Price of Rare Figures on the Web

[Ikessauro]

who would pay anything for this disgusting hunk of junk

I paid 25 Euros for mine back in 2015. 

The same could be said for any collectible, dinosaur related or not. Yesterday I saw a Youtube video about 15 most expensive Star Wars collectibles. I would never have even considered buying any of them if I had the chance and not known they were valuable. And even if I were rich, could afford one, I probably wouldn't even try to.  That is because to me they seem like old, simple, unappealing toys. Star Wars doesn't mean much to me, so I don't collect SW stuff. But apparently, some people who do love the franchise have deep pockets and think these toys are worth their money, making some of these rare items sell for over 50 thousand dollars. 

What I want to say here is, I don't think it is very nice say things like that in a collectors forum.

But don't get me wrong, of course, you can politelly say you dont think things are not worth that much money for what they really are (just a piece of plastic). But people who buy those items, don't buy the material, they buy nostalgia, history, emotions along with their toys. Collecting is not simply a matter of logic and reason about how much something really is worth based on the actual material and quality of the sculpt/accuracy etc.

Collecting is much more than that and when you say something is thrash just because you don't personally like it, it's like saying someone elses opinions/taste in collecting is thrash. Kind of unpleasant to me at least.

[CityRaptor]

SW Fans must have some really deep pockets considering all the stuff that gets made. Including stuff like this:
https://news.toyark.com/2018/10/11/star-wars-the-empire-strikes-back-bespin-leia-jumbo-kenner-figure-320244
Some things really shouldn't be upscaled. But hey, if it makes them happy...

who would pay anything for this disgusting hunk of junk

Someone who probably had some serious regrets when more of it were made. 

Besides: One man's trash is another man's treasure.  Personally I wouldn't pay money for stuff like K&M Minis for example.

[Lanthanotus]

SW Fans must have some really deep pockets considering all the stuff that gets made. Including stuff like this:
https://news.toyark.com/2018/10/11/star-wars-the-empire-strikes-back-bespin-leia-jumbo-kenner-figure-320244
Some things really shouldn't be upscaled. But hey, if it makes them happy...

[...]

Hmm, my original version looks much better, despite having pondered its life in a dusty box up in an alternating freezing cold and scalding hot attic for 35 years now

[Gwangi]

Well said @Ikessauro, I agree. I'm often baffled by what some people collect, but then people also see my dinosaur collection and are equally baffled. People collect what they collect for personal and often intimate reasons that few others would understand.

[Reuben03]

Personally I wouldn't pay money for stuff like K&M Minis for example.

yeah they arent great, i just dont see anyone else making an ichthyosaur that small.



(i really like tiny things)

[WalkingWithBeasts]

...

[WalkingWithBeasts]

Maybe one day...
I could always try and sculpt one for ya, I'd be happy to give it a go with maybe some clay?

[BrontoScorpio]

I see Demarco had great success the past few days with the bidding wars ...
It seems some people just can't seem to put themselve to postpone immediate satisfactions ...

[UK]

Good for Joe.

At least he starts his auctions at a low level and lets the market dictate the price.

[Ikessauro]

Good for Joe.

At least he starts his auctions at a low level and lets the market dictate the price.

Yeah, Joe is quite fair in his starting prices.

[Ikessauro]

It seems some people just can't seem to put themselve to postpone immediate satisfactions ...

If you allow me, I'd like to share my 2 cents on this.

I agree and disagree at the same time. I partly agree that some people simply don't want to wait for a more affordable option or don't wanna have to keep looking.

On the other hand, as someone who has been involved in a few bid wars or simply overpaid for something a few times, I think there's another factor at play other than just the rush to get things for the sake of a dopamine fix.

In certain cases, you are already tired of looking and waiting for the cheap (or simply reasonable) opportunity. And not for lack of effort in trying to find a good deal. I did that with the WWD Ornithocheirus. I knew most of the people who had it, found it for cheap on eBay. But after 10 years looking, constantly, it gets more frustrating than exciting. Since I couldn't stop "desiring" it, I decided to pay a higher price to get one, If someone was willing to sell. That worked. I have no regrets.

Another thing to consider is that most "good deals" happen when you find rare items in lots of used toys being sold by people unaware of its value, listed with generic words. Experienced collectors always sell the item for a more expensive value or list it as auctions for a cheap starting price (as Joe does) but clearly describing the item as what it actually is. And that inevitably attracts attention and people raise the price to a reasonable to expensive mark. Auctions that end with low bids are not very common for rare pieces, at least in my experience. Maybe I just don't have much luck?

And, considering this scenario, for people not in North America or Europe, it tends to be harder to buy those lots, because the seller often doesn't want to ship overseas. Might be because the package would be too large, for fear of getting scammed, having the package lost in mail or something like that or simply they don't want the hassle.

So, to find a rare item, in good condition, for cheap and sold by someone willing to ship overseas for a reasonable shipping price is harder than it looks. I can't say it's impossible, because I have done it several times, but I can say that these opportunities are few and far between. Most often than not you have to settle for buying the item you want for a more "mainstream" market value.

Other consideration is shipping costs. Sometimes you find a "bargain" on eBay in a toy lot, but the lot is huge, containing mostly common cheap chinasaur type toys and one rare item you want. The lot is cheap, but shipping overseas is expensive. So expensive that would raise the price of the item from "bargain price" to the normal price if usually sells for or even higher. Even if you resell the chinasaurs, that wouldn't bring much cash back into your pocked to recover shipping costs.

And in these lots you can't always check if the item is really in good condition, because pictures of the auctions usually include all items in a pile or spread in a table and don't show close ups of each item. You can end up buying something for cheap that is broken, really worn down and not even worth the cheaper costs invovled.

Sure, you can ask for more pictures of the rare item or if the seller would sell it separately, but that usually alerts the seller the item is special and I have had several cases of the seller simply taking the auction down and relisting the rare item for its "actual" price, after my question made them research what they had. Even If I try to be careful and not explicitly say the name of the toy or brand, that can happen.

Also, rare items that are listed as buy it now do pop up once in a while on eBay. But you have to be there at the right time and place to find them and be lucky that the seller is honest. And I have occasions that I was in that position, bought the item, just to have the seller immediately cancel the order, refund me and list it again for a much higher price, because me buying it too quickly after it was listed also raised a flag that the item was worth more than the seller had sold it for.

So, I don't particularly like to judge people who buy things for more expensive prices, because I understand where they are coming from. Sometimes they just had bad luck in their search for a good deal for a long time. Sometimes they find good prices, but the item is quite damaged and the collector only wants one in good or like new condition. So that is just my opinion that I felt like sharing here.

[Dinoguy2]

It seems some people just can't seem to put themselve to postpone immediate satisfactions ...

If you allow me, I'd like to share my 2 cents on this.

I agree and disagree at the same time. I partly agree that some people simply don't want to wait for a more affordable option or don't wanna have to keep looking.

On the other hand, as someone who has been involved in a few bid wars or simply overpaid for something a few times, I think there's another factor at play other than just the rush to get things for the sake of a dopamine fix.

In certain cases, you are already tired of looking and waiting for the cheap (or simply reasonable) opportunity. And not for lack of effort in trying to find a good deal. I did that with the WWD Ornithocheirus. I knew most of the people who had it, found it for cheap on eBay. But after 10 years looking, constantly, it gets more frustrating than exciting. Since I couldn't stop "desiring" it, I decided to pay a higher price to get one, If someone was willing to sell. That worked. I have no regrets.

Another thing to consider is that most "good deals" happen when you find rare items in lots of used toys being sold by people unaware of its value, listed with generic words. Experienced collectors always sell the item for a more expensive value or list it as auctions for a cheap starting price (as Joe does) but clearly describing the item as what it actually is. And that inevitably attracts attention and people raise the price to a reasonable to expensive mark. Auctions that end with low bids are not very common for rare pieces, at least in my experience. Maybe I just don't have much luck?

And, considering this scenario, for people not in North America or Europe, it tends to be harder to buy those lots, because the seller often doesn't want to ship overseas. Might be because the package would be too large, for fear of getting scammed, having the package lost in mail or something like that or simply they don't want the hassle.

So, to find a rare item, in good condition, for cheap and sold by someone willing to ship overseas for a reasonable shipping price is harder than it looks. I can't say it's impossible, because I have done it several times, but I can say that these opportunities are few and far between. Most often than not you have to settle for buying the item you want for a more "mainstream" market value.

Other consideration is shipping costs. Sometimes you find a "bargain" on eBay in a toy lot, but the lot is huge, containing mostly common cheap chinasaur type toys and one rare item you want. The lot is cheap, but shipping overseas is expensive. So expensive that would raise the price of the item from "bargain price" to the normal price if usually sells for or even higher. Even if you resell the chinasaurs, that wouldn't bring much cash back into your pocked to recover shipping costs.

And in these lots you can't always check if the item is really in good condition, because pictures of the auctions usually include all items in a pile or spread in a table and don't show close ups of each item. You can end up buying something for cheap that is broken, really worn down and not even worth the cheaper costs invovled.

Sure, you can ask for more pictures of the rare item or if the seller would sell it separately, but that usually alerts the seller the item is special and I have had several cases of the seller simply taking the auction down and relisting the rare item for its "actual" price, after my question made them research what they had. Even If I try to be careful and not explicitly say the name of the toy or brand, that can happen.

Also, rare items that are listed as buy it now do pop up once in a while on eBay. But you have to be there at the right time and place to find them and be lucky that the seller is honest. And I have occasions that I was in that position, bought the item, just to have the seller immediately cancel the order, refund me and list it again for a much higher price, because me buying it too quickly after it was listed also raised a flag that the item was worth more than the seller had sold it for.

So, I don't particularly like to judge people who buy things for more expensive prices, because I understand where they are coming from. Sometimes they just had bad luck in their search for a good deal for a long time. Sometimes they find good prices, but the item is quite damaged and the collector only wants one in good or like new condition. So that is just my opinion that I felt like sharing here.

Agree on all points. Joe's auctions tend to stand out because they're fair. Like you say he says what it is and how rare it is in the description. He knows when he has an ultra rare piece and still has the class to start it at reasonable prices. People shouldn't be surprised when auctions like this sell for prices commensurate with collector demand.

I often feel a little bad when I find an eBay Buy It Now sale for something extremely rare where the seller clearly has no clue what they have, maybe just browsed similar but less rare sold items to set the price. They could get a lot more. But at the same time it's a gamble because if you set the price at collector level to begin with you might have to relist it multiple times before somebody bites. There's an art form to buy and sell collectibles on eBay for sure.

[need4swede]

Star Wars doesn't mean much to me...

If the movies are anything to go by, Star Wars doesn't mean much to Disney either 

My unwarranted bitterness aside regarding recent care of the franchise, I think the underlying motivation for collecting these figures is more of an abstract manifestation of one's relationship with the IP than anything that could be considered pragmatic or even reasonable, to some extent. Star Wars, at its core, is a mythological story retold as a space opera and its characters are very, very archetypical. Books like Joseph Campbell's 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' definitely comes to mind when analyzing the material. The comparisons made between Star Wars fans and various 'cult like' establishments are not entirely unjustified - and the observation made juxtaposing 'fanboyism' with a sort of religious conviction often found within various congregations is beyond reasonable.

So I don't think it's so much so that Star Wars, as a cinematic product, means so much to people that they are willing to camp outside of movie theaters for weeks, simply to be one of the first people to experience its theatrical release - or be willing to spend a ludicrous amount of money on what should, by all means, be considered mediocre merchandise by all reasonable standards of analysis. As far as I can tell, it's basking yourself within the mythological material, treating it almost as gospel, which further cements your belief in the material itself. In other words, the more you devote yourself to Star Wars, the closer you feel to the mythology. Human beings have been partaking in the sacrificial ceremony of their prized possessions, valuable goods, time, energy and even sanity for as far back as we can recall - there's a strong argument to be made that spending a lot of money (ie the sacrificial element, which not only represents monetary value, but also is a measurable use of your time and contribution to your society) is a way to devote yourself to your beliefs and bring you closer to the mythological material.

Not at all surprising that Star Wars wouldn't mean much to you, or anyone else for that matter. That's not what's interesting about it. What's interesting about these sort of things is why Star Wars would mean so much to anyone at all! That's when it gets really fascinating, at least from a psychological perspective. After all, you wouldn't be wrong in saying that religious texts are nothing more but products of dead trees, or that they're "just books" - but you also wouldn't be entirely right, either.

Both Campbell and Carl Jung do an excellent job of describing what I have just attempted to dive into, but of course they are far more successful - not to mention capable - at articulating the aforementioned ideas.

[Lanthanotus]

"Rare" is not an absolute measure I know,... I should observe and deceide whether I dig up my parents garden for the one lost in the sandbox four decades ago....

https://www.ebay.de/itm/185116640993?hash=item2b19cfc6e1:g:osAAAOSw3Hdhbuqs

[CityRaptor]

Everything they have is "rare" according to some people. Also pretty sure that "Dinosaur" "Soft Vinyl" and "Item" are the only things true in that title.
Love the description:  "There is no noticeable terrible pain."

You know what is more interesting than the auction? That it leads me to another auction. Did not know that Playmates made a Gorosaurus, too.

[BrontoScorpio]

WTF lately with this Carnegie Barchiosaurus ?

Had I known they were so desperate  I would have given them mine  ...

[CityRaptor]

Yeah, that was mentioned in several other threads. It's a tail ender after all.

[Duna]

@BrontoScorpio Yes, and the same has happened with the Carnotaurus and Miragaia, too. Near 250-300

[ceratopsian]

That seems quite insane! (Though I well understand the collecting urge.) Thank goodness I came into the hobby just as the Carnegie line was being discontinued, so most things could be bought "normally".

@BrontoScorpio Yes, and the same has happened with the Carnotaurus and Miragaia, too. Near 250-300

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

With their much better distribution, I never thought I'd see Carnegies going for Battat prices. I bought my new brachiosaurus in the Carnegie Museum's gift shop when it first came out. I'm glad I bought some extras when the Carnegie was retired, though not of the brachiosaurus.