Question for my research paper
 

Hey guys!
I'm working on a research paper with the topic "From 2D to 3D - The execution of ficitve moviecharacters into plastical figures" and I have to answer, why companies like HotToys put so much effort in those 1/6 scale figures.

To answer this question I wanted to ask you, the collectors and fans, why do you buy those expensive figures and why do you collect them anyway?
Is there any reason that is by all of you the same or does everybody has his or her own reasons?

I hope you can help me with this question ;)

Cool topic for a research question!

How specific are you being? If it's strictly high cost movie figures then I can't really help you as I mainly collect Transformers and Marvel figures which retail around the €10-€15 mark.

Anyways, if you're interested why I collect toys, it's simply because I like collecting things - if it wasn't toys it would be something else, and I might as well collect something I think's cool!

Thanks for your quick reply!
I'm talking mainly about the 1/6 scale figures, but the topic itself doesn't except other type of figures for example those you mentioned. So maybe you can tell me also a bit of them.
Oh and of course I'm collecting action figures myself! Transformers, G.I. Joe and some Revoltech for about 5-6 years now. So the question isn't that unknown for me, but I just want to know what others say.

For me, I've made monetary AND emotional investments into the things I collect.

TMNT, Transformers, GI JOE, Marvel, Etc. Etc.

I do collect 12", 1/6 scale figures. I think it all revolves around nostalgia and a combination of monetary value. It also could be attributed to missing out on toys when I was younger. For instance, I never collected GI JOE, but I missed out on that when I was younger. (I could go on and on but...)

For me and for many other collectors I know, it has nothing to do with monetary value of a collectible on an after market, there's an almost nostalgic aspect to it in order to obtain something tangible to a favorite intangible character or thing. If I like a movie, I'll buy the toys based on it, if I read a comic book and that story turns out to be a stand out in my mind I'll those toys too.

there is two types of collector: the fan who wants the best representation of the character/vehicle/item and then the investor who sees the longterm value of an item and uses it for financial purposes. the popularity of the character aids greatly to the appeal. take the hot toys predator, robocop, terminator and iron man figures, their secondary market value is easily 3 times the intial asking price. this intern increases the pride in ownership and the reasoning to hold to it for a while.

With Transformers I collect both the old versions from the 80's, their modern updates and also modern ones which just seem cool. I love the characters and the ingenius designs some of them have.

With Marvel characters I only started collecting when Hasbro started producing 3.75" scale figures, so for me there's also an aspect of collectability - if I had a room of 50 odd 6" figures there wouldn't be much room for anything else, with 3.75" figures there's much more space!

I also collect other modern updates of other things I liked as a kid Ghostbusters, Turtles, etc. There's a bit of getting all the things I wanted but never got.

With regards the question you're trying to answer I think it's the fact that there's now a large group of people with disposable income who are nostalgic for their youth.

I've skipped reading what others have posted, so I won't be influenced.
The focus on my collecting is set towards normal retail product. Transformers, DCUC, that sort of thing.
Partly out of interest, and partly out of monitary restrictions. I've simply never really been able to afford highdollar knicknacks.
However.

While I've never bought anything from Hot Toys, I do occasionally dip into the high end products of that scale, and I have reasons, and certain attractions.
If I do spend $50+ on a collectable doll, it's going to be a character that I have a great deal of emotional investment in (So far, Hot Toys themselves has never produced one single figure of anything or anyone I care about).
I've purchased the 12" DC Universe dolls for both Green Arrow, and Black Canary, because I have an emotional attachement to them. There have also been many simularly scaled anime dolls I've encountered of obscure characters that mean something only to me, that I've been interested in, and would purchase if I had the chance and money.

So for me, it has nothing to do with what the figures are worth to others, and has everything to do with what the character is worth to me.
I couldn't possibly care less about Hot Toys' Iron Man, or Jack Sparrow. Nothing they've done has been worth one iota of attention from me. However, if they produce Saint Walker, then I may try to spend the money.

Basically it comes down to most of these high-end toys are too far out of my price range, so if I ever do move to spend the money, it's going to be a figure or statue/bust of someone I care deeply for.

I hope this helps.

I only buy figures at a high price if the character is extremely important to me, so it's weird that I buy a gazzillion Hot Toys figures, specially beacuse of the price.

As for why I collect toys, beacuse it's a habir I had since I was a baby. Any interesting character that I saw on TV was needed by me. But, I am not comfortable leaving a toy in a shelf, getting dusty and whatnot, so, I collect to play with them.

I don't collect these figures but I do see the appeal in them. They appeal to collectors because the level of detail, engineering, and sculpting, has gotten to the point where some of these figures are statue quality, and very accurate, yet feature full articulation. Unlike a statue, you can display these figures in any pose that you want, it's up to you, not the sculptor. With some figures you can even move the eyes around...which to me...that was shocking when I saw it. PERS from Hot Toys was innovative.

In some images, you can't even tell if you are looking at a figure or movie still, that's how accurate these figures have become over time.

I think these figures have the quality that collectors always wanted but never got in years past, thus, the appeal, and demand.

I collect action figures, partly because it was drilled into a young age that toys were cool. As kids we don't grow up watching Oprah or the news we watched cartoons, movies and read the comics.. so because of the nature of the shows and entertainment we used, we got targeted with commercials in TV/movies, adds in newspapers,comics, the wishbook when x-mas time was around... all telling us that our favorite characters can obtained in miniture plastic for for the low low price of... I had almost every Ghostbuster, TMNT,gi joe growing up, and transformers, tastes change, we all lost/sold toys we wish we didn't. I then moved on to dc figures, batman mainly, had the bat mobiles, jets, bat cave, 100+ figures, and I slowly got away from them sold most of them off to friends or in yard sales. I collected hockey cards for years, and realized after a while that I was spending $5-10 for a pack of cardboard, and never had the same enjoyment as owning a figure. at least I could play with it, change the accessories display them etc. I learned of customizing and was hooked, got late into ML figures, tried buying some on ebay, Was a huge Iron man fan growing up and when the movie launched I was obsessed with trying to own them all.. I have maybe 30-40 diff iron man figures from 3 3/4 -18'' scale... I personally don't own any Hot toys figures simply due to cost... average figure is $100-300 range + shipping and in my case + exchange rate. I really have to like a figure to spend a 1/3 or more of a paycheck on a toy... I'd rather complete an entire wave of MU figures or ML figures. I collect toys based on attention to detail, accessories included, how rare it is, how obscure it is, does it fit my collection, do I need it and does it look cool when displayed.. Generally if a toys answers yes to all those questions I'll buy it or at least put it on my wanted/watch list. I try to pick up figures locally, vs online, independent stores over bulk stores to give them the business and keep things local.. I'd rather pay a little extra for figures if it means I get first crack at a case or can get a case ordered for me and not have to take 4 of the same figures.. My normal range is $10-30 / figure. I did recieve a dc Green Lantern Corps deluxe box set figure for xmas, round 100$+ retail ,he's 1/6 , amazing detail in clothing and accessories, and the price when I got it was half price... which prompted the buy, also the possability of resale when the movie comes out! A lot of hot toys buyers buy the figures because they know the stuff is expensive and limited and when they're done, they become even more valuable, ie that grey suit iron man, that was limited to 500-1000? was like $150-180 range and now good luck finding 1 for less then 500-1000. I don't buy figures because they're going to make me rich but because they make me happy. A lot of us have the mentality to collect them all, or look for variants, some buy multiples for army builders /display purposes. hope that helped

I want to thank all of you!
Your answers really helped me and I have to say that I'm kinda surprised! I thought that there would be very different reasons for collecting actionfigures but it seems that most of you connect something nostalgic to your figures, like old cartoons and TV shows.
But what about new figures from the latest movies? I don't think that there is a nostalgic point to it, especially when those movies show some completely new characters.

And in my case, I collect just specific figures. For example I choose those Transformersfigures, which look cool to me. When it comes to G.I. Joe or any other type of figure, it's the same point. Does the figure looks cool? If it does, I'll try to get it (and believe me, that's not easy here in germany). I have a weakness for mechs and there is just no way to buy them here in a local store, which kinda stems the hobby.

For me it started off with nostalgia - specifically g1 reissues, whilst ignoring Transformers Armada and Energon. Then during Cybertron I realised how cool Scourge was. Bright colours, fearsome looking robot mode, even more fearsome looking dragon alt-mode, axe weapon, that started me off on buying anything I fancied.

Nostalgia still fuels most of my buying but I'm open to new things, particularly if they involve characters with swords! (RID Scourge, Dinobot, Drift, Deadpool, etc.)

I think Shin covered it best, regarding the general appeal of the 1/6" collectibles (especially Hot Toys and Sideshow products).

Personally, I don't collect them as they are just too pricey for my budget. But I am usually one of the first to praise the latest offering (or in rare moments, decry the latest defect/issue).

My collecting habits tend to stay somewhere between $6 - $50 and I currently collect Transformers, G.I.Joe, Marvel Universe, Iron Man 2 and Star Wars.

Transformers are my primary focus, and I have been collecting them since they debuted in 1984 when I was a kid. So I guess you could say it's partly nostalgia, but since I never stopped I'm not really buying back my childhood when it comes to TFs.

As for the others, I'm much more of a casual collector and only tend to buy things that appeal to me or have some nostalgic link. But there's nothing in me that drives me to buy all of them (or at least make an attempt). Also, that list is subject to change as some lines die off and others rise up to take their place.

While that may cover the majority of 1/6" collectors, there are other types of toy collectors - even at that scale.

One other type, which is much more rare in the case of Hot Toys/Sideshow merchandise, is the completist (or completionist). These collectors seek to complete a specific set of some kind, and the definition of that set can be highly subjective.

For example, there are a few things that I collect where I would consider myself to be a completist. First and foremost is anything regarding the Transformers character Soundwave (and his minions). He was the first TF I ever owned and my favorite character on the 80's TV show.

Another example is what started off as the Revenge of the Fallen scout-class series. So far, I own every one that has been released to retail, including redecos and figures released under the Hunt For The Decepticons subline.

I also tend to apply this subjective reasoning to other aspects of my toy collecting, but that's what makes it fun for me.

For me, Nostalgia has little to do with my collecting. True, some things like Reveal the Shield Jazz and Optimus may have more appeal to me than some newer concepts, due to representing updated versions of two of my favorite toys. But new cool concepts that strike me will guide my collecting. It doesn't have to be related to something I grew up with.
Green Lantern is relatively new to me. I didn't start reading GL until the Sinestro Corps War. And as such, I didn't know hardly anything about Green Lantern, or the mythology before then.
And as such now, Green Lantern DCUC are far more important to my collecting that Transformers, which I've been collecting since 1984.

Most new movie toylines have no appeal to me at all, because most new movies don't move me to where I want to collect it's toys (Avatar, Transformers), combined with the fact that most movie toylines generally suck (Avatar).
Though, in the same vein, characters that I've come to really love from something new can move me to purchasing them. I'm struggling with myself to keep from buying up all the main cast from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, just because I love the characters so deeply.