Collecting For Monetary Value THREAD

[Mikey]

We've all done it at one time or another ... sometimes more often and to a higher degree, but I bet 99.99999% of us all are guilty as charged ......

What toy line or individual toy did you buy soley because you thought "it might go up in value" ?
If it wasn't for this reason, you never would have bought it.

Here's my short-list

Star Wars '95 action figures (what a waste of time and money)
Star Wars newer large figures (see above)
Star Wars Bendys (see above)
Playmates Seaquest action figures ... I must have been nuts
Playmates Star Trek figures (all series)
Galoob Tasha Yar (I bought like 30 of them because she died)
Star Trek / Star Wars Customizable Card Games
Star Trek / Star Wars Micro Machines
Planet of the Apes 12" Hasbro's
Aliens action figures
Stargate action figures
Star Trek model kits

As you can see, i'm not very good at predicting the future

How 'bout you ?

[toys2cool]

Star wars episode 1,when remember when the 1st run had those .01 or .00 markings on the back

[starsky]

mcfarlane spawn and toy biz 5 inch x-men figures when they first came out in the mid 1990's. anybody wanna buy some?

[Mikey]

I just thought of another one...
Exclusive Premier 9" figures
I never cared for any of them, but I bought a lot because I thought they'd be "valuable someday"

[toys2cool]

oh man i forgot Starting line ups,I bought a bunch of rookie pieces thinking they'd be worth something,anyone need a Tim Couch or Ryan Leaf rookie?

[jessica]

I have Sideshow apes still boxed up, but knowing me, I will let out my apes and play with them. Once in my possession, I can't/won't sell them for cash.

[Adam West]

Starting Lineups...guilty as charged.

Luckily, I dumped them when the getting out was good. This was pre-Ebay and ran an ad in Tuff Stuff. I used to pick up Brett Favre rookies for $6.99 and sell them for $85.

I only kept my local favorites and actually will occassionally pick up a Starting Lineup on Ebay now and then and even picked up my holy grail which was a 1989 Cal Ripken Jr. It was dead on mint and I paid $75 for it. That figure was selling for $500 back in the day and was the most valuable figure out there.

[kryptosmaster]

No toys that I can think of offhand that I purchased solely with the idea of reselling for a profit. I mostly bought stuff that I liked but I did buy a bunch of comics back in the 80's/90's that were solely speculative. That was when they had like umpteen-bajillion different special covers like strawberry flavored batman and extra special diamond encrusted first editions (J/k lol).
Those are pretty much a dime a dozen now. Worth even less than cover prices realistically.

Rich

[ScottA]

I remember doing it for Starting Line-ups, Playmates Star Trek 1701 series and Star Wars. Managed to flip everything I found before the bottom fell out of all the lines.

[TEXASFETT]

mcfarlane spawn and toy biz 5 inch x-men figures when they first came out in the mid 1990's. anybody wanna buy some?

I bought both the X-men series and the Marvel Hero version.I sold two complete lots and didn't make a fortune but gained a little.But they where cool for the times.

[Gorn Captain]

I can honestly say I've never bought toys as an investment. Most of them are on display loose, so there goes "MIB"!
To me, toys are meant to be handled and enjoyed. My Hot Toys Aliens are all assembled, losing a lot of their $$$ value. But they suck in package, and look *****ing in action. What the point of having 30 points of articulation, if you never use them?
That's like a bottle of excellent wine, never tasted. My 67 points of articulation Spidey is swinging away!!!

If or when I do sell something, it's because I'm strapped for cash, or because a newer version of the figure look better, and even then...

I never bought tons of Phantom Menace. Just a couple of them, for my own enjoyment.
All my SW spaceships are out of package, even vintage. If I can't see it inside the box, it's useless to me. I will keep some packaging if it's decorative. If the figure displays about as nice inside package or out (like a carded Mego), I'll leave it carded.
All my vintage SW is out in a massive diorama, with some boxes as background.

I love toys for their design, details, fun factor. Because they are...toys. Not currency. Believe me, there are easier ways to make money than investing in toys.

A while back, because I needed some money, I had to make a choice between a much-loved banged-up figure (that I'd had for over 30 years), and the same-but mint-example I picked up later. I sold... the mint one.

Call me crazy. I just love toys for what they are!

[TEXASFETT]

The starting line ups...I thought they would have done better.Really just got the ones that where most popular. Jordan was my all time favorite at the time.


I went crazy on the 95 POTF series and they are a dime a dozen. I stand'em up and use them for target practice now.Really think that the 90's toys where cool but just didn't get there value.Pretty much when they where hot and if you made money it was good.Now I see them in yard sales in package for 25cents.

[vulcan2074]

I Never Bought Any Toys For an Investment. I put my Money in the Stock Market
Sammy

[almitysufx]

Boy am i guilty, not really recently but back in the mid 90's I was one of those people collectors hate.
I get laid off every winter and, in the winter months I was one of the guys who knew all the delivery dates for stores in my area and I would buy the short boxed figures up, then I'd go to a shop that resold them. the owner paid me half book value (normally I paid $5, He gave me $10, then he sold them for $20). I did this to support my collection of POTF Star Wars Figures which I kept carded and packaged and boxed away for the day I would sell them and make "the BIG BUCKS". They still sit in boxes in my sister's attic. If it was a hard to get figure of the early 90's I probably had it in my hand for a short time. To me it was the hunt to get them. In the end I probably broke even after the $ I spent on the Star Wars stuff, gas and whatever figures my daughter wanted.

An odd set of figures I have put away for my daughter are the 22 "Warriors of Virtue" figures. It was her favorite movie. I doubt they will ever have any value, but she loved them in the day and there's a full set still packaged in my garage attic. for her.

To anyone who ever cursed the heavens because they searched store to store for a hard to get figure in the mid 90's and kept coming home empty handed, I am sorry.

[megocrazy]

I'm pretty much a quick flip guy with the new stuff, though I have kept stuff from toy buyouts because I thought it would go up later. Did fairly well. T-cats and He-man were definately the best of the lot. I can remember buying huge collections of those lines for pennies a piece, and selling when they peaked. Line ups were the worst. Still have a Mario Lemiex and a Juan Gonzalez rookie piece I so wish I had sold with the rest of the collection I bought. Can't really complain as I made money on what I spent vs. what I sold, just could have been more. I still have way too many Mego's left to move. Someday I'll list em on ebay but not yet. Maybe in 2009. Still seem to have time to buy but never the time to sit and list em for sale. I still have like 35 totes of figures left from 2 vintage toy store buyouts that were dead stock stored in my Mom's garage. X-men, Spidey Animated, BTAS, Reboot, Spawn, Beanie Babies, McD's Beanies, etc. All left like the island of misfit toys, waiting for time to make them worth something. Been like 8-10 years and still most is not worth the ebay listing fees. Someday when I'm 80 they'll be on ebay and make me like $20.