Force awakens lines: Any long term value in collecting?

[Collectorcol]

When I buy a toy from Walmart (or the British version Asda) aftermarket value is probably the furthest thing from my mind.

He's a new poster, and every body new would have this very question in mind.

 

[koon]

I always think this is what I'm doing,

but my own money...

 

[MNguns]

Why do you care about demand if you didn't buy them for future value or profit?

They're from Battlefront. If you haven't played Battlefront and don't know where the trooper is even from, then maybe you don't want four of this trooper.

Simple. If they are rare and in demand I can use them to barter for a figure I don't have.

 

[Sidewinder]

I don't think the HT figures will really rise in value because there will be more films to come and therefore more figures. We'll get more versions of Kylo, Rey and Finn and there's so many versions of Stormtroopers, I don't think they'll sell out too fast.

 

[aeluna]

Sideshow and Hot Toys are hurting themselves currently and until they understand supply and demand better, very few of these will sustain any value. First off, on some releases both Sideshow and Hot Toys are creating duplicates of the same figure. Not only that, but there are often multiple versions of the same figure with minor changes. They are also producing entirely too many of each figure. The market is completely saturated right now. I would say current prices are above equilibrium and what we're seeing are brand new figures being sold with massive price cuts from 2nd hand sellers. This is going to cause a lot of buyers that would normally pre-order to wait.

 

[darth toffeeman]

Something is only worth what someone wants to pay for said item.

Markets change constantly. In 1980 my brother hunted down his favourite models from his childhood (Dinky planes and Geary Anderson). He bet me £1 when I was 7 that no Star Wars Kenner figure would be worth more than £5 carded in the future. I won the bet.

There where loads of toy dealers back then who saw no value in mass produced Star Wars toys.

Just buy what you like

 

[dan350zr]

Guys I was'nt intending to collect for future value or profit. I was simply wondering "if" there would be any potential value.
I do love this. And I would do it for satisfaction.

I just wanted to know before I start hoarding my basement with a full line.

I'm wondering if I might be more interested in collecting exclusive and variant figures alone.

PS:

Can anyone tell me if that red storm trooper from wal-mart 6" exclusive I got is in any demand. I only ask because I bought 4. If not I would return 3 and use that $ for others.

Thanks again everyone

I didn't read all the posts but I'll give you my 2 cents on the subject.

I don't think there will be any value in the 3.75" and 6" Hasbro or Disney lines of action figures, these are seriously mass produced and relatively cheap price wise for a collector so more people will collect them. IMO, the only line that will go up value wise would be the 12" Hot Toys, less people buy them and once they sell out that's pretty much it, where as Hasbro and Disney will just make more if the demand is there.

That said don't expect Hot Toys figures to sell for several hundred over retail, from my experience popular Hot Toys characters will sell for average around $100-$150 over retail.

The other factor on how much their worth down the road is weather or not you display them or keep them mint in box..


EDIT: read the rest of the messages
I think the ones who berated the original poster secretly go into a room and lock the door so they can play with the action figures with nobody seeing them

 

[Bjjer]

The key with hT is they need to be sealed to retain any value but there is no fun staring at a bunch of shipper boxes. Collecting HT, like most hobbies, is a waste of money but I enjoy it and spend way less than I would if I had a car payment.

 

[JCFETT]

This sort of threads make me really sad...


Are you really just collecting for the sake of investment? If so, there are better forms of investments.

You should just collect because you like something, not because it's worth it.

As for your question, worth is in the eye of the beholder. If you try to sell a $300 doll to a regular person, she'll just laugh at you in the face, and rightly so. Now try to sell the same thing to a fellow collector who missed it for twice the price you bought it and he'll jump in your arms...

My advice? Stock exchange suits you best for investment.

This is like.. a really great post. One of the better posts I've ever read on this forum.

HOWEVER - I use "collecting investment" as my catch line for my wife / friends / family to explain how smart I am to own toys hahahahahahaha. Of course every single figure down to my boba fett slippers is out of the love for it <3

 

[dan350zr]

The key with hT is they need to be sealed to retain any value but there is no fun staring at a bunch of shipper boxes. Collecting HT, like most hobbies, is a waste of money but I enjoy it and spend way less than I would if I had a car payment.

Before I type a response, let me first say I'm always honest with my descriptions of what I sell.... I have a reputation to protect so I don't lie about descriptions of items if their new or used...

That said, there are no factory seals on Hot Toy's products, so as long as you keep them in a clean case environment you can easily put it back in the box and nobody would be the wiser if it's used or mint in box... just saying

 

[Mr Walker]

Repeat after me. Toys are not an investment....

 

[dan350zr]

Repeat after me. Toys are not an investment....

I don't know, I made $200 profit off the Iron Man stealth suit

 

[Bjjer]

I don't know, I made $200 profit off the Iron Man stealth suit

Finding an occasional mark doesn't make his statement any less true.

 

[cmiller99]

Convention exclusives and custom figures can be good investments. But nothing is rock solid in this hobby by any means.

 

[Commtech]

Repeat after me. Toys are not an investment....

I don't know, I made $200 profit off the Iron Man stealth suit

Yeah, what about vintage Star Wars? I bought a couple of moc mexican lili ledy star wars figures in '06 for $600. they are now worth $5,000. The funny thing is I had bought them for pure nostalgia from when I was a kid living in mexico.

 

[Malgus]

Simple. If they are rare and in demand I can use them to barter for a figure I don't have.

What is the difference between this and flipping a figure? Flipping a figure at an inflated price is the same is trading a figure for something that is equal to its inflated value. Stop the bs.