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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

#71

Post by petodo »

dangus wrote: post #20
sircastor wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I have Lidl model of police station, roughly 1000 pieces and they fit perfectly exactly same as original Lego for like 1/5th of price in discount

so some insane tolerance at Lego sounds to me only like someone trying to justify their purchase

though I recently bought Lego classic sets for my kids and those don't seem to be that overpriced

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

#72

Post by petodo »

Fricken wrote: post #61
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 recall spending $86 on a pair of Gap jeans in 1992. It was a lot of money back then, I was 15 and had no job. Checking out the Gap site, a pair of new Jeans today cost $99 CDN.

Same experience here, back in 90s my decent leather branded sneakers (Adidas/Nike) could cost easily in my country like 1/4th of minimum wage, now you can buy same brands similar quality models for like 1/12th of minimum wage, so these branded sneakers are much more accessible. Let alone novels for kids, noname brands cost maybe 20-30% less, but the difference is actually just few euros so not really worth buying noname for kids.

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

#73

Post by phil21 »

Caldwell-77 wrote: post #30
tablespoon wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

I actually think the cars are still decent quality. I’ve bought a number of them for my 4-year-old son recently, and we have a lot of fun racing and crashing them. They’re holding up well so far after months of daily use. And even if the quality of Hot Wheels has gone down over the years/decades, I think it’s awesome that each car still only costs about $1. I can easily afford to buy one or two cars every time I go t…

> I can easily afford to buy one or two cars every time I go to the grocery store with my son, which makes the shopping experience much more fun for both of us. If the cars were 10x the price, then I couldn’t do that.

This brought back memories for me. As a very young father still starting out in a professional career this was one of the few bright spots of my life back then. Being able to see my son's excitement to go to the store with me every Saturday to choose his new wheels really was a small part in keeping me going.

Very happy to see this "tradition" continuing 20 years later.

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

#74

Post by olivermarks »

Having played with many matchbox, corgi and hot wheels cars last century I was surprised that nowhere was rolling resistance mentioned in the article. Matchbox, who made superb diecast replicas of real vehicles under license didn't roll very well as they were heavy with thick wire axles and a broad tire contact point. The whole point of the cheaply made HotWheels cars was that they had fine wire axles and rolled on a very narrow lip on the plastic wheel/tire, which meant their lack of rolling resistance made them much nimbler. Matchbox cars would barely roll on the plastic track Mattel sold, where the hotwheels cars could loop the loop etc. The hotwheels styling paid homage but rarely royalties to Ed Roth, Gene Winfield, Ed Barris and particularly Bill Cushenberry bubble top creations.

By the 90s they were just cheap poorly designed diecast toys after the huge trend for innovative full size custom show cars waned in the 80's.

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

#75

Post by plaidisdoomed »

nier wrote: post #59
Izkata wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For anyone that wants a direct link to one of these (there's a lot of stuff on that site that doesn't transform), here's a $700 transforming Optimus Prime: https://tfsource.com/transformers-branded-merchandise/optimu...

The still images don’t do that toy enough justice. There’s a review video with Adam Savage, a former designer at Industrial Light & Magic: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ytI929g4puE

Also of mythbusters fame

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

#76

Post by ggm »

bombcar wrote: post #67
ggm wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to know if any non European language pluralises Legos the way American English speakers do. It's possible their linguistic constructs don't invite it. I have no particular issue with either English changing under use, or neologism becoming normalised. In 50 years Legos may be the predominant form. After all, "dove" replaced dived. Linguistically maybe it made more sense? But for now, the Queens English being…

You step on one Lego, you step on two Legos. It’s like Kleenex and kleenecies.

Two bits of lego.

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

#78

Post by hackyhacky »

Izkata wrote: post #52
tablespoon wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You have to buy the collector-targeted stuff, though. The current line is called Legacy. If you are willing to pay, the Masterpiece line is also excellent, and there are fantastic third-party transformers as well: these have lots of metal, ratcheting joints, complex transformations, and usually cost over $100, up to $300. I will plug https://tfsource.com/ Wow, they actually managed to make them look both like the c…

For anyone that wants a direct link to one of these (there's a lot of stuff on that site that doesn't transform), here's a $700 transforming Optimus Prime: https://tfsource.com/transformers-branded-merchandise/optimu...

To be clear: the linked toy is able to transform itself. It is therefore both a toy and a robot, not merely a toy robot.

Most toys on the site are able to be transformed by manual manipulation, which must be learned by the user. For me, that's most of the fun: I enjoy learning the intricacies of each transformation and it's satisfying to move them back and forth between their various modes. Therefore a self-transforming toy, while technically impressive, has little allure for me.

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

#79

Post by Fire-Dragon-DoL »

nier wrote: post #59
Izkata wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For anyone that wants a direct link to one of these (there's a lot of stuff on that site that doesn't transform), here's a $700 transforming Optimus Prime: https://tfsource.com/transformers-branded-merchandise/optimu...

The still images don’t do that toy enough justice. There’s a review video with Adam Savage, a former designer at Industrial Light & Magic: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ytI929g4puE

That one is famous. It's the way to go to kill the fun. Transforming a transformer is the most fun part!
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