Best buying strategy

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Dirk316

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Hi guys, I'm fairly new to collecting. I paid some good bucks for some old Hot Toys I really wanted off eBay. Now my question is, what is the best strategy to buy new releases?

Do prices fluctuate up/down soon after release, does it depend on popularity, ... Is it best to make an immediate preorder or should I wait until it shows up on eBay/anywhere else?

Much thanks!
 
There isn't any reason to preorder day one anymore. If there is an exclusive it'll hang around for awhile. If there isn't an exclusive, you can usually wait to order until in-hand pics pop up. I usually wait for a $20 coupon from Sideshow for almost every sixth scale figure on their site. There will always be exceptions to the rule due to popularity, odds that another version will be made for the next film, how many versions of the character are already available, etc., but if you read the boards you'll probably have a good idea if the figure will be highly sought after or end up getting a big discount to clear warehouse space.
 
Hi guys, I'm fairly new to collecting. I paid some good bucks for some old Hot Toys I really wanted off eBay. Now my question is, what is the best strategy to buy new releases?

Do prices fluctuate up/down soon after release, does it depend on popularity, ... Is it best to make an immediate preorder or should I wait until it shows up on eBay/anywhere else?

Much thanks!

don't listen to the guy above. it all depends how rare the item is. if it's from a small company that produce very limited or on order basis, your best bet is to preorder because they will sell out as each item is made for order so you end up paying alot of premium on 2nd hand market, for example 1000Toys Synthetic human, how high the price goes depends on the demand & quality of the product.

for Hot Toys it depends on which line, if it's something like Marvel or Ironman that you know they will produce a new version everytime a movie comes out or not, you know the supply will be abundant as such the price won't go up much and sometimes they end up in discount bins. unless it's very limited item like expo exclusive or lucky draw versions.

Good thing about Preorder is most shops offer 5-10% discounts because they don't have to keep stock and worry about not selling, downside is the item might be cold and end up with even bigger discounts but you need to wait at least 6 months.

my observation is, if it's a one time release, even if the item is not popular, as long as it's not bad quality or break up in few years time, the price will start to fall over 6 months to 3 years because lack of demand, however, it's value will start to rise again as they slowly gets sold out, for example Hot Toy's City Hunter (Japanese) once fell to $100 because it lacks accuracy, however now their value has gone way beyond their initial launch price due to less availability, buyers who really want them have no option other than pay for the asking price.

in the end it's all about Supply vs Demand. few things affect the supply, many things affect the Demand.
 
There isn't any reason to preorder day one anymore. If there is an exclusive it'll hang around for awhile. If there isn't an exclusive, you can usually wait to order until in-hand pics pop up. I usually wait for a $20 coupon from Sideshow for almost every sixth scale figure on their site. There will always be exceptions to the rule due to popularity, odds that another version will be made for the next film, how many versions of the character are already available, etc., but if you read the boards you'll probably have a good idea if the figure will be highly sought after or end up getting a big discount to clear warehouse space.

This is correct. Happy to break the tie.

Stuff doesn't sell out like it used to. Besides DP and the new Bats, you'd have a hard time remembering the last PO sell out. You used to have to rush to your computer to get your order in. No more. in fact in most cases your better bet is to wait until it goes up on eBay after SSC gets its batch. Most stuff is usually $10-$25 cheaper than retail.

Also, you can kind of track sales- if the item starts showing up as sold out in various places, you may want to move on it now (like DP and the new bats).

There are some exceptions. And you will find yourself angry for not buying something sooner. But that's the game.

My .02.
 
don't listen to the guy above. it all depends how rare the item is.

Hence my comment about how there are always exceptions to the rule. If you've paid any attention to general HT and SS sixth scale figure releases then you've noticed that it's rare that a figure sells out before it ships--maybe a handful of figures have done that in the last year or so. This applies to the exclusive version of a figure as well as the regular version. Generally, anyone has plenty of time to pick up these figures from a variety of retailers.

Convention or Japanese exclusives and small company releases may differ but they're supposed to because they are almost always more limited so you take a chance waiting to preorder them.
 
Hence my comment about how there are always exceptions to the rule. If you've paid any attention to general HT and SS sixth scale figure releases then you've noticed that it's rare that a figure sells out before it ships--maybe a handful of figures have done that in the last year or so. This applies to the exclusive version of a figure as well as the regular version. Generally, anyone has plenty of time to pick up these figures from a variety of retailers.

Convention or Japanese exclusives and small company releases may differ but they're supposed to because they are almost always more limited so you take a chance waiting to preorder them.

HT & SS yes because everybody knows them and are eyeing on them. There are smaller companies that mass produce however flies under the radar until it gets more exposure on social media and people start to hunt for them. For example VTS Wasteland Ranger is now selling at inflated price despite the mass production from China. and it's price is not gonna fall anytime soon. Same goes for Art Figures Dredd, these aren't your so called small production runs.

The sellers know how good their stuffs are, they won't low ball themselves and rather let their stocks go bit by bit at higher profit margin.
 
HT & SS yes because everybody knows them and are eyeing on them. There are smaller companies that mass produce however flies under the radar until it gets more exposure on social media and people start to hunt for them. For example VTS Wasteland Ranger is now selling at inflated price despite the mass production from China. and it's price is not gonna fall anytime soon. Same goes for Art Figures Dredd, these aren't your so called small production runs.

The sellers know how good their stuffs are, they won't low ball themselves and rather let their stocks go bit by bit at higher profit margin.

Come on, man. You're using unlicensed small run figures that surprised everyone with how good they turned out as an example of how aftermarket proves can go up.
Smaller companies don't produce in the same quantity as HT and SS. There's always a chance those figures will go up in price--if they turn out well--because there aren't as many and they often make figures collectors want that the big boys don't touch. However, the inconsistency of the quality of those figures means there's a higher chance it may turn out to be ****. I have to say, I don't know if I've ever interacted with you before in the forum, but you're reputation is well-deserved. :lol
 
Come on, man. You're using unlicensed small run figures that surprised everyone with how good they turned out as an example of how aftermarket proves can go up.
Smaller companies don't produce in the same quantity as HT and SS. There's always a chance those figures will go up in price--if they turn out well--because there aren't as many and they often make figures collectors want that the big boys don't touch. However, the inconsistency of the quality of those figures means there's a higher chance it may turn out to be ****. I have to say, I don't know if I've ever interacted with you before in the forum, but you're reputation is well-deserved. :lol

VTS, DAM, SS ain't exactly small production run companies. they released more figures than Sideshow & Enterbay in the 1/6 market. they aren't less known too, not as famous as Hot Toys & Sideshow.

Also there are StarAce, ThreeA, ThreeZero, but for some reason ThreeA & ThreeZero products always end up in the discount bin, even Breaking Bad can't save them.

If TC is the type of guy that only purchase Hot Toys & SS, then yes your logic will work out well.
 
I like to pre order personally cause its a little easier with the monthly payments instead of shelling it all out at once.
 
Just buy what you want. Toys aren't investments, and if $50 here and there is an issue, you shouldn't be buying high priced toys.
 
Sounded just like a spoiled brat.
I will agree with the first part of the statement, buy what you want but not as an investment.
That said it doesn't matter if you spend $10 or $1000 if you want and can stay within your budget and what you can afford get it. Its why I love the flex pay option. You can decide what part of your monthly income will go to your hobby.
As far as the Preorder discussion, if it's something you can't go without, preorder. A perfect example is the prime 1 Geralt. Exclusive was gone in 2 hours I believe. And while more may come available nothing wait listed can be flex payed anymore.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
I never got into this hobby to make money, in fact I've spent lots over the years. If I sold all my collection off I might be able to break even on what I paid. I just buy the figs I like, some make money, some lose. Its impossible to know which figs are gonna be sought after. One of my best buys was Enterbay Leon, got him for about £100. Could probably treble my money on him now. Oh & HT Harvey Dent, got him for about £85. He goes for a lot now.
 
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