Figures losing value.
 

So at Target I see the original (short-hair) Ms. Marvel, Grey Hulk, etc etc.

Now its been almost 2 years since that Ms. Marvel rolled out. I paid $25 online 8 months ago for it, just assuming that once it's gone, it's gone. (I certainly learned otherwise with revision cases, etc.) BUT, with the re-release of so many figures, the value goes down.

Some of us collect and rip them out of the package and don't care about resale value, but for collectors like myself who one day would consider selling off their collection, it's quite frankly upsetting to see figures once thought gone for good, now readily available at retail.

It is what it is I guess. Rather this than the guy who bought a home for $400K and now cant sell it for $200K.

I feel the same way. I remember when I was looking for Archangel the first time around he was knocking near the $50 range and the variant $25. Then with the revision wave. price is almost opposite. $16 for Archangel and $35 for the variant. At first I thought of it as a god send for the revision waves thinking maybe they will still at least be rare in them. But they are packed as much now as say an Iron Man. Cable, Classic Ms Marvel and Thanos have been clogging up my pegs lately. Which seems really weird to me lol.

Collecting with the intent to resale always bites you in the ass somehow.

True. My intent was never resale. My intent is and always will be that I want people to be like wow!! You have him. It's more of a show piece for me then a resale value problem.

But having a resale value is always nice, just in case you are ever hard up for cash.

I could care less if the value goes down, but I can agree with do boy that when an uber rare piece gets re-released, it kinda loses its allure. I used to hunt down every Star Wars figure religiously in the 90's, but after so many damn re-releases, I don't even put out a modicum of effort for Star Wars figures now. If I find em, cool, if not, whatever they'll put em out again sometime.

My dad and I got almost every single POTF figure in collection 1 and 2. We stopped off about halfway through collection 3... I got them down from the attic (all MOC) and found out they all sell for MYABE $3 apiece. So... yeah. My dad had initially thought the price would go up and we could sell an entire set for $$$.

That's why I always try to pay no more than 10 per figure no matter how rare it is. You can usually pick up random MU figures off other forums for dirt cheap.

I always laugh when I see some idiot who collected potf2 in the store but never once looked online or at forums, and tries to sell his collection on ebay for double or triple retail. They even get insulted when you try to spell it out for them.

Ditto, This is why I don't buy pass retail. Cause if i ever had to pay $50 for a single carded figure. and then 2 years later he just losses value because a new or better version comes out I would cry lol.

I remember at first the whole long/short light saber crap the first run figs were commanding a good secondary market price. I'm glad I only got the ones I wanted. Most if not all are MOC and worthless. I remember driving out to the mall to trade a han faced Leia for a Lando because my boss needed one. At one point I had one of the Boaba Fett variants that were supposed to be worth something. The only difference was a half painted circle on his hand. Lame.

Tru dat. I had my girlfriend get me the Angel for my birthday because I would not pay that much for it. Unless you really want it paying over retail is just going to loose you money in the long run and in a few years there is always something better on the horizon.

Find a new hobby.

Buying toys as an investment is *always* a bad idea.
And it's generally that sort of mentality that fuels the scalper "industry." If people weren't willing to pay $50-$80 for a single carded figure that's supossedly rare, then they would stop trolling the toy isles for easy ebay bucks.

I dont buy them for their future value. some figures I have are worth more than others, even loose. Nick Fury, Mandarin, Astonishing Wolverine(For the moment, I expect it to drop once wave 5 2011 hits).
I buy them because I'm a huge fan of the Marvel Universe. I buy them because they look awesome, and theres many of them. I buy them because I'm a completionist. I buy them because I like the feeling I get when my friends enter my room and see somthing new and go "woah, thats awesome". I buy them because having a hobby is therapeutic.
Their future worth is the last thing I think about

i would say that toy prices fluctuate with market demand. Were in a shitter economy right now. Ebay sellers are not getting 80 dollars anymore for a vision per-say. I think someone on here put up a vision and its sitting at 20 something. But, I have a collectors store near me that charges over 20 apiece for MOC marvel legends. Whether or not thats good valuewise I dont know.

In terms of MU, give it a few years, people will be clamoring for these things cause they got in late in the game, especially after the anticipated avengers line comes out, and might be willing to pay 15 or so a piece MOC.

I'm glad they re-release HTF's eventually. Give people something to look forward too and avoids the stupid eBay prices as mentioned above.

For those looking to still own something that won't be re-released, look into the wave 1(?) Punisher with white gloves and a fat head. That and it looks like the original wave Daredevil and Bullseye might be done.

Umm...I buy toys to play with them. Sure they look nice on the shelf, but what good is a toy if you can't play with it?

I always used to think it was cool to have "that" figure eveyone wants till I realized who gives a sh$t,do I want it,9 x's out of 10 the answer was no.

For me the disappointment is more than just the fact that the re-sale value has gone down. There's also that sense of "I had something really cool and rare and hard to find that I busted my ass to find so my collection would be complete and now a year later I see it everywhere" feeling (I'm looking at you Thanos). I'm torn. On one hand it sucks to be the guy who couldn't find one when it was hard to find, so in some cases it's nice to see revision cases. On the other hand, having something rare seems to make it that much cooler.

That's the thing with collecting anything new these days. The value is only there for a short period of time when it's released. Then it goes significantly down over time. It's like the opposite of collecting. I took a bath on POTF SW figures simply because of reissues and whatnot. I remember when an Ep 3 Darth Sideous figure came out with an Anakin lightsaber it was worth a pretty penny. I held on to it thinking it would be worth more later on. I ended up selling it for like a dollar more than what I paid in stores.

Personally, the way I feel about it is that even if I had a really hard time finding a figure I really wanted, that everyone wants... and two years down the line the toy is reissued somehow... instead of feeling "Crud, now *everyone* has it," I feel "Yay! Now everyone who wants it can get it!"
That's how I feel with the Harley Quinn DCUC reissue. More often than not, I'm on this side of the fence. The only way I was able to get Nightwing, Hawkgirl, and Gentleman Ghost is because they were reissued. Same with the upcoming SC Sinestro reissue.

I really don't mind the reissues. I'm not collecting as an "investment". I collect because for some reason those little pieces of plastic make me happy, and in this world, you gotta grab happiness where you can find it. So the reissues are a blessing, to me, for those hard to find figures. I have hope of finding a Ms. Marvel (any Ms. Marvel dammit!). lol :) Happy face!

As for resale... sure it's nice to have a figure worth more than what you paid for it. Nothing wrong with that.

Please don't feed the scalpers.

Well put Nexodusrex thats the same reason i collect MU!

So, action figure hipster-ism.

"I had the colored Dr. Strange BEFORE everyone else. Now it's so mainstream."

I second this perspective!!!:D



I actually found that short-haired Ms. Marvel at my closest TRU, but...I passed on it. I don't really regret it or anything. The hair-style just didn't jive with me. I was surprised to see it there nonetheless. Well, hopefully the next person who finds it actually wants it for collecting/play value/adoration of the character, etc.

Oh, and I just found out that the DC Superheroes Bane I own is supposedly "rare", I hit it up on eBay and people are selling the thing for like $54.99 plus! (I realize that this is a Marvel forum, but just wanted to point this out :) )

That's a TERRIBLE way to feel! Enjoy your toys! Enjoy that others who really want them can get their hands on them!

I'm a sicko and I want them all, but I don't want to pay above retail. I love ripping open and fisting the little jerks! And I love that revision cases are a thing! A THING!