TEEBO1979 said:
I think the way Hasbro has handled this for its international buyers is disgraceful. £640 is a kick in the teeth, when you consider North American buyers got it for $499.99 and I positive that included Shipping. Meaning UK collectors will be paying nearly twice as much.
Will I try and buy one? Maybe still as it is something that will just go up in value.
Agreed, it was an utter disgrace and a shameless declaration of how little the rest of the world matters to Hasbro. However, having said that (and obviously, it in no way excuses it), Hasbro have always ripped off the UK market with their pricing. I can't speak for the rest of the world, but the usual way they rip us off here is to make a straight dollar to pound conversion on their products, so $39.99 becomes £39.99 :-(, and it's been like that for the lifetime of the modern line.
I did notice that the eBay Khetannas are shipping from California, so Hasbro clearly made no effort at all to have some sent from China direct to Europe, and considering the extra ~1,000 Khetannas are supposedly NOT for the North American market, and that therefore presumably a large percentage of them will be sold to European buyers, you do have to wonder why they did that. Again, it's just another slap in the face for non-US collectors.
The real kick in the teeth is that the Khetanna is so damn good that if you want one, you're forced to swallow the asking price, however outrageous, or go without :-(