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Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why Is Some Merchandise So Hard To Find?
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BodaciousSpacePirate
 Subscriber Posts: 3019 |
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Are we sure that has more to do with the product's scarcity than the fact that the Nintendo Classic is an "official Nintendo product"? |
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Vaisaga
 Posts: 13243 |
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In the case of figures those are all hand sculpted. While cheaper prize figures aren't hard to spit out on en masse, higher quality ones take a lot more effort so you can only produce so many before the poor sculptor burns out.
Always pre-order stuff. Don't take the risk. |
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DmonHiro
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"But people lost their minds over them. Such is the power of scarcity, artificial or otherwise"
No, that is the power of stupid people in large numbers. Good on Nintendo for making money off of those people. |
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rizuchan
 Posts: 980 Location: Kansas |
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Yeah, in the case of figures in particular, it's a huge crap shoot for whether or not something will be hard to find (and therefore subject to huge markup) later. Like the first expensive scale figure I ever bought was the ALTER Azusa from K-ON. I really thought it'd be hard to get down the line, but apparently they made so many from that line they're almost worthless. On the other hand, the Love Live ALTER figures do tend to sell out a day or two after preorders ship, and are worth a lot. Of course, who knows if they'll continue to hold their value in a decade when presumably no one will give a crap about Love Live.
It does seem like more popular figures are getting reprints these days, although usually quite a bit later after the first run... which is great for those who still want them after they sell out and terrible for anyone who was hoping to get some money back selling their used ones. 
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7584 Location: Wales |
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I got an email from Zavvi the other day about a steelbook sale, which I took a glance at since they do some anime. One item stood out, despite being a film I’d never heard of, because it was limited to 500 copies and they’d now marked it down and to a tenner, half price, to get rid of it.
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I_Drive_DSM
 Posts: 217 |
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TL;DR here...
My first taste of purposefully scarcity through fandom came in my mid teens. In the mid-90s I was (still am I suppose) a big fan of CLAMP's Rayearth. I came across the series by accident on the Anime Web Turnpike one night. I was primarily drawn in by the art work but also eventually by the story. Eventually I started trying to get my hands on anything Rayearth I could, which in 1995/96 was not easy for someone in the US. I subscribed to Mixxzine's monthly issues for Rayearth manga, bought any mags that even touched on it (Animerica at the time did a good job of providing info), bought random cheap things I could afford on the early days of eBay, and eventually even got hands on a VHS fan sub. Around this time I also found out a game company I had been buying games from quite a bit, Working Designs, was going to bring over the Sega Saturn game. Rayearth was actually supposed to be a US 3rd party launch title of sorts for the console; I still have a preview from I think EGM mag at the time that talked about it. Needless to say it didn't happen, and then got delayed, then delayed, the delayed even further, until eventually it did release in the US but I couldn't find it anywhere. Working Designs had purposely released the title in very low quantities knowing that very few would buy it; I still think to this day it was released simply as a middle finger to Sega of America. One day in very late '98 in the midst of the holidays I remember I had the pamphlets Working Designs sent out with games, so I called, found out they had copies, and bought one. It was ~$80 for a Saturn title that had long came out after Sega of America stopped supporting the console. I played through it, was rather underwhelmed at what was effectively a 3+ year old title, and it sat in my collection. Years later curiosity got the best of me, and in auction sites I saw it was going for $150 opened, then $200, then $300. Now it's impossible to buy a complete copy opened for under $300 and unopened copies ungraded go for astronomical amounts. I am glad I kept a lot of that Rayearth merchandise. I do know it had quite a heyday in Japan going on 20 years ago now and some of that merchandise began to appreciate in value. |
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xchampion
 Posts: 370 Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho |
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I guess I was one of those idiots who bought the NES and SNES Classics. I loved how it looked like the original console and came with the original controller design. If I wanted to emulate that by 3d printing the console, using a reto pie, and buying 3rd party NES or SNES controller to play with would cost quite a bit more than 10 bucks btw. The fact I also like to support the actual company doesn't hurt either.
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Mr March
 Posts: 18 |
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Thanks for answering my question, jsevakis.
I'm not sure if the article is applicable to the merchandise I had in mind, but you did raise several points I never considered regarding manufacturer uncertainty and the virtue of selling out a full production run, especially in a space-constrained country like Japan. Perhaps my point of view enduring these bad experiences with repeated shortages one year after another is telling me supply is broke. I've seen the repeating patterns where consumers know an item is going to be highly sought and pre-orders historically sell out the entire production run in less than a day. With that kind of demand (and prices on the secondary market as high as THREE times retail), I have to believe this is more than a "few potential sales being lost in the long term" but a rather large under-served consumer market. Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like the situation has soured so much that it's far beyond just a risk-averse manufacturer playing it safe. Nonetheless, thanks for your time, providing a good read and raising points to ponder. |
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Violynne
Posts: 128 |
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It's not that supply is broke, it's limited. Each figure goes through a specific production run, because the factories which make them can only produce so many. What you may be experiencing are the shortages of the much higher quality figures, which can sell out instantly (usually through pre-order) if the series is extremely popular. This makes sense, when you think of the quality which goes into a figure. I'll use GSM as a model, because I know this is what they do, but it's likely all figure makers go through the same. When a series is "green lit", and GSM gets a contract to produce figures, they immediately get to work on sculpting the figure(s) and producing casts. You may have seen these at trade shows where the figure is nothing but a gray blob, with no coloring. These are all done in-house (more on this in a bit). Once the figures are cast, they're sent for approval, with one being selected. The next step is getting the molds designed for Chinese factories. This is why casting is done in Japan, because theft of molds is quite frequent in Japan. Companies who inadvertently jumped the gun often find the knock-offs hit the market before the authorized version (which is a huge business in of itself). GSM monitors every production run and literally take the molds when they're complete. Once the production is done, the factories are then set up for the next run. What many people don't realize is many top tiered figures are hand painted (excluding the colorization of the injected plastic). If you've ever seen them paint eyes, it's an art skill. Once the production run is completed, they're returned to Japan and distributed to retailers who've pre-purchased a stock amount. The larger the retailer, the more stock they can get. If there are any left over, they're distributed in much lower quantities. Few make it to the US, sadly, despite the demand. If demand is exceptional, the company will often issue reprints, though this is rare. Getting a reprint in the middle of a production cycle is difficult. Schedules must be maintained in order to make the factories efficient as possible. Disruptions and mistakes are costly. Lower quality figures, like figmas, are abundant because many molds are reused. Most people don't really pay attention to the figure as a whole (just make sure the face is okay) and replacing color in the injection is quite easy to do. I don't doubt some figures are artificially scarce (a new series of a popular manga/LA doesn't always equate to a popular anime), but it's rare. If you're looking to stay ahead of the curve, your only option is to pre-order from several of the big name chains in Japan. Otherwise, your chances of getting them after release are slim. In my years of collecting, the only time I've never received a figure is when the order was canceled. I just attribute this to a series not being as popular as expected, but it could be for any number of reasons we'll never know. Good luck in your quest. You've plenty of competition, including me. 
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levonr
 Posts: 821 |
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Should also note that the official product's menu & borders are appealing, if you mod it you can use custom borders. I've owned a few Raspberry Pie's and always run into issues at some point. The SNES classic seems more stable. Although I really don't care for SNES emulation since I upgraded to a Super Nt with a SD2SNES cart. |
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zrdb
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Funny you should mention the Magic Knight Rayearth Saturn game-I have a mint opened copy that's going for over $400 right now. The game package is pretty elaborate and one thing I can say is that the game is damn hard to beat. Is it really worth the asking price now days? Value is in the eyes of the beholder which is one reason aniplex is able to scam people out of outrageous sums of money for their releases.
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CatSword
 Posts: 1489 |
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I would kill for some good Princess Tutu merchandise. The show premiered when I was 14 months old, so I clearly missed the prime/only opportunity to find a lot of merchandise.
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xchampion
Posts: 370 Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho |
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It also has more to do with it being a Working Designs game than it being Magic Knight Rayearth game as well. The Saturn cases were notorious for breaking easily so having a case in good condition let alone mint condition is a big deal. I would almost everything WD game is really expensive especially Sega CD & Saturn games. . |
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BodaciousSpacePirate
Subscriber Posts: 3019 |
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Check your private message inbox, I sent you some links. |
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MarshalBanana
 Posts: 5525 |
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There is some costumes that I would like for breath of the Wild, but the cost of the Amiibo needed to unlock them is stupidly high.
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