Self-Entitled Mother Allegedly Demanded $70 Figurine From Stranger On LRT & Created Drama When Refused

Parenting is hard. No one is going to say it’s not. But just because your circumstances made you a parent and you feel overwhelmed by the new responsibilities doesn’t mean that it makes you more entitled to certain things.

Certainly, it doesn’t mean that you get free shit either. Even more so if that something is important and valuable, and you don’t need that thing.

Which is exactly what a mother allegedly demanded from redditor u/Master_InfernoBrine (MIB) in a scenario he posted on r/EntitledParents.

As of writing, the post has a Platinum award and 3.9k upvotes (which means a lot of people agree with the post la). On the site, there are also non-Singaporean users so MIB had to explain some stuff like MRT/LRT.

Encounter on the LRT

u/Master_InfernoBrine is a huge fan of an anime called Love Live! and ordered a Nendoroid branded figurine of a character in that show. The figurine in question:

Now, at this point, if you’re not familiar, you might be associating that as some cheap cartoon bullshit, but this thing cost S$70 and is limited edition, as production stopped four years ago.

MIB took it to show off to his friends and was on the LRT back home. He admired the figurine on the LRT.

Entitled Mother (EM) and Entitled Kid (EK) were on the same LRT. EK started crying because the LRT was crowded. EM tried to calm EK by giving Oreos (eating is allowed in LRT meh? Or only for strawberries?) and her phone, which EK both threw on the ground.

MIB was watching and felt sorry for EM, until EK saw the figurine, stopped crying and stretched his arms for it. Seeing this, MIB hid the figurine, and EK started whining as MIB kept it.

Unfortunately, EM saw everything and immediately asked about what MIB had kept.

Cover blown, MIB decided he might as well show the figurine. EK stopped crying. Noticing this, EM asked if EK can have it.

Of course, EM doesn’t know the figurine’s value, so MIB said it’s S$70.

Normally this would get reasonable people to stop, but EM had to say the following:

EM: Don’t lie to me. Anyway, just give him for a while only, he won’t break one.

Once again, MIB said no, and added that he waited three weeks, but…

EM: STOP LYING! IS THIS HOW YOU TALK TO YOUR PARENT?

EK started…

…crying.

EM: LOOK WHAT YOU DO! YOU MAKE HIM CRY.

MIB saw there was no reasoning with them here, and decided to leave but EM grabbed his bag.

EM: GIVE MY BOY YOUR TOY NOW!

Not all heroes wear capes

Epic Anime Fan (EAF), a tall girl in Sec 3, which MIB describes as his “hero” and “reminded him of Eli Ayase” because she “took no shit”, sprung into action.

EAF: Let go of him. Now. He’s not lying, the toy really is the price he said it was. It is a limited edition toy, and if your son breaks it, you will have to pay this boy the full money. Judging by how you look, you won’t be able to afford half the price. Now leave MIB alone or I’ll call the police on you.

Stunned and red-faced, EM stormed off the next stop muttering, “Young people these days”.

Aiyo, young parents these days…

EAF and MIB chatted until the next stop, which was less than 30 seconds. EAF was also a Love Live! fan but they didn’t manage to exchange contacts.

Why is Nendoroids expensive?

Nendoroids are figurines created by Good Smile Company, usually of characters from all kinds of fiction, designed with large heads and small bodies to look cute. When I say all fiction, I mean they even have Avengers.

Some parts can be interchanged with other Nendoroids, so you can interchange Nendoroids to get stuff like Elsa in Iron Man suit.

So people buy them because it’s cute, small on the desk, and cheap. Yes, it’s considered cheap for figurines. And to understand why it is expensive, you have to look at figurines as a work of art.

Here are the costs that go into figurines:

1. Licensing fees – popular shows demand higher fees
2. Moulding and tooling – each figurine has at least 10 parts unique to that figure, custom made for each production run
3. Opportunity costs – Figurines only sell when the show is popular, resulting in limited sell life of products
4. Quality control – A good portion of figures made are thrown out if it isn’t perfect. Human touch-ups to hide mould injections and other seam lines are required.
5. Commission – Sculptors need pay too. Duh.

And finally… Figurines are a niche market. Since you’re reading about this, you probably don’t know about it.

It’s not something for the masses, so the prices reflect that.

Add to the fact that the Japanese animation industry is notorious for harsh working conditions and terrible pay, relatively richer fans who want to support other artists’ works are usually quite willing to fork out the money.