Hasbr-uh-oh

[Steevy Maximus]

For a degree of perspective on the direct impact of these new tariffs, Bill Murphy of Toy Otter Toys made the decision to cancel the Kickstarter campaign for Longbox Heroes Wave 2. Core reason cited was price increase they would have to factor in, pushing per figure pricing over $40 (with a LOT of uncertainty with what pricing issues might be in a year).

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/freshmonkeyfiction/longbox-heroes-action-figures-wave-2/posts/4353795

To put that in perspective to Transformers:
If a CyberWorld Cyberchanger costs Hasbro $5 at wholesale for a $9.99 retail price (grab assing numbers for example, I don't know exact wholesale prices), that would push wholesale to about $7.50, likely pushing retail price to 12.99-14.99. While most Transformers are made in Vietnam, it, too, got hit with a whopper of a tariff increase to about 46%

My guess/expectation is that Hasbro will probably leverage the flagship items (think the Scorponok Strike Battle) and collector lines to further "subsidize" the kids stuff, along with trimming down the number of products. Culturally, western consumers still perceive toys as "disposable entertainment for kids", and I don't feel the wider consumer base is going to shift from buying "a bunch of cheap crap for their kids" to fewer, more premium, toy products.
I expect prices to see only modest gains for the holiday, but going into 2026? I'm expecting pain for collectors.

Even then, these tariffs are basically the worst they've been since the American Great Depression in the early 1930s. Toy companies might not be able to "spread the costs" like they could in years past.

 

[Undead Scottsman]

Short-term, things are going to get really messed with. Product prices will rise and product quality will drop. It's inevitable. It's a shame, AotP year 2 sounded cool.

Long term, their best bet would be to move manufacturing to the states, but that's going to take a long time to spin up and they'll be fighting with every other company doing the same thing...

And it all might be pointless because who knows how long these tariffs will last.

 

[Steevy Maximus]

There is really not many scenarios where moving production to the US makes any sense for the kinds of product WE (as Transformers fans) want and expect. The infrastructure is simply not here, and Americans will NOT work cheap enough to counter even the tariff rates. Instead of a 50% uptick, you'd be looking at 100-200% price increases.

And consumers will not "buy into" assembling their own toys the way was done in the 80s or in Japan where Gunpla prices remained stable because much of the biggest points of cost (assembly, stickering/painting, etc) were done by the end consumer.

 

[Platypus Prime]

I did actually get my Big O as a Moderoid kit, as it was the most cost effective option, but it also made me realize, as the first one I'd done in YEARS, how much extra it takes to do a GOOD job. The sprue cutters, special paints, glues, etc, all add up. So even self assembly has limited cost savings, and that assumes the end user has the skills to do it. I had to use a big magnifier.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

From what I gather Chris Cocks does have plans for tariffs, but Hasbro is only prepared to swallow 10%. So this is going to hurt.

 

[Rhinox]

There is really not many scenarios where moving production to the US makes any sense for the kinds of product WE (as Transformers fans) want and expect. The infrastructure is simply not here, and Americans will NOT work cheap enough to counter even the tariff rates. Instead of a 50% uptick, you'd be looking at 100-200% price increases.

And consumers will not "buy into" assembling their own toys the way was done in the 80s or in Japan where Gunpla prices remained stable because much of the biggest points of cost (assembly, stickering/painting, etc) were done by the end consumer.

Yeah, this whole line of 'move manufacturing to America' is bullshit and the administration knows it. That is just not going to happen.