What will happen?

Undertaker · Sep 17, 2005

When the final statue has been produced and delivered?
Will prices proceed goin' up?
Will they collapse?
Will they stabilyse?
What are your thoughts on that ?

(perhaps there already is a thread like this, i could'nt find it

)

Secret~Keeper · Sep 17, 2005

The way i see it is as follows:

When Sideshow first began producing the LOTR line, their produce pretty much satisfied customer demand. During 2002 and 2003, the interest in the LOTR sky rocketed due to the release of the Two Towers and The Return of the King. This meant that sideshow increased their production of new pieces (with occassional exceptions) as any business in their situation would.

When the interest in Sideshow pieces increased, it resulted in a massive price rise of the older pieces. This is due to the fact they had sold out from Sideshow and there were no longer enough on the secondary market to satify demand.

Now that the line is about to end, i expect to see the older pieces slowly decilne in price; this will be a result of panic sellling but the tiny edition numbers of some of the pieces will help maintain the market . As for the more recent pices, personally i expect to see a complete collapse in price. Statues like Sauron, King of the Dead, all have very high edition numbers even for the demand that exists to this day. I believe that in a year or so you will find Sauron on the market for $150.00 - $200.00 with no problem.

On the other hand, there may be a general increase in the price of all the statues over the months immediately following the end of the line; however, i believe that if that happens, what i have said in the last paragraph will still ensue.

Gondor59 · Sep 17, 2005

re

I feel that as time passes people will associate these statues with the books more than the movies. If/when that happens you will see many of the statues and busts increase in price and stay there, especially the early, smaller editions. The Lord of the Rings enjoys hundreds of millions of fans around the world. It is unlikely that anyone will ever repeat the quality and attention to detail that these statues posess......ever again. For the Tolkien purest, and lovers of the books......these statues may end up being some of the most sought after collectibles for a long, long time. Just my two cents.

elwood49 · Sep 17, 2005

Secret~Keeper said:
The way i see it is as follows:

When Sideshow first began producing the LOTR line, their produce pretty much satisfied customer demand. During 2002 and 2003, the interest in the LOTR sky rocketed due to the release of the Two Towers and The Return of the King. This meant that sideshow increased their production of new pieces (with occassional exceptions) as any business in their situation would.

When the interest in Sideshow pieces increased, it resulted in a massive price rise of the older pieces. This is due to the fact they had sold out from Sideshow and there were no longer enough on the secondary market to satify demand.

Now that the line is about to end, i expect to see the older pieces slowly decilne in price; this will be a result of panic sellling but the tiny edition numbers of some of the pieces will help maintain the market . As for the more recent pices, personally i expect to see a complete collapse in price. Statues like Sauron, King of the Dead, all have very high edition numbers even for the demand that exists to this day. I believe that in a year or so you will find Sauron on the market for $150.00 - $200.00 with no problem.

On the other hand, there may be a general increase in the price of all the statues over the months immediately following the end of the line; however, i believe that if that happens, what i have said in the last paragraph will still ensue.

I agree with this assessment 100%. I would also add that the truly rare items like the Balrog, Cave Troll, etc. will always be high. The rest will drop in price like a rock. The interest just isn't there anymore.

gtb · Sep 17, 2005

It will not only "always be high"... it will go even higher....

Secret~Keeper · Sep 17, 2005

What you need to understand is that the Collectibles made by Sideshow are movie memorabilia; you can see this by looking at the changes in prices and making a comparison with the release dates of the film. Now that the movies are finished and the line has come to an end, interest will will dramatically fall; collectors will most likely now turn to the narnia and kong lines. Pieces such as the Balrog and Witchking are likely to stay high in price because, as elwood pointed out, they have very such small edition numbers and have gained a certain, 'grandeur'.

All that said, i have no intention of selling any of my pieces. If prices fall, an they will, i'll just be snapping up the staues that so far i've yet to touch; hopefully some of the busts should come down in price quite quickly.

Gondor59 · Sep 17, 2005

Secret~Keeper said:
What you need to understand is that the Collectibles made by Sideshow are movie memorabilia;

All that said, i have no intention of selling any of my pieces. If prices fall, an they will, i'll just be snapping up the staues that so far i've yet to touch; hopefully some of the busts should come down in price quite quickly.

You prove my point, tens if not hundreds of thousands of people feel the same way. I don't see the WETA statues as movie memorabilia, I see them as Tolkien collectables. After these items end up in collector's hands rather than speculator's, you will see prices generally rise.

.....collectors will most likely now turn to the narnia and kong lines.

I don't think there is any comparison,,,, Narnia and Kong are not LOTR.

.......you can see this by looking at the changes in prices and making a comparison with the release dates of the film.

The price dips happen every Summer, a quick trip to Ebay shows the prices steadily rising for many of the WETA statues and busts. Look at the Galadriel Bust and the Merry bust for example. These two are not necessarily the most exciting in the line but they are becoming scarce and prices are rising..but hey, if I'm wrong and prices do fall like a rock...I'll be there to snatch em up....only thing is, there will be many out there looking to do the same.

Secret~Keeper · Sep 17, 2005

Only time will tell :dunno

But, if you intend to sell your collection (which i dont), my advice...sell just after prices go up briefly probably in March next year.

Gondor59 · Sep 17, 2005

Secret~Keeper said:
Only time will tell But, if you intend to sell your collection (which i dont), my advice...sell just after prices go up briefly probably in March next year.

Like you, I'm keeping my stuff (Except for about 30 doubles I'll be selling sometime in the far future). At any rate, it will be fun watching how these items do over the next several years.

FrodoEyes · Sep 17, 2005

Whenever someone asks a question like this, the people who are still looking to complete their collection, in particular grabbing a statue or bust from the FOTR and TTT lines, always say that prices will go down, but people who already have the pieces they need always say the prices will go up!

I think that the unnumbered FOTR pieces will rise in value, the TTT series will stay about the same as they are now, maybe go up a small bit, becuase even though these ones are numbered, they're still a small edition number....the ROTK line will be the easiest lot to get your hands on, and FOTR pieces like Galadriel and Sauron because of the high edition numbers...although people may go after the ROTK line more because that's the film that won 11 oscars...
You need to remember who made these. The people who actually created them for the film, and while that may seem obvious, it will have a huge bearing on the types of prices these things will sell for in the future. As more find their way into permanant collections, they become rarer and so more valuable to people who want them.

Radagaster · Sep 17, 2005

FrodoEyes said:
Whenever someone asks a question like this, the people who are still looking to complete their collection, in particular grabbing a statue or bust from the FOTR and TTT lines, always say that prices will go down, but people who already have the pieces they need always say the prices will go up!

I think that the unnumbered FOTR pieces will rise in value, the TTT series will stay about the same as they are now, maybe go up a small bit, because even though these ones are numbered, they're still a small edition number....the ROTK line will be the easiest lot to get your hands on, and FOTR pieces like Galadriel and Sauron because of the high edition numbers...although people may go after the ROTK line more because that's the film that won 11 oscars...
You need to remember who made these. The people who actually created them for the film, and while that may seem obvious, it will have a huge bearing on the types of prices these things will sell for in the future. As more find their way into permanant collections, they become rarer and so more valuable to people who want them.

FE hit the nail on the head. Two things are going well for this line: First, it's made by the same company who made the movie. Second, it's Tolkien's piece-de-resistance. Personally, I've been a Tolkien fan before the movie came out. All this polystone merely reaffirms my passion in the books.

To the collectors that have them already, I agree that the prices will go up, because even if the demand wanes, more of these items will find their way into the true collector's homes. With that, the balance will be struck.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned here before is that another Tolkien movie still has to be made. WHEN (not if) that gets made, it will bring a resurgence in the demand for the LOTR pieces (particularly anything Bilbo-related). It doesn't matter if the movie comes out in 2010. At that time, like any collectible, prices will climb up.

Tolkien IMHO is in a class of its own. The people who flock to him are IMHO a higher breed of people. As such, all the associated collectibles will only go up in price (because these will be the people who will seek them with deeper pockets). One can't compare Tolkien lore to something like Star Wars, or even Narnia. When the dust settles, Tolkien will still be regarded as the literary genius he is, and the collectibles will be a testament to that genius.

The Dwimmerlaik · Sep 17, 2005

Ebay and the time will decide the destiny of SSW collectibles

The Josh · Sep 17, 2005

I think you will see a drop for a bit then over time everything will rise as there will be less and less of them on the market. I've just today taken myself off the market for one rare piece.

old entish · Sep 17, 2005

I'm still looking for and buying pieces and I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one doing this.As stated before as these pieces continue to find their way into homes like mine(people who will keep them)the prices will rise because of supply and demand.Also if and when The Hobbit is released I feel that there will be a resurgence of these pieces.We will see.

TolkienCollector · Sep 17, 2005

As a very long time Tolkien fan, it makes no odds to me. My greatest hope is that a few of the pieces I don't have and really want will come down for a while, then go back up. That way, I can buy em

Overall, long term, prices will rise. When I look back at some of the stuff I trashed as a kid, and the prices they now command!!! The James Bond Corgi cars, Batmobile and those old A&BC trading cards f'rinstance. I had the Man from UNCLE spy kit with the gun, camera and periscope in a case when it first came out. Destroyed it of course, and now it's worth several hundred £ :google

In say 20 years, people will have given their SSW LOTR stuff to the kids to play with, lost or damaged the boxes. Some will have been broken. A LE of 9,500 is tiny when you consider how many people there are on the planet.

I knew someone back in the seventies, who'd given her record collection to the kids to play with. She had an original copy of The Who's My Generation album. It was scratched, the kids had drawn on the cover and she had no idea what it could have sold for if she'd taken care of it :sick

Trust me, if yr in for the long haul (and I deffo am)................. In time all this SSW stuff will be very valuable.

TC

Deadly Dagger · Sep 18, 2005

TolkienCollector said:
As a very long time Tolkien fan, it makes no odds to me. My greatest hope is that a few of the pieces I don't have and really want will come down for a while, then go back up. That way, I can buy em

Overall, long term, prices will rise. When I look back at some of the stuff I trashed as a kid, and the prices they now command!!! The James Bond Corgi cars, Batmobile and those old A&BC trading cards f'rinstance. I had the Man from UNCLE spy kit with the gun, camera and periscope in a case when it first came out. Destroyed it of course, and now it's worth several hundred £

In say 20 years, people will have given their SSW LOTR stuff to the kids to play with, lost or damaged the boxes. Some will have been broken. A LE of 9,500 is tiny when you consider how many people there are on the planet.

I knew someone back in the seventies, who'd given her record collection to the kids to play with. She had an original copy of The Who's My Generation album. It was scratched, the kids had drawn on the cover and she had no idea what it could have sold for if she'd taken care of it

Trust me, if yr in for the long haul (and I deffo am)................. In time all this SSW stuff will be very valuable.

TC

...ya...look at stretch armstrong and his green monster friend for example...they demand prices over 500 bucks!! :google

Daveyjaro · Sep 18, 2005

It is very difficult to predict, if I had to guess I would say the value will stay the same or go up, not down. :horror

Lynxje · Sep 18, 2005

New pieces (4K and up edition sizes and larger open editions (Babyrog, Legolas, Gandalf G, Arwen) will go down, but older and rarer pieces will continue to rise, just more slowly.

Of course, 5 years ago I invested in 2 companies that went bankrupt, so I 'could' be wrong :banana

FrodoEyes · Sep 18, 2005

Lynxje said:
New pieces (4K and up edition sizes and larger open editions (Babyrog, Legolas, Gandalf G, Arwen) will go down, but older and rarer pieces will continue to rise, just more slowly.

Of course, 5 years ago I invested in 2 companies that went bankrupt, so I 'could' be wrong

I dont know about those ones.....Gandy I think will be very popular, just because he's Gandalf The Grey. When/If the Hobbit is made, Weta - if they do any collectibles - would surely do a GTG statue so who knows what that will do for the value of the LOTR version.....Bilbo from LOTR will still be valuable because he looks older than I guess he would in the hobbit....but these statues are still un-numbered so no-one knows how many there are exactly....so GTG, Legolas, Arwen and Baby Rog could go up, up and away!

Rad, you're absolutely right. Some pieces are like they were just MADE for Tolkien buffs. I must admit I got into LOTR through the films, and when I saw a Stone Trolls statue for sale on Sideshows website (still available to order my god!), I just thought WHY the hell did they make a statue of that?? But since reading the book a number of times and falling in love with that, I have a better understanding of back story and all the nice little nods PJ made to aspects of the book that casual movie goers wouldnt notice, so now for me the Stone Trolls are a prized posession!

What will happen?

Help Support Collector Freaks Forum:

Freakalicious

Just a little freaky

Beacon Keeper

Super Freak

Super Freak

Just a little freaky

Beacon Keeper

Just a little freaky

Beacon Keeper

Super Freak

Trolling the Woods

Super Freak

Ringer @ Heart

Freakzoid

Super Freak

Minister Of Fire

High-King of Gondor

Freaked Out

Super Freak

Similar threads

Join the conversation!

Join today and get all the highlights of this community direct to your inbox. It's FREE!