[cellardoor]

In this age of ebay and on-line ordering it’s becoming increasingly difficult to gauge the actual value of MU figures and I want people to tell me what they’ve actually paid for their figures. I’m a UK based fan so will put both US and UK prices. I’m trying to gauge what collectors think is a good price and I also like the anecdotes of people grabbing a bargain or being forced into giving cash to scalpers!
The basic rate for a figure in the uk (if you can find them) is about £8.99 (around $14). I tend to pre-order and pay about £10 ($16), per figure, including delivery and VAT.
I’ve grabbed Galactus (regular boxed version) for £60 ($96), including delivery.
Most recently I picked up the Fury of Combat box in Toys R Us for £12 ($19).
The toy retail culture is pretty different in the uk. We don’t have many shops that stock MU, and almost none that will keep up-to-date with new waves.
The most I’ve paid for a single figure was on ebay where I dropped £20 ($32) for the Ultimate Iron Man figure, in packaging.
I’ve managed to get loose figures (including Comic-pack spiderwoman, Dark Phoenix, Doom as examples) for between £5-10 ($8-15). Buying these loose figures together can really help with postage costs.
Tell me your story!

[dom]

I'm in the same boat dude. I have picked up quite a few at supermarkets over the last month. I emailed Hasbro UK and they said check again end of Feb. I buy most of my stuff from Kapow toys they offer a really great service.

[cellardoor]

Nice! I've been using Star Action Figures, after going through their amazon storefront.
Which supermarkets have you found stuff in?

[MeLikeJinx]

Ooo... man those prices are brutal. Kind of know how you feel. I only have 7 MOC MU figs and except for my most recent purchases of WWH & Bleeding Edge IM which I luckily got at TRU on sale... I've paid mark up for every one of my MU figs. LOL. Mark up is still only 12$-15$ though, but that's almost twice retail here. I can only seem to find the CPs... never the singles, so I end up having to buy the MU singles from comic shops or specialty stores at mark up.

But MU must almost be like an import toy probably in the UK, so yah... collecting them will get expensive. Like all the anime figs I buy are pretty much all import toys from Japan... so yah... things get expensive for that too. LOL.

[ANASTY420]

The most I've paid for one is 15 bucks off Big Bad Toy Store.com. At stores though I've never paid over 10 dollars for one. Something weird though the Target closest to my house has them priced at $6.99 the newer waves too whereas everywhere else has them priced at $8.99.

[Alienweirdo]

I feel your frustration too, being a UK fan and struggling to find the few waves that have been released over here, let alone finding them online for decent prices. The most I paid was £14 for the first Spider-man figure which I bought on import in early 2009, a good 10 months before I saw them in regular shops. I still don't regret paying that much for him, despite being a peg warmer at one time I still love the guy. He was my first

I tend to get them in hand from Forbidden Planet in London, but they are £9.99. Sometimes they reduce to the price to £8.99 but still that's not great. My best finds recently have been Sainburys and the Entertainer stores. They both have been selling MU (Juggernaut Wave) and Iron Man figures at £4, so I managed to get the rest of the Juggernaut wave I needed and some IM2 Drones. I did get Xo:W Wolverine in his classic costume for .99P and IM2 Guardian for £4.99 in the London Forbidden Planet in their sale.

Other places I've seen them include Tesco, Asda, Debenhams, Toyz and Gamez in Norwich (they import the latest waves from America, although they price the latest figures at £12. They never did get the Thanos wave) and Toys R Us. Trouble is the figures are usually bashed up remnants of the Thor Wave and anything Prior.

It is frustrating though, especially since the collapse of Woolworths there are barely any High Street Toy shops and those that do stock toys don't even have MU. And when they do, they are ridiculously expensive and we have to wait for the sales. I still haven't found Comic packs or Galactus in UK stores, let alone anything after the Juggernaut wave.

[Tarquinius]

You know what is really funny.....I took a trip over to London in the Spring of 2009. I was somewhere between the Tottenham Court tube and Covent Garden tube and I found a gigantic comic book store, like two stories. I'm sure you guys might know what it is if you are familar.

Anyway, I went in and I saw MU figures and that was the first time ever I was exposed to them and when I came back to the states I started collecting.

But I totally don't doubt the fact that there is a diminished stock over there because I do only remember seeing like a handful whereas over here...there are pegs upon pegs.

[cellardoor]

Don't get me started on the gigantic battles scaled toys. Factor in delivery charges and a UK collector stands practically no chance of getting one of these. I fluked out getting Galactus and still herald it as the luckiest purchase I have.
The distribution sounds a little better in the south-east but i'm in the south-west, where little plastic men are still thought of as cursed artifacts.
I never thought i'd be sad to see Woolworth's go but now that you mention it I am!

[Alienweirdo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tarquinius

You know what is really funny.....I took a trip over to London in the Spring of 2009. I was somewhere between the Tottenham Court tube and Covent Garden tube and I found a gigantic comic book store, like two stories. I'm sure you guys might know what it is if you are familar.

Anyway, I went in and I saw MU figures and that was the first time ever I was exposed to them and when I came back to the states I started collecting.

But I totally don't doubt the fact that there is a diminished stock over there because I do only remember seeing like a handful whereas over here...there are pegs upon pegs.

That would be Forbidden Planet

Quote:

Originally Posted by cellardoor

Don't get me started on the gigantic battles scaled toys. Factor in delivery charges and a UK collector stands practically no chance of getting one of these. I fluked out getting Galactus and still herald it as the luckiest purchase I have.
The distribution sounds a little better in the south-east but i'm in the south-west, where little plastic men are still thought of as cursed artifacts.
I never thought i'd be sad to see Woolworth's go but now that you mention it I am!

I forgot about the Gigantic battles. That's another problem, these Target, Toys R Us and Wal-Mart exclusives never see the light of day over here. Not just Marvel toys, but all of them across the board. I know we have Asda instead of Wal-Mart, and of course we have Toys R Us but for some reason they never stock the exclusives (aside from the occasional IM2 and XO:W ones, if you're lucky enough to find them).
I still haven't got Galactus, I'm hoping I can wait until I see the Darker version for a reasonable price but I'm worried I never will and might miss out on him completely.

[behindthemask]

Depends on where I buy...if it's at my local walmart/Zellers (soon to be target) they charge around $9.99/figure for MU and IM2 figures.. recently the comic 2 packs have shown up for around $14.99-18.99 and the tru 2 packs showed up for round $12.99. If I go to OWL's hollow independent store they charge round $12.99/figure but he gives me top crack at figures, and gives me bulk deals... bbts and ebay are good but you have to really wait for deals and lots to make it worth your while.

[ALOPEZ527]

Sometimes I get lucky and pay 7.50 for figures at other times 10.88 with tax. the most i ever paid was 13 bucks. I have the complete set up to date (74 figures) and I'd have to guess the average price is about 9 bucks a figure. the pain is those variants.

[ANASTY420]

I'm from the lower part of the US and the distribution in my area is awful. Most of the big box stores around here still have tons of the Multiple Man wave and it seems like they're not ordering any of the new waves until they clear these guys off the shelf. If they do get one of the new waves in which is very rare it seems like they might only get one crate because they go fast and once they're gone you never see them again unless you buy 'em online.

[dom]

That's the problem the UK are facing. We have stacks of Namor and Luke Cage, but very little else. The same goes for IM2 figures we are clogged full of movie wave 2 and comic wave 1. I have seen some new movie figs, but very rarely. Our main toy store is TRU and to be honest they just don't get it in this country. Also our Hasbro has a very bad habit of dropping lines. Only Star Wars and Transformers get any real continuous distribution and we only get 60% of the stuff you guys do.

[cellardoor]

Part of me always hopes that eventually Hasbro will re-think their UK plan but I know that the culture is just straight-up different. We have stores that sell toys but there's zero thought given to it. Toys are used to silence children in a supermarket and that's all that the retailers think. Even a toy specific store like Toys R Us don't fully understand what a wave is. New toys are new, old toys are sold cheap. I can still walk into my local shop and find Terminator Salvation and Transformers 2 figures on pegs, not even bargain bins!

[fordjuse]

The cost depends on how RARE a figure is. All figures will be marked up regardless. You will have to pay regardless to get what you need. Real collectors will pay to get the figures they need. Here are a few examples

Flame on Version of Human Torch ranges $55-$75 EASY

Ms Marvel. $45-$65

Thanos $25-$30

Havok Variant $30-$45

Archangel Variant $45-$65

Archangel with wings $45-$65

Vision variant $200


The bottom line is you have to pay if you collect this line.

[DrewBlank]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fordjuse

The bottom line is you have to pay if you collect this line.

I've run up my share of Ebay auctions over the last couple of years, but I don't think it's true that you have to pay scalpers to finish out this line, at least not in the U.S. Other than three or four major figures (SDCC Galactus, Nick Fury, and X-Force Archangel) I've been able to find most of the figures either on the peg or online for cheap. The few that I haven't (mostly the Thanos wave) are scheduled for re-release over the next few case assortments.

Hasbro has done a really good job of keeping Marvel Universe affordable, and addressing demand. Part of the fun of this line is the hunt, and I think they've found a balance between rarity and accessibility.

[fordjuse]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrewBlank

I've run up my share of Ebay auctions over the last couple of years, but I don't think it's true that you have to pay scalpers to finish out this line, at least not in the U.S. Other than three or four major figures (SDCC Galactus, Nick Fury, and X-Force Archangel) I've been able to find most of the figures either on the peg or online for cheap. The few that I haven't (mostly the Thanos wave) are scheduled for re-release over the next few case assortments.

Hasbro has done a really good job of keeping Marvel Universe affordable, and addressing demand. Part of the fun of this line is the hunt, and I think they've found a balance between rarity and accessibility.

Well, the bottom line if you do not pay you will not get. It is simple economics of supply vs demand for sure. The RARE figures are going to command value period.

FYI. The Thanos wave is done. Then the original release will be worth MORE. Prompting more demand for ORIGINAL release.

[cellardoor]

The Thanos wave is going to command high prices up until the point where the figures are freely available. If they modify the packaging so you can identify the first 2010 release then those will grab the collector's money. All said and done I have still managed to get practically all the figures i've wanted and the process of hunting, bidding and collecting is still huge fun for me.

[Primacron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dom

Also our Hasbro has a very bad habit of dropping lines. Only Star Wars and Transformers get any real continuous distribution and we only get 60% of the stuff you guys do.

Believe me the availability of Transformers is no better than Marvel Universe! Specialist comic stores (Forbidden Planet) do at least keep roughly up to date with MU, no one seems interested in Transformers (especially Generations).

I think the most frustrating thing is not knowing, I'd almost be happier if supply was continuously crap, then I'd know not to bother looking for things in stores, but every now and again it borders on acceptable!

I had MU Ghost Rider on pre-order at BBTS only for it to appear in FP before BBTS got it, Generations Jazz and Tracks appeared at Smyths about a week after BBTS got them in. Then to add to the confusion, the Entertainer sometimes turns up with amazing deals like Archangel for £4!

I reckon the best thing to do is keep an eye on online sites for information on wave breakdowns (BBTS is good for this), if a figure you want is rare (i.e. one per case) then pre-order it. Otherwise with more common figures, you should be okay taking your chances with retail or ebay.