It is, though. Just five years or so ago, a good figure would run you 6k or so, max. There's going to come a point where prices increase so much that it just won't be worth purchasing more than two or three good pieces in a year. Which I'm fine with, but bishoujos are still cheap enough that I can amass a good number of them in a relatively short time. And I do prefer figures of comic characters over most anything else. That's what got me into figure collecting in the first place. You know, thought I'd pick up a bishoujo or two to compliment my comic hobby.
Oh, yeah if we're going 5+ years back, hell yes they were a lot cheaper. But prices have been steadily rising since then, what with the shitty exchange rate of 2011-2012, and then the eventual raising of actual retail prices to make up for the better exchange rate of the past year. It wasn't just a sudden thing they decided to do, although I think right now it's reaching a point where a lot of people are finally saying "it's too much!"
Demand for figures has also gone up a lot over the past few years. People want more variety, more characters, and higher quality sculpts. More fans overseas are collecting, and that impacts what companies try to do, as well. I think a lot of figure makers are pushing the limits of what they can produce and for what price, and I hope soon it will reach a tipping point for a lot of them where figures just aren't selling at their asking price. 3D printing will probably change the market as well, when it becomes a more viable option for consumers in a few years.
I just say, stick to what makes you happy. I think everyone's got those figures that they just
have to have, at almost any price, and then everything else is just "oh I kind of like that." Cutting down on the latter is what I think a lot of people are going to start doing soon, myself included, because things
are getting too expensive.
