Hot Toys Value Down the Road

I really enjoy the craftsmanship and quality that Hot Toys puts into its figures and vehicles. I think its clear that the level of artistry has risen to levels never before seen in this field. As I was placing some of the Hot Toys into my glass case, I noticed some of my older vintage stuff like Mego and Super Powers. I then began to wonder if the current collectibles will really accelerate in value as time marches on. Mego and other brands were aimed at the children's market with prices that allowed a parent to purchase these toys for kids to actually play with! As the child grows up, strong nostalgic feelings for a time lost creates a yearning to reacquire those toys. With the price level and targeting of the collector market, I am pretty sure no parent is buying Hot Toys figures for a child's amusement. Thus, the only ones who really are picking up these toys are adults with disposable income (or others going without food and shelter). I am pretty certain the nostalgic factor is eliminated and I know that is what drove me to paying some good money for my older toys.

Vintage Toys will always Fetch more.You're right the Noatalgia factor is what brought most of us to this Hobby.

And then we have between that stuff like Batman figures (Tim Burton movie).
New enough to spawn high quality figures, yet Nostalgic enough to justify purchase.

If they aren't devalued by DX versions (Batman) or if the rubber figures don't deteriorate (Aliens).

forestlite said:

As the child grows up, strong nostalgic feelings for a time lost creates a yearning to reacquire those toys.

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Ha! Some of us never do and never want to, at least in some sense.

Your right, i recently acquired a whole collection of the Adventure People and their playsets from the 70's.
It was a twofold purchase though as it also gives my kids something indestructible to play with and boy those toys were just about bullet proof.

One thing to remember too about vintage figures is not only is nostalgia a factor, but as they really were toys many were damaged, destroyed or lost. With current high-end collectibles the chance of that happening is much lower as people are buying them with the intention of preserving and not damaging them versus kids slamming figures together in a sandbox

I think I went through at least 3 or 4 Kenner ANH Luke figures as a child, damn head always popped off

The value of a figure (appreciation) over time depends on how rare it holds up. Older vintage toys hold great value, not only because they are old but rather that they are a) hard to find and/or b) hard to find in good shape. They were mass produced so they shouldn't appreciate in value but finding them in mint shape is what truly drives the prices up.

You can buy a rare He-man 80's figure for over $100-$200 loose when he's gem mint and complete with everything that came with it. Others can be bought for under $20 (not mint and complete) but they're the same figure right?

Hot Toys on the other hand will appreciate only if a) there is no direct (better) competition and b) they are sold out and nowhere to be found. Also high end figures like Hot Toys tend to be alot more limited compared to something from the 80's. This alone eliminates 10-20 years for their product to appreciate.

I think there is great evidence that these things will hold up in value over the long haul.

galactiboy said:

One thing to remember too about vintage figures is not only is nostalgia a factor, but as they really were toys many were damaged, destroyed or lost. With current high-end collectibles the chance of that happening is much lower as people are buying them with the intention of preserving and not damaging them versus kids slamming figures together in a sandbox

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galactiboy said:

I think I went through at least 3 or 4 Kenner ANH Luke figures as a child, damn head always popped off

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Overall to me it seemed that the toys made back then were much more durable, some more than others. My biggest issue was decals coming off the Mego's and loose joints on the smaller figs.

I say the whole DK line down the road maybe 10-15 years is gonna go for alot of dough probably. The movie being as big as it is and the figures being as nice as they are and all.

HT figures will continue to rise in value if you can prove that the figure wasn't ever owned by P!tu.

xenofreak said:

HT figures will continue to rise in value if you can prove that the figure wasn't ever owned by P!tu.

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I'd say different, he might become famous like Michael Jackson and then you'd be happy to have a figure previously owned by P!tu

I personally don't care if the prices go up or down. Not the reason I bought them. I just love the characters and to have a small one is just fantastic. I just love the details. If given a choice between getting these and the toys that I played with as a child, I would rather have these. I would have killed to have something like this growing up, but then again they wouldn't have survived my childhood.

robbiethepainter said:

I personally don't care if the prices go up or down. Not the reason I bought them.

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It's not the reason I buy them also but it's nice to know that when you buy a $150 + figure that it will at least keep it's value and that it IS worth something. Even though I will most likely never sell them, it's nice to know they are "valuable" as a collector's item. As it stands now HT is killing that aspect in some ways with re-issuing the same damn character over and over again "a la Batman". It's starting to be reported on sites that you can now get the TDK Batman for around $95 as to where I paid $150 not too long ago. HT fails in that department compared to SS as to where I don't see much re-issuing from them even though I think their product is inferior to HT. SS seems to put a limit on their product and then stick to it and move on to something else as far as I can see.

Gates70 said:

It's starting to be reported on sites that you can now get the TDK Batman for around $95....

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Here is one site: https://www.whitewizardtoys.com/hottoysbatmandarkknight12batmanfigure-p-4050.html

That's a deal.

Right now we see alot of demand due to hype which will over time settle down a little. Only diehard fans will continue purchasing them in the long run. I seen the same thing happen years ago with the baseball card
hype of the 80's as an example.

DutchAzlon said:

Right now we see alot of demand due to hype which will over time settle down a little. Only diehard fans will continue purchasing them in the long run. I seen the same thing happen years ago with the baseball card
hype of the 80's as an example.

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I think that's an unfair comparison. "Hype" surrounding a movies tends to stay preserved as long as the movie is good. Interest in baseball waxes and wanes, but interest baseball card collecting has slowed dramatically. Collectors of movie based items tend to stay with it down the line--ask any Trekkie or Star Wars fan.

I think most the HT stuff will retain value, but there are already some obvious pieces that will not fetch more than retail (AVP:R Preds, Terminator: Salvation). For the most part though, I think it's safe to that so far almost everything they've made has been a solid investment. If you care about that sort of thing...