Will Hot Toys ever lose their value?

[The Ween]

Buy it because you like it, not because you think it will be worth more in the future. Believe me, you'll only get burned most of the time.

A figure is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it at the time you sell it.

 

[arnax161]

Yes. They will.

 

[Grosby]

If that were the case, these things wouldn't be fetching $400, $600 and up on ebay a year after being released. 10k pcs sounds more appropriate for a limited edition collectible carried in TRU and other franchise toystores, not high-end collectibles geared at the collectibles market.

Yeah, it's a reasonable amount but it feels to me in line with what we see. It's not something I'd stake my life on, nothing I've thought about a lot, but I thought that something approaching 10,000 was just generally accepted. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I feel like I've seen quite a few posts throwing this figure around. What quantities were you thinking?

The limited editions are considerably less than that. We know that only 500 pieces were produced worldwide for the con exclusive Guardian Predator.

500 is very few, sure, but we also have, as I said, the numbers for 10th Anniversary exclusives - 2,500 and 4,000.

 

[thenammagazine]

500 is very few, sure, but we also have, as I said, the numbers for 10th Anniversary exclusives - 2,500 and 4,000.

Which seem like they were made more for the masses than anything "limited" per say. I see those as more special editions they ran like regular releases but tucked underneath their "anniversary" marketing.

 

[work13]

What ever side of the argument you fall on, this obviously isn't so. The "limited edition"/exclusive figures for which numbers are given are released in quantities that number a lot higher than what you're guessing an average release gets. What sense does it make for an "exclusive" to be double the release of what you speculate an average figure gets? Take the 10th Anniversary exclusives for one: 2,500 for Twentieth Century Boy and 4,000 for Michael Jackson and the Batman figures. For a non-exclusive figure what do you think, maybe they release about 20 more figures, or maybe 50? No, it's more likely close to the Scenario A that you dismiss - double and beyond.

This is not to say anything for or against the argument of whether or not that these figures are 'limited,' just that I think it's pretty much accepted that the average figure today is released in quantities much closer to 10,000 (either under or over) than it is to anything like 2,000.

Your missing the point. I'm just throwing out these numbers as an example. I don't know if it's actually 10,000 figures they need to sell to stay profitable per month or 100,000 figures. I'm just using a simple example to say that rather than releasing a huge quantity of one figure, hot toys maybe releasing many different figures, each in somewhat less quantity. Whether that "somewhat less" quantity is 2000, 10000 or 20000 nobody will really know for sure. These are just example numbers I was throwing out there.

In short, what I was trying to get at was that it's preferable to have hot toys sell many different figures with somewhat limited quantity(whatever that number is, who knows), then having only 1 figure being sold in huge quantity(Total figures in each senario being equal).

So for example: Let's say the total number of figures that Hot toys needs to sell is 100,000. They can reach this goal of 100,000 in one of 2 senarios listed below:

Senario A: Sell 1 single Figure with a production run of 100,000

Senario B: Sell 5 different figures each having a production run of 20,000 each which total up to 100,000

Note that in both senarios, their totals are the same(100,000). But senario B the production run is somewhat less per figure because you're dividing the total by 5 different figures. I think Hot toys is employing senario B. You follow?

 

[CelticWarrior]

Hot toys will only remain valuable for awhile for anyone who has been in the high end market long enough knows things only remain cool until another company does it better eX; mcfarlane gg etc

 

[thenammagazine]

Hot toys will only remain valuable for awhile for anyone who has been in the high end market long enough knows things only remain cool until another company does it better eX; mcfarlane gg etc

Apples and oranges. You can't compare high-end limited edition collectibles to oversaturating, mass marketed kiddie toys.

 

[El Skutto]

This thread is pure speculation. No-one can predict what the future will bring, and no-one can provide irrefutable proof to back up their claims.

Hot Toys collectors will predict that their figures will only increase in value to the point of being retirement investments. Hot Toys detractors will say that the popularity of the license, or the eventual availability of better quality character representations will kill their after-market value.

Or we could find out that Hot Toys is secretly funding Al-Quaeda.

Or Hot Toys wrist pegs will become legal tender in some countries.

So long as we can enjoy what we collect now, who cares if it'll be worth less, more, or significantly more than the original MSRP twenty years down the road?

 

[thenammagazine]

This thread is pure speculation. No-one can predict what the future will bring, and no-one can provide irrefutable proof to back up their claims.

Hot Toys collectors will predict that their figures will only increase in value to the point of being retirement investments. Hot Toys detractors will say that the popularity of the license, or the eventual availability of better quality character representations will kill their after-market value.

Or we could find out that Hot Toys is secretly funding Al-Quaeda.

Or Hot Toys wrist pegs will become legal tender in some countries.

So long as we can enjoy what we collect now, who cares if it'll be worth less, more, or significantly more than the original MSRP twenty years down the road?

I think looking at the secondary market success of their older stuff, like the Aliens figures, Rambos, RoboCops, AVP Preds, etc., can give you a pretty good picture of where they'll be in years to come.

 

[El Skutto]

I think looking at the secondary market success of their older stuff, like the Aliens figures, Rambos, RoboCops, AVP Preds, etc., can give you a pretty good picture of where they'll be in years to come.

But technically speaking, that's not going back far enough to create an accurate prediction of future trends. It's really more of an indication of how secondary market values have been affected by increased availability and exposure due to the world wide web.

But 50 years down the road, who's to say that Robocop, or Terminator, or any other license will still be as popular and therefore commanding the big bucks? Don't forget, new intellectual properties are being developed every day, and it only takes a cleverly marketed one to overshadow a lot of what has come before.

The Lone Ranger isn't the license it once was, and aside from a limited number of die-hard collectors, most people have moved onto other licenses in the past 50 years. Look at Bugs Bunny - when I was a kid, Looney Tunes were EVERYWHERE and I collected any and everything that I could. Now, my nieces don't even know who those characters are supposed to be. They'd be much more impressed if I had Bratz or Zhu Zhu Pets on display.

Maybe Bugs will come back into the public consciousness in the next 20 years and my collectibles will skyrocket in value? But by the same token, they may become practically worthless due to loss of demand.

Again, unless you have a functioning time machine, all anyone can do is speculate.

 

[ViperSRT]

When enough people get fed up with the fact that most of the new ones coming out are made cheap as hell and break at the drop of a pin and stop worshiping everything they make...then yes.

 

[work13]

When enough people get fed up with the fact that most of the new ones coming out are made cheap as hell and break at the drop of a pin and stop worshiping everything they make...then yes.

Yeah, hot toys really needs to up their quality control

 

[slipknotpredator]

When enough people get fed up with the fact that most of the new ones coming out are made cheap as hell and break at the drop of a pin and stop worshiping everything they make...then yes.

Older Hot Toys were a lot more fragile than new ones.

 

[thenammagazine]

Older Hot Toys were a lot more fragile than new ones.

Not really. The rubber bodies I'll give ya. But that's natural evolution. However, I never had a snapped wrist peg on my military figures, or two right arms, or busted knees, or loose torsos, decomposing suits....

 

[batfan08]

I tend to buy figures that I like, but figures that are also iconic. For example, my first HT figures were the DX01 Joker and DX02 Batman. This year, I'll be purchasing the DX Jack Sparrow and Indiana Jones(which I believe will see improvement in the coming months), as well as the 1989 Batman figures, and hopefully, Christopher Reeve as Superman. I buy them to collect,but eventually, I might sell them, so I'm very selective of what I purchase, as for older releases, I hope to eventually pick up a Tumbler and Vito Corleone, I hope I have the same taste as a lot of people(it may impact how well they sell someday), but if not, I'll have the satisfaction of having them in my collection.

 

[thenammagazine]

I tend to buy figures that I like, but figures that are also iconic. For example, my first HT figures were the DX01 Joker and DX02 Batman. This year, I'll be purchasing the DX Jack Sparrow and Indiana Jones(which I believe will see improvement in the coming months), as well as the 1989 Batman figures, and hopefully, Christopher Reeve as Superman. I buy them to collect,but eventually, I might sell them, so I'm very selective of what I purchase, as for older releases, I hope to eventually pick up a Tumbler and Vito Corleone, I hope I have the same taste as a lot of people(it may impact how well they sell someday), but if not, I'll have the satisfaction of having them in my collection.

Unfortunately that'll also impact buying price. Personally I buy what I like. If it becomes worthless, I could care less. I bought it for me. If it goes up in value, that's cool. My kids, if they decide to sell them when I croak will have a nice little bonus to their inheritance.

 

[jayveeeusebio]

Unfortunately that'll also impact buying price. Personally I buy what I like. If it becomes worthless, I could care less. I bought it for me. If it goes up in value, that's cool. My kids, if they decide to sell them when I croak will have a nice little bonus to their inheritance.

That's nice!

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

I'm looking to sell my HT Comedian, and was shocked that it was only £100 on ebay, i figured at least £130-£150

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

Unfortunately that'll also impact buying price. Personally I buy what I like. If it becomes worthless, I could care less. I bought it for me. If it goes up in value, that's cool. My kids, if they decide to sell them when I croak will have a nice little bonus to their inheritance.

Amen.

 

[Guinnessfan]

nothing is guarantee look at the stock market.