That's the source of their problem, over pricing. If Toy's-R-Us doesn't watch it they'll end up with the same fate. Why would I pay $5 more for something from KB or TRU that I could get at Wal-Mart or Target and still have almost enough money left over to buy a figure?

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I had never seen or heard of KayBee toys until '93 or '94, never went into one until 2000 or so, so I have no fond memories of them. Since 2000, I've bought one action figure from them, because the prices were so ridiculously high, even at the outlets.
I stopped at the one (outlet) on the way home from work, and It was pretty empty, but what they did have was some fairly okay stuff, but even at a everything-must-go-even-the furniture sale, the prices were still ridiculous. Case in point: the newest VvV repacks, the new ones that have absolutely no accesories, not even helmets, and the Family Dollar/dollar general VvV repacks on the green cards had stickers on them that said $4.98 on them. My jaw dropped. They were selling this crap for $5 apiece when FD/DG was selling the exact same thing for $2. I looked over at the girl behind the counter and said "you know, even at half this, Family Dollar's price is still fifty cent cheaper." She looked at me wierd, and said "That is the half off price."

?

"That can't be right," I said," these figures are only $2 at Family Dollar and your original price for these was $10?"

She shrugged, and went back to her magazine. I walked out. Doesn't seem like an organization I'll miss.

One thing to remember is that KB is a comparitively small company compared to Wal-Mart, Target, etc. When their order quantities are half or a quarter of the biggies, their prices are going to be higher. TRU is to a certain extent to the same way, though their Babys R Us division is gives them leverege with the toy companies. TRU profits are actually way up right now.

I'll always have fond memories of the KB and Circus World that used to sit at the opposite ends of our mall. Basically the same store (And at the end owned by the same company so it WAS essentially the same store) stockpiled with older than dirt stock thrown everywhere. But once in a while you'd score something really sweet and usually on clearance. It was a sad day when they simultaniously closed.

We haven't had a KB since, except for the outlet that opened in Omaha last year and immediately closed down.

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Of course, I agree with you, but eight dollars higher? for repacks? with no accessories? Seriously, can somone tell me what these retailed for when they were new?

I suspect the girl working there was misinformed or didn't understand what you were getting at. These were $4.98 regular "super value price" price at KB, so at 50% off, they'd be $2.50 with the sale. At least that's how it is at the two KB's I frequent.

The older single packs (which had accessories but were otherwise comparable) used to be $2.00 at Dollar General and Family Dollar, but the current crop (like the KB versions) are now marked at $3.

In other words, while the regular $5 KB price was ridiculous, the 50% off is pretty close to current retail (which admittedly is still a rip off since they are mostly rereleases and come with no accessories).

Hope that helps.

Yeah those figures are $4.98. That's still a little much when it is lower elsewhere and there are no accessories, but that's the price. The girl you talked to probably had no clue and couldn't even tell you about a single product in that store. That in it's self is a major issue with many stores.

IMO, that's one of the main reasons that retails stores are suffering. If you're going to hire people that do not care about their job or the products they are selling, then you are going to have problems. There's some people that work at these stores that are horrible at their jobs and some even troll the internet looking for people talking bad about these stores just so they can report them to the corporate office. They'll look all over the net until they find something. They think they'll look good for or something I guess and it deverts the attention away from the fact that they aren't doing their job. Had you made her scan it for a price check, it would have shown for the correct price. Obviously she wouldn't have cared that it ended up being lower than she thought it was going to be.

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You think that price is bad for the Dollar General Joes?

Try Meijers! $6.99. They want the same price for these old, weaponless, new sculpt joes as the 25th joes.





(Pics taken by GIJoe071681, after pics were taken, the figure was placed back on the rack)

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