Decarding Blues
 

Anyone else feel really depressed and anxious when decarding a rare figure that they just blew 50 bucks on? Like the Deathmask Archangel variant I just took out of the card. It was absolutely mint, not a single knick on the card and I removed it. It's one thing when the card is all dinged up but it's another thing when it's absolutely minty fresh and I just blew 50 bucks on it and took it out of the package. Ouch. LOL. It's like when you get a new car and you don't want to put any clicks on it.

I use to feel that way until my girl friend spilt a soda on my sdcc exclusive galactus lol then I jus started opening them all but now u can enjoy them more put them in sick ass poses n display them.. but I know how u feel

Well, I wouldn't spend 50 dollars on a figure, but if I did, I'd kick myself for opening it.

I bought the xmen wolverine origins astonishing wolverine and colossus for $100. Was it worth $100, probably not since colossus is just in a static pose but I wanted it to rip it open the way I see it they were meant to be opened, besides I dont plan on selling my collection though

$100?!? Ouch! I'm glad I found that one at retail!

Yeah tell me about it and I never found it out in California in retail, freaking sucks but those $100 i had been saving for something else that fell through I dont remember what it is now but yeah probably something dumb like food or clothes lol

Then why even open it? There's only a few that I leave MOC but all of the rest of my collection is for display and to be able to pose them if I wanted to. Did you try finding a loose death archangel for cheaper. I thought they were still going for about 30 bucks.

I don't even blink opening a figure. As a matter of fact, I don't have any, including variants, in the packaging. I just slice around the edge with my trusty exacto and pop the right out. I did an astral Dr. Strange last night.

I usually open all of my stuff, but I know the feeling. Look at it this way, it was only $50.. you can always buy another if you want to own a MOC one. I know $50 isn't an easy $8 retail purchase, but it's not $500 either. In other words, if you have to buy another it's not going to set you back much. And you probably won't buy another anyway, but it's a piece of mind option.

MOC is the way to go IMO!!!

Man, the way I see it, the more money I pay the more I'm willing to open it up. I mean, I pretty much open everything and play with them. That's what they're for.

If I spent $50 on a figure I'm sure as hell getting my money's worth and busting that sucker open.

The only thing that's close to staying in the package is just some little trick I did a while back. I had gotten a Star Wars "Vintage Collection" Boba Fett and I carefully opened it so I could then replace the modern figure with this loose, beat-up Kenner Boba Fett I had a while. Now it looks like I have a very old very rare figure hanging in my room for shits and giggles.

All my MU stuff is MOC, but I'm tempted almost every day to tear them all open in one glorious toy extravaganza.

I love the way they look in the package with the sweet card art and all, but then I see some of the cool displays some of the people on here have for their figs and I am sorely tempted...

I'm also toying with the idea of trying my hand at customizing, so I've bought a few extras of some stuff that I may open and tinker with.

This is the classic toy debate, to open or not to open THAT IS THE QUESTION!!

I've boiled it down to two refined points:

1) What type of collector are you? (Completionist, Profiteer, Selective, Casual, Undifferentiated....yes I've come up with archetypes for toy collectors ha...)

2) What is your end game for your collection? (sell make profit, sell break even, give to kids when older, enjoyment until you die then you get buried with them?)

The point being is that #1 will dictate HOW and WHAT you collect while #2 defines WHY you collect.

In the OP's case, I can truly empathize. I,like many of you, have some older rarer pieces and it felt like complete sacriledge opening it. And I fear many of you might burn me at the stake for doing this.

REGARDLESS, my endgame in collecting is pure enjoyment. If you get the most enjoyment from your collection by opening them, then let no card, plastic bubble, twist ties (OH THE INFERNAL PLASTIC TWIST TIES OF DOOM) stand in your way!

tear that shit open

Good topic, one that has been debated to death. There are a lot of factors both pros and cons for opening the figure and leaving it moc.

opening: Every toy company for the most part expects the kid/teen/adult to open the figure and get enjoyment out of it, use the accessories, movie the arms,legs,neck, pose them, reinact their favorite scenes, and now a big scene is creating kickass displays and taking pics. To each they're own what they do with the figure, if it goes straight from package to display case or you play with the thing for 10hrs straight and sleep with it, lol. You worked for the $$ what you do with it is your decision, and if you spend $50 for a toy or even $10 you buy it to play with it. Same thing with a video game, you wouldn't pay $60 to buy a game say wow look at the packaging, if I keep it MOC it maybe worth double in 2 years.. no you rip that sucker out and start playing with it non stop. Toys are a way for grown men/women to escape into a 3d version of graphic comic art we all love so much, weither it was the comics, the movies,the cartoons, or possibly just toys that got you into collecting, you in it for the long haul because you love it, so why not own a 3d represnation of it and play with it enjoy it! Most figures if rare enough or buyer wants bad enough can still bring a bunch of $$ even open, example deadpool... ML 2pack or ML series 6 bring big bucks.

MOC:If your lucky enough to find a figure MOC, you have a potential investment piece, you invest the initial cost in buying it and owning it.But then you invest costs in cases to keep it moc, containers,cabinents etc to store/display, then the time and patience in finding the right time to sell. You could sell right before/after a movie comes out ex Thor, when the movie Came out, ebay was flooded with collectors selling the old figures for a good profit, because the want and demand was there. Over time MOC toys will give you the most financial return but is that what you really want? Do you want to wait hold onto things you paid good money for but have no enjoyment out of?

Personally I try not to keep stuff MOC, I kept a few things such as my SDCC thor, 1M2 kmart and target 3packs, but not much.. if I know the figure is going for a good price and I stumble across a bunch at retail, I'd buy extra, ex : Cable.. if I found 4 I'd probably buy 4, keep 1 moc to hang onto, 1 to open and 2 to sell/trade. MOC can be good if you have the money and time to buy rare items, variants, repaints, errors etc and hang onto them long enough till nobody has one MOC.

If I found myself a ML deadpool figure for cheap/or $100+ I'd be on the fence soo much because he will only go up over time, but the figure is soo bad ass and has so many cool accessories and doop to play with!

The figure itself was around 30 bucks but the guy charged me over $20 shipping to Canada. A lot of Americans make up their shipping costs to rape Canadians for no reason. I think it has something to do with the fact that we're finally kicking their asses economically and it's an underhanded overly patriotic way to get us back. :p

Here! Here!

I like to pick up old Marvel and DC figs from the mid 80s to the early 90s, the ones I grew up with, at this antique/collector's mall in my area. Most of them are just ten to fifteen bucks and when I score those I leave them on card, mostly because the articulation is weak but also the nostalgia factor of having this little piece of my past in full blister glory.

My MU figs, though, I bust those suckers open! They just scream to be fisted and displayed or even heaped into a great mound on my bed! But I don't come across those old-school figures that often, so I'd totally say I'm an out of package collector. I love that freshly opened toy smell, and I love going to Freddy's and going through the check-out with beer, toilet paper and a new toy.

Most recently the Paratrooper Dive Captain America, so bitchin'! He's got a fully working parachute, my buddies and I were whipping him into the air like jerks on the fourth! The 'chute actually comes off via a removable harness (check the SUPER tiny buckles) and underneath he's that solid, single-carded Cap fig from wave 1. He's staring at me right now...

HELL YEAH.
Let them free from their stasis prisons to fight again!
Think of them as prisoners of The Collector and go from there...


Huh. We realy need a Cosmics box set with the Collector and Grandmaster!

Ahh the ever difficult decision on whether or not to open or not open. For me personally, I have a cost limit on what I'll open up. Most of my stuff is open but there are those rare occasions where I have to leave it packaged. Sometimes, the packaging is done so well that it is kind of made for packaged display. An example of this are the marvel select figures. The boxes for these turn out really well.

Some rare figures I have opened up are Thanos and Stretch Strike Venom. Although these are super rare, I couldn't help myself and open em up for posing and displaying capability. I tend to try to buy things loose off ebay for cheaper cost and I don't feel as bad when I receive them because they are already opened up.

Soooo if I happened to have an ML Deadpool MOC and the 1st appearance Deadpool comic side by side on my wall.. ready to sell.. what'd you say!? ;D

For some I considered keeping them MOC but I never bought the ones I considered for that. I do keep the card of the MU figures since the art is insane these days especially with my fave artists doing the art.

I pretty much open everything I get, with a few exceptions. Usually the ones I keep boxed/carded are exclusives, but sometimes I'll do it for redecos (especially if there's no remolding or change besides paint apps).

I'm really fond of collectors-style packaging that's designed for you to open, play with the toy, and put back without damaging any of the packaging (like G1 reissues or some of the SDCC exclusives). Those, to me, are the best of both worlds - makes for a nice display, but you can still open up and play. ;)

If you guys ever seen any of my reviews on YouTube I used the Invaders set as my backdrop until my baby bros destroyed em T_T