Takaras overpriced existance. They all come from the same mold in china anyways. Thats about 50 cents worth of extra paint and and additional 10 cents to pay the poor Chinese factory worker to apply it. That "Asian market" excuse is the biggest fraud of all time.
X, we had this discussion before and it was proven that TFs in Japan are the SAME PRICE as their American's counterparts.
So,
shoo, shoo!
haha, yeah, I just saved the link to the last time I wrote about prices being the same:
http://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/takara-transformers-unite-warriors-discussion-thread-p1717902.php#p1717920The issue is not that hasbro's lack makes us pay more for takara (since they get the same aount of money as hasbro from us), it's that Hasbro sells us lackluster deco when takara decos cost the same. The rip off here if there is one is not takara, but the lackluster Hasbro product instead.
Rated X wrote:
I remember that. But the bottom line is SOMEBODY is still profiting off Takaras existence.
I have to admit, X is right here and I did mention it last time. The people profitting off Takara's existence is the Japan post office which sends out packages to the west they wouldnt ship if Hasbro had better deco and the demand was lessened.
This issue could be debated from so many fronts…
Hasbro is selling an inferior product which costs virtually the same to produce as the Takara version. Remember Hasbro pretty much owns Takara legally. They just let them do their own thing out of respect. So in essence, A “Takara” figure is really just a premium Hasbro figure. Its not like they are assembled in different parts of the world by different people. They all come from the same s**t hole. So once again, the Hasbro version is needed to justify the Takara versions existence. It’s an illusion of raising the bar, making one product look like two different products by adding a little glitter and gloss.
Which middle man profits the most from Takara’s existence is debatable. Based on the prices I saw them selling for in retail in my very brief transit through Tokyo Airport, I would say Takara themselves. However other’s here have documented Takara versions being sold at the equivalent of American prices in more recent times. I think it is safe to say that it may vary depending on where you buy them in Japan. (Department stores vs. specialty hobby shops) Another middle man who exploits Takara as being a “premium” is the online retailers. BBTS, TFSource and others will continue to push them as being premium versions and Im sure Hasbro loves this since they own Takara and their design team creates half of the molds anyways. And of course Robotkingdom and Chimungmung are going to charge more even though they use their Chinese factory connections to get them at virtually the same price as Hasbro versions by buying in bulk. Chimungmung recently unloaded a bunch of Cloud Roadbusters and Hellwarps for $35 bucks a pop plus shipping before BBTS even had them. He also had Botcon General G2 Optimus, Diaclone Skids, and Packrat on sale a month before Botcon. So the people in China are getting figures just as cheap as Japan is. Its just the rest of the world that’s being screwed with BS excuses about an imaginary Asian market that wouldn’t buy Hasbro’s non cartoon accurate decos. Im inclined to believe if they like the figure enough, they will buy it in whatever deco it is available in if they didn’t have a choice between 2 decos. Sure in Japan Hasbro has to compete with Bandai and others. But Transformer fans are going to be fans regardless. So that Asian market excuse is a load of BS, straight up. Believe it if you want. Anime-Export is the first company who has decided to wipe their ass with the Asian market excuse and dare to sell Takara products at Hasbro US prices. Its only a matter of time before others copy their business model and try to compete, forcing the more well known retailers to lower their prices and abandon the “premium” concept of Takara figures. That’s my opinion. It’s coming. Maybe atr a snails pace, but its coming.
On a side note, its really not accurate to say that mail carriers world wide are profiting off imported Transformers, because they don’t know or care what’s in the box. Those are the prices. Smaller Chinese retailers might charge more than they’re actually paying to ship it to you because they know you can’t read Chinese or Japanese. But that has nothing to do with EMS, USPS, Japan post office, or any other mail carrier. The people who are really getting screwed are the European people who complain about all these “Customs” or “Import” fees. Maybe your people as a whole should petition your government, parliament, or what ever you call it to eliminate blatant gouging of taxes. If its an issue that effects everybody, its definitely something you guys should bring up to your government officials the next time election year comes around.
myself included mostly) 
