Why are toys getting so expensive? What happened to all of the simple toys we grew up with?

Scott Toy Guru Neitlich from Spector Creative looks into the evolving nature of toys and how the more complicated requirements have lead to higher prices.

[@brianashmorestudio]

Action figures for boys started out very complicated. The first action figures were things like the original 12” GiJoe, Captain Action, and Megos. All had oodles of articulation, many parts to assemble in production, and even cloth goods. So, things started out more complex, simplified in the 70s and 80s, and are getting more complicated again. The difference, back then, is that toy companies were able to produce a complex body and then reuse it over and over again with different heads and clothing.

[@DanyTV79]

That's the same about MOTU.

[@shukilevyandbrookesheildsl2638]

I loved those Fisher Price Little People of the '70s and early '80s when I was a kid. My sister and I had collected so many of them along with their playsets. I miss them.

[@Channel2S]

Spinmaster's DC line is pretty much the perfect kid's figure line. Small, simple and cheap, with just enough articulation to do the things that kids want to do with their figures (swing swords, sit in vehicles, kick, etc.), and a decent amount of accessories + vehicles and other play enhancers. I wish more companies would adopt that form factor for their non-collector lines instead of just putting out the cheapest crap they can get away with for kids and then super complicated collector figures with no in between.

[@outpost206]

I agree, I really enjoy that line, good customization fodder and always on sale. A while back, I picked up a Justice League box set for $3 (it was like 6 figures which is insane).

[@SonicHedgehog1991]

Another is Jakks Pacific's Nintendo and Sega toy line. The articulation is basic and kid-friendly but is also enough for adult collectors to pose and make it look good on a display

[@user-nb6hz4ye3z]

Hasbro is doing the same thing with their Marvel line too The Epic Heroes line is aimed at kids and have several playsets with kid friendly gimmicks

[@MattMatt77]

Toys are getting more expensive when TVs are getting cheaper 🤨

[@AlmightyCRJ]

TVs & monitors used to have specialised electronics - now they are largely built the same. Economy of scale lowered the price.

[@MattMatt77]

@@AlmightyCRJ So I'm right... ok thanks 🤨

[@danielmilliken8903]

@@MattMatt77bro he’s elaborating on what u said but with more details of why. Another words agreeing ✌🏼

[@danielmilliken8903]

@@AlmightyCRJ And it will be that way on a percentage since we’re seeing even exclusives in Ross and Ollie’s more and more.

[@goboy45]

Action figures used to be more technological complex. Light up eyes, sound chips, microchips, lenticular pieces, vac molded metal, and more. They were still cheaper with all that.

[@shawnkarg3794]

I still say the GI JOE 3.75" figures were one of the best action figure lines. We got 2 or 3 new waves every year, vehicles and playsets in a variety of sizes, and you could use them with other similarly scaled figures. Simple enough to be inexpensive, great paint ops and accessories, and gimmicks that largely didn't take anything away from the play value. It wasn't even my fav line as a kid, but the toys were so good I couldn't help but like them.

[@danielmilliken8903]

I can literally still remember the smell of Kmart in the action fig isle. Awesome times on that isle. All the colors and nostalgia. Even target here in my town has transitioned with the toy isle had more figures last year. Sad times man freakin sux

[@CardboardBots]

Standards are higher. Technology aided design and manufacturing are greater. Toys need to compete with TV and digital devices like iPads and video games.

[@DanyTV79]

Hasbro CEO just said they don't make action figures for kids but for adult collectors...

[@tjmb]

That’s a major turnaround from 20 years ago when they insisted that adult collectors were a very small percentage of their market.

[@DanyTV79]

@@tjmb yeah, and Scott insist on that. Seems like the market had change the last two years.

[@ADAM_COLLECTS]

do you really think that parents buying toys for kids listen to the CEO of Hasbro or do you think adults who collect action figures listen to the CEO of Hasbro? Food for thought

[@JaeLee83]

Scott is so out of touch and stubborn lmao

[@gofigure6251]

This video was awesome!! We need to give the toy isle back to the kids…. And as parents teach them to play again…. Love this

[@Sci-Fi-Mike]

Awesome video, Scott! I've been wondering about ways to lower prices on kids' toys lately. Action figures and other toys are so articulated these days...

[@murphbri]

This video reminded me of the period of time when Hasbro offered 5POA Star Wars figures. They have to my knowledge stopped offering them for sale outside of the retro collection of course, but it makes me wonder if they need both adult and children sales to keep a toy line going these days.

[@outpost206]

I like a good posable figure (the original Yamaguchi Revoltechs are probably my favorite line) but 9 times out of 10, I actually prefer less articulated figures with good sculpts and paint apps. I'm drawn the most to the elegant simplicity seen in of a lot of vintage figures and modern art toys.

[@murphbri]

I found VC275 Boba Fett at Target yesterday. I was shocked to see it scan at 22.99 for a 3.75 inch figure. Not sure what the heck is going on there. Exclusive to Target maybe?

[@cowpuddles4851]

Saw some Spiderverse characters for $25 the other day and just laughed. While I don’t expect to see the return of $2.99 GI Joes, only a fool would pay $25 for those cheap pieces of plastic with zero accessories. I won’t even shell out the $14 for those new 5 points of articulation retro Joes. Just not worth it.

[@nicholasdickens2801]

The difference is those 5POA Retro Joes from Super7 will sell far less than Hasbro’s stuff.

[@cowpuddles4851]

@@nicholasdickens2801 Neither one is worth the price. Those Spider verse toys are maybe $12 and the others about $8. Stop paying outrageous prices and they will eventually drop.

[@raulcoronado6024]

Thank you Sir👍

[@johnmorey720]

Progress! We may say we want tm return to simpler times, but do we really like retro 5 POA reaction stuff?

[@shukilevyandbrookesheildsl2638]

I do. I really enjoy collecting the "Kenner" Legends "Retro" 5 POA figures. I loved the 5 POA figures Star Wars was coming out with during Rogue One. They were well detailed and at a lower price bracket, so collecting them was easier.

[@jasonthornton-saunby5814]

Yes 😊

[@paluxyl.8682]

5 POA works for me only if the figures are smaller than 2"

[@darkwoods1954]

I can't stand it. They look like Happy Meal toys. I'm glad action figures have evolved with me and I can collect 6 inch well detailed and articulated figures now. Those little ''retro'' toys may be good for kids though if they weren't so over priced for what they are.

[@kaleomariz1000]

Hey, I would very much appreciate if you do a video (or send me the link if you already made it) on how action figure scales have changed. Up to the early 2000’s the scale of figures were from 3”3/4 inches to 6” inches in height. Eventually they were getting bigger. Now especially for kids’ figures the scale is from 7” inches or more. Why is that?

[@burrgren]

I think it's because a lot of adults are collecting toys. 😛 I'm 34 and would love one of those articulated Spider-Man toys.

[@feralstorm]

This is one of those "yeah sorta, but mostly no" takes, and feels like it grossly oversimplifies several economic, market, technological, and societal forces into a mush with a "things were better in the old days, right?" veneer on it. (I generally enjoy your videos tho-)

[@AlmightyCRJ]

My mind goes to Character's Doctor Who line that has held a classic limited joint format.

[@chadconwell1964]

I agree with your comments, look at the transformers toy line, my kid does not want the complicated ones, he wants the ones that he can change quickly

[@PhantomHarlock78]

Any Transformer I bought today I need to watch an Yoitube to transform without braking it.

[@irishbear660]

You can still get simply inexpensive action figures if you can be content with Hasbro retro 3 3/4 figures as most can be bought for $10. But as long as collectors keep paying over $14.99 for figures we will continue to be overpriced.

[@mickfrendo8212]

Good nod to JBJ at the start !

[@dragonpee]

It's getting out of control when you see 6 inch figures being priced at $150 for no reason other than knowing "whales" are out there. Never thought I'd have used that term outside of video games but it's the truth. That being said, It's not really a "toys are more expensive" as much as it's inflation on top of the U.S. not raising minimum wage in the last 16 years.

[@ADAM_COLLECTS]

if a company, Mattel, Hasbro, whomever, give us more we should expect to pay more. By “more” i mean; more articulation, more deco hits, more accessories or more product releases in a 12 month period. The only thing i want more of is higher QC, which, yeah, that will cost more and that seems to be the last thing they focus on

[@BuckarooBanzai84]

I can sort of see what you mean;sometimes I look at those Imaginex DC-comics-toys, and almost feel jealous of how cool those playsets look! LOL! =)

[@ShatteredTrousers]

I would argue creative people are always striving toward more complexity to better convey what they want to express. Film editors in past decades used to edit film with slower cuts because, despite what they may have seen in their imagination, they were limited by the technology and the manual editing techniques of their time. Modern digital editing technology provides more options to film editors and the divide between what the editor sees in their mind and the final product becomes narrower. I remember in the '90's Todd McFarlane would talk about how he told toy manufacturers how he wanted his toys to be and the manufacturers would tell him no, the plastics we use and the tools we mold plastic with won't hold that kind of detail. McFarlane wasn't satisfied with those answers, so he formed his own toy company, hired sculptors to sculpt detailed two-ups and found factories that would cut the kinds of tools he wanted. When McFarlane proved it could be done the rest of the toy industry followed. I think children of today have much greater comprehension tools at their disposal than previous generations to understand complex mechanisms and patterns. And I think the parents and teachers of todays children are better equipped to answer children's questions about how things work than their own teachers were. Setting all that aside, the problem with toys being more expensive has less to do with the toys themselves than it has to do with stagnant wage growth and rampant price hikes behind a catch-all "inflation" smokescreen, but I know this isn't the kind of channel that discusses the financial state of western society.

[@MrKroogur]

In 1984 a Masters of the Universe figure cost $4.99 and in 2023 it costs $17.99 at my local wal-mart. Ouch!

[@paluxyl.8682]

You should not forget that back in the days that $4.99 was much more worth . At the end of the days are $5 from the 80s equal like nowadays $18. I think it was 6 months ago that I have seen a video in that the youtuber has used a calculator to see how much the prices from old catalogs would be nowadays , the shocking results was that not much has changed.

[@acem7749]

People always forget about the average wage for the year, my parents made around 50k in the 80s that was considered great money.

[@MrKroogur]

@@acem7749 I think it also depends on where one comes from, I grew up in an economically depressed neighborhood the steel industry collapsed no one had any meaningful jobs and if you even had a car you were considered well to do. I had a crappy fast food job but also still liked comic books, collecting figures etc even though I was "too old" for that stuff but $4.99 was not too bad and I learned to be frugal with certain things so I could afford to treat myself every now and again. So looking at it through my old eyes and my learned cheapness when I remember paying a fiver for a figure and see basically the same thing on the shelf in 2023 for nearly $20 it is definitely sticker shock. But i get what you're saying. 🙂

[@mikeisernie]

Books used to be simpler? Woof....that's an odd take

[@roberth.9664]

I do always want to see toys have as much play value as possible and would have no problem with that becoming more of a focus again in modern toy lines.

[@rogeriopenna9014]

Not so sure toys were made to last. The amount of broken thumbs in my GiJoe figures said otherwise.

[@rodrickadamginsburg8960]

The out of control inflation cannot be ignored though as part of the reason ….

[@rodrickadamginsburg8960]

Good morning everyone

[@flybrewsterfly]

"Jon Buongioni"

[@V1C10US]

Progress

[@x_ghost_x6612]

Nah its about Greed! Make it cheap, sell it for more. Look at the trash Transformers line and they are basically hollowed out. But its for the kids... ya and it was for the kids long time ago and it was better made.

[@acem7749]

Kids need to be kids, biggest worry a few gen ago was growing up too fast dressing more mature than they should for the age. Now they push gender politics on them when they still dont understand them selves or the world.. world is getting twisted...

[@Christian_Ada1]

Toys are no longer a child’s hobby you of all people should know that With PlayStation and tablets children are playing games online. Heck they’re no longer even playing stick ball outside or even baseball games themselves that’s why obesity has grown exponentially within the last couple of decades in America. So toys are an adult hobby now because we’re trying to get that nostalgic feeling of when we were children and there were no tablets or video game council like PlayStation

[@trionnemesisrr1725]

The reason why toys are getying expensive because I blame it on the parents and COVID pandemic. Thanks to the COVID Pandemic and parents still working they uave to gibe their kids a literal IPad to look after them rather than buy toys and hire a babysitter.

[@GundamWarrior1]

Corporate greed......moving on.

[@rogeriopenna9014]

I found a Brazilian toys folder from 1987 from a department store. A Playmobil car would cost 550 cruzeiros. A Gi Joe Apache type helicopter cost 720 cruzeiros. I used an online calculator to update those prices to 2024 reais values. 126 and 160 reais. A similar Playmobil car however cost 600 reais. And a similar helicopter to those Gi Joe would cost (there is nothing similar and size and realism nowadays, imho) some 800 reais

[@bobastu]

Marvel Legends is NOT an adult collector toy!!!

[@2D_Memory]

I have actually either sold or packed up my realistic or complicated figures based on the idea that an action figure should look like a toy. They should be a little imperfect, archaic, cartoonish and limited. I was right into the NECA movie line figures, until I realised they were just little statues and lacked any 'fun' type elements. Don't get me wrong they look amazing on display but they don't feel or look like a toy and that's what I got into this whole thing for. Mattel's origins line is near perfect, the figures are over the top, colourful and sometimes just plain ugly, while the packaging and art is beautiful and outlandish. For me the guys that get this idea is Super 7, I mean apart from some obvious issues (QA problems, pricing etc) they nail the sculpts and the feel of something being a toy. The ReAction figures are a great example of this, they look like toys and have a great collector feel, I just wish they were a little cheaper. In the end, everybody collects what they find appealing or love, but this is how I look at it.

[@rodrickadamginsburg8960]

Brandon 😙

[@trialsandtribulations7181]

This video seems a bit disingenuous. He's comparing toddler toys with toys for older children. That's like saying kids should just play with Duplo and not grow to play with Lego or Technix. Unarticulated slug figures are great for toddlers still learning the difference between round and square holes. It's only natural for toys to grow in complexity as the child's play grows in complexity. Complex toys were introduced in the 80s with GI Joe and Transformers. After those two lines there wasn't much reason to buy 5 poa figures. There's not much reason to go backwards after all these years.

[@Fenris30]

Yeah well if people like you Marketing and Brand manager types wouldn't have effectively brainwashed us adult collectors as impressionable children going after bigger sales we wouldn't be having these problems now would we? You reap what you sow.

[@mrburns366]

Like every other corporations, They charge so much money because THEY CAN. If complexity was the reason, reissues of simpler toys would be cheaper. They arent

[@mrburns366]

It's ridiculous that a chinese KO toys costs $50-100 or more and genuine toys are $200-1000 and UP. Insanity 😊

[@user-nb6hz4ye3z]

Actually Chinese knockoffs cost less than that I got a KO SHF Jiraiya for 28 bucks