Snake45 Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 I've been hearing reports that due to the pandemic and other factors, a number of raw materials--steel, lumber, packaging materials, and many others--are in short supply and this is expected to get worse before it gets better. One of the things in tighter supply is petroleum, from which our beloved styrene is made. Hasbro has already announced price increases on plastic toys due to the current and expected shortages. You can confirm this yourself by googling Hasbro price increase. Here's a quote from one such story: “Hasbro Inc (HAS.O) said on Tuesday it would raise prices of toys and games to counter higher raw material costs as the company sees surging demand for its Nerf blasters and board games from families spending more time at home. “Freight and input cost increases have become more pronounced over the past several months, and we have plans in place to help mitigate those costs, including price increases for the second half of the year,” Hasbro Chief Financial Officer Deborah Thomas said. The toymaker, like most U.S. manufacturers, has had to contend with rising resin, packaging and metal prices, as well as soaring transportation costs due to high demand and supply disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. I'm sure our kitmakers will feel these pressures as well, and I foresee that prices will rise and supplies could be short. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to buy any current kit(s) you've been wanting NOW--who knows what prices will be in a few months, or if you'll be able to get what you want at all? It's an absolute certainty that nothing's going to get any cheaper in the foreseeable future. I've already made a couple purchases because of this, and will probably make a few more. Just sumthin' to think about.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plowboy Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 The sky is not falling yet. Even if does, I have plenty to keep me occupied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modlbldr Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 Covid is the excuse companies are using for price increases. I am sure supply has been affected to a degree. But when I'm told that a single sheet of subflooring for my home remodel now costs $98(!!!) I have to cry "foul". And I thought price gouging was supposed to be a criminal act. Later- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 49 minutes ago, Plowboy said: The sky is not falling yet. Even if does, I have plenty to keep me occupied. I know. That's why this thread is titled "Buy It NOW?" instead of "Why Oh Why Didn't I Buy That Kit Last Spring?" Most of us here probably have enough to work on for the rest of our lives. And yet we keep wanting, and buying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1955 Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 1 hour ago, Snake45 said: I've been hearing reports that due to the pandemic and other factors, a number of raw materials--steel, lumber, packaging materials, and many others--are in short supply and this is expected to get worse before it gets better. One of the things in tighter supply is petroleum, from which our beloved styrene is made. Hasbro has already announced price increases on plastic toys due to the current and expected shortages. You can confirm this yourself by googling Hasbro price increase. Here's a quote from one such story: “Hasbro Inc (HAS.O) said on Tuesday it would raise prices of toys and games to counter higher raw material costs as the company sees surging demand for its Nerf blasters and board games from families spending more time at home. “Freight and input cost increases have become more pronounced over the past several months, and we have plans in place to help mitigate those costs, including price increases for the second half of the year,” Hasbro Chief Financial Officer Deborah Thomas said. The toymaker, like most U.S. manufacturers, has had to contend with rising resin, packaging and metal prices, as well as soaring transportation costs due to high demand and supply disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. I'm sure our kitmakers will feel these pressures as well, and I foresee that prices will rise and supplies could be short. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to buy any current kit(s) you've been wanting NOW--who knows what prices will be in a few months, or if you'll be able to get what you want at all? It's an absolute certainty that nothing's going to get any cheaper in the foreseeable future. I've already made a couple purchases because of this, and will probably make a few more. Just sumthin' to think about.... Actually, it is quite the opposite. Petroleum is abundant and there's too much available, much more than the demand for it is. Just last week, CBS News did a story on this, U.S. storage capacity is near it's limit on unwanted petroleum, and the situation was exacerbated by the Saudi decision to increase its crude supply by 2.6 million barrels a day. This has caused a decrease in the cost to make styrene and other plastics. It has also decreased costs of shipping products from China and within the U.S. As the pandemic is now easing up in most areas, more people are going out and spending LESS time at home. Spectators are now allowed into sports venues to watch baseball games where I live. Restaurants are now allowing dine in eating. If Hasbro does raise prices, they can expect a huge sales drop and they will regret their greed and fake alarm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 Huh. I guess the prices on my local gas pumps, which have been rising constantly for the last 3 or 4 months, are lying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 Well with gasoline, it's always... -It's higher because of increased demand (always around a holiday) -It's higher because the refineries are changing from the summer formula to the winter formula -It's higher because the refineries are changing from the winter formula to the summer formula And so on, and so on. Same deal with car insurance: last time I checked, nearly every vehicle was "higher than average". I only spotted a couple that were "average" or "below average". How do you get an average if everything is higher than average? Must be that "new math"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyser Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 We’ve been printing money prodigiously for 2yr now. Irrelevant of use. But that’s inflation. By definition. Each dollar printed makes others worth less. Pandemic and tariffs didn’t help, and shortages not helping either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youpey Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 at this point, most of my kits are older kits from ebay. rarely do i buy brand new kits. if they raise the prices higher, i wont buy anymore. i have more than enough kits to last the rest of my life, literally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plastic trucker Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 The news report last night stated that the price of gas is going up because there is a shortage of tanker drivers. When the drivers got laid off because of the Covid, many of them went to other jobs or retired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyK Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 Mark, you practically said what I always say word for word. The excuses they use for rising gas prices have become stale and they must think we're awfully dumb to continue to believe them but there's nothing we can do. Also, we have the most fuel right here in the US and then we get it from Canada yet they love to throw out another excuse for rising prices because of some unrest or other problem brewing in Saudi Arabia. I'm sure there's more to all of this but I will leave that to people smarter than me. The price of kits keep rising but I still think the price of paint has gone up even worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motor City Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 I heard on a Detroit radio station this morning that with the U.S. green initiative, fuel costs will continue to rise as companies and the government try to get away from fossil fuels by reducing production and consumption. Aside from hydroelectric power, the ultimate goal is wind and solar farms to provide for our energy needs. We all probably heard how well that worked out in Houston several weeks ago! Like it or not, we are headed for an electric car future. Plastics are made with fossil fuels, so I don't see that going away, but plastic prices should be expected to rise. Maybe kits will eventually be made of soybeans such as Henry Ford experimented with decades ago. 🙄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSheep214 Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 And our disgraced NYS governor wants to raise gas tax even more. Petroleum in short supply? Hardly. Corporate greed because they claim there is a shortage. Wow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted May 1, 2021 Author Share Posted May 1, 2021 54 minutes ago, Motor City said: Maybe kits will eventually be made of soybeans such as Henry Ford experimented with decades ago. 🙄 Think they'll warp after a few years like acetate promos? Fortunately most of us here will be long dead by then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 I understood that the oil rigs in the gulf was shut down along with the pipeline. We will be getting more oil from overseas. Lumber is up due to fires 🔥 out wet but if the get a chance to gouge you the always do.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne00 Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 I don't know if the shortages are real or manufactured, but they do exist. The company I work for (steel tubing) gets their raw materials as steel coil. They are having trouble getting certain grades, especially stainless. The company next door (plastic molding, auto headlights) has laid-off half of their work force and the other half is working 3 days one week and 4 the next. Can't get raw materials. A plastic molding company here in town, I haven't seen any cars in it's parking lot for at least 3 weeks. My nephew is an engineer at Honda in Greensburg. He said their having trouble getting parts. The biggest issues are steering wheels, headlights and foam rubber for the seats. That's just 3 counties in southern Indiana. Rog🙃 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89AKurt Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Before COVID, I had determined it was worth getting what I missed out on in my life, one example was getting a Fisher resin B.A.T. which as some know, the guy lost everything in the Paradise fire. I could go political, which obviously has a negative effect, but will leave it there. So get whatever you want NOW, irregardless of factors beyond our control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1930fordpickup Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, Motor City said: Maybe kits will eventually be made of soybeans such as Henry Ford experimented with decades ago. 🙄 I was watching a show about beans the other day. Case International makes the sides of their Combines from Soybeans. I watched the guy drop a 16 pound bowling ball on it. No damage. Maybe we will have no more broken a pillars. 🙂 Edited May 1, 2021 by 1930fordpickup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niteowl7710 Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 (edited) You can have all the gas in the world, but if you don't have anyone to get it from the rack to the station it's pretty useless. There's never really an overall driver shortage, it's a where are they driving shortage. As mentioned a lot of drivers in petroleum, and especially food services were laid off. Those who weren't old enough to retire went to work in other sectors of the industry. Now with travel resuming and restrictions lifting people are using more gas and going out to eat (more or finally depending on where you live) and there's a lack of qualified drivers around to support it. Gas tankers obviously require a Hazmat which most of us who don't need it, dropped it years ago because of the every 4yr song and dance to keep it, and food service is a very physical job tossing 20k lbs of freight every day. The local food service places are in a thermonuclear war with each other to snag what people they can with starting wages substantially higher than other sectors, huge sign on bonuses (which are climbing as high as $10k), Day 1 Benefits, etc. Edited May 1, 2021 by niteowl7710 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 And now a labor shortage. I was just watching the news.. most area companies are offering $15 or more. Valley Forge Casino had a job fair and nobody showed up despite $1500 sign on bonus. At the New Jersey shore one boardwalk company has 1800 summer jobs and only 350 filled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordairgtar Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 As far as gas is concerned, it kind of was a perfect storm this year. Seasonal change of the formulation, Covid, a refinery in Texas being damaged in a storm all contributed to the recent fluctuations in price. Nothing to do with shutting down a pipeline or the party in power. I've noticed in our area two companies are watching each other and setting price accordingly. Jetz, a local company recently bought by an east coast fuel/convenience store, and Kwik Trip, a Wisconsin company with stores in WI, IA (Kwik Star), watch each other and change prices to align themselves to the local market. When KT raises prices, Jetz will follow and the drop in price results in the same. Generally the supplier of the fuel dictates the price and calls the store head office and tells them what the price will be. If I see the high end at these gas stations, I just wait about four days or so and the price will drop about 10 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 There are many people in this country that just will not work. I know some of them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell C Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 4 hours ago, Motor City said: ... Like it or not, we are headed for an electric car future. .... Not if the supply outdistances the demand. That's a rock-bottom principle that many marketeers still fail to grasp. When the overwhelming majority of the public doesn't want something, no amount of marketeering will turn their opinion around. There's only a very limited demand for electric cars now, and no indication of any widespread change in desire for them. I hear some rumblings about states banning the sale of new gas cars - which might not even be a legal thing to do - but if they do, it'll just make the used gas car market more lucrative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stinkybritches Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 6 hours ago, slusher said: There are many people in this country that just will not work. I know some of them... I know a few myself. And getting paid more to stay at home than to work doesn't exactly motivate these people to get a job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Hard to get people to work, when they are being paid so much not to work. For some of those, going back to the regular job would cut into their side hustles... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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