Tag: Hot Wheels

Why I Stopped Collecting Toys….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

Something happened. Something that would rock my world. Something that may have bettered my life. Something that would definitely change my life….

I stopped buying toys.

It’s been nearly 10 years now. I know there was several reasons that determined my decision. And I remember, I didn’t just stop cold turkey. Like a drug addict, I slowly weaned myself.

It all started following the release of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. I had spent the last five years buying pretty much every Star Wars toy they made. And I didn’t just buy one. I was the moron that had to have two of everything. I had to have one to open and one to leave sealed. The sealed item served a double role, one to preserve the original toy as it was sold and it would make a great display item. And second, it would be that item to sell down the road when all my Star Wars toys would pay for my kids college eduction or at least my summer home in highlands of Scotland. I just knew that these toys would be worth millions in the future. (I forgot to take one small detail in to account with this ideology: these toys will be worthless because they not only made millions of them, but there are millions of collectors thinking the same thing I’m thinking. So I made one small error….). So, I’m standing in the toy aisle on the eve of release and I’m watching the horde of collectors race to the pegs and attack the pallet of toy cases. And I just had an epiphany: why am I swarming over these things like its the last loaf of bread in the supermarket during a Zombie apocalypse? I stopped. I waited and I slowly walked to the pegs. I told myself buy the cool ones– buy the ones I really liked. I don’t need one of everything. And I’m not buying more than ONE! That started the end….

Suddenly, after so many years, there was no more hype of future Star Wars movies. Star Wars had driven my collecting for over ten years at that point. I had gotten in on the first figures of the revived Kenner figures in 1995. We got so many new figures. The design and quality only got better and better. Not only did Star Wars drive my collecting, I got my wife into buying Beanie Babies. I bought other toys I liked from Hot Wheels to Spawn figures. Many of these I just used to bargain or trade for more Star Wars figures. It got so obsessive; there wasn’t many days I wasn’t on the the hunt. If the wife went to Target for groceries and I was at work, I had her go to the toy aisles first. We used our kids to get store associates to check “the back” for more cases saying it was how they wanted to spend their allowance. We were now the parents using our kids to feed our own addictions. We craved more and more. We needed that new Ty Beanie Bear or Star Wars R2 with Holo Leia. Then we looked to our house. It was overflowing with toys. We had so many Beanie Babies, most were in the garage in plastic bins. My Star Wars figures filled two closets. We couldn’t display a fraction of what we owned. Then we looked to our credit cards. They were maxed out. Why? Because of toys. We needed to seek help. Painfully, we went to credit counseling and cut up our cards….

With not having the buying power to just buy everything and anything, we (mostly me) only bought what we really liked or thought was really cool. Yet, I found with rising costs of action figures and how most of the current releases were just re-dos of things they had already been released in the last few years, I was slowly being turned off by new Star Wars stuff. I felt, finally, I may have stopped the desire to buy new toys. Then, 2007 happened and the 25th anniversary of G.I. Joe happened. I had enjoyed so many Joe toys in the 1980s that, like Star Wars before it, I would do it right this time and buy everything released. I went in just buying one of everything. I had learned my lessons from the past with the “buy two” fallacy. I went at it smart. I didn’t get crazy. I bought them when I found them but I could feel the return to the obsessive desire to “collect them all” which could easily force me off the “wagon”.

But, whether a intervention from God or just poor management and marketing from Hasbro, the Joe line slowed and eventually died. With it, saving my bank account and my compulsive behaviors. So, I was like this is my chance to stop 100% and not buy any more toys. It was mostly true. I’m most certain I’ve only bought a few items over the last few years. I pick up an occasional Hot Wheel or collectible item. I sold most of my collection and the wife completely rid her life of the Beanie craze (I was so proud of her mainly as I felt somewhat responsible for that collection). And life has been good. I will say, its been a lot less stressful.

So what are the all the reasons I stopped….. well stay tuned for part II…..

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I must be gettin’ old….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

Yes, some might say, that I’ve been a bit obsessed with my preconceived theory on the failure of the current toy industry– or more specifically the action toy (figure) line.

As I continue to research and delve deeper into my theories, I did discover there could be, at least one, main point that I forgot. That being, I’m not getting any younger and that over time inflation rears its ugly little head. I will admit: I’m gettin’ old.

The price I paid for a toy when I was a child isn’t necessarily the price of a toy today nor should it be….or then again, why couldn’t it. This brings me back to the Hot Wheels debate. Below, there’s several examples of the cost of toys then and now. These numbers were obtained through a Inflation Calculator that was found on Google.

I have decided to use the year 1983 as my baseline year. Not only because this was one of the greatest years of my childhood, but that year several popular toy lines were at their pinnacle– including G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, He-Man and Masters of the Universe, and Star Wars. There was still another year before we got Transformers and Go-bots. And lastly, I found a 1983 Sears Catalog that aided in the prices for that time period- take note, this isn’t the absolute price of the day. I understand Kmart, Walmart or Toys R Us prices may have been cheaper and varied.

  • 1983 $1.00 equals $2.70 in 2021 money.
  • GI Joe RHAH. COBRA H.I.S.S. (High Speed Sentry). ….. 1983 Real Price $8.99 ………… 2021 Inflation Price $24.30 (Currently Wal-mart sells the vintage styled H.I.S.S. for $24.99.
  • GI Joe RHAH COBRA F.A.N.G. (Fully-armed Negator Gyrocopter)….. 1983 Real Price $4.99 (did NOT include a figure)….. 2021 Inflation Price $13.49 (Currently Wal-mart sells the vintage re-release for $24.99 but it includes a figure)
  • GI Joe RHAH 3 pack of action figures: Airborne, Doc, and Gung-ho. ….1983 Real Price $7.99 or about $2.66 a figure…. 2021 Inflation Price $21.60 or about $7.19 a figure (if you add that with the inflated FANG price you get $20.68. THUS, I think Walmart should be selling that box set for $19.99 (production materials considered)
  • Star Wars figures are the same price as the GI Joe. 3 pack of Vader and Two Hoth Stormtroopers … 1983 Real Price $7.99…… 2021 Inflation Price $21.60.
  • He-Man and Masters of the Universe 2-Pack He-Man & Trap Jaw 1983 Real Price $9.99 (or about 4.98 a figure)…. 2021 Inflation Price $27.00. Wal-mart currently sells the retro line of figures for $14.99 each. This is slighter more than inflation would calculate as 2 figures now would be $29.98)

So there you go. If you really take into account inflation, maybe today’s prices are so bad. Yet, I will still debate whether these toys should be priced at the inflated price. I understand that materials could go up in price, the wage for those making the toys has increased, and freight costs have gone up with the price of gas. Should action figures be $10? I’m not so sure. I guess I relate it back to the enjoyment factor along side games or video games. $50 bucks gets you a video game that you can play nearly 100+ hours. Or you could buy 5 action figures. Not sure it equals. The average 1983 price of a video game was $39.99 and an action figure was $3. So in 1983 I could get at least 10 action figures for every one video game. Now that number is cut in half. So I would argue that perhaps cost of the toys aren’t just limited to materials and freight anymore. Perhaps R&D (research and development) plays a big role in today’s prices. I don’t exclude licenses for properties like Star Wars etc. But Mattel owns He-man and Hasbro owns GI Joe, so those extra costs are excluded.

And lastly, I will continue to question toy costs when a Hot Wheel in 1983 was roughly 79 cents and is still about 99 cents today. Granted I remember Hot Wheels on sale for as little as 59 cents and as high as a 1.09 at Kmart. What was up with Kmart’s wacky prices? Is Mattel taking a loss on Hot Wheels? Or are they just accepting a smaller profit with the hope of larger quantities sold? If those are both mute points, then would and should toys today really be priced as I’ve demonstrated above?

The discussion will most likely continue….

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Toys ….suck today!

Posted on by CV Whitfield

So, when I enter a Wal-mart or Target, the first place I go is the Toy aisles .

For the last few years, I’ve noticed that the aisles and shelves seem to be a bit thin. It’s quite common to find many pegs and spots just empty of product. We all know that Target stock is always scarce. Yet, now I see this at Walmarts. Why is this?

  1. Today’s toys are very rarely supported by an active TV shows or Comic Books. Yes, every freakin movie gets some kind of toy tie-in but half the time, I don’t think they do any target research to see if kids even want these toys. TV shows and Comic books allow for continued story telling and allows the property to stay in the kids minds for years. With the exception of Star Wars (which is an anomaly), no movie has support a toy line successfully more than 6 months after the movie is released. In the 80s, we had great toy lines He-man and Masters of the Universe and G.I. Joe- TV shows. The 80s and 90s gave great Marvel and DC superhero toys – Comic Books. In the 90s, Batman: The Animated Series supported a figure line – TV show. Good Star Trek can give you a nice collector toy line, i.e. the 90s Playmates line – TV show. But today, we only have Star Wars – weak sequel movies – Jurassic Park / World toys – movie – and toys for the remake of Space Jam..
  2. Today’s toys are just too damn expensive. The average action figure price is $9.99. And if you go for the larger 6 inch figures, those go for $19.99 or more. What kid is spending their allowance on this? What parent is spending this to give their child the toy when asked? Honestly, they are not! These toy lines are supported solely on adult collectors. This is why that many of these big box stores are now putting toys in two spots in the stores. Some go in the Toy Aisle and some go in another section for collectibles. Can action figures be cheaper? I would exclaim why not! Hot Wheels have been less than .99 cents for 30 years. Not only do kids love cars, but you can buy dozens of these cars for only a few dollars more than an action figure. Even many nice car toys in the 1:64 scale can price from 3.99 to 7.99. Today, they have the RE-RELEASE of He-man and Masters of the Universe figures. Walmart price is $14.99. They were only $4.99 in 1982. And I remember that was expensive because Star Wars and G.I.Joe were about $2.99. Again, these aren’t toys, but adult collectibles.
  3. Today toys companies are run by morons. Outside of a few long term favorites like Hot Wheels, Barbie and the anomaly that is Star Wars, what action figure toy has been on the shelves for so long? None. What action play toy has been a staple of the Toy Aisle? None. Why hasn’t any toy company actually invested in creating a toy line that will stand the test of time? This is what Mattel did with He-man in the late 70s and early 80s. It was to be a competitor of Star Wars. Instead, these companies lazily rely on movie properties. They are willing to pay millions of dollars for licensing instead of creating a strong IP internally. Take Hasbro for example. They own the G.I.Joe brand solely. Yet, this company has constantly failed on making this toy line successful. It has always been plagued by short supply with the releases in 2007 and again in 2020. Why weren’t these figures filling pegs? Every figure sold would put full profit into their pocket. Instead, they continue to pump out Star Wars figures and pay the 50% to Lucasfilm. The same folks that run these companies clearly don’t research their market.
  4. Today toys can’t compete with video games. Bullshit, I say. I disagree with this statement that I constantly hear when I discuss these very topics. I see kids in the toy aisles wanting toys — like Legos, Action Figures, Nerf Guns and Barbie dolls. Children don’t invest all their time in just video games. Yet, you need to give them a good toy for a good price and they will sell. And the gravy on the steak would be the adult collectors who would buy them too. Yet, first these companies need to MAKE TOYS. Fill those pegs and work on distribution and market research.

Okay. Thats today’s thought on Toys. I could discuss this and these topics for hours.

To all those that want good toys…. Good hunting!

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Toys are for Kids!

Posted on by CV Whitfield

As I write this, I am inspired to do the research but right now I’m just going to write my thoughts.

I wonder if children buy toys anymore? Specifically I’m curious if children buy Hot Wheels, Star Wars figures, or any of the Marvel Legends or DC Multiverse action figures. These are toy lines that have huge adult collector bases. And if they do, what is the percentage of those purchases vs. the adult collector.

I don’t collect any more yet old habits die hard (that’s right Mr. McClane!). When I enter a Target or Wal-mart, the first area I hit is the toy aisles. I don’t go there to buy but to peruse. I’m still intrigued and interested by toys. Both boy and girls focus. In some alternate timeline I became a toy designer. I think I would have been good at that. So, when I’m in the aisle I very rarely see children. It’s not during school hours. Usually on the weekend or evenings. I can’t recall the last time I saw a kid going through the Hot Wheels. But I do see adult men all the time.

Then I start wondering if Mattel just makes Hot Wheels for old guys. As if they gave up long ago that kids want to play with little metal cars on winding plastic tracks. The same thought process goes for Barbie. Over the holidays I saw the Christmas Barbie — just sitting on the shelves. I remember when grown women would fight (literally as in push and shove) for these dolls in the 1990s. These dolls were designed for the adult collector because they had a price point of $29.99 and up. The ones this year were marked $39.99 and no one was buying. And I’m sure parents wouldn’t spend that on a child — in any decade.

Toys are for kids so I hope they are still buying them!

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