>>8588562Yes, market matters, but US and Japanese collector markets are pretty similar, especially when it comes to weeaboo stuff.
Do you really believe that DVD/BD shit costs $80 for only two episodes? Even back in the day, at least when the market was booming, DVDs would cost ~$30 for niche stuff like FLCL (2 or 3 eps per dvd). TV series like Cowboy Bebop were $20-30 for 5 episodes. All these cost that much before they were shown on Cartoon Network. DVDs back then in Japan were $60-$100 still.
When it comes to toys, the markets are also similar. Companies like DCC, Mezco, NECA, etc all sell toys in the mid-tens of thousands (20-60k is the norm). Same shit as Japanese collector companies. NECA doesn't really differentiate their prices no matter how much articulation they have, so their Ktron figures have about as much articulation as a Figuarts but their PRedators don't, despite both costing ~$25.
As for Kamen Rider prices, are you basing that off of preorder/sale prices or their actual MSRP? Most collector toys in the US aren't given a discount in most stores. Same shit with Japenese collector toys. Most stores that are popular on /toy/ are popular because of their discounts, but the vast majority of Japanese collector stores don't readily give discounts. When the rare sales happen (usually for figures not selling well), for both Japanese and American stores, it's off the MSRP. So the price differences are still canyon like.
I know that Japanese collector brands have tried entering the US mass market, but usually not to much success. Barnes and Noble carried DC/Marvel/Harry Potter Figuarts, but they're all $50-100. Only time i saw a Figuarts going for cheap ($30?) was some Dragonball figure at Target, but it was an old re-release, years after its already covered initial release for ~$50.
Figmas were also released in the US, both Target and Gamestop (vaguely remember them at Barnes and Noble too). Still priced between $50-80.