Betty Debnam’s “The Toy Story” in 1981
You could read dozens of books about toys, scan through hundreds of old magazines, and participate in the sale of toys and games at various toy shows around the world each year to learn about the sales cycle and process of making and selling toys. Or, if you don’t have that kind of time, you could always check out this mini-comic from 1981 and get one of the cleanest and easiest descriptions of the process that I have ever seen. A lot of details are missing, yes, but this is a great intro to the world of making and selling toys and games.
Where’s the panel where they gradually decrease the quality but sell it at the same cost? wokka wokka
@Dan N. – That’s the inflation panel. In a lot of instances, the price tag _looks_ the same over a decade, but reductions in finish quality and materials quality is the only way that a $5 toy remains a $5 toy year after year.
But at least the toy gods see fit to give us a ridiculous missile launcher with every badly articulated Star Wars figure. It’s like the 90s all over again!