Should MU have a pricing guide?
 

When I used to collect hockey cards, there was a magazine I'd buy called "the Beckett" which would list all kinds of cards ranging from 1930's-today, giving a low and high value for each card, what the entire set goes for, and what inserts/ rare ones are worth. There used to be wizard comics which listed the value of comics, and you can get a similiar thing for records. With toys having a life of their own, and the average fan only getting items retail and paying that, for us collectors who don't have the luxury of finding what we want locally, our options then turn to ebay/ other online sources. With there being so many variants and 1/case figures a value guide would be a god send to let collectors know how their investment of moc figures is holding up, vs the guy trying to justify is paying $20 foir a Thanos figure is worth it. Anybody else think this is a good idea? or know of any magazines/services that exist please list.

I have been collecting since I can remember. Before it was toys then it was trading cards and comics so I know exactly what you mean about pricing guides. The only thing is a lot of those price guides (including bekket and wizard) were way off base and had stuff listed much higher then what they were really worth :/ drop hobby shops insane.

I also used to buy Beckett magazine for the sports cards that I would buy regularly for different sports but having a priceguide just for MU wouldnt make sense at the moment. For one, the product line is not that vast or covers that many years to justify this and also the pricing seems to depend on eBay prices more than anything now a days as opposed to rarity or the actual supply/demand factor.
Id be interested to see an online price guide implemented if there isnt one already somewhere. Id like to see the site posted if there is one.

Ohhh man the Beckett, now there is something I haven't heard of in a while. I would love one for MU even thou right now I don't think they have enough to have many different prices.

Very good points. I didn't even think of the low number of MUs compared to trading cards there are. Sometimes one series of cards would have more cards then our total number of MUs currently.

I don't think so, I mean these figures have only been in production for a few years. Most new collectors could easily read our discussions on here for a few days and get a rough idea of what is rare, valuable, ...etc.

Yeh I know what you mean, something were worth more then what the going rate online or retail would be, but for figures that have a variant be it just a diff name on the base or repaint, it'd be nice to see how much "extra" their worth and have a "definative source" that way if you get a scalper selling the item for double the "going rate" you can not only call them/ebay on it, but be able to quote info to back it up.

I think price guide aren't that great. In the end something is only worth what you are willing to pay for it. Take Dragon Man from Marvel Legends he is rare and has been posted on ebay from 200-400 but i wouldn't pay anywhere near that IMO.

I hear ya, I'd personally pay $200 if I had the $$ for him, as he is that rare, and would look awesome with my figures. Even though you're not willing to pay $200, the guy selling it shouldn't be selling it for $10 either..,, there's a line between retail/collector/investment.

I know what you mean, personally Im not in this hobby to make money I mean ive traded a scorpion and lizard and destroyer for hand ninjas, 3 for 3 mind you. Though he is considered "rare" and he sold at retail for probably $20 i wouldnt pay over $60 for him and thats on a high end, i hope marvel does a gigantic battles with him I mean hes another character that stands at 15 feet

It's only worth what someone will pay...

Price guides have just one problem and that is the flux in price. Even with monthlys like toyfare it was hit and miss. Now a guide in general to help with whats out, variant, coming;that would be awesome especially for someone like me playing catch up :).

Beckett?? Cmon guys,.. Tough Stuff was were it was at. They condensed the four big sports into one magazine AND priced other collectibles like, Starting Lineup figures :D

I'm not so sure we need a price guide for MU, but if one was made I'd probably buy it because I do like "official" lists. It would be interesting to see how, and what, they'd value certain figures at.

Tuff Stuff, haha, I remember that all in one price guide.

Maybe Roshan can work on a MU collection/price guide book since he's done with the ML book.

Thanks! Still getting use to my way around here. Similar to the TAnk but a little different :).

I thought Toy Fare Mag had a price guid in it. I haven't picked one up since college but I would think listing for new toys would be in it just like the vintage ones. Checklists do help but not with price and as someone put it, there only worth what someone will pay. Roshan just made a ML Guide and others have made later year Joe books. If there is a big enough need for one I'n sure it will get done. Unfortuneately ebay seems to deturmine aftermarket value on things so if a couple of people are willing to spend crazy money on it. You bet people will try to sell it for that much. We've all said it before, collecting MU is not an investment. We are the only people willing to pay more for these things. 20 years down the line I do not see anyone making a profit on these.

I never heard of the mag, I'm in Canada, so for us with cards the market is like 95% hockey with 5% for basketball and baseball, atleast that's what it's like at any card shop near me. Plus for us with retail outlets such as Mcdonalds at certain times of the year they would release cards that come out, a base set, variant color set and then the odd autograph or something rare that was like 1 in 10,000. For us Canadians we get hockey cards, while most americans would get basketball,football or baseball. They had 1-2 sets of baseball back in 91-92 when Toronto won, but other then that strickly hockey. The 1 thing I liked about Beckett was that it gave price listings for old and new stuff, had editor pages where they showcased up and coming products and gave reviews on current products, they'd buy a box of cards open it and tell you what they got and what they thought overall which was awesome. Now a days we have a thing called youtube which any douche can go on and record himself/herself praising this or that figure and it's hard to know what to go buy. I also liked how it gave the low and high value, so that if you're at a garagesale and spot a gretzky rookie card for $100 you know it's a good deal when the low value is $500, and some collectors would try and sell ya on the high price, but some would meet ya in the middle or say fuck it here ya go. There's a guy on here that wrote a book on ML, there should be something done for MU but have a trading value assaigned, market value is 1 thing but honestly ebay changes day to day and you can always strike a cheap item from time to time./rant

A price guide is nice in theory, but the market for toys fluctuates so much that any price guide is almost always out of date before it's even published. Of course, the older a toy is, the more stable its aftermarket value becomes.

ToyFare used to have a very robust price guide section in its early days, but ended up reducing it to specific lines that were highlighted each month. Sadly, the whole magazine is now out of print.

The only one I know of offhand that is still in publication is Lee's Toy Review, but their guide's coverage is kind of limited, unless you're a Hot Wheels collector.

Also, even with a price guide to give you an estimate, it doesn't mean anyone else will be bound by that price.

The best advice I can give is to ask fellow collectors about the value of a toy. They may even be able to work a deal with you outside of Ebay for a lot cheaper.