If you are an anime fan, and you would like to own some of the figures and figurines of characters from your favorite anime or mange, then there is a hard reality that you have probably confronted, or will have to confront at some point. That reality is that anime figures are expensive—move expensive than your average action figure produced by a company like Hasbro.

Why is this the case? Why are anime figures on average so much more expensive than Star Wars, Marvel, Transformers, DC, or Fortnite figures? What do anime fans need to deal with such high prices if they want to own a physical representation of their favorite character.

The reason why anime figures are so expensive is not so cut and dry; however, there are few explanations that stand out.

Licensing

I’m jumping right into the meat of this. Licensing is one of the big reasons why anime figures have those hefty price tags. A toy manufacturing company cannot just make any character from any franchise that they want. They need to get permission from the Anime production companies to do it first, even if there is high demand for them to make a particular character. Producing a figure of a character without getting permission to do so will likely result in them being sued for copyright infringement.

To put it simply, this process and the licensing fees are expensive. While exact numbers are difficult to obtain, this may put things into perspective: merchandise is the highest source of revenue for anime according to AJA’s 2019 report. Even back in the days of Astro Boy, merchandise (including figures) was a big way in which money is made on anime. That being the case, it is no wonder why the licensing process is as expensive as it is.

Consider this, if anime production companies are making a good chunk of money from merch sales, well, it only stands to reason that the prices of figures will be high. It’s not just the anime production companies that need to profit from these figures after all. Toy manufacturers need to make a profit as well and anime figures are not produce in mass the same way typical Transformers or Star Wars figures are (more on this later).

Materials and Production

When it comes to the production of anime figures and figurines, the production process is likely similar to the production of action figures—I have a whole article dedicated to this here. To summarize, the steps to making these figures will go something like this: permissions, planning, design, prototyping, manufacturing, and then marketing.

This is not a post about how anime figures are made; however, it’s important to note that quality assurance is huge when it comes to anime figures. Therefore, the processes of making these figures are rigorous and attention to detail and achieving accuracy is huge. To shine a light on how important this part of the process is, read this article to get an idea of how anime figures have improved over the years.

If you want more evidence of how figures made by anime figure company are of higher quality, just look at the Tracer figure produced by Good Smile compared to the one produced by Hasbro. I don’t need to break down why the Good Smile figure is better, because its self-evident. The mold, the colors, and painting is just superior in every way.

Yes, I know Overwatch is not an anime; however, Good Smile puts the same effort into their Overwatch figures as they do all of their other figures—many of which are related to various anime.

Supply and Demand

Anime figures would not be as expensive as they are if there were not enough people out there who are willing to pay those prices for the figures. When it comes to  anime figures, mass appeal is not necessary to make a profit. As with anything, there just needs to be enough dedicated people out there—the rest don’t matter.

Even though it is relatively popular, anime is still not mainstream enough for there to be anime figures on the shelves of Wal-Mart and Target across the world. It would be a waste of money to produce that many. A limited number of these figures are made, and once that figure is done being produced, it is unlikely it will ever be produced again. So, there are a limited number of these things, and a dedicated group of people who will buy them. This creates the perfect environment for elevated prices to be justified.

Distribution

Many anime figures are not distributed in the West. Some are only distributed in Japan and maybe South East Asian countries. If you lived in one of these countries, those figures could be significantly cheaper—sometimes half the price.

If you purchase a figure from Japan or another foreign country, the cost of international shipping is going to increase the amount you will pay for that figure. Also, tariffs may have an impact on the price.

Even if you purchase the figure from someone within your country from a site like eBay, you will still be paying more than you would if you lived in Japan. The eBay seller likely paid a lot for international shipping for that anime figure and is going to factor that in when reselling the figure to you.

Conclusion

Supply and demand, the quantity and quality of the figures, licensing, and distribution are all major factors in determining the price of anime figures/figurines. In a nutshell, that sums things up. It’s difficult to determine the costs of licensing as most of those conversations take place “behind closed doors” and we are not privy to that information.

If you would like more information on the process of making anime figures, I recommend checking out part 1 and part 2 of Solaris Japan’s post on why anime figures are so expensive. If you are interested in getting more into the weeds about how these figures are made, this may be worth your time. Otherwise, hopefully you now have a better understanding of why anime figures are as expensive as they are.

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