[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.