[timeware]

A brief aside, let's keep things civil in this discussion

Who said it wasn’t?

I don't believe for a second he'll secure a trade deal that benefits the average American because despite many of them getting him elected, he's shown he doesn't care about them.

We’ll have to agree to disagree here. Both sides can interpret how one political party doesn’t care about the American People. I can give examples for both parties but we’d be veering from the topic of Tarif’s. I can see how easily this topic can turn into a pissing contest.

[Kingpin]

Who said it wasn’t?

Past experience giving me future insight, like poor Cassandra...

Both sides can interpret how one political party doesn’t care about the American People.

This is not a "both sides" issue, and this topic won't become a political tit-for-tat like we had a couple of weeks back.

I understand that you don't like the criticism of president Trump that you've seen in this topic, I definitely understand that feel the criticism has not been balanced... The problem is that we're not discussing the pros and cons of the Democratic Party and its politicians versus the pros and cons of the Republican Party and its politicians. We are discussing the impact that the actions and policies of the sitting present are having on our fandom (and by loose extension the wider world).

I don't believe this is a two-sided issue (though if it is, the sides are president Trump/America and president Xi/China, not Republican and Democrat). Should a time come where a future Democrat president imposes tariffs with a similar impact on the world, then someone can hold a discussion on comparing president Trump's tariffs with those hypothetical future ones.

President Trump chose to impose these reciprocal tariffs, at a time when many nations have already been struggling to cope with inflation. He put his name and face to the tariffs when he held that press conference at the White House on April 2nd, he has largely stood by them despite the negative impact they've had on the lives of regular people throughout America (and the wider world).
He is responsible for them.
It's not your responsibility to defend him and what he's done.

People are understandably (and I'd argue) justifiably pissed off at what he did, and I think you need to make your peace with that.

In what I feel may add some contextual insight into president Trump's approach/rationale, here's a quote from him from April 30th:

They made a trillion dollars with Biden, a trillion dollars, even a trillion one with Biden, selling us stuff, much of it we don't need. You know, somebody said, 'Oh, the shelves are going to be open.' Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know? And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally. But we're not talking about something that we have to go out of our way. They have ships that are loaded up with stuff, much of which, not all of it, but much of which we don't need.

-Source

Hopefully we'll hear soon from Mondo about what sort of impact the tariffs will have, both on the price front and on the likely delays we're now going to encounter on some (if not all) the figures with the disruption to the supply chains.

[timeware]

While it’s not my responsibility to defend him and what he’s done, I do feel the need there are two parties to blame for the trade war. Yes, Trump started it, i'm not denying that. according to mixed reports Xi has agreed to talks so I’m not jumping on the band wagon until things fall apart, and I’ll eat crow by saying I have faith things will turn out. Summer is around the corner, and guess what makes up most of China’s customer base? That would be Disney and Universal, so don’t bet against Disney having some influence on nudging Xi to the negotiation table.

[mrmichaelt]

The main point is let's get the thread back on topic talking about Mondo Real Ghostbusters figures. Yes, the tariff is something related but it is unnecessary to get into political discussion in this thread and take the discussion off tangent. Bottom line, we shall see what Mondo says what effect the tariff has on these pre-orders and will likely be a case-to-case basis. If discussion keeps drifting too far into politics, we'll start deleting posts. Thanks.

[Chicken, He Clucked]

Fingers crossed we get a Venkman update soon along with dispatch notifications and we at least get that figure at the preorder price.

Hopefully Egon production was also underway.

I’m not hopeful for the remainder. Eg. I can’t stretch another $100 per set.

[zeta otaku]

So, I reached out to Mondo customer support over the weekend and just got this response:
"
Thanks for reaching out. I have not heard any changes for pre orders in regards to the tariff situation. If there are any changes we will send out an email and communication to those affected!

That pre order pack is still expected to ship September. Once shipped you will receive an email with tracking. Thanks for your patience!
"

[Chicken, He Clucked]

That is reassuring but I guess they wouldn’t reveal impending changes in an email query, there would be a wider announcement.

[zeta otaku]

Yeah, that's what I assumed as well and that they're still figuring logistics out internally, but from the sounds of it, neither the Venkman or Spengler pre-orders will be affected by things (at least on the consumer end of things)

[timeware]

The smarter move would be for them to send the announcement through an e-mail rather than risk a bunch of cancellations with a more public announcement. If they charge me an additional 50-100 after paying for the pre-order I'm cancelling my figures. That's assuming anything happens at all though.

[Chicken, He Clucked]

Read a news article that China were ‘washing’ goods through neighbours to avoid tariffs so… great if the supply chain continues to find workarounds.

The smarter move would be for them to send the announcement through an e-mail rather than risk a bunch of cancellations with a more public announcement. If they charge me an additional 50-100 after paying for the pre-order I'm cancelling my figures. That's assuming anything happens at all though.

That wouldn’t be smarter at all, it would make zero difference - the preorders have been made and whether it’s announced or not there would need to be a customer email and the chance of cancellation is exactly the same.

So you support the tariffs but you aren’t willing to pay for them?

[timeware]

I support an even playing field, but I won't be taken advantage of. a 20 dollar increase isn't a deal breaker for me, but 100 dollars added on the price of a two-pack is a bit much. That's the price of a has-lab backing when you think about it.

[910dohead]

I think the purpose of a pre-order, especially in circumstances where you pay up front, grandfathers you into that price point? At least it should. I mean if they were to suddenly tack on any additional fees, that would be very scummy to dump them onto the consumer. I'll let you in on a little industry secret that is very scummy. I'll use Hasbro as the example. When you pre-order something from them thru Haslab and the expected shipping date is a year from the day of your pre-order, your money goes into a bank account that will accrue interest for 12 months or possibly even longer. The $500 collectible that you've bought most likely costs $70 to produce on the high (you can argue that with me too and I will show you many examples of similar items on retail shelves that are more elaborate that cost a lot less. Plastic is still very cheap to produce despite the woes of "rising costs". Predominately China is cheap to produce and probably 65% to 85% is manufactured there.), plus that interest transforms your $500 into a sum for Hasbro's profit margin that's a lot higher than the $500 you initially threw in. "Plastic costs are rising guys, so we've got to raise the price on your action figures. Oh, our reported annual profits for this year? 9 billion. Don't forget to remember that plastic is expensive. Let's go waste our money on failed movies franchises and tv networks". That's just their excuse to cover for their greed. Anyways, the point I am trying to make is that a company like Hasbro can comfortably blanket the tariffs from the consumer. The real question though is will they? I'd like to assume that Mondo handles their business with better care.

In terms of our pre-orders though, I think we will be perfectly fine for what we've already paid for. Going forward with the next waves though could be a whole other story and I don't have any insight into Mondo's day-to-day operations. That CS response sounds promising as long as they don't have to go back on their word. I also don't think they'll be looking at changing plants/warehouses that produce their products. Negotiations are probably happening as we speak between companies and manufacturing plants to amicably iron out the details. Nobody asked for or wants these tariffs. Plus, neither company wants to lose each others business and they'll find a way to try and fan the fart out the window that is Trump and his stupid tariffs. At least hopefully they will. Some products and industries have already closed up shop because demand doesn't meet the supply. That point is that stuff and markets are already greatly being directly affected. I think the action figure/collectibles industry is fine for the time being. Unless we have to stop buying. However, I do think that some companies will adjust/tighten expectations on particular lines which could lead to cancelling lines. With companies being forced to focus more on their bread and butter products and having to trim the fat. That might even flip our decisions on what we buy as well.

If you ask me, I don't think this line will get cancelled, but I think some of the more grandious plans that Mondo might have for the line will get scaled back or axed completely. Ray, Winston and Janine will probably have a price hike (blanketing the costs of the imposed tariffs). Also, consumers are going to feel the pinch because a recession is on its way and they'll probably hold out to get the basic 4 buster sets and Janine but then have to jump ship after that. The figure of Peter Venkman's dad with the black ice and ghost might not be something that enough people can afford to opt into. Now, I hope I am wrong about all of this and the line is successful beyond the orange demons idiocy. Personally, I will ride the wave for as long as I can because these are dream figures. Either way, my fingers are crossed and I think yours are too. I hope we all get what we want out of this wonderful line.

[910dohead]

Well, here's our answer.

[Chicken, He Clucked]

Do we interpret that to mean International orders will ship directly from China to their respective country thus avoiding the tariff surcharge?

They specify U.S. customers…

[Kingpin]

Well, here's our answer.

Thanks for sharing that. If Winston's release is still going ahead this month, then we should find out in a few weeks how much the tariff taxes are going to hit us in the wallet.

Do we interpret that to mean International orders will ship directly from China to their respective country thus avoiding the tariff surcharge?

They specify U.S. customers…

Unfortunately I'd guess the U.K./Europe-destined ones will need to go to a European distribution centre owned/rented by Mondo before they get to our front doors.

[Chicken, He Clucked]

Unfortunately I'd guess the U.K./Europe-destined ones will need to go to a European distribution centre owned/rented by Mondo before they get to our front doors.

But maybe they’ll send them directly to those centres, circumventing the US tariff on those goods?
Wishful thinking but it’s weird they specify US customers rather than all customers? If the products have to go via the US then all orders would incur the surcharge so no need for them to specify.

[Kingpin]

I can but dream... Not that I want our American cousins to have to endure this rash machination.

[Chicken, He Clucked]

I spoke to Mondo customer services.

“The US tariff surcharge is for US customers”

So… I think international customers are spared. We still have customs, vat, import tax etc so were paying through the nose for these anyway. We’ll soon find out I guess, is the next figure expected in June?

[mrmichaelt]

I spoke to Mondo customer services.

“The US tariff surcharge is for US customers”

So… I think international customers are spared. We still have customs, vat, import tax etc so were paying through the nose for these anyway. We’ll soon find out I guess, is the next figure expected in June?

If they maintain their plan of every 4 months, then yes, the next pre-order should be in June.

[910dohead]

I've been sitting here bothered by this and I think I might be done with this line already? It was already too expensive and now its gone beyond ridiculous. The tariffs are at 145% for Chinese goods like action figures. I paid $218 for the last 2-pack from Mondo. These figures are going to be just shy of an additional $100 to get. Winston and Ray with their ghost counterparts are going to have a combined cost of $630! That's if Mondo doesn't raise prices or if emperor cheeto doesn't raise the tariffs. Hasbro has already come out and said they'll raise prices. I just wish we could've got these a year earlier before this mess.

I want to say that I will wait until I have Peter and Samhain in hand before I decide, but it's really going to be hard for me to place the next pre-order if it's $316. This is the crappiest timing for all of this. Is there some sort of life hack where a UK friend can buy these and ship them to us while skipping the tariff fees altogether?

[timeware]

I would imagine that AJ will stock some on the site when they come available. They may or may not be a bit more expensive but sadly there's going to be scalpers in UK wanting to make a quick buck off us. Should talks go well over the weekend the Tarriff's will go down. Worst case scenario is Emperor asshole (XI) makes empty promises and decides to wait Trump out for the next 4 years resulting in another Tarriff hike.

[Kingpin]

I'll repeat my esteemed colleague's earlier remarks about avoiding going off onto tangents of a political nature. If Trump and Xi have to be invoked, I would strongly urge they be referred by their official names and titles.

AJ is an American citizen and resides in the United States, so he'll be hit by the tariffs like most other residents. While he had been planning tostock the single packs of the figures, that was before Trump announced his tariffs. We'll have to see how the trade negotiations go as to whether AJ's plan for the figures remains intact.

[Chicken, He Clucked]

sadly there's going to be scalpers in UK wanting to make a quick buck off us.

China… the UK… such a terribly weak country that everyone else is taking advantage. [/s]

You have literally zero evidence for this. And folks in the UK are paying significantly more to import these figures. Maybe look inward, timeware.

[timeware]

Zero evidence of scalpers? Every time there's a new Ghostbusters product released there's always someone selling it for high amounts. It's happened every time with Hasbro backings, cereal, ecto-cooler, what makes you think it will be different with the Mondo figures? There are already scalpers on e-bay.

[Kingpin]

While there will always be scalpers looking to profit off of various items and collectibles, no evidence has been presented in this topic of U.K.-based scalpers looking to sell the Mondo figures to fans based in America. After a brief look at eBay, the only revealed resale listings were from sellers in Turlock, California and Columbus, Georgia.

Let's get back on topic, please.

[timeware]

I'm basing my assumption off a general search of Mondo. There are some very overpriced figures of what's already available. Americans do have the option of purchasing goods from Ebay UK even if scalpers aren't directly selling them to us. I guess it depends on if you want to pay the exchange rate on top of Tariffs.

[mrmichaelt]

I don't know if it's the case of all Mondo figures, but they eventually end up for sale on online retailers like Big Bad Toy Store as well.

[910dohead]

Well, there is some good news for the next Mondo pre-order. From what i've just read, both China and the US have temporarily relented on the tariffs for the next 90 days; bringing them down 115% depending on the area. While there are tariffs still in effect, but only up to 30% (I guess goods from Beijing are only 10%). If this info is accurate, we just dodged having to pay an additional $100 on the 2 pack.

I don't know if it's the case of all Mondo figures, but they eventually end up for sale on online retailers like Big Bad Toy Store as well.

I did get an email from them too. BBTS stated that they'll absorb some of the cost of the tariffs but only to some extent. They will also have to pass along the costs of the tariffs to the consumers.

[Kingpin]

If this info is accurate, we just dodged having to pay an additional $100 on the 2 pack.

On Winston, at any rate. We'll have to see if a deal is struck and has held by August 10th.
It's not that I want to be pessimistic, it's just that we live in very uncertain and unpredictable times.

[timeware]

Best case scenario is the Tarriff's hold after August and we see another percentage taken off. We'll get the next round of figures cheaper.