Mego Star Trek Figure Prices Plummeting!!!

[grayhank]

I was giving this whole plummeting thing a lot of thought so I decided to check Ebay on a lot of other toylines that are considered "collectible". I have to say that currently a lot of the "hot" lines are way down in price. I saw a POTF2 SOTE Vader which used to sell for a couple of hundred, currently less than $10.00. The Weequay Freeze Frame used to sell for over $400. Now it's less than $100. Mattel's Justice League Unlimited line has dropped considerably. Most San Diego Comic Con exclusives have come way down in price to almost nothing. These usally fetched top dollar on Ebay. These are just some of the examples I looked up. There were quite a few others as well.

It appears folks that we are in a Toy recession all around, it's not just limited to Megos.

[Sowth]

I can only speak for myself, but toy fairs down here appear to have passed the lowest point and are on the verge of a mini-revival. Selling stuff well on Ebay is not as simple as many people first think, and there seems to be a whole new bunch of Generation Y collectors who had never experienced the fun of the toy fair now getting in to it.

Add to that that Ebay Australia is on the nose big-time, they are about to introduce a new payment system whereby you will ONLY be allowed to pay for any item via Paypal or Cash on Delivery, I kid you not. This has increased the max exodus of sellers from ebay to local competitors such as Oztion.com.au, unfortunately the buyers have yet to follow lol.

10 years+ of Ebay has made it's mark on the vintage action figure market, it has shown that almost nothing is 'rare'. Add to that the current contraction of disposable income worldwide (petrol in Australia is AU$1.60 per litre and heading to $2) and you get a funk in sales. I'm hoping to pick up some nice stuff cheap over the next year while both the relative price is down and the Australian Dollar is nearing parity with the US.

Reminds me of the grandfather saying, "Buy in Gloom, Sell in Boom."

Cheers,
Will

[Hector]

The Repro's definitely killed the market on Classic Mego Trek --- as the CTVT's repro's killed the Space 1999 classic market.... Mego Knights, Robin Hoods, I could go on and on.
Repro's will do that in any collecting field.

Except for...



Thank you Mr Landau for telling CTVT to stuff it where the sun don't shine.

[hobub]

I know. I'm sure Talos is probably the most sought after original Mego Star Trek alien these days.

Anyone want to buy a Removable Mask Robin with a beat shirt/cape missing belt and mask for $350-$400? I had it on hold for me for $99 at a semi-local novelty shop here in Ohio. The guy had it priced and everything even agreed to sell it to me for the listed price. As far as I was concerned it was a done deal. Put it on hold for me for 1 week. But after I tried to pay via phone with my credit card, the guy did a backstep and did some homework. he said he contacted DM, among others, who stated that the figure should be at least $400. I had to laugh. (I don't know if he really contacted Paul or was just blowing smoke) I think he might just sit on this one for awhile. For that price it should be very pristine. I don't think I'll be doing any more business in that shop any time soon. What a piece of work.

[draconianguard]

I was giving this whole plummeting thing a lot of thought so I decided to check Ebay on a lot of other toylines that are considered "collectible". I have to say that currently a lot of the "hot" lines are way down in price. I saw a POTF2 SOTE Vader which used to sell for a couple of hundred, currently less than $10.00. The Weequay Freeze Frame used to sell for over $400. Now it's less than $100. Mattel's Justice League Unlimited line has dropped considerably. Most San Diego Comic Con exclusives have come way down in price to almost nothing. These usally fetched top dollar on Ebay. These are just some of the examples I looked up. There were quite a few others as well.

It appears folks that we are in a Toy recession all around, it's not just limited to Megos.

The items you mentioned differ compared to reproductions of vintage figures being realeased. New toy line variants are hot when they first come out and almost always drop in value a few years later because interest it was a fad. Same thing with a lot of con exclusives. The Star Trek Mego line was always cheap loose except for a few aliens that kept its value if it was loose/mint/complete or especially carded.

It's like if you could get a Rolls Royce knockoff that looks and drives like the original. You would see a bunch of them on the road and it would loose its charm if they became dime a dozen.

Companies who make reproductions don't care if you paid $400 of your hard earned money for a figure and have it go down to $100 when their item hits the shelf. Why should they? They are making profit which is why companies are started.

There are positives such as the collector who could never imagine spending big $'s on a Romulan and Andorian now being able to own one who always wanted one. Someone who forgot all about these toys they grew up with that they stumbled upon at an FYE now getting into the hobby. There will always be that collector who will want an original no matter what regardless of how cheap a repro is.

The only problem is if the secondary market collapses because of reproductions, I think the hobby would be hurt. People who make a living selling vintage toys can kiss that goodbye. Collectors who spent thousands of dollars and lots of time tracking down items would be fed up with it.


The repro discussion has been discussed so many times over the years and I don't think it will ever end. Only time will tell where this goes with the influx of repros. Thank you and good night.

[grayhank]

I don't see reproductions as having much to do with it. I'm sure that's part of the equation but it's merely speculation. Have any of the WGSH line dropped in price? They aren't being made as reproductions? I think you would find the answer to be yes for many of them. What happens is someone sells an original Romulan and get's $500 for it. He tells this person over here and he thinks hey I can get $500 for mine too. And before long everyone thinks that it's worth $500 and more of them start to surface. As more appear, the price begins to drop little by little. Now I'm just using a baseline price of $500 here. I don't know if that's what an original Romulan is worth or not. But I do know how much I just paid for mine and since I have the reproduction already, that only enforced my desire to get an original one. I was happy with the reproduction but am happier with the original. It's not a question of what its value is, it's a question of having one in my collection. That's the difference.

But in general most toy lines are dropping in price is all I'm getting at. I didn't just check newer lines but I looked up older vintage lines as well. Look up vintage Star Wars, Kenner Super Powers, Vintage GI Joe. It's happening across the board, not just in Mego world. And yes there's always going to be a few standout pieces here and there like the Super Powers Cyborg who's still over $100 on Ebay, but a couple of years ago he was going for $300+.

Now the reason I did this checking is because I have been debating thinning out a great portion of my toy collection and selling it on Ebay. But looking at the prices that alot of this stuff is going for, it wouldn't be worth my time and I certainly wouldn't even come close to breaking even on what I've spent.

[hobub]

Hank,

Yes, I have been an avid collector and reseller/trader of RCB's and RMR's and I can testify to the fact that they plummeted like a rock when the reproductions appeared. They have gone back up for extremely mint and rare variation examples. But when someone posts that they wouldn't pay more than $75 for a Removable Cowl Batman when I used to sell them for as much as $275 before the repros appeared without even having knowledge at the time about skinny boots, nylon shorts or one shiny sided gloves, that is the main reason why I find it imparative to note any and all variations that have been made by Mego in any number if it is recordable. That will at least put some weight on the ones that are rarer than others. Plus, I would think that the type 1's would escalate in value a bit since they have not been reproed. Of course this will only be noted by those who pay maticulous attention to detail. The circle suit spidey, for example, used to not have any attention at all until it started to be noticed around the collection boards. I picked a couple up for $5 each in the past. But once noted on the boards, collectors started taking note and the prices started growing at an alarming rate $120-$150-$200-$300. I watched it happen and couldn't believe it. When I sold mine for $250 each while others were selling theirs for $350, I was like what the heck do I even have in these? Remember, it was not even noted in Bonavita's book (although pictured) and Spidey was one of the cheap Mego's.

I can't argue that this tanked economy is having an impact on Megos and collectibles in general bacause basic needs always take precidence. But perhaps if enough detail is paid to the details of original Mego trek line, thier antiquity and their charm as heirlooms of our shared childhoods, at least the highest condition examples will maintain some value. But as I can testify for the RMR and the RCB values. They are still revered as something that will not go too cheap but they have never fully recovered.

[jemboy2004]

I think the economy has an impact for sure. People who need money are selling off their collections and people who used to buy can't right now.

If you go to other sites (I know hard to believe we would) like for example the jemcon msg board. All you will find is young collectors in their 20s. They collect the toys they had as kids. I think we don't see younger people here because megos were from the 70s but younger people do collect toys.

Some will find there way to older toys too. I never owned an Ideal Comic Heroine Super Queen doll from 67 but once I discovered these older gems I wanted to collect them. I think Mego's will be collected for a long time for alot of reasons but maybe not as we do or for the reasons we do either but will be collected.

[grayhank]

First of all Bonavita's book is over 12 years old now (originally published 1996). It has been updated twice since it's original printing. I don't think anyone can use that as an "official" mego price guide. But I'm certain that the prices listed in his book reflected the going rate of Megos at the time, and Ebay (Sep 1995) had only been around for a year or so when it was written. So Megos would have been a lot rarer at that point in time because frankly you would mostly find them at toy shows rather than in the comfort of your own home. The rarer something is, the higher the price. So are you certain that repro parts brought down the price of RCBs and RMRs or was it because of a greater opportunity to purchase them?

Those of us within this community are aware of Doc Mego but I don't think the population at large who knew of Mego as kids would really know the difference between a repro part or an original.

[marbkwds]

I paid $300.00 for my Romulan and $180.00 for my Andorian ..... Once I knew for certain that EMCE was releasing them I figured I should sell them fast before the prices drop , I sold the Romulan for $380.00 and the Andorian for $225.00 ............ Now I have been seeing them on e-bay for Romulan $180.00 - $200.00 . I have not checked on Andorians but my point is that within the release time of EMCE's figures being released the price has dropped way down ......... Also I don't think that the issue is about collecting for money but if you pay $400.00 for anything it would always be nice to know that if you ever decided to let that item go you could at least make back what you paid for it ........ Whats the point of buying something that 6 months later is worth less than 1/2 of what you shelled out for it in the first place ........... ....... Roy

[hobub]

First of all Bonavita's book is over 12 years old now (originally published 1996). It has been updated twice since it's original printing. I don't think anyone can use that as an "official" mego price guide. But I'm certain that the prices listed in his book reflected the going rate of Megos at the time, and Ebay (Sep 1995) had only been around for a year or so when it was written. So Megos would have been a lot rarer at that point in time because frankly you would mostly find them at toy shows rather than in the comfort of your own home. The rarer something is, the higher the price. So are you certain that repro parts brought down the price of RCBs and RMRs or was it because of a greater opportunity to purchase them?

Those of us within this community are aware of Doc Mego but I don't think the population at large who knew of Mego as kids would really know the difference between a repro part or an original.

I can only go by my own timeline. I was selling the figures on line and tracking them for possible puchases. After the repros came out, they dropped like a rock, going for as little as $26 in some cases.

And as far as Bonavitas book, that was another point regarding exposure. I understand the book came out in 96 and was reissued with minor differences and pricing increases two times thereafter. But my point was that it did give exposure of the figures to me originally. I read the thing cover to cover several times (as if that was hard) and studied the pictures for hours. But my point is that in that book, it didn't mention the variation of the Circle suit and to the average seller or collectibles shop, it was a good reference. The prices on the CSS figs didn't start to escalate until it got exposure on the forums.

[livnxxxl]

the young kids are all interested in the old stuff, they just cant always afford it

I think that the above quote best explains the difference in price drop regarding repro over original for a lot of collectors in general. Take the above quote and add to that a tanking economy and wallah!! There you have the answer my friends.

That is how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop!

[ctc]

>Whats the point of buying something that 6 months later is worth less than 1/2 of what you shelled out for it in the first place

Collectibles are ALWAYS a bad investment. Truly rare figures will hold their value; but there aren't too many of those. In the long term they're an EXTREMELY bad investment 'cos there are only gonna be so many serious collectors; and once they've snagged the figures they want they're not gonna keep buying them. The repro stuff is good 'cos it generates NEW interest, but for monetary value it's bad 'cos most of the new fans aren't likely to shell out big bucks for a figure. They'll part with $20 for a Romulan, 'cos they'll look cool sitting on the copmputer at work; but probably won't spend $250 on one.

The high prices for ANY collectible are inflated due to insane demand. $500 for a classic action figure is an entirely arteficial value; it's not based on any real production cost, it's based entirely on what the market will bear. And the market can be EXTREMELY fickle. Repro or no, the bottom can fall out at any time.

Don C.

[Bionic Joe]

The only thing repo figures changed for me is i'm very hesatent to buy loose robin hood/super knights/space 1999 and no way would i bid on a loose Romulan and a Andorian as there are to many scrums on E-BAY, Repros are a nice fill in on a rare figure but i'd still rather have the real MEGO

[zorro]

Actually, I believe that collecting is making a comeback. I have been in this game (like most of you) for over 20 years. I have several collections from He-Man to Mego. In addition. I wrote a price guide in the year 2000. Getting back to the point. It is not collecting that is dying, it is the thrill of the hunt. When last have you seen a real fun toy show that did not have baseball cards and new figures? How many shows have QUALITY Mego pieces? Believe me, this is what collectors are looking for and quite frankly, Ebay does not satisfy this urge. Another thing is that people are looking for the best example figure (arn't we all). Ebay drives these prices down because we are not sure if the items are repro or damaged. We read listings and hope that the person selling the item is honest. This is why AFA and other grading facilities are making a killing. They capitalize on Ebay because we as collectors trust that we are spending our money on a great example. This is also the reason why an AFA graded piece is worth sometimes double or triple. Compare the AFA graded piece's ending auction price to the value of 10 years ago. Guess what, it is worth more...much more.

I have just started getting back into the toy show craze after 10 long years. I can say that the shows that I attend are old school. My friend is an old toy show promoter. He has brought back the shows we all have grown up to love, which was taken from us by Ebay for the last decade. Anyone that went to the April show, please let me know what you thought. On May 3, we are going to do it again in Pennsville.

I am just on a rant because I am sick with the collecting disease and believe me it is a sickness. I think that I am not alone here.