I can totally relate to the frustration of many on this board about the difficulty in getting ahold of Busou Shinki figures lately. When I started collecting these figures, I was overwhelmed trying to figure out which of the earlier figures that I wanted while Konami seemed to be releasing new Shinkis left and right. I stopped collecting them for half a year, just after Konami released their latest new figures (Wave 10). When I started to collect them again, it seemed that the market was flooded with Shinkis and online stores were shedding their inventories with deep discounts. Plus the dollar was stronger against the Yen at the time and for $60 I could snag 3-4 full figure sets. I got lucky and was able to catch up without spending an arm and a leg to complete this toy line.

Now it seems that it's harder to not only find the older figures but Konami seems to be producing smaller quantities of the newer figures and fewer online stores are carrying them. Add to this some really nice repaints, which end up being store exclusives and it makes them even more expensive. Let's not forget the strength of the Yen gaining ground over the dollar. It just seems lately that it has become more and more difficult for people to afford this line. If you don't pre-order the item, you run the risk of never getting one at a decent price. Then you are stuck with either eBay's high prices or using expensive proxies to get your figures. It also doesn't help that Konami is shooting out at least two figures every month—no chance for the ol' wallet to recuperate. What was once $70-80 dollars for two shinkis plus shipping from Japan is now $20-40 more expensive.

I don't have a solution to this problem since there are so many factors out of our control but the high cost has already limited me from not buying most of the exclusives. Hopefully it won't get to a point where I cannot afford to continue with the standard release figures. Just my 2¢.

IF they're really worth getting , then I'll fork out the money
if theyre not something I want , I really don't mind ditching them (haven't seen anything I don't want)

Benio wrote: Now it seems that it's harder to not only find the older figures but Konami seems to be producing smaller quantities of the newer figures and fewer online stores are carrying them. .

This is my biggest pet peeve with the line right now. There's no reason Altlene should have sold out so fast when other shinkis still have regular stock. She shouldn't have to be an Konamistyle re-release when she was a regular stock item not even a year prior.

The other thing I keep forgetting to take into account is the quality of life v cost of living in Japan. Even their DVDs are more expensive than ours! The strong yen just makes things even worse. ><

Pyaamon wrote:You're not alone in that, Zress. Things are starting to get out of hand now and it's gotten to the point where some of us are no longer sure that we can keep up - or want to.

That being said I don't think Aefils realized everyone was talking about budgetary constraints; the proxy list is the usual reply when someone asks where they can get an exclusive they've seen floating around on other sites.

Correct, thank you. As I often see that people on some sites don't even know what Yokatta is, so I like to try and help spread the word about them because they are one of the best services imo.

Don't get mad people, was just trying to help. Sorry.

It's nice to see others that feel the same as I do. What it comes down to is that the figures are very, very appealing, and very, very expensive. It's all the more frustrating when you add in how difficult it can be to find older figures at a reasonable price nowadays. I also would like to know that the higher prices and less/smaller parts are due to the strength of the yen, and not just because Konami knows people will pay it.

Yeah, I'm not the target audience, but it doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to vent a little, and hope that things get better in the future.

trenner dios wrote:I also would like to know that the higher prices and less/smaller parts are due to the strength of the yen, and not just because Konami knows people will pay it.

My thinking on it (purely speculative of course since I don't work for Konami, nor speak Japanese) is if they are producing fewer figures per release, then the cost to produce them will be higher. If they produced them in larger quantities, they would be less expensive. Just like Hasbro does with Transformers. They make a large number of figures in order to keep the mfg costs down but the collector figures aren't produced in the same quantities so they are more expensive.

are the 2 bike girls exclusives?(im really busy and cant read this entire thread in one sitting, and i have short term memmory)

my problem with the whole japan only shinkis proxys, and japaness websites in genral is that there r all mosty pay pal only wich may not be a problem for some people but my account got hack and it toke a long time to sort out my dad also had a problem with pay pal and some other people i know says it is very unsecured

At the moment, Star, all we have are production art of the bike girls and their names.

Benio wrote:

trenner dios wrote:I also would like to know that the higher prices and less/smaller parts are due to the strength of the yen, and not just because Konami knows people will pay it.

My thinking on it (purely speculative of course since I don't work for Konami, nor speak Japanese) is if they are producing fewer figures per release, then the cost to produce them will be higher. If they produced them in larger quantities, they would be less expensive. Just like Hasbro does with Transformers. They make a large number of figures in order to keep the mfg costs down but the collector figures aren't produced in the same quantities so they are more expensive.

Definitely. I just feel like they could be producing more of most of the waves considering the demand for them. Not a ton more, or anything, but more than they currently do. Lowering the price would also make it easier for them to unload that extra stock. But then again, I'm not a marketing major or anything, so I may not have any clue of what I'm talking about.