Mattel has to be by far one of the greediest toy makers around. C'mon $70 for a barbie camper car, $167 for the new dream house (which by the way is really cool), $15 for a barbie and anywhere from $150 for a holiday doll. People we are talking about the cost of a childs toy. Does it really cost that much to produce these items? If you ask me Mattel is a big old ripoff wolf!
That's true of most toy makers these days, I think, unless you're buying from a dollar store. The overhead for toys is, in most cases, probably pretty insane, and Mattel is especially bad since they have decades of brand name recognition to justify their high prices. I don't have any kids to buy Barbies for, but I've seen enough second-market knockoff brands that are similar. Do a bit of searching in a thrift store and you can probably find comparable dolls at a much lower price point.
I think I would be disappointed as a child wanting a brand name toy that was being advertised constantly. Yes, competitors may have comparable items but ill be honest they just don't compare. It is sad that they overprice these items. They sell these kids in wanting something of truly no value to fulfill an experience.
I'm not surprised by this, companies are always looking for ways to enrich themselves, so they mark up the prices of their products. So if you want to save money, buy other cheaper toys instead of branded ones. I noticed that the bigger the name of the brand, the more expensive it is.
To be fair, I have come across a lot of their items being sold for cheap as well, especially ones just tied into other brands like megablocks. I once was able to purchase a small box of megablocks that was barbie themed for only around $10 and even though it was a fairly small toy and we finished building it within an hour I still think it was a worthwhile purchase because it was of good quality and my niece and I enjoyed our time building it. I think they have a right to overprice at this point since their brand has been around for so long and their toys are high quality, but I do agree that a lot of their flagship items are overpriced and I also do wish they would just make them more affordable.
Those prices sound insane! Now I can understand paying a little more money for a toy doll to be made to look like your child and even have matching outfits. I think it's cool and might be worth it if the child behaves well and has good grades. I know American girl dolls can be expensive too. Besides, you might as well take that money and get a look a like because years later the child won't remember what brand of toys they got and even of they do hopefully they will out grow wanting baby dolls. Unless of course you are into toy collecting like antiques.
