Thinking about quitting this hobby.

[Lejuan]

^ yeh the prices have gone into a kind of free-fall since DX04. You can still get good money for them, but it's only a matter of time before the next BL figure from either HT or EB prompts another price drop.

The EB BL figures had a lot of cache because EB was the only company doing them high-end. And they held up well for quite a while. But now they're starting to show their age, and unless you want another line to complete, I'd be moving these pretty soon.

 

[Corrose]

at the same time though, aren't we all ALWAYS in some sort of debt? Whether it's school loans, CC bill, car bill, mortgage, business loans. I would say a large % of the population is always in debt in one way or another. The biggest thing is if you are struggling just to make ends meet with said debt. Like you said, if it's stressing you out, then it becomes a problem.

I think its one thing to be in debt over your mortgage, car etc, its another to be in debt over toys and collectibles. I'm not passing judgement because as my post said, it took me 10 years to correct my own mistakes, I just hope others can avoid the headaches I put myself through!

 

[axecutioner18]

I do agree with SAB and Lejuan and being a BL collector myself Ive been on the hunt moreso because of completist value. Im NOT going to pay $600 or $500 for an EtD verA or B, look at the recent sales of Rock83 who sold all his Lees (except maybe FoF) he priced them well and they were gone... He sold Nokia GoD for $250 shipped, EtD A for $350 shipped etc etc

However the_One listed his EtD A for something like $415 WITHOUT shipping and there are no takers... WoTD at $450 has no takers as most of us dont like the sculpt, so those who'll buy only for completist sake may be tempted by $300 or so..

dont get your hopes up, the number of BL collectors is on the rise, but few rather none will pay BIG money for old releases as they are quite assured specially by the newer releases that quality and likeness has increased, and I personally talked to Bill of Enterbay and he said they will be making Big Boss and will remake their older figures again...

HT too havent given up considering their new BL body is still in development and Arnie Kim too told me that HT will make more BL irrespective of what the rumours are in the market...

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

I do agree with SAB and Lejuan and being a BL collector myself Ive been on the hunt moreso because of completist value. Im NOT going to pay $600 or $500 for an EtD verA or B, look at the recent sales of Rock83 who sold all his Lees (except maybe FoF) he priced them well and they were gone... He sold Nokia GoD for $250 shipped, EtD A for $350 shipped etc etc

However the_One listed his EtD A for something like $415 WITHOUT shipping and there are no takers... WoTD at $450 has no takers as most of us dont like the sculpt, so those who'll buy only for completist sake may be tempted by $300 or so..

dont get your hopes up, the number of BL collectors is on the rise, but few rather none will pay BIG money for old releases as they are quite assured specially by the newer releases that quality and likeness has increased, and I personally talked to Bill of Enterbay and he said they will be making Big Boss and will remake their older figures again...

HT too havent given up considering their new BL body is still in development and Arnie Kim too told me that HT will make more BL irrespective of what the rumours are in the market...

Oh fyi Rock let the ETD A go for $315

 

[amusedjester]

In the end, you're the only one who can decide when to stop.

When you no longer enjoy the hobby, it's time to try and think what got you into it in the first place and see if it was still worth it.

As for debts, The good thing about your collection of HT is that you're almost guaranteed to get back what you paid for it. If you didn't customize and damage the products and paid retail.

 

[dino76m]

if money is ur problem , my advice once again , train to be a flipper, , get 2-3 exclusives, sell , put them back into ur hobby...

 

[dragonsleeper]

I'm thinking of stopping as well now with my first baby need to control where my money goes...After nearing a thousand figures, 1/18, 1/12 and 1/6, I don't think its really healthy now. Maybe go cold turkey? Need to start selling stuff I .

I got a lot of pre-orders, some fully paid some not. when they're all finished I'll stop.

 

[DPrime]

You might want to check and follow some listings for the Enterbay Bruce Lee figurse on ebay.

And don't be fooled by the odd listing at $1000. They never actually sell. You can list it for $5000 if it makes you feel good but no one is going to buy.

The Hot Toys Enter the Dragon DX caused a large price crash in many of the Enterbay Lee figures (the EtD ones mostly of course)...because rare figures aren't that desirable when something better comes along that is much cheaper.

The new Enterbay Game of Death also pushed down the other older GoD figures for the same reason.

Way of the Dragon still has some value but you don't normally see them go for over $450 ....and I'd get on that fast because I sense that Enterbay is going to be announcing a new Way of the Dragon figure in the next year.


But even at the highest possible sell prices 18 months ago, you didn't really see the Enter the Dragon ver.B's (the most sought after one) actually selling for more than $600

Just one point - although I can't speak for Bruce Lee figures specifically (just not my thing), you might be able to charge a higher price if you're willing to ship internationally.

It's a bit of a pain in the butt, but as long as you have a tracking number, you should be fine. There are lots of potential buyers outside of the Canada/US who will pay extra, because there are so fewer options available to them.

 

[axecutioner18]

Just one point - although I can't speak for Bruce Lee figures specifically (just not my thing), you might be able to charge a higher price if you're willing to ship internationally.

It's a bit of a pain in the butt, but as long as you have a tracking number, you should be fine. There are lots of potential buyers outside of the Canada/US who will pay extra, because there are so fewer options available to them.

Hello, Im outside Canada/US and your talk is pretty much in line with some sellers I've seen. Its like since you are international Ill charge you more???

What the....? The Only extra you'll get is for shipping, so dont think we have 'few options', Asia is still the source for all of these things, every time I get the vibe Im being charged more in the pretex of 'internatonal shipping' all I do is contact asian collectors, surprisingly they sell MUCH cheaper. Dont go by ebay prices, asian collectors have their own nexus.

look at the sale and wtb threads and you'll see a pattern... the asian ebay sellers hike prices with US/Canadian buyer habits, NOT asian. For asian chaps they charge significantly less. I know, cause Ive benefitted it that way...

 

[DPrime]

Hello, Im outside Canada/US and your talk is pretty much in line with some sellers I've seen. Its like since you are international Ill charge you more???

What the....? The Only extra you'll get is for shipping, so dont think we have 'few options', Asia is still the source for all of these things, every time I get the vibe Im being charged more in the pretex of 'internatonal shipping' all I do is contact asian collectors, surprisingly they sell MUCH cheaper. Dont go by ebay prices, asian collectors have their own nexus.

look at the sale and wtb threads and you'll see a pattern... the asian ebay sellers hike prices with US/Canadian buyer habits, NOT asian. For asian chaps they charge significantly less. I know, cause Ive benefitted it that way...

No, that's not really what I meant.

I just meant that you increase your market, so you could potentially ask for a higher price and get it, that's all - whether domestic or international.

There just seems to be a lot of Ebay sellers out there who refuse to sell outside of North America, or even just the US, for whatever reason. That's all I meant. I don't think people should be charged a premium just because they happen to live outside of North America - however, it's logical to assume that if you can increase your potential customer base by, let's just say 100-200%, you have a better chance of getting a better price, that's all.

I mean, I'm no commerce major, but that seems logical to me.

And yeah, I know Hot Toys stuff comes from Hong Kong, so I wasn't thinking about Asian countries specifically in this case. Probably more along the lines of Europe... for example, I was just in London, and visited Forbidden Planet. The prices for new stuff are INSANE compared to North America, especially the US. I know it's even worse in other European countries, due to taxes, import fees, etc. So potentially, even something that is seen to be a "high price" within the US might seem quite reasonable in Europe and elsewhere in comparison to other existing options.

 

[axecutioner18]

No, that's not really what I meant.

I just meant that you increase your market, so you could potentially ask for a higher price and get it, that's all - whether domestic or international.

There just seems to be a lot of Ebay sellers out there who refuse to sell outside of North America, or even just the US, for whatever reason. That's all I meant. I don't think people should be charged a premium just because they happen to live outside of North America - however, it's logical to assume that if you can increase your potential customer base by, let's just say 100-200%, you have a better chance of getting a better price, that's all.

I mean, I'm no commerce major, but that seems logical to me.

And yeah, I know Hot Toys stuff comes from Hong Kong, so I wasn't thinking about Asian countries specifically in this case. Probably more along the lines of Europe... for example, I was just in London, and visited Forbidden Planet. The prices for new stuff are INSANE compared to North America, especially the US. I know it's even worse in other European countries, due to taxes, import fees, etc. So potentially, even something that is seen to be a "high price" within the US might seem quite reasonable in Europe and elsewhere in comparison to other existing options.

Id say it would be criminal to charge a European higher prices, they are muddled in too many taxes and some countries have such screwed up laws that its difficult to send stuff to their country (eg Italy) I feel bad for collectors there... however with time Im sure we all know that if we want it bad, we'll get it eventually thats the deal.

Honestly I believe everyone should ship worldwide, as you said it increases your chances of selling. Personally I have no issues sending stuff abroad. As for recieving with time Ive figured out certain directives which if followed can help me get the item better when shipped to me from abroad...

And if I came across as too forceful or accusatory or anything that may have not been agreeable to you I would like to apologise as that was not my intention

 

[Paulo Icon]

A friend of mine is very happy by customizing figures to his own collection.
Like the bodies are the more expensive items, he buys the figure head, some clothes and a pair of hands, then he adjusts it to a similar body. So, he's got: Bruce Lee, T-800, Dutch and many others.
All is mind. If you can't see the body beneath the clothes...
And, hey, forget completism! They are part of infinite dreams (and nightmares)!

 

[willocrew]

Simple advice to the collecting addict: STAY AWAY FROM COLLECTING FORUMS.

It is that simple.

If you want to quit the hobby for real, you stay away from eBay...and forum boards and enjoy the figures that you have.

I guarantee you your urge to splurge will be gone cuz you won't see any of the nice preorder promo pics.

 

[Lee in MI]

I say choose what you're gonna be a completist about...and that list should be VERY short.

With the state of collecting these days, I say try to drop the completist role for most licenses and products and try to think of yourself as more of a selector v. collector. I'm a recovering completist myself...I still own all of Hasbro's 12" figure line!?!?!? . But my brother and I broke that chain so now we "select" what we like and what makes sense.

We passed on the gantry set...and it took some real effort to do it because Iron Man is a license that we get most of the offerings. But believe me, the first pass is usually the hardest (the grey Mark III was our first pass) and the rest are not as bad.

We felt some anxiety when we saw all the items coming at SDCC but we just made an evaluation of what was the most important items and went on from there...so the gantry got the axe, Avatar got the axe, Sweeney wasn't even considered and the stealth Iron Man is on the chopping block.

Just skip one, the rest will be much easier.

 

[axecutioner18]

I have reduced myself to piecing parts and making my own franken figures... and atm the only two lines I collect NOT Completist OCD is Nolan Bats and Bruce Lee

That too with my own justifications eg. all the 'characters' ONLY from each movie so only ONE Joker (the DX) ONE Batman (THE Dx) And Harvey Dent/Two Face
For Batman Begins Im getting the SDCC OC and Scarecrow (paid for will be shipped soon)

I too had to resize and part off stuff... Parted with my 3rd Edition GoD which I busted my balls on trying to get bcause I had no use and room for aall the xtras it came with. Chose the Nokia GOD as a replacement. Smaller, package... now piecing original parts of various BL figures to get one figure from each movie... be it custom or whatever.... when thats done Im done too

So be selective and reason with yourself. What you have on display and can see is what matters... not what you have stored in the attic/garage

 

[COSMOSTARX]

I only got into this collecting shiznit cuz of the HT Batman. heh, I don't think I'll be collecting that much more beyond the upcoming two Batmans, Joker and Superman. And Alice. And... aww man..

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

When I started collecting I told myself I'd only collect Iron Man figures...that lasted about 3 seconds when I saw just how many of my favorite characters were available in 1/6 form. Whoever advised to stop viewing this forum was right, it would be much easier without seeing so much temptation daily/weekly/monthly.

 

[COSMOSTARX]

Yeah this is pretty bad. I used to be reluctant about picking up gundam models over sixty bucks and now....

With my small enterbay collection, I couldve gotten all the saint seiyas in gold armor lol and one perfect grade gundam

 

[Paulo Icon]

My start as collector was GI Joe (1/6) and Ultraman (every scale) . Then my collection has spreaded in many other directions until I see that I was becoming an obssessive compulsive person and say "It's enough!!!".
Grasshopper says: "Don't act like a billionaire if you actually are only a millionaire."

 

[BB&WSF]

When I started collecting I told myself I'd only collect Iron Man figures...that lasted about 3 seconds when I saw just how many of my favorite characters were available in 1/6 form. Whoever advised to stop viewing this forum was right, it would be much easier without seeing so much temptation daily/weekly/monthly.

Plus, the entire frenzy around a new release is extremely infectious. Many times, even though we do not know a character well, leave alone being a fan, still pre-order/buy him because the rest of the people are going gaga over it. As I joined the board quite late, dunno if it was the same level of obsessive enthusiasm earlier too, or has HT added fuel to the fire?