GITrekker wrote:
Jay wrote:
4" figures -- not articulated worth a darn -- and already marked for clearance, which is pretty darned funny. Either that or they know what spectacular sellers they're going to be and just want to get them out of the store as quickly as possible so they don't gather too much dust.
I'm betting the store sent them straight to clearance. They're the same exact figures that pegwarmed my area Targets for months before moving to the clearance racks right around the holidays.
Hasbro is trying lower POA and smaller scale with playsets/vehicles to see if the mainstream kid audience will bite, but it's a half-ass effort that I'm pretty sure resulted from the duration of their licensing deal with Marvel and Wal-Mart's insistence that there be toy product on the shelves tied to every major movie release.
I don't think that means the end of 1:18 entirely is approaching. I just think they will continue to price those offerings higher and aim them at collectors, all the while reducing things like articulation and accessories to enhance their profit margin (because those adult collectors mostly leave their toys in packaging, anyway, right?).
I fear it's the adult enthusiast/customizer that's going to get shaftedd hardest and fastest by this strategy. But we can take comfort in the fact that scalpers/speculators are bound to get burned as well.