I'm by no means a expert but have produce products in Mass to Target, Kmart Homedepot etc but also made smaller items. I'm just one small piece that fits into a much larger picture
1) Shouldn't the same costs affect other collectibles, for instance diecasts toys as in the melting/molding of zinc? Yes it does affect other collectibles and all prices have gone up over time you probably just didn't notice. But not all retailers are equal some buy very small QTY maybe a case or two so their prices are always reflected. Melting of metal and oil does not really has anything to do with each other except that oil powers the machines. Oil is an acutal raw material of plastic...by the way look certain precious metal you can see a dramtic increase in prices. 1 ton of aluminum and 1 ton of steel is very close in price now. China is consuming so much and in return to produce products for the world the prices will only go up since raw material is not infinite
2) Is diecast that much more difficult to integrate into designs and is it more expensive than say the plastics, PVC, or whatever special plastic Yamato plans on using? No it's not but it's alot more expensive than plastic. Look it up people sell by the TON prices vary from country to country.
3) There are other similar sized JP toy companies out there like Aoshima, CMS, Max Factory, etc.. with more obscure licenses yet they manage to keep their diecast and non diecast toys at mostly manageable prices. How is this possible? You ansewered your own question they are obscure license with limited fan base and cannot withdstand the test of time like Macross as a brand which has worldwide fans that spans 20 + years
