[DD Collectibles]

As this is my first post, let me first introduce myself. I'm Danny from Ottawa, Canada. I have joined Toyark as I have recently started looking at the world of action figures, both as a collector and as an investment.

While there are a lot of companies making collectible action figures, my questions are more with respect to the following: Attakus, Kotobukiya, Gentle Giant, Side Show and Hot Toys, as these are the ones I know about for now.

1) As a collector (as opposed to an investment), which one do you fell gives you the biggest bang for your buck? I realize that Side Show and Hot Toys are amazing pieces of arts, but they are (I think) the most expensive of the previously mentioned companies.

2) As an investment, with the potential of reselling, which one is the best investment? For example, the Hot Toys being so expensive, is there really an after market for them? Also, the Koto are less expensive but is there a good after market for them since (I heard) those are NOT limited in production (although Captain Phasma pre-oder on kotous.com is already out of stock).

3) Is there usually more demand on the after market for 8" as oppose to 10"?

4) Any other companies I should look into both for collecting and for investment?

4) Anything else I should consider before I go down this potentially very addictive road?

My apologies in advance if I used the wrong terminology an any point....At least I didn't call them dolls

DD

[Cyclopswc]

First of all, welcome.

I'll let others answer your questions concerning investment on toys, for I'm no expert on that. My advice has always been "collect what you like". Sure, some of the pieces I collected over the years have become valuable, but I never collected them for the sake of investment, because the fact is, a lot of toys I collected over the years have become junks too. But I still enjoy them because I just like playing with him, displaying them and looking at them. Simple as that.

[En Sabah Nerd]

Regarding what toy companies to expand to we first have to know what you want/like. It's pointless to say go check out Funko legacy if you're not a fan of Game of Thrones or Firefly.

Honestly I'd say don't plan on any toy having truly increasing value. There's pretty much no guarantee any given toy will actually build and hold value. Just because something is booming now doesn't mean it'll still be desired four years from now. Obviously with a more established line like Star Wars toys you might have an easier time figuring out which figures are demanded but low on supply. There's more certainty and money to be made flipping houses or cars instead of trying to invest in toys.

[DD Collectibles]

Thanks for the replies.

I should say that for now I'm more focused on collecting figures related to Star Wars.

My main goal is to collect for the pleasure of collecting, but if I can get something that could one day increase in value, all the better. I guess the thrill of the hunt for that more limited toy is the real pleasure for me. Having collected sports cards for years, I understand that we do this for the fun, thrills and friendships that come out of the collecting community, not as a retirement fund.

Any other comments/advice are welcomed.

DD

[En Sabah Nerd]

Well quite honestly Hasbro is the best for Star Wars. They do have their 6" collector oriented line which is overall quite good for the price. Japanese import manufacturers like the Bandai SH Figuarts and others are typically going to be better figures but cost a lot more, are the same size, and have a very limited number of characters. Though the Japanese are somehow doing a Mace Windu and Grievous before Hasbro which is odd but then again I don't think those companies will ever move on to doing the different background characters like Hasbro already has. So for stuff in the 6" department you have some choices and if you like the way one company did a character better than the other then you can always mix them together in a display. For a basic review:
Hasbro - Pros: low retail price, character variety, good articulation, endurance. Cons: less than great likeness to actors, some harder to get than others.
Japanese imports - Pros: higher detail, good articulation. Cons: pricier, less character variety.

Hot Toys are probably the best but they are more like mannequins you set in a pose and leave them be. You can't really play with them or try to fiddle with them too much because that's not what they're for. I'd say reserve getting a Hot Toys figure for your favorite characters only since they take a bite out of your wallet and then they really just do a damn good job of standing there and looking cool but not a lot else. I also don't think Hot Toys figures really have much of a second market gain since none of them are rare or excessively demanded due to the smaller crowd of patrons.

[ToyAddict]

If you are going for Star Wars, I'd agree with En Sabah Nerd and say go for Hasbro Black Series 6". At a $20 retail price they are pretty good quality and a won't-break-most-people's-banks price. At a lower price range, there's more potential customers. Several of these figures (X-Wing Luke, Darth Maul, R2-D2, Jedi Luke, Darth Vader) are already selling at $30 - $60. While that's not money to retire on, a 50% - 100% return on investment ain't bad, if you look at it as a percentage.

[Trivial Psychic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by En Sabah Nerd

I also don't think Hot Toys figures really have much of a second market gain since none of them are rare or excessively demanded due to the smaller crowd of patrons.

Hot Toys DO have a secondary market, and for the most part, hold their value very well. As someone who owns several 1/6 scale high end figures, the problem is not that there is no secondary market, but rather that with high end items such as Hot Toys and Sideshow Products, the secondary market often sets the price a bit too high, and are really uneducated and not forward thinking about what an item is worth. They see a platinum price on Ebay, think that's what it's worth (without realizing that the seller can set a price to pretty much whatever he wants,) and the item more often than not sits on auction without much interest.

Most on the secondary market tend to want to at least double their return on what they paid for a now retired figure, failing to realize that in doing so, they are essentially pricing their potential buyers out, as retired figure or not, there are simply not a lot of people out there who are willing to drop $500 dollars on a figure that retailed for 250. Occasionally you will get lucky, but more often than not, the potential buyer will look at the item, whistle softly to themselves, comment to you on how it's gorgeous, and move on, knowing it's just too rich for their blood. Many people partake in our hobby casually, and are just not that fanatical about their favorite characters, as many simply want something that will stand on top of their computer at work, or look cool on their desk at home.

That doesn't mean that Hot Toys are a bad investment, nor are ones that don't hold their value. They do. Like a Ferrari salesperson, it's all about finding the right buyer who's serious about their passion.

My advice to you...if you're going to get into collecting, do as some of the others here are suggesting, and start small. Do it because you enjoy it, not because you think you're gonna make money off of it. If you come into this hobby with fantasies of building a hedge fund off of it, you will more than likely end up on your ass.

While many of us long timers collectors could probably make a buck or two back if we were to get rid of our collections tomorrow, the truth is, unless there's a Rocket Firing Boba Fett Mail-away in there, all of us would probably end up upside down on it and not even get back half of what we put into it. Ask anyone who collected comic books back during the comics boom of the late 80's through 90's what their comic collections are worth today, and not only will you be surprised, you'll more than likely be told the same thing.

[TimothyR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DD Collectibles

Thanks for the replies.

I should say that for now I'm more focused on collecting figures related to Star Wars.

My main goal is to collect for the pleasure of collecting, but if I can get something that could one day increase in value, all the better. I guess the thrill of the hunt for that more limited toy is the real pleasure for me. Having collected sports cards for years, I understand that we do this for the fun, thrills and friendships that come out of the collecting community, not as a retirement fund.

Any other comments/advice are welcomed.

DD

honestly, i wouldn't take resale value into consideration at all.

just collect what you like, and more likely than not, most of what you acquire will have some resale value.

you may not get the highest return on something, but at the end of the day, you acquire enough stuff, you'll be able to make a decent amount back.

most of the higher end figures will raise in value. so, the way i see it, just get what you enjoy, and being able to get any money back for them will be a bonus.

and this is obvious, but make sure you don't break or lose anything.

[DD Collectibles]

Thank you all for the great comments. This is truly like the sport cards world (where I have some past experience). Collect for the fun and all the better if you get lucky with the value but don't exepct to make it rich. Got it!

Thanks again
DD

[georgeromero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DD Collectibles

Thank you all for the great comments. This is truly like the sport cards world (where I have some past experience). Collect for the fun and all the better if you get lucky with the value but don't exepct to make it rich. Got it!

Thanks again
DD

I used to think like you back in 2010 when I started collecting. Maybe I was worse man but I'd thought of making a profit. I wouldn't consider myself an expert but I think the situation I got myself into back then is somehow related.
Back then I only collected Neca and McFarlane toys. I didn't have much money therefore I sticked only to figures in 20-70 dollar range. Then I saw HT and Sideshow products and no matter how gorgeous they looked I'd think people were crazy since they spent $200 on a figure let alone near $1000 mark on second hand figures at ebay. I mostly did collect Spawn and Predator figures so I was familiar with what I collected. Later Neca announced they will be making 18 inch Predators and I decided I would be one of those profiteering assholes selling them once they would be out of stock everywhere. There you go. I bought 6 for myself and extra 20 of those thinking I will make a fortune, let's say after 5 years. Then I realised these things will never be as expensive as HT ones and being a speculator is how do I put it, Bad?
Last year I sold most of them for $140-150. I wouldn't consider it as good investment but I still managed to make a small profit and bought some HT and Sideshow figures but this time for me Oh by the way Neca will be releasing better versions of big bad Predators in 1/4 scale.
The point is you cant't tell which action figures will be super expensive. There are some which did gain in value like Neca's Michael Myers, Tomb Raider and etc for which the license is expired or old AVP figures by McFarlane. But the latter are obsolete right now since Neca made better and cheaper versions.
Just collect what you like, with some time you will know which stuff are really worth moneys.

[rockshasa]

As a toy collector of over 18 years, my advice is don't go into this hobby for an investment. Go into this hobby for fun. There are absolutely no guarantees. Since the recession hit back in 2008, the value of alot of stuff has gone way down. I was buying toys 10-18 years back that are worth half that price today. Unless the economy goes way up again, there's not going to be a huge demand for alot of toys. Should you own a toy, that down the road becomes very wanted and valuable, count yourself lucky.

Also, should you one day get bored with this hobby, don't sell your toys or throw them away. Pack them up and store them away. Typically, toys don't become really valuable until they are about 20-30 years old…when the generation they were aimed at is older and has moved on to other things. I am 52 now, and the toys that are my most valuable are the toys I had when I was a 5-10 year-old kid, so it takes alot of time for these things to ask a heavy price and to see a demand.

I'm planning on dumping my collection when I hit around 70. At that point I should be able to make a nice profit…depending on our economy. Should the US economy never fully recover (and it's not looking very good still), we might all be stuck with a lot of very cool looking boat anchors.

[kylactus]

My advice, if you want to profit buy what's hot in high quantity, store them MIB, and in 20 years sell them back to fan boys for profit. But avoid things like pogs, Pokemon cards, and Bernie babies. Go with characters that have staying power, in 15 years your Justin biber doll will be worthless, and irrelevant, your spider man figure will still be in comics in some form, and he'll probably be on his 9th movie reboot. Common figures that were available at brick and mortar stores, at limited quantities tend to have a higher value increase than exclusives. Example: vision MU. Your not going to find many people with a deep childhood bond to a hot toys figure. But look at the marvel secret wars figures, they were built to be played with, everyone had them and beat the hell out of them. There not fancy, just 5 pop junk. But I've payed 30$ for a loose cap because I had one when I was a kid. Pay attention to the markets, if you have any Bill Cosby collectibles I bet you wish you dumped them a year ago. But if your going to collect, collect for the fun of it. Don't try to overlap collecting and profit, if you make it a business it just makes it stressful when it should be fun. If you become a completion collector it's more addictive than crack.