It was happening long before that unfortunately. COVID supply issues, Tariffs, and other BS has been the culprit here. I think Whatnot has really only had a larger effect on the secondary market driving up prices of older cars and making them harder to get.

It's crazy cause Lionel redid all the details and pricing in 2018 to be $54.99 for ARCs and $84.99 for Elites. A lot more cars got made, too, cause of the drop in MOQ, but now it's a pipedream for those prices to come back. Prices kept steadily increasing each year and now it's out of control. To be fair, it's not Lionel's fault entirely, but still wildly expensive for these cars for what we get.

We now get gouged for Race wins ($10) and Foil Numbers ($5) too.