What are you thoughts on "Toy Speculating" ??

[4NDR01D]

In general what do you guys/gals think of "toy speculating"? I've been doing eBay for about the last 8-9 years, and in that time I've stuck mostly with vintage thrift/flea market finds. I'm curious as to whether or not I should maybe invest in buying some modern toys to put away for a bit. I'll continue to do my thrifting looking for vintage finds, but it's sometimes a bit frustrating when I come up empty handed.

The reason I bring this up is I found a 4" deluxe Slithe figure from wave 2 of the Thundercats as well as just about every other figure from wave 1 for $2/$4 (reg. figures) -$7(deluxe) at a liquidation type department store. The Slithe was short shipped and is already going for around $70. I'm undecided whether I should flip it for the quick money now (before somebody finds a case of the them) or whether I should put the figures away for a few years and see if they go up in collectability. I don't think I'd make enough off the other figures right now to make it worth my while.

I'll be honest, I have mixed feelings about it. I don't like to see toys go directly from the companies to toy scalpers who immediately inflate the price, and I really have no interest in doing that. I'm thinking more along the lines of, for example, if I bought the first wave of Monster High dolls a few years back off the shelf and sat on them until now, I'd be able to make a tidy profit. Is there a difference?

There's a ton of insight on this board which is why I ask. Has anybody ever had great success putting away toys that became super collectible? any epic duds?

[BlackKnight]

I don't "invest" in Toys.
I buy what I want to collect, and thats it.
I've tried here and there to put this or that away...., but have always pretty much failed to bounce back on my investment, or make any money Ahead at all. I guess it's completely not my thing, as I Suck at it. So I haven't tried for years.
Sure, someone could say my Hot Toy collection is somewhat of an Investment ...., but I don't buy anything I don't want to begin with, and really have no plans to sell them.
I don't really see any Extreme Value in Modern Toys ...., Other than Certain Transformers always seem to have great Success and Turn Around. Or if you got the 1st 7or8 Monster High Dolls, with the Boys ...., But is this just the "New Thing" or will those Stay ? BTAS Penguin Anybody ? ... Investing in Toys is a Pain in the *** ....., Because you Also Seriously Need to Know Just When to Sell.

[HumanWolfman]

The way I see it, The AHI Creature and Circle Suit Spidey were both brand new at one time. Knowing what will be prized and sought after a few years from now is anyone's guess, however. If you trully want to invest and make cash, Real Estate is safer and makes more sense. I just buy stuff I like. If I really like it I will buy several so I can sell one later and still have one too.

[The Toyroom]

I've always gotten screwed when I bought multiples...I would end up sitting on them too long and sold for less than I've paid for it seems.
Now I just buy what I like. If it's value increases great, if not who cares because I don't plan on selling anything I like anytime soon. And becoming
more focused on my collecting in the last year has helped purge some unwanted hangers-on.

[megoat]

Of the gazillion things out there to buy and then sell at a profit I can't think of anything more boring to deal in than modern toys. But that's just me.

[spacecaps]

About 10 years ago, there were tons of Extreme Ghostbusters role playing stuff on the shelves in TRU on clearance. They sell for hundreds now. Trend masters put out some Battle Star Galactica toys and they were clearances forever at Kay-Bee and no one wanted them, now they're quite desirable. Hay-bee also sold rip-offs of the old MASK line and called them Vortex. I bought them cause in some cases they were taken right from the Kenner MASK molds and years later was floored to see what they were selling for on ebayy and Leadworks aped the Matt Mason figures from the 60's and sold them for $10 a piece. Now each figure can sell for $100 a piece. There's tons of toy lines with stories like this.Meanwhile I've got a closet full of Titan AE figures, Turtles, Star Trek, Batman Animated, JLA, the 2002 MOTU relaunch line (before the Classic series) and you can't give this stuff away. There is no prediction what's gonna be good down the road. Best advice is to buy what you like because you like it otherwise you'll get stuck with a pile o' junk you or anyone else wants.

[megojim]

I don't "invest" in Toys.
I buy what I want to collect, and thats it.
I've tried here and there to put this or that away...., but have always pretty much failed to bounce back on my investment, or make any money Ahead at all. I guess it's completely not my thing, as I Suck at it. So I haven't tried for years.
Sure, someone could say my Hot Toy collection is somewhat of an Investment ...., but I don't buy anything I don't want to begin with, and really have no plans to sell them.
I don't really see any Extreme Value in Modern Toys ...., Other than Certain Transformers always seem to have great Success and Turn Around. Or if you got the 1st 7or8 Monster High Dolls, with the Boys ...., But is this just the "New Thing" or will those Stay ? BTAS Penguin Anybody ? ... Investing in Toys is a Pain in the *** ....., Because you Also Seriously Need to Know Just When to Sell.

Sound advice! If you do this for the $ you'll come out on the short end.
Collect what you like and down the road if you want or need to sell something, so be it . . .

[vulcan2074]

I don't "invest" in Toys.
I buy what I want to collect, and thats it.

Same here.
Sammy

[Werewolf]

I don't scalp, flip or buy toys to "invest." That's why I avoid the "pickers" shows and threads like the plague. I detest scalping and the mindset it brings. It sucks the joy and innocense out of toys and replaces it with greed and some perverse form of self percieved status because someone thinks they having a "rare" or "valuable" toy makes them better than anyone else. Ugh, don't get me even stated on the "pickers" that hoard whatever toys kids want for Christmas every year. They are not "picking" toys r us. They are scalping childrens toys at Christmas. They are slime.

I collect what I personally like and nothing else. I don't buy extras to invest or toys I don't personally want. I've passed over "hot" or "valuable" figures from lines I don't collect more times than I can remember. I leave them for someone that actually wants it instead of trying to screw them over on ebay.

[Mikey]

Been collecting for 25+ years.

Nothing I ever bought new off the shelf ever went up in value

Just unlucky I guess

[spacecaps]

I detest scalping and the mindset it brings.

So true. For a time I was going to Flea Markets just to buy things to sell later. I wasn't looking for myself and I became more interested in what I could get for something instead enjoying finding something I would appreciate. I still do buy things at Flea MArkets that I know I can resell and make a profit off of but that's only if something comes along that's too good to pass up.

[convoy357]

Well I think that modern toys won't carry much value in the future. We collectors of vintage toys are doing so because we had these toys as kids and played with and enjoyed them. Kids today, for the most part, couldn't care less about an action figure. Its all about video games and electronics. I believe thats where the value is gonna lie at somewhere down the road......vintage video games. These kids of today/collectors of tomorrow will be scooping up vintage video games and systems to recapture their youth. This has actually begun already. There is a growing market for older video games like Atari and Sega and the early versions of Nintendo. I'm not running out to buy any of it, but I do have a big box full of this stuff in my storage room and its gonna stay there awhile.

[kingdom warrior]

Of the gazillion things out there to buy and then sell at a profit I can't think of anything more boring to deal in than modern toys. But that's just me.

Yup, There is no nostalgia in modern toys...not like the kids from the 50's-80's who grew up with lot's of classic toys and they actually played with them. The 90's up had the adult collectors market that hoarded and kept everything in the package and sellers have more back stock of modern toys that they can't give away.......

[megoat]

Andy, I'd say just broaden your vintage interests. That's what I've done after striking out at the fleas/thrifts/sales too many times. Becoming jack of all trades at picking is a better skill than trying to go off on some goofball hoarding frenzy--filling your basement with a bunch of lame modern toy gunk in the hopes of it paying off in the future.....

Here's a tip: militaria. Pretty easy to find vintage military pieces out in the field and the resale can be quite lucrative!

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

Collectibles are ALWAYS a bad investment. After 20 years there's usually a nostalgic bump where prices shoot up wildly. The same often happens short term for new, hot stuff.... but inevitably they'll dip to almost nothing. It's too tough, and not generally worth the effort to try and guess what'll hit.

Don C.