Written by One of the goals of the current U.S. administration is to drive back manufacturing to the United States with the use of import taxes known as tariffs.
However, when it comes to the toy industry, that may never happen (according to Mattel.)
Mattel’s stock has taken a blow since the U.S. Tariffs were announced on the 2nd of April. In response to that stock dropping approximately 19%, Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz spoke with CNBC in regards to Mattel’s path forward through these tumultuous times.
While Mattel plans on reducing their toy manufacturing in China from 40% to less than 25% in the next two years, Mattel still expects to raise prices in the U.S. this year to offset the 145% tariff on Chinese imports.
How much prices will go up for items like “Masters of the Universe’ action figures, we just don’t know…
…but Mattel does not believe the solution for affordable toys will be to manufacture them in the United States if the Chinese tariffs stay permanent. “We don’t see that happening,” Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz said.
“We need to remember that a significant part of toy creation happens in America. Design, development, product engineering, brand management all happens in America.” Ynon Kreiz said “Making product, producing product in other countries, allows us to create quality products at affordable price points.”
We’ll see you next time.
How much would these figures cost if the were made here in the US. 1 dollar more? 5 dollars more? 10 dollars more? All worth it if you ask me.
@caliban Yes, Yes, Yes.
Are there companies that make toys in the United States that can be used for comparison?
Try more then double the cost. Are you ok with paying $50 for a masterverse figure? Im not!
@dman08 Are you OK with slave labor?
@hemanfan51
Do you? Are you here for the purpose of telling the rest of us we support slave labor? No. You buy toys just like the rest of us. Your question is as simple as it is irrelevant to the argument.
@dman08 You know they make decaf right?
@caliban Yes! Yes! Yes!
Tariffs won’t bring manufacturers back to the United States but incentives will. Tax breaks will. Neither are being offered by the current administration. And since so many resources are produced internationally (like plastic and steel from China) those companies/manufacturing jobs are most likely gone forever. Tariffs will only make things worse.
Time to be even more selective in this hobby …
People are living in lala land if they think this is gonna bring back manufacturing back here. Those who actually think that will happen will have a heart attack when they see the prices of that item made here. Those are the same whiners who went crazy when burger flippers wanted a decent wage.
The only good thing that has come out of this crap is knowing who i want to spend my money with. Theres been a few companies that i will not buy from or their products, with them charging extra for “tariffs” for shit that they have had in stock forever. Its just not toy companies doing this shit. Fine, we dont like this but we all understand, charge extra for stuff that will be under these tariffs. Not for shit thats been sitting.
Mondo did it right and explained it easy. Whats in stock= no charge. ALL Preorders before a certain date= no charge. New items/new preorders= an extra charge. Its not that hard to be not be scummy.
Then the other issue is, everyone needs to stick to their guns and when they say, they wont buy anything, DONT BUY ANYTHING. If people go their same way and buy with these charges, and when they tariffs magically go away, do you think these companies are going to lower prices? If they do, not by very much. They will see things did sell at a higher price and keep those high prices.
@banthafett I said this somewhere else but if this is going to cause me to give up collecting then I’m at peace with it. I for one plan on sticking to my guns. $35 for a Funko pop and $45-$50 for origins and Masterverse? Yea that’s a hard no. I will finish VC and then I’m out completely. I have a shit load and honestly really can’t fit much more anyway. Its sad but paying my always increasing taxes and insurance takes priority.
What is a decent wage for burger flippers?
One on which someone who is working 40 hours a week can support themselves.
You’re talking livable wage. Follow this chart for how to pay a burger flipper.
105765600-1551314053703livingwage2019.png
And that is not scaleable. Not all burger flippers work for corporations like McDonalds. Travel across Middle America and you see the small diners, burger shacks, kiosks, and food carts. They won’t be able to afford having an employee and close down. The people who went to trade schools will ask why they are getting the same money as a burger flipper. You subsidize it and the value of the dollar goes down. There are entry level jobs for a reason.
Then let them fail. Business models that require exploitative labor practices in order to function should not exist.
Christ this mess smh
Won’t stop me buy cool stuff; but surely will be much more selective.
And to the subtopic: If someone has to close down if they can’t affort to pay their worker a livable wage they should. I don’t think anyone is talking about a wage that enables to rent a luxury mansion with stables, a pool and to support a family of five.
The notion that anyone who works 40 hours a week at any job should not live at or below the federal poverty level is not radical.
People have to construct a Straw Man, e.g. that unskilled labor should be compensated the same as skilled labor, in order to make it seem so.
Not to mention that compensation across industries is not a pie: the slice of the tradesperson does not have to get smaller so the slice of the quick service restaurant worker can get bigger; the difference is not coming out of his individual pocket.
All jobs are necessary for society to function or they would not exist. And if we want those jobs to be done, then we need to pay people fairly, or they will go undone.
That is a little harsh. My uncle owned a small ice cream shop that employed local school kids and he couldn’t pay much. He didn’t get rich off it but it made him happy and broke his heart when he had to close it.
There will always be some people that come up with “solutions" that have the complexity of an eighth grader’s homework assignment.
Come on man, it should be pretty obvious we are not talking about kids doing some easy free time job to add to their pocket money to get the lastest figure from mattel creations but adult 9-6 jobs 5/6 day a week that need to pay rent, water, power and fill a fridge + maybe feel occasionally like a free human beeing by affording a small leisure luxury every now and then like the lastest album from they favourite band or cool decorative action figures.
We’ve all joke over the years about toys being made by cheap slave labor. My toy collecting has slowed to a crawl these days, so it won’t affect my buying habits either way. Kids seem more interested in video games and their electronic devices these days than toys. My guess is Mattel will just move manufacturing to a different cheap labor country that strikes a deal with the US if China doesn’t.
As much as I would like to see these toys made here in the United States, I just don’t see it happening without severe increases in price.
Building the facilities to handle the amount of product being made is a huge undertaking in itself.
Throw in the cost of living in the U.S., on top of insurance and several benefits that workers in other countries only dream about, and you’ve got a recipe for very expensive toys after hiring the labor needed to keep up with production.
These figures are already getting more expensive by the year, and price hikes due to the tariff war likely means these prices will continue to rise – and very few will come back down.
If every single buyer becomes more selective in their collectibles purchases, then companies will not make enough profit to continue producing toys, thus the worst case scenario could unfold… and let’s face it, toy buyers are getting older already. Many (I still won’t say most) kids are into other things now…. mostly video games and smart devices that let them play with several hundred apps a day.
@ornclown It’s not very engaging, is it? Are we witnessing the imminent demise of this hobby? Until now, I was the kind of adventurous collector who challenged inflated costs just to get the holy grail after a long chase. But facing the reality of eBay, on a daily basis, with manufacturers being directly impacted by these tariffs, is the final straw for me. I’m saddened to acknowledge this. You have no idea how petrified I am thinking about the imminent Motu 200X Mondo. Even though I planned to be picky, the task promises to be unbearable for my budget.
@ornclown The other part aside from the factories, is who in America would want to work for the wages that would keep our action figures and other things that cheap? Surely the dude making a He-Man figure sold for $17 wouldn’t be making that kind of money.
@hachiman Great point, after all, isn’t that why a lot of manufacturing left the US in the first place? People aren’t willing to put up with dead end factory jobs for peanuts like in poorer countries.
@durendal Yep… I mean hell, weekly minimum wage in this country is more than some people make in a year elsewhere…
Maybe this is the detox we all need forced upon us to rid ourselves of our plastic crack addiction. I was starting to feel burnt out even before the unexpected tariffs came about. How many more years of collecting figures are we expected to put up with? I started collecting in a major way in 2010 with Classics, and have been going ever since, with multiple lines and brands. I never thought I’d be doing this for 15 fucking years straight. It’s exhausting. In some ways I feel this hobby has enslaved me, and it takes funding away from other, more important things in life.
@durendal My unsolicited advice is to try and taper down your collecting to what you truly want. I used to be in on a few things, but I came to the conclusion that what I love most and also what started my love of figures was Masters of the Universe. As a result I pretty much only collect Masters of the Universe now as well as metalcore vinyl (but the vinyl takes up almost zero room and is usually only a handful a year). Additionally, I’ve tapered down even further to only look at Mondo MOTU and Tweeterhead MOTU. Had the Masterverse paint apps been more in line with Classics I think I would’ve gotten heavily invested, but luckily for me I wasn’t too into what Mattel is doing. I’m even looking at offloading most of my other collectibles from the past because I don’t have the space to keep pushing forward with MOTU and keep some of these older, less relevant things. Honestly, they’re just sitting there collecting dust. Might as well try to make some money or give them to someone who would get some joy out of them.
There’s been tons of cool products and lines that I’ve passed on because I wasn’t die-hard passionate about them. Space is almost as important as your monetary budget and I like my collection to look classy instead of looking like a hoarders treasure trove. Sometimes I feel silly for being so invested in these hunks of plastic, but I do get a lot of enjoyment from looking at them and holding them. Its like a relic from a bygone era. Kids don’t care about toys anymore and I always think to myself “what would your 7 year old self want you to do" if I’m on the fence about buying something. I think I have a pretty good grip on things (I skipped the Mondo Sky Sled and will be skipping She-Ra 2.0 and Swift Wind) and its nice to be connected to your childhood self, especially with how grim things look on the outside world sometimes.