With the news, via Amazon, that Deluxe Class Transformers will be going up to $29.99 starting in 2027, someone made this chart comparing the regular MSRP against the US Consumer Price Index, showing what Transformers would cost if they were actually following inflation:
And remember, while all this was happening, the sizes went down and the quality went down.
Fans get defensive when we tell you that Deluxe Class Transformers, that Marvel Legends, that GI Joe Classified, that Star Wars Black Series are $20 toys and you shouldn't pay full price for them, but this shows that we are 100% correct.
Honestly, Transformers used to be underpriced. For $10 you got a roughly 5 inch figure with two modes and completely new tooling, shared with at most a handful of redecos. Like, we revel at a Marvel Legend using a single new part that will only be reused a couple of times but that's the norm for a Transformer.
Deluxes weren't just $10 in 2000, they were $10 when Beast Wars started in 1996. And frankly, they were already a pretty decent deal then. Going fourteen years without a price increase on what was already a good deal was awesome.
But jesus. They really jumped the shark on this one. Shrinkflation is hitting these guys hard. To the point that I really just don't know where the money is going sometimes. Like, take Legacy Armada Megatron. Super simple toy, simpler transformation than a Core Class (not an insult, just a comment relating to the budget). It's the size of a decently sized Voyager, not even a very big one. It's omitted critical gimmicks and accessories, not coming with a single accessory. And somehow it's sold as a Leader.
I genuinely think they sneak ones like these in just to test the waters in between Voyager-sized Leaders that actually seem to use some budgets or include accessories to buff up the price to see what they can get away with.