Sorry... That's Not Vintage!!!

It's been 4 years since I was introduced into the underground world of toys. Along the way I have learned that there are different values in toys depending of the age, the quantity that was produced, and the condition the toy is in.

With so many people dealing in toys these days you see many people using the word vintage very loosely. I mean I’ve seen people referred to Transformers from just 10 years ago as vintage. I’m still learning this stuff and I look at them funny when the say something 10 years old (released in the 2000’s) as vintage. So I’m going to talk about some the language I have learned from my husband and other collectors to safely determine or to refer to the age of a toy/collectible.

 
Prototype or Test Shot: This is where a figure truly comes to life from a concept on paper to a physical figure. These figures are used for testing the fans reaction, and to create marketing hype at comic convention or at toy fairs. Because these figures are meant to create hype for the figure they normally present better, have cleaner sculpts, and have better paint apps than the massively produce figures you would see in the shelves later.

 Pre Ordered: This is a collectible that has not been release but it’s guarantees that when it's released you will have one for your own collections. Now depending on the situation, a toy pre orders can be used in two ways: 1) To guarantee sales of a product that is going to be mass produced in the long run or 2) it can be used to release a toy that has limited funding and it needs to reach a specific sales goal in order to be able to mass produce the product at smaller profit to the company/recipient creating the figure. Many art toys use sites like KickStarter in order to raise funds for a limited release of a unique toy.

Released or New Figures: Fresh out of the production line. Depending on the type of figure this means it was just realized in major retail stores as a normal product, store exclusives, online exclusive, convention exclusive, or comic book store exclusive. For most average collectors this is when they picked up the figures for their personal collections.

In stock / On Shelf:  This suggests that the figure has been out for purchase for some time. This could be anywhere from a few months to a few years.

Out of print / Out of Rotation / No Longer In Stock: Sadly at this point the figure/collectible has been out for some time and it’s no longer easily found in stores. These are the figures most people purchase in the secondary market like EBay, Flea Markets, Local Collectible Shop or purchase/trade with another collector.
Classic : A figure/collectibles that are old but is not quite vintage. These mainly refer to figures between the ages of 10-25 years. A good example are 1990's X-Men Figures. They had a specific look to them, and articulation that really dates them to that time period. Same thing goes with the first generation Spawn figures.
Vintage: these are figures that are around 30 years of age. So since I'm in my early 30's the toys I grew up with such as TMNT, MOTU, Jem, Original Star Wars line, MEGO dolls, and Secret Wars Marvel Figures are now becoming vintage figures. These figures are mainly found in secondary markets. Antique: These collectibles are around 50 years of age and older. Good example of this are some of the first Barbies that came out. Since the first release of Barbie was back in 1959 the Diva is officially 55 years old qualifying some of the first releases as Antiques.

Artifact : Simple.   Something that is so old it probably should be I'm a museum. If it looks like something a little cave girl/boy played with chances are is an artifact. LOL I hope you like this blog.

Remember I’m always learning so don't be shy to leave some constructive feedback on the matter.

Godzilla For Dummies

So there's a new Godzilla movie coming out and you know your have that one acquaintance, friend or family member that is just gaga over that big green rubber suite lizard. In my house , my husband Tom has many happy childhood memory attached to the giant green monsters. He got his first Godzilla's from his grandmother for being a good boy while attending a doll conventions as a kid with his grandmother and mother. He has loved the King of Monsters ever since. As for me I have seen some Godzilla stuff growing up but never quite got the story line. I always found it corny but I did like watching the monsters fight. Too much fun. Now that I'm married to a collector who knows about Godzilla he has been explaining things for me here and there and some of it makes more sense now.... Sort off. Lol

My husband Tom Khayos showing off his Giant Godzilla Collection.

Check out my husbands growing Godzilla collection at https://www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm/collections/72157630057007551/ .

Basic stuff to know:

Now if you are related or acquainted with a Godzilla fan here are few facts to know before you speak about the King: 1) Godzilla is a Giant Kaiju (Monster) 2) First appearance was in 1954 which makes Godzilla 60 years old as of 2014. 3) He was created by Tomoyuki Tanaka, Ishiro Honda, and Eiji Tsubaraya, and appeared for the first time in Ishiro Honda’s movie title “Godzilla” back in 1954. He was designed by Akira Watanabe and Teizo Toshimitsu. 4) Godzilla is also known for his other title as “King of the Monsters”, but he also goes by other names as Gojira, Gigantis, Monster of Justice, Big G, G Man, God of Destruction, Big Gray Gecko, Kaiju Alpha, Goji, and Nautilus. 5) Godzilla's origins are a little different depending what story line you are currently watching but there are a few facts that always remain the same. He’s a giant sea monsters that rises from the deep waters, he’s big, violent, kind of looks like a giant dinosaur lost in time, and is powered by nuclear radiation. 6) Godzilla's size has increased through the years. His height has gone from around 50 meters back in the 1950’s (around 165 feet) to most recent 100 to 150 meters (around 500 feet tall). 7) Since 1954 he’s been in 28 films by Toho Co. LTd. and as best of my knowledge these movies are:

• 1954 - Godzilla King of the Monsters
• 1955 - Godzilla Raids Again
• 1962 - King King vs. Godzilla
• 1964 - Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster
• 1965 - Invasion of Astro-Monster (Godzilla vs. Monster Zero)
• 1966 - Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster)
• 1967 - Son of Godzilla
• 1968 - Destroy All Monsters
• 1969 - All Monsters Attack (Godzilla’s Revege)
• 1971 - Godzilla vs. Hedorah (Godzilla vs Smog Monster)
• 1972 - Godzilla vs. Gigan
• 1973 - Godzilla vs. Megalon
• 1974 - Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
• 1975 - Terror of Mechagodzilla
• 1984 - The Return of Godzilla
• 1989 - Godzilla vs.Biollante
• 1991 - Godzilla vs.King Ghidorah
• 1992 - Godzilla vs.Mothra (Godzilla and Mothra : The Battle for Earth)
• 1993 - Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 2
• 1994 - Godzilla vs.Space Godzilla
• 1995 - Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
• 1999 - 2000: Millenium (Godzilla 2000)
• 2000 - Godzilla vs.Megaguirus
• 2001 - Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monster All-Out Attack
• 2002 - Against Mechagodzilla
• 2003 - Tokyo S.O.S
• 2004 - Final Wars
• 2007 - Always : Sunset on Third Street 2

8) WARNING: Whatever you do, DO NOT compare the original Godzilla with the 1998 American version of Godzilla, also been referred as the large Iguana. Hard cored Godzilla lovers will deny the existence of this movie, give you a nasty glares and chances are they will be horribly offended that you compared that horrible abomination to the one and only true King of the Monsters.

9) The King has been seen not only in movies but also in video games, animated series, comic books, and television series.

10) Godzilla is such a popular icon is one of the most recognizable icons in Japanese culture and here in the US was granted a MTV Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996 and in 2004 was awarded a Star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

11) Unlike the Godzilla animated series released by Warner Brothers in the 1990’s the regular Godzilla doesn't really care much for humans. He will fight along side some humans when there’s a threat but he doesn't go out of his way to protect human’s property or their lives. In fact in a few occasions he has actually turn against his allies in a second. He doesn't eat people, but he does sustain himself on radiation and destroys everything on his path. Since he’s a monster he doesn't go by human values of good and evil. He’s just doing his own thing. 

About the Toys

Now it seems more and more common that with each movie there seem to be a giant frenzy of people buying toys related to that movie thinking they are going to be worth a fortune and Godzilla is no exception. So here are few thing I have picked up from my husband when it comes to his Godzilla Collection.

1) Godzilla toys use to mainly come in vinyls or as vinyl model kit (assembly required). These figures vary in size from a few inches to a few feet. I seen godzilla toys as small as around one inch to about 3 feet tall and six feet tall which is the Kaiyodo 3 foot by 6 foot Vinyl Model Kit (1/80th scale). INSANE!!! In recent years new Godzilla figures are starting to get more action figure type articulation.

This is the Kaiyodo 1/80th scale Godzilla and it's worth several thousands of dollars. 

2) Beware of bootlegs. If you are a Godzilla purist beware of buying bootlegs Godzillas and paying a steep price like a licensed product. This is very common since there’s such as fandome for the Big G for 60 years now. Unless you are into bootleg figures then go nuts. The easy way to find out if the big guy is genuine is the check out for markings. Almost all licensed Godzilla figures have markings that let you know about the figure and a year.

3) There are figures released in the US and there are the once released in Japan. If you are buying for a hard core collector they will be able to tell which one is which by the markings, materials and colors they have use on the figure. Yes believe it or not there is noticeable difference between them. So if you are looking for a Godzilla gift chances are you are better off asking them which one they want or even easier just give them cash.

4) Well sought out Godzilla figures are not cheap. They range from a couple of hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. So if you are a picky upscale collector I hope you have the deep pockets to satisfy your appetite. If not you can go the local toy store and pick up a pretty decent 6 inch to 8 inch figure for about $15 -$20 dollars.


I hope this helps out some new Godzilla fans, and family, friends or confused spouses. LOL Cheers. 

This is me holding the new 2014 US released Godzilla movie Giant figure.  If you can find it retails for $50 at the stores.

LWATC: Fear of Vacuuming Small Toy Guns

Recently I was riding with my husbands in his car and in the door handle I saw a small toy accessory gun. This reminded me of my why I have a fear of vacuuming around the house.  This sound silly but when you are living with a toy collector, more than likely there will have some toys that will not be in the package either because it fell apart from age, or because the collector himself opened it.  All these loose figures leads to tiny toy accessories such as guns, knives, grenades, bullets, belts, shoes, plastic flames and other pieces that can be easily be misplaced somewhere on the floor of your home.

RNG Shogun Warrior Collection
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm/collections/72157630057133405/

Losing an accessory here and there it’s not too bad on newer figures but imagine losing accessory to something really old or rare.  Now you are talking $20 - $50 to replace the accessory.  You would have to go online to look for someone who might have an extra piece or is willing to part their figure for money.  Great example of this is my husband Shogun Warrior Collection. To me these robots look cool, but I would never in a million years would have though they are worth a small fortune, especially since the plastic they are made from have the consistency of a shampoo bottle.  If one of these robots loses something as little as a missile you are have to go hunting online stores or forums and after shipping you are looking at  paying close to $20 at the least.  Lord forbids if I accidentally vacuumed something rare like a phaser gun to a vintage 1970's  Star Trek Mego Doll.

RNG Shogun Warrior Collection
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm/collections/72157630057133405/

So you can imagine why I’m afraid of vacuuming in our house. Since we have been together I have passed that task to my husband.  Even when he vacuums, he sorts through the vacuum dust tray to make sure he didn't accidentally sucked something up himself. As long as he vacuums I’m cool with dishes.

LWATC - Gumball Machine Toys Sold at a Premium

**Thank you RNG (http://www.ragingnerdgasm.com) for lending the use of the Pony Pics for this article. 

Is the weekend after Thanksgiving and is now officially flea market season in Florida. During the winter season we get a massive influx of "snow birds" (people that live in the northern states that migrate to Florida during the coldest parts of the year) who migrate to our state. This massive migrations mostly brings a lot retired people to our state but it also brings down vendors that can't setup up north due to the harsh cold weather.

This new influx of fresh vendors bring new stuff down to the state and it makes the flea market a very interesting fun place to explore. Along with fresh vendors you also get a large influx of garage sales , church garage sales and estate sales raising money for the holidays. Here you can find all kinds of stuff from grandma’s old wedding dress to her sons old toys from their childhood.

On our way towards the flea market, we stopped at one of these church garage sale.  They mainly had a lot of donated products from local stores such as medical gauze, old vitamin bottles, and some toys. To our amazement among all the stuff that we found there was an entire tote full of mini blind bags. This had main brands such as My Little Pony, Halo, Marvel Comics just to name a few. When we asked the church member how much she wanted for each bag she said .25 cents each. At that price we grabbed what we wanted and went on our way with 25 blind bags as gifts for our friends. In the end we got a better deal. Because we grabbed so many they sold us  $6.25 worth of toys for $5 (around .20 cents a pop).

While is always great to find a great bargain, this really made us think about what we just bought. I will be the first person to tell you that I have a pretty good understanding of why things cost what they do, but is the markup that blows my mind away.  Recently I did a video called “Why are toys so expensive” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPsykKyDVQI) where I talk about how companies calculate the cost of these toys you see on the shelves. For a company, mark ups are necessary from whole sale prices in order to make profit to be able to continue business operations such as paying for employee wages and maybe benefits, real estate or location space, utilities, so on and so forth. However the mark ups seem a little excessive at times.

Take the My Little Pony blind bags.  These are recently being sold at stores a whopping prices of around $4 per bag.  The sets series comes with 21 different characters plus 3 bonus special edition figurines to collect.  At the current price of $4 x 24 ponies you are looking at spending a minimum of $96 plus tax.  Lets not forget these are blind bags, so you will have some repeats in order for you to get a full set.  So I say the average hard core collectors of these pony blind bags will spend around $150 to $200 for a full set buying a blind bag at a time. Normally I would say go to EBay and buy the full set since it might be cheaper, but these things are so popular that is about the same price, plus shipping and in some states plus taxes with online purchases.

For more pictures of these ponies figures check out RNG's flickr at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm/sets/72157638264939536/

Lets take a closer look at these little figures. For what I could gather from the pile of ponies we got they have 4 basic molds with minor alterations such as added horn and wings with different paint apps.  So automatically, Hasbro is saving a bundle by simply generating 24 variations of ponies out of 4 main different molds. Add to the fact that they are producing these by the millions with machines and is literally costing them around maybe at the most .10 - .20 cents per packet including figure, printed materials and packaging. So when you think about it at $4 a pop retail stores are selling these at a significant markups.

To me these blind bags markups are like equivalent markup on popcorn and soda a at a movie theater or restaurant.  While these may be popular now, I wonder if these little bind bags with meet the fate of other popular collectibles such as beanie babies leaving people feeling cheated out something they thought will retain their value. I personally can’t see myself buying these little plastic figurines at $4 when they look like the toys I could get a gumball machine as a kid.  Just seems like a big waste of money.  So bottom line is, if you collect these make sure you really like them because chances are you will never get that money back if you are ever in a jam.

Love to hear your feedback.

LWATC - He bought me a "Ring" and I bought him 2 "Industrial shelves" for his toys.

Living With a Toy Collector - He bought me a "Ring" and I bought him 2 "Industrial shelves" for his toys.

Now It's no secret at this point that my husband Tom Khayos is a toy collector and we recently moved. Well it's been two months and we have come to the realization that my husbands full collection can easily fill a 4 bedroom 2000 sq foot home on it's own.  While normally I would not have any problems with this, we are currently squished into a 1,100 2 bedroom apartment. So there's stuff everywhere.

Now for the first time in 3 years, both my husband and I are off on Thanksgiving day.  Since we don't have a lot of family where we live we simply decided to just stay home and work on tackling his collection room.  Sounds simple enough ... right???

Well earlier Wednesday morning we took Tom's mom out to eat.  As we continued to spend time out with her for a Pre Thanksgiving day, we roamed stores such as Toys R Us, Ross, and even went to the mall. Yeap you read that right...the mall.  Normally Tom and I don't go to the mall but it was a special treat for his mom.  The last time we came to the mall there was this really nice ring I saw at one of the jewelry stores.  Now Tom will tell you that I'm normally not much for shopping, or spending money like it grew on trees.  However he knew that I really like this ring and he was hoping to get it for me as an early Christmas gift. Well he did.  I loved it.

After we dropped his mom off and stopped by to say hi to our friends at Heroes Haven, we went home and started tackling the massive task of sorting his room.  It took some time to move stuff out of the room. Tote after tote we removed toys from his collection room in order to unclutter it so we can work on it. As a result we ended up re cluttering the kitchen, what will someday hope will be our dining room area, and our living room/common area. After moving quite a bit of stuff out  we noticed he didn't have enough shelves. So I quickly went to the Walmart site and started looking for industrial shelves. Keep in mind it is Thanksgiving eve around 7 pm. Not a lot of places open that has that kind of stuff, so we had to brave it out with the rest of the crazies buying last minute Thanksgiving stuff.

We were very lucky and we found 2 out of 3 much needed industrial 5 tier shelving for his toys. (** I will warn you that if you get industrial shelving it is very heavy so bring a friend that can help you lift it into the car and out of the car.)   We made a our way home fighting the stinging Florida freezing breeze and started figuring out a strategy to start setting up these shelves along with the two display cases he had from the move.

So far we have done very well and have all the furniture in the room, but now I helped as much as I can with this collection room.  Is all up to him.  We've had fun this holiday weekend.  He got me a very nice ring and I got him shelves for his toys. We are happy people.  Let's see how things go from here. LOL

My man has graduated form book shelves to industrial shelves.

LWATC Moving With a Toy Collector

Anybody that has ever moved will tell you moving sucks 200%.  Lets face it unless you move on a yearly basis chances are you have accumulated a lot stuff you don’t even know you still have or haven’t figured out why you kept it.  And FYI, good luck finding someone to help you move if you don’t live on the first floor.  Sorting, cleaning, organizing, and disposing of stuff is a process that takes some time when moving.

Before I meet my husband, moving was kind of a yearly to bi-yearly thing for me.  I would literally only buy necessities and would do my best to never buy anything I could not move by my self due to past experiences of moving everything alone.  At one point my apartment was so bare my friend joked that rooms is a 3rd world country had more stuff than I did because they at least had dirt and maybe a chicken or two running around. LOL

Well my bare apartment quickly changed when I meet my husband. He likes having furniture and places to display his stuff.  I don’t mind the furniture, but the size of his collection was so massive that  when he moved in to my little 600 square foot apartment  we literally had small pathways from front door, to kitchen, to bathroom, to bed. It was the first time that my OCD kicked in full strength.  It wasn't fun.  Luckily he agreed to put all his stuff in a storage unit until we could finish the lease and get a bigger place.  I’m sure this is a very common story for many collectors.

What are the Options

If you think about it ,as a collector there aren’t really many options when it comes to preserving a collection.

 Unless you are single millionaire playboy with a manssion chances are you have limited space, and are sharing your space with someone else (parents, spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend, or children).  Depending on your income this can become tricky and leads you to one of the following options.

• Get a bigger place.
• Get a storage unit
• Spreading your collections at several different locations.
• Downsizing

Get a bigger place.

In a perfect world this make perfect sense, however it only works out if you have the income to support this.  Here in Tampa Florida, finding a place to live has become abnormally expensive in both the rental and the real estate market.  Unless you can qualify for income restricted areas you are looking at around $1 -$2 per square foot for an apartment and around $100 per sq foot for a house.  Sure you can find cheap apartments but when you have a fortune in toys do you really want to be in the ghetto and in  high theft area… I don’t think so. That’s not me being a snob... that’s just common sense in my book. And Yes, we are looking into moving away out of state in the future.

If you decide to get decent size living space chances are the cost is so high that you simply will have to quit collecting.  Now I have encountered many spouses that would be thrilled to stop their collectors from collecting but to me is not worth it if they are now miserable and everybody in that home is  “apartment poor” or  “house poor”.

This situation leaves most collectors either downsizing, spreading their collections in several locations, or simply getting a storage unit which is another added cost.

Storage Units

In theory, storage units do help clear up a lot of clutter and help keep the other members in your home happy, but they also have a downfall.  Mainly cost.  Let’s face it if you don’t place your collection in a climate control unit you might as well don’t expect to retain the value of your stuff.  Here in Florida it’s very very hot and is very very humid.  A horrible combination for a collection, especially for vintage pieces.

My main issue with storage units is the cost.  With so many people losing their homes, storage units have become high in demand.  My husband and I currently have a 10’ X  30’ storage unit costing us a whopping $190 per month (after insurance and taxes).  That is around $2300 for the year just to keep his collection stored away safely on top of the collection that we have at home.  That’s a lot of money.  I can even imagine some of our friends who have 2 to 3 units for their collections.  The cost adds up really quick and let’s face it many collectors are not wealthy to begin with.  One missed payment and you are 30 days away from seeing your entire collection in an episode of “Storage Wars”.  Trust me they don’t mess around with late payments.

Another problem that we encountered with Tom’s collection is how to simply store it in the unit.  Most collectors have either things in boxes that are crushed or torn, or have a lot of loose figures.  These are hard to stack.  Not to mentioned that even when you have found a way to stacked the stuff in the unit with out causing a toy avalanche, most people don’t noticed that climate control units have a water sprinkler system hovering over their stuff. So imagine having an entire collection mint in box or carded figures wiped away by one person acting stupid in the facility.  No insurance in the world can cover you for that much damage.  So here comes another added cost.  Totes and resealable bags can make your life easy but at $5 a pop per 18 gallon tote adds up.

It has taken us 2 years, but we finally have around 80% of his collection protected.  The larger pieces that are in the box are sealed inside larger trash bags and are watertight.  We could get larger totes but sadly the bigger the tote the more expensive they are.

Spreading your collection in several locations

We have encountered many friends that have very large and vast collections but they have it spread in several locations.  This could be in their own home, several storage units, friends, and family houses.  Yes you've read that right…. spread through several friends and family houses.  This might work for some but for me I simply couldn't sleep easy knowing that my stuff is in someone's house other than mine.  You might trust that one person but you can’t control who comes in and out of that person home, nor are you guaranteed that the person that you trusted will watch your stuff or will take care of it like you would.  Is just very risky in my opinion and just plain crazy.

Downsizing

Here’s what I call the final frontier. Meaning you have peaked because of lack of space, finances, or other reasons and must cut back.   Downsizing means different things to different people.  The two main translation of I've seen is a) the person is sorting and getting rid of stuff they no longer want or b) they are really cutting back to purchasing only very few lines they still enjoy.

For what I have observed many collectors have a hard time downsizing.  Many collectors collect because there’s an emotional attachment to a specific item or series they simply just adore.   So I can only imagine that after so many years going to comic conventions, shops, flea markets, storing and maintaining these items that all of the sudden they must let go due to an urgent matter.  It can be a horrible experience for them.  We've meet many collectors that have dissolved their collections due to spouses or partners and the relationship has taken a horrible down turn. No one really wins if there's no compromise between the parties.  That is fair.

Conclusion

There is not right or wrong way to move a collector, however it is good to take a moment and really think about your situation in regards of needs, resources, and ability to continue such a unique habit. If you take the time to really plan things out, even a big move can become and easy move.

As for Tom and I, we will be moving to a larger place this weekend, killing the storage unit but he will be downsizing some of his collection.  I even volunteered the master bedroom for him to enjoy his happy little kingdom.  I never asked him to downsize, he simply figures that it is time to downsize because he was becoming sick of towing around extra stuff he doesn't care for any more.  I can honestly say that it makes me very happy to have a new place to live in, but it also giving him the chance to enjoy and display his collection properly.  I get my computer space and he gets his Man Toy cave.  I can't complain.

LWATC More "Bang" for your "Buck" with Knock Off's

NOTE: Thank you Raging Nerdgasm for allowing me to use some of your pictures.

Recently my husband and I went to Toy R Us and we found our selves like usual wandering up and down the aisles of the store searching for new arrivals.  Some of the product were great but others simply blew our minds away of how bad they were and how much they thought they could get for it. Like so many, I personally believe that many companies are really pushing the limits of their fans by placing outrageous prices on these figures hoping their fans will literally buy anything that is put in front of them. For many, the illusion is starting to fade quickly with the sticker shock you get when you go and pick up that one item you love so much and simply walk away empty handed.  Collectors are kind of use to crazy pricing for a good item but for a parent that just wants a toy for their kids this really starting to put a bad dent in their pocket books even if  they can afford it.  Think about it, if the family has one boy and one girl, they are looking at dropping around $20 for a Monster High Doll and  $15 for a wrestling figure, plus tax you are looking around $40 for two pieces of plastic.  Not sure about you but with cost of living being so high that seem like a lot.

What I find amusing is that the lower quality of toys are mainly found in the boys toys but not as much in the girls toys.  Yes there are knock offs brands for girls but even those don’t look as bad as some of the main brands for boys. Next time you go the toy store roam around in all the isles and you will see what I mean.  If you have feedback on this subject I would love to hear it. But moving on...

Comic Book Toys
Examples of a bad over saturated toy lines are Marvel and DC toy lines. Yes, we get it Disney and Time

Warner…  you are trying to make your money back on your big purchase but before you start making Avengers or Batman toilet paper you might want to really start investing some time into quality control.  Some of the toys look really bad like they would be part of a kids meal toy, they have poor sculpts , are made of cheaper plastic or they are poorly painted and it gives it the look of a bootleg figure that would be sold in a shady shop somewhere.  Yet some of the figures have a whopping price of $8 -$15 a pop.  For a collector, there’s really no value for them with these newer figures. I have literally seen my husband doing a toy review and in the middle of the review the figure breaks or is broken right out the package.  For parents this is just insane pricing.

Nostalgia Toys
Example of horrible sticker shock would be the New TMNT Classic Figures.  For whatever reason the toy company has a big set of brass balls in thinking that fans will pay as much for a new version reproduction as they would for a vintage one off from Ebay.  This reaction is not only shared by my husband and myself but also by many collectors that wanted to purchase the figures but simply stated that the price is way too steep for what they are getting.  Most people in their right mind would not pay $60-$100 for four action figures that are just cool but not high quality.  I have literally seen my husband and other collectors walk up the shelf where the repos are, have a big smile on their face for a moment, see the price, put it down and walk away.  That is sad.  It seem that most companies are simply not doing price point testing to see what people are comfortable paying for an item.  They are just slapping a high price and hope that enough people will bite.  To me this seems like poor business practices in the long run but hey that what comes with at "Collectible" market.


Just plain over done

Yes that is me and yes that is my husbands Burger King Roof Top Display promo from the Star Wars movie.

A toy like that has really lost it charm and is trying to make it back is the Star Wars line.  I mean good lord how many Darth Vaders do you need.  Unless you are collecting the vintage Star Wars figures, there’s really no value on most of the new stuff. Trust me if you are a flea market hunter like my husband and I you constantly see boxes full of episode 1, 2 , and 3 figures sold for $2 a pop still in the package. They are simply making too many of them and they don’t hold their value very well.

Now recently the company finally decided to go with what is known as the “Black Line”. They finally listened the fans and created a fully articulated 6 inch star wars figures.  They come in a sleek black case that reminds you of gourmet coffee or fancy perfume bottle, but at whopping price of $20 -$30 each depending where you are buying it from. So far we have only seen 3 figures in the set and they really don’t look that bad, however if my husband really wanted these figures he has to drop $60 -$90 for the set.  Just way too much.  Even he stated that he is way happier with his vintage set than dropping that kind of money for 3 new figures.  Heck for a little more money  he can finally get that star wars jackface he wants to complete his vintage collection or the 2 foot Metroplex that just come out.  NOW a Big COOL TOY!!!!



Knock Off’s
Since the price of toys have gone  up you would think that the quality of knock offs would go down. Wrong!!! What we are seeing is that you get more bang for your buck with knock offs that you do with the brand stuff.  Example GI Joes vs CORPS figures.  And average 3 ¼ inch GI Joe figure will cost you about $8-$10 each.  For the price of one GI Joe you can get two CORPS three packs with accessory like a motorcycle, a hand glider, etc.  I’m not sure about you but if I’m buying a toy for a kid trust me when I tell you the kid rather have 6 figures and 2 big accessories versus one measly GI Joe. The funny part is that when you look at the CORPS figures and compare it to the GI Joe’s figures you will notice that sometimes is literally almost the same mold but they change the colors on it and some of the head sculpts.  Unless your kid has been watching the old GI Joe show, they won't be able to tell the difference between a GI Joe brand figures and a CORPS knock off figures if they were all in a big pile. Unless your son or daughter is GI Joes collector, there’s really not reason to buy a $10 GI Joe for play time.


A store that has really been pushing the bang for the buck has been Toys R Us with their in store lines name True Heroes  or True Legend sets.  So far we have encountered amazing sets like Ture Legends Myth and Elf sets, True Heroes Western and Pirates set, Firefighters, Cops and lets not forget the Army sets that comes with 5 figures, a full truck, weapons, props, and even a missile that make noise for only $50.  The box is about the size of about a 30-40 gallon fish tank.  Many of the sets come with amazing props.  They are also great for someone who is learning how to make custom backgrounds, needs props for pictures, or learning how to sculpt on figures. The funny part is that most of the time they are literally the same quality as the main brands toys, comes with more stuff, and is a better value.



I know there’s a big price difference when it comes to the pricing of toys and that is the word “Collectible”.  Meaning if the figure you so loved wasn't loved by everybody else as well it would simply be another plastic knock off figure on the shelf. Supply and demand 101.

Thank you for reading


Toys R Us Line on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm/collections/72157633027690403/

CORPS
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm/sets/72157632814351765/

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