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DX My X

Armand Sunday, August 30, 2009
Ever heard the term "Milking the cow dry"? It's when you try to squeeze out every dollar and cents from a certain item or brand for all its worth. Seems to be a popular thing nowadays. George Lucas is one of those people who knows how to milk it. His Star Wars franchise spans throughout the entire pop culture. From toys to comics, video games to cartoon series and not to mention the endless merchandises. This has always been a common trait with businesses especially if the property is profitable. Hit the iron when its hot. So with all the milking that's going on around us we the consumers suffer.

I totally understand why companies do this. If there's a profit to be made then why not innit? Its up to us as consumers whether we would want to succumb to their offerings or just stray away. Most of us, me included find it hard to turn a cheek especially when they promise to offer newer and better things to an already existing product. But only if its worth it. Take the new Iphone for instance. I know a lot of Iphone users want to change to the new Iphone S solely because of the functionality and the superiority in comparison to the older Iphone. Its suppose to be a step up and not the other way around.

Like how Sony revealed its new PS3 slim. In my opinion the fatter PS3 is far greater than its slimmer cousin due to the fact that Sony took out some stuff like the USB ports, no media card reader and removed the "install other OS" capability just so it could make it slimmer (I actually have a point to all this so trust me on this one, hehe!)

Now comes to my beloved toy collection. Hot Toys has started this whole DX crap where the figures they produce for this line are suppose to be better than its previously released Movie Masterpiece counterpart. I mean im all for improvement and I wouldn't mind getting it as long as it promises more that its predecessor. Take the Joker for instance. Yes i've preordered him guilty as charge but i PO'ed Joker because its like getting 2 figures in 1. All I need is a nude body and i get 2. Joker in his police disguise + accessories and his classic purple get-up + accessories and a new head. So yeah I think its worth my money.




But what about Batsy over here? An extra head sculpt with interchangible mouth pieces and a sticky bomb gun? Is that it? You expect me to cough out my hard earned cash for that? Ill just wait for some dude to sell it on Ebay thankyouverymuch. The most it'll cost me would probably be around 100 plus maybe 200.




This is ridiculous, too much even. And surprise surprise Hot Toys will be releasing yet another version of Ironman. Battle damaged? Shit I could just give mine to my neighbour's cat and i'll instantly get a battle damaged Ironman. I know as long as there is demand, they will forever be supplying and continue to milk the cow for as long as it can make them money.



But that's my take on the matter. So guys and gals, please leave your comments or thoughts. I'd love to hear what the rest of you think on the matter.

*pictures courtesy of Hot Toys

15 comments:

Joshua said...

i agree with you strongly armand. though i preordered Joker...because i'd love to see joker in a police uniform....bats and ironman are pushing it imho...


i'm waiting to see how mark ii bd turns out...i bet its jsut parts of say mark 2 with liftable faceplate repainted, slightly damanged paint for chestpiece and a crumpled helmet...nothing really new...well we'd see...

and dx bats had better not be fatman.

Little Plastic Man said...

Well...after all it is still a business and for a business to do well is to make $$. I actually did not get the ironman figures but I am really tempted with the battle damaged one. I guess another way to look at it is Hot Toys is giving variety to their customers so if I did not purchase the past figure they will have another chance to get me in with improved figures.

Asrul "iLham" Sany said...

i do aggreed with.
the DX version sometime can be a pain in the ass.
we all bought the normal version from mms series, and the next thing they'll produce DX with fewer accessories. WTF?

Korndamned said...

i'm all for whatever new products there is, man. i mean this is business. a niche market. so, i'm all for it. the products that are "milked" are hot products..... so it is a virtually sold-out product from the start go. these businesses need the upfront money. muahahahaha

desmond said...

The final decision is still up to collectors themselves. Collectors don't have to buy if they don't feel comfortable :P

Razmanshah said...

Well said Armand. Aku pun dah start nyampah HT start produce DX stuff ni. Cam sial. Penat aku beli MMS. Diorg nak milk lembu sampai kering agaknya. Sebabkan aku minat batman terorder DX Batman, joker pass

After this, better for us to wait 1st coz I know sooner or later HT gonna produce DX ver for their upcoming MMS (probably Wolvie & Iron Man 2)

HT, IF YOU'RE READING THIS, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US!!!!

Armand said...

Thanks for the feedback guys. Much appreciated. Yes I do believe at the end of the day its up to us to choose whether we want to purchase the figure or not. But it is rather unfair to us.

For instance, if I were to pass out on Hellboy believing Hot Toys would be making a newer better figure but they end up not producing it. So I missed my chance to get the figure and having said that would have to purchase the figure at a higher price from Ebay just so I could obtain the figure.

I guess you gotta make a judgment call. If the movie which HT holds the license is making big bucks in the box office, you can safely say HT will be making a DX version of it.

Looks like i gotta earn more cash hehe!

Korndamned said...

Let's rob a bank.... hahaha

It is easy to understand why I need to milk the cow dry. Getting the license would cost them a bomb. Might as well try to recoup everything back and then some.

It's all business. In fact, great strategy. Letting the collectors addicted little by little. I'll do so if I'm HT.

By the way, I'm all for battle-damaged everything. hahaha. Long live.

desmond said...

Yes, same here. If I were Hot Toys and I know collectors for sure will buy these series, I will do the same as what HT is currently doing. Afterall, this is business. I don't care whether you need to save up or spend your entire savings. In the end, I know there are lots of collectors will buy my products..

Armand said...

@Cheenang and Desmond

Wah! Spoken like true businessmen, hahahahaha!

The Rebel said...

Wow, Armand! Glad to see u'd received so many responses to your concern! Heheh......

I'd like to echo everyone's sentiments here too! Damn them for keeping us on our toes....the ultimate question now for everyone is "Would there be a DX version......or would it be just an MMS release?"...which is kinda sucks if you ask me.

Like Adrian, I've decided to skip the whole Ironman frenzy too, but the battle-damaged one is terribly tempting!

Korndamned said...

I think it all boils down to licensing. Since I'm getting the license, might as well cleanwipe the whole line. hahaha

Things would be more difficult in the coming years now that Disney buying over Marvel. Probably the licensing would be controlled and things may get more expensive. You know, Disney.....

desmond said...

Ya, if HT got the licence, they will fully utilise it to maximise their profits.

LEon said...

I agree with you Armand. I am waiting for someone to throw out a Joker (i don't need the police uniform and much other accessories) cheap cheap. Chances are the price will go down lower as they are more release like the G1 Optimus Prime at one time selling out so cheap at OG for $39.00. We just have to wait long enough.

I think we make more noise because hot toys are in the price of Hundreds while starwars are in the prices of tens. That's the real different I see.

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