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Hot Wheels are one of the most inflation-proof toys in American history

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Re: Hot Wheels are one of the most inflation-proof toys in American history

#11

Post by ggm »

jacurtis wrote: post #10

Can't say the same about LEGOs. The LEGO company just raised prices 10-25% across the board. Glad to see Hot Wheels resisting the temptation to gouge customers and stay timeless. Top-selling LEGO sets (those between $20 - $70) got hit the hardest with inflation this year. Looking at the newly released sets coming out Jan 1st, there are several new sets priced at $30 that would have previously been $20, so you could a…

I'm here to remind everyone the plural of Lego is Lego. That aside yes, Lego is ruinously expensive and appears to increase above inflation since it stopped being about blocks (the 60s)

Re: Hot Wheels are one of the most inflation-proof toys in American history

#12

Post by ggm »

SeanLuke wrote: post #6

An entire story lionizing Hot Wheels as historic and seminal and without once noting that the entire brand was created as a cheaper and lower quality knockoff of Matchbox, founded 15 years earlier.

Matchbox Rock. Boxed matchbox are immensely valuable. None of my Matchbox or Corgi or Britains are boxed, all bear the proud scars of the sandpit and throwing at siblings.

Re: Hot Wheels are one of the most inflation-proof toys in American history

#13

Post by ggm »

russellbeattie wrote: post #8

Experiencing inflation in my lifetime has been interesting. When I was a kid in the 80s, a quarter meant a Hershey's bar or a game of Pac-Man. I remember my dad telling me that when he was a kid, Hershey's were a nickel, and a lot larger. Of course I didn't believe him. Then over the years candy just jumped up in price every decade. 50 cents, then 75, then it stalled at $1 for a long time it seemed, to today's $1.50.…

You have to post the inflationary measure of the nickel at some basis of purchasing parity. I'm not sure either chocolate or arcade games can do it. It's quite likely both have undergone huge expected shifts in the basket of goods informing inflation.

The decline of metal money plays a bit here too. I was really shocked when I realised that the only coins I am using feed meters and buskers. I haven't withdrawn money from an ATM in almost a year. Buskers use stripe. So does the street market for vegetables I use weekly. Even tax avoiding niches are now almost solely online. Swiping for $2 and avoiding any overt tariff and paying $2 in service charges for $20 of trade makes $2 the new 15c

Re: Hot Wheels are one of the most inflation-proof toys in American history

#14

Post by sircastor »

jacurtis wrote: post #10

Can't say the same about LEGOs. The LEGO company just raised prices 10-25% across the board. Glad to see Hot Wheels resisting the temptation to gouge customers and stay timeless. Top-selling LEGO sets (those between $20 - $70) got hit the hardest with inflation this year. Looking at the newly released sets coming out Jan 1st, there are several new sets priced at $30 that would have previously been $20, so you could a…

I don’t want to minimize the work of engineering the product design of Lego sets, but my goodness Lego sets are shockingly expensive for what they are. It feels to me like they should be 50% or less the price they tend to retail at - it’s not hard to understand why the Chinese knock-off sets were so popular.

Re: Hot Wheels are one of the most inflation-proof toys in American history

#15

Post by xwdv »

jacurtis wrote: post #10

Can't say the same about LEGOs. The LEGO company just raised prices 10-25% across the board. Glad to see Hot Wheels resisting the temptation to gouge customers and stay timeless. Top-selling LEGO sets (those between $20 - $70) got hit the hardest with inflation this year. Looking at the newly released sets coming out Jan 1st, there are several new sets priced at $30 that would have previously been $20, so you could a…

LEGO can charge this much because it’s one of the rare toys you could actually pass down for many generations. They also have a growing market of adults that are willing to spend a lot more for sets they buy for themselves rather than for some kid.

There is no reason for them to not optimize their prices.

Re: Hot Wheels are one of the most inflation-proof toys in American history

#16

Post by tablespoon »

monero-xmr wrote: post #4

We have hot wheels from my brother-in-law’s childhood and the cars made ~30 years ago are much higher quality. All metal, better axels, just feel more hefty. The new ones are mostly plastic and the axels are like cheap paper clips. They weigh significantly less. I see this as an example of “shrinkflation” - ostensibly it’s the same product at the same price, but it’s clear that inflation has caused it to become shitt…

> I see this as an example of “shrinkflation” - ostensibly it’s the same product at the same price, but it’s clear that inflation has caused it to become shittier over time.

Came here to say the same thing, and the trend was even noticeable in the 90s. I can't even imagine how flimsy they must be now -- probably even worse than a 90s cereal box prize car.

Re: Hot Wheels are one of the most inflation-proof toys in American history

#17

Post by tablespoon »

russellbeattie wrote: post #8

Experiencing inflation in my lifetime has been interesting. When I was a kid in the 80s, a quarter meant a Hershey's bar or a game of Pac-Man. I remember my dad telling me that when he was a kid, Hershey's were a nickel, and a lot larger. Of course I didn't believe him. Then over the years candy just jumped up in price every decade. 50 cents, then 75, then it stalled at $1 for a long time it seemed, to today's $1.50.…

> I remember my dad telling me that when he was a kid, Hershey's were a nickel, and a lot larger.

IIRC, for a long time Hershey's always sold a 5¢ candy-bar, and regularly varied the size based on their costs. They even occasionally got larger if their costs dropped. I believe it was some thing about wanting every kid to be able to afford a candy bar.

I think they gave up when the most they could do was a halloween-candy/"fun size" bar.

Re: Hot Wheels are one of the most inflation-proof toys in American history

#18

Post by Fire-Dragon-DoL »

tablespoon wrote: post #16
monero-xmr wrote: post #4

We have hot wheels from my brother-in-law’s childhood and the cars made ~30 years ago are much higher quality. All metal, better axels, just feel more hefty. The new ones are mostly plastic and the axels are like cheap paper clips. They weigh significantly less. I see this as an example of “shrinkflation” - ostensibly it’s the same product at the same price, but it’s clear that inflation has caused it to become shitt…

> I see this as an example of “shrinkflation” - ostensibly it’s the same product at the same price, but it’s clear that inflation has caused it to become shittier over time. Came here to say the same thing, and the trend was even noticeable in the 90s. I can't even imagine how flimsy they must be now -- probably even worse than a 90s cereal box prize car.

This is pretty evident across the board. I loved my toys as a child so i kept a lot of them. Plastic was way better. The one they have now is super shitty. I go to toys r us and I am disappointed constantly. I'm ready to pay a decent price, there is just nothing worth (beside lego probably)

Re: Hot Wheels are one of the most inflation-proof toys in American history

#19

Post by wlesieutre »

jacurtis wrote: post #10

Can't say the same about LEGOs. The LEGO company just raised prices 10-25% across the board. Glad to see Hot Wheels resisting the temptation to gouge customers and stay timeless. Top-selling LEGO sets (those between $20 - $70) got hit the hardest with inflation this year. Looking at the newly released sets coming out Jan 1st, there are several new sets priced at $30 that would have previously been $20, so you could a…

LEGO sets have always been expensive. I remember saving forever for a $60 set with ~360 pieces (6975 Alien Avenger) about 25 years ago.

For a spaceship set today, the same $60 can buy a 412 piece set (75325 Mandalorian Starfighter). And that one has to pay Disney’s license fees.

Re: Hot Wheels are one of the most inflation-proof toys in American history

#20

Post by dangus »

sircastor wrote: post #14
jacurtis wrote: post #10

Can't say the same about LEGOs. The LEGO company just raised prices 10-25% across the board. Glad to see Hot Wheels resisting the temptation to gouge customers and stay timeless. Top-selling LEGO sets (those between $20 - $70) got hit the hardest with inflation this year. Looking at the newly released sets coming out Jan 1st, there are several new sets priced at $30 that would have previously been $20, so you could a…

I don’t want to minimize the work of engineering the product design of Lego sets, but my goodness Lego sets are shockingly expensive for what they are. It feels to me like they should be 50% or less the price they tend to retail at - it’s not hard to understand why the Chinese knock-off sets were so popular.

The knockoff brands have issues fitting together due to lower tolerances and QA issues. [1] [2]

LEGO bricks are built to a completely insane tolerance for a children's toy. 10 micrometers, according to the company.

Have you ever found a single LEGO piece that was defective and didn't fit into another one snugly? I've been playing with them for 25 years and I don't think I've found a single one.

IMO, LEGO is expensive but so is a lot of other stuff. We're in a period of high inflation, and most of us aren't used to that with very low inflation being the norm for the past ~10 years. Chipotle wasn't selling $15 burritos 20 years ago. [3]

On top of that, LEGO exploded in popularity after their licensing deals with names like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Disney, Batman, Mario, Minecraft, and the list goes on and on. LEGO used to be somewhat of a nerdy toy, only for boys, with a very small adult market compared to today. They're just charging what people are more than willing to pay.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/2orjay/why_are_mega_b...

[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/2aj3un/are_legos_real...

[3] https://www.reddit.com/r/Chipotle/comments/t905uc/those_of_u...

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