Why are Mattel figures and rings so expensive?

That's why I've opted for basics. I can get more basics compared to the same elite. And their's more selection for basics. I refuse to pay more than 15 bux again for a WWe action figure when I can get it at half the cost

How was Jakks Inferior?

Scale was not important to anyone back when Jakks was making figures. If Jakks HAD made figures to scale then you have a basis for comparison.

The whole "mattel is to scale" arguement is dumb. It's like saying Mattel if better than LJN's because Mattel has articulation. It's true one figure has moveable joints and the other does not. BUT Ljn made the best figure possible, for it's time.

It's like saying a 2013 model car is better than a 1990s car because the newer one has built in navigation. I say to that, well no crap Sherlock. Did it take you long to figure that out? Does that mean that back in 1990 we all went around thinking...... we drive inferior cars cause they dont have all the cool new stuff they'll put in these one day?

And bodytypes? Mattel has few body types as well, they just might have more than Jakks did back in it's day. but still it's all just a matter of creating the body molds. The rest is all just assemble what you already have.

Not painting the back sides of figures? That's fine by me. If Jakks wanted to save a few cents on painting the figures it's cool by me because they gave me an accesory with almost every figure. With mattel its the exact opposite you RARELY get an accessory with a figure, unless you spent upwards of 20 dollars on an elite.

And this is just my opinion, but I feel Jakks spent more on materials, such as plastic, to produce figures. Look at a typical Mattel figure, then look at a typical Jakks figure. Chances are that Jakks figure is bigger and heavier. So unless Mattel is using a more expensive material Jakks out spent them on production. Plus Mattel is a much bigger company than Jakks and in my experience delivering to companys, bigger companys always get a bigger discount on everything as opposed to smaller companys. Again that's all just my thoughts I could be wrong.

Now let me close by saying yes I do like Jakks better than Mattel. BUT I dont hate mattel. I like what they do with some figures. And I like buying them. It's just much harder for me to bring myself around to spending 20 plus dollars on 1 figure so I dont buy nearly as many figures as I use to when Jakks was making them.

I don't mind paying retail, but I refuse to pay online prices for them. An extra couple quid, then I might. But not for pretty much double, no chance.

You missed the point. The point is you can not say one product is better than another just because current industry standards have changed. So if Jakks looks not as good as Mattel to you it's only because industry demands have changed and Mattel is still around to cater to those needs.

The truth to me is that Jakks is a far better company than Mattel when it comes to making wwe toys. Jakks took the concept of makign figures based off of wrestlers of years past, classics/legends, and they created a succesful line. Classics made it all the way through to the end of the wwe contract, 28 waves. Where as Mattel took that same concept, only the concept was already proven to be successful by Jakks, and they flopped. Legends only made it to 6 waves.

Anyway, back to the O.P.

Mattel figures/toys are much more expensive because Mattel has a strangle hold on the toy industry and they lack any serious competion so they charge what they want.

Mattel makes Barbie, Barbie is one of the most expensive dolls you can buy. Why? Cause there is no serious competitor around with the staying power of a Barbie to really make mattel rethink the price point. Same with Hotwheels, There main competition was Matchbox up and until Mattel bought out Matchbox. Now with the wwe figures the only competition was Jakks but Jakks did a wonderfull job of alienating it's customer base and just keeling over and dieing. And so we only have wwe figures made by Mattel, and so we pay twice as much as before. Because there is only 1 company.

Wow. A lit of heated opinions here.

I collected Jakks from Day 1 then stoped around when R3 hit stores. Then I picked up again in 2006 with Classic Deluxe figures.

I am sorry to sound like a spoild brat but the scale issues, especially with DA's, bothered me before Mattel came around. I was happy with the articulation but still bothered by the scale.

As far as the topic being cost. I honestly think Jakks figures would have gone up in price eventually.

Take Classic Deluxe for example. They were $14.99 each back in 2006. Now granted, each came with a RSR ringskirt and a belt with painted detials, but still $14.99 none the less. Even Jakks wasn't perfect with budgeting for these as Undertaker didn't come with a coat.

So when Mattel came onto scene with Elites, and Legends being $14.99 each at the time it wasn't a shock for me. In a way it was an apples for apples comparison. Articulation was the same, but everything else was done better. Granted Legends didn't come with a ringskirt, but they did have some awesome character specific accessories.

DA figures were cheaper than elites, but I'd much rather have a Triple H figure come with an accurate looking sledgehammer, water bottle, and t-shirt as opposed to an oversized looking sledgehammer with a missle launcher gimmick.

I think if Jakks still had the license we would have seen stuff go up eventually. The only reason TNA figures are still at a $10 price point is because they don't include the same accessories DAs did, and WWE is a much bigger name.

One thing I do miss about the Jakks days is that they weren't afraid to make figures of more obscure characters, suited figures were thrown into regular sets, they made managers, every belt was shiney, they made some of the best playsets, and they weren't shy about giving us more than 1 scaled ring.

OK, I had to frown.

I'll answer the sentences I marked.

There isn't really a current industry standard among action figures. Mattel, Jakks, Hasbro or Bandai they all use their own standard.

Jakks blatanly copied an idea from Figures Inc. when they created Classic Superstars.
Mattel kind of failed because they started out with too many lines and a weird choice of legends. However, technically Flashbacks are still Legends.

Yes, Mattel does have somewhat of a stranglehold on the toy industry. As a Matchbox collector it hurts to see how Mattel is killing Matchbox in 2012 in favor of their flagship Hotwheels. Matchbox turns 60 in 2013...

It was WWE who finally kicked out Jakks and reeled in another company, in this case Mattel. Both are still making wrestling figures, so the competition is very much alive.

High detail, and the cost Mattel uses to make and distribute figures.

You say there is no standard yet I see Jakks Abandoned the RA figures in favor of Deluxe (more articulation) Playmates did the Lucha USA figs and those were all deluxe/elite style with plenty of articulation. ToyBiz did the Tna figs in a highly articulated fashion. And Mattel also champions the elite figures way aboce the basics. So if those 4 companys all do Deluxe figures, then yeah, Id say there's def a standard as to how wrestling figures are supposed to be.

I cringe when I hear "High Quality Detail" referring to Mattel figures. To me, what good is collecting a figure that looks just like Heath Slater or Hornswoggle, when you can have a figure that is cheaper and you know well enough that it is Hulk Hogan or Bruno Sammartino? The name value was definitely there with Jakks which made me love the Classics line and I still am having thoughts of going towards just Jakks.

I think it is silly to own figures of people like Akeem, Khali, Kelly, Santino, Hornswoggle, Jinder Mahal, Slater, McIntyre, Zack Ryder because let's face it, these people were and are boring in the ring. Jakks and TNA are hanging in there because let's look at who they have, Jeff Hardy, Austin Aries, RVD, Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Gail Kim, Mickie James, Samoa Joe. Last time I checked, these guys and gals are bad ass and put on great matches!

Yes I know people may say "well what about Tank abbott? what about brooklyn brawler? what about madison rayne? Bezerker? Doink?" That is not the point. My point is, vocal point that got people into the Mattel Legends line were Macho Man, Ricky Steamboat, The Von Erichs, and the hopes for Magnum T.A. Other than that, it was talent people had already that are adjusted to a more realistic counterpart or people that no one will really care to bother in getting.

Same goes for Jakks, I mean, Terry Taylor? Where is Scott Steiner? where is that Jim Cornette? that should have been produced first. The talent and attires that is not as culturally seen are the ones that should ONLY be produced if there is a stability in that line. Which is why Jakks produced those low demanded guys later on.

EX: Daniels is getting made 9 waves later, same for Gail Kim, Aries, etc because they wanted the guys who were noticed the most 2 years on TNA iMPACT! (Shark Boy was in wave 3, there are a few exceptions)

I hope people see where I am coming from with this because I am only directing this from my POV as to why I feel Jakks good.