>>11617985The reason 1:18 isn't produced as much anymore is because companies want $27 instead of $17.
If you can only buy one figure, they'd rather you buy the more expensive option. It's why Hasbro sabotaged their 1:18 Marvel line by cutting back on articulation and keeping the $11 price tag while 1:12 was 19.99. It's why they no longer produce 1:18 GI Joes and prevent Hiya from releasing their 1:18 GI Joes in the United States.
>cost saving is not proportionateYou're right, it's not proportiional, hence the savings for 1:18 scale being more than 30%. MLs and Black series figures were $19.99 when GI Joes, Star Wars, and MU figures in 1:18 were $9.99 (50%). Before that, MLs were 15.99 when GI Joes, Star Wars and MU figures were 7.99 (50%). And before that, GI Joes and STar Wars figures were 5.99 when ML figures were $12.99 (>50%).
Of course, GI Joes and MU figures didn't have double jointed elbows and the GI Joe line was missing thigh swivels, but GI Joes generally came with a shit ton of accessories.
Currently, Hiya makes 1:18 lines and they cost $25-28, while their 1:12 lines cost $50-100.
Jazwares makes 1:18 figures for 11.99 and 1:12 for 19.99
Larger scales cost more to produce since their price points correlate higher than their (2d) size, since volume actually increases much more than just 4" and 6" denotes. So they need to drill out much more space out of the steel molds, fit fewer pieces per mold, and use more plastic. See pic for a very simple visual explanation.
Do note that this also affects shipping prices, since now you can't fit as many figures into the same amount of space proportionately.
BTW, if you didn't know, when they cut molds, volume and time is very much the cost factors. The more time it takes and the more you need to cut out, the more their tools wear out. This is why molds can be as cheap as $5000 and go all the way up to $50,000 even though they're cut from the same sized hunk of steel
