What's the mentality of paying more for loose?

This is not a "man you guys are so dumb haha" post, I'm genuinely curious/interested why people are now paying more for loose figures than MOCs. Sometimes double or triple.

I'm guessing most of you are in the same camp as me and don't get it, but is there anyone on here that does, or know people that have, that can explain their reasoning? Is it that you just don't like the backing cards? Is it (if graded) you like the neatness of having them in convenient little acrylic cases? Or simply people are only searching for loose as they think MOCs will be (incorrectly) so much more expensive?

I'm not particularly a carded or loose collector but do find it is easier displaying loose and you can get so many more of them on display at once. Also is is nice to pose them with there accessories and turn the heads slightly ect.

I love the packaging that these vintage toys came on and try to display at least a couple examples of it in a display set up but normally there are loose examples to to go along with it to show the whole range or to simply just add more figures.

Ian

I have been wondering this myself, I don't own any, but have been tempted to by the odd one that pops up for sale now and again , but have so far resisted.
The price difference is so close now on many figures, so close that I hope that some do not start ripping figures from worn cards to sell loose.
I think that the answer is space, and possibly the fact that they are very tactile.
You can display them in far less room than MOC's...and the other advantage is that you can always play with loose. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Some collectors only collect certain card types like Palitoy logo cards, Star Wars cards etc. If you are one of these collectors then you may buy a loose graded figure in preference to the carded example as the carded example does not fall into your carded collecting criteria.

Some people may choose to buy a complete loose set of graded figures so that they can own all the produced figures as their carded collection may only include half or less of the total figures produced.

Because people are ****ing stupid

lejackal said:

Because people are ****ing stupid

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Yep it is definately this :lol:

lejackal said:

Because people are ****ing stupid

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you missed the word "totally" out mate

I think the real question is why have they become so expensive? Generally, regardless of the comparison to Mocs. We don't get it because we aren't the ones paying or wanting to pay more for them cos most of us already have them. It's all down to **** loads of new collectors. Most new collectors start with a loose set and there must be tons of people at it at the mo. Way more people after loose than carded and demand outweighs supply so price goes up. If you think about it they have nothing to compare it to. You and I might have bought our Luke FB for 20 quid some years ago, if you've just started collecting and see them selling for 80 you think that's what they're worth. It's quite alarming, I've virtually stopped collecting due to prices. My loose set's near complete but I can't afford/won't pay the current prices the last 17 ones I need are. It sucks, it's taken the enjoyment out of it for me :wink:

Looking at prices now, I'm glad I kept my complete childhood collection... there is no way in hell I'd pay £120 for a first 12 Leia, or £400 on a pop up R2... my MOC one cost half that just under 18months ago !!

This is where there is a big divide between the long time collectors, and the new collectors... the new ones have become lazy, and are so uneducated its unbelievable. If they want to pay that kind of money, then good for them.... fools and their money are very easily parted, and with recent sales, it definitely shows.

No figure is worth more loose than MOC, and there should be a considerable distance between the two..

Who gets collecting at all these days? Rich man's hobby now. The mentality has changed almost beyond recognition to, say, 25 years ago.

x-pack said:

Who gets collecting at all these days? Rich man's hobby now. The mentality has changed almost beyond recognition to, say, 25 years ago.

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Totally agree, 20 years ago feels like a life time ago...possibly in a galazy far far away... :roll:

Wait until the new collectors start wanting Mocs as they inevitably will, in time. Now that should be interesting. Will lots of them start looking to offload their loose figures in order to be able to afford Mocs? Possibly. In any case there are interesting times ahead

x-pack said:

Who gets collecting at all these days? Rich man's hobby now. The mentality has changed almost beyond recognition to, say, 25 years ago.

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I've only been collecting for 4 years or so, and the change in that time has been huge. People used to sell their complete runs just 3 years ago for 900-1100 quid in a bulk deal. Now it's maximum cost of figure, no bulk deal and its 3800 for the run!

The things that have been affected by the influx of new collectors the most has been loose and lower end carded stuff - because that is what was most affordable.

After everyone complained about the 110 leia, one on ebay went for 155 lol. Absolutely ****ing nuts.

The higher end of collecting doesn't seem to have changed too much - other than the fact it's become harder to get hold off. Though pre prod seems to have gone through the roof.

Madness.

It's why I am getting shot of the spare loose now, and putting the funds towards my focus and trilogos madine/fett hunt.

Nick_IoW said:

x-pack said:

Who gets collecting at all these days? Rich man's hobby now. The mentality has changed almost beyond recognition to, say, 25 years ago.

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It's why I am getting shot of the spare loose now, and putting the funds towards my focus and trilogos madine/fett hunt.

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Just wait for the Jawa to go full on mental and you'll have enough for the Madine I'm sure :lol:

Id be interested to know how modern day collecting has impacted on the mentality of old school collectors

Personally I don't like the way prices have gone for a number of reasons. Yes it's inevitable and all our collections are worth a fortune now, but it feels wrong to have these things in the house that could pay off a chunk of the mortgage or whatever.

It's gone from picking up a carrier bag of figures for a tenner and hunting round carboot sales, or placing want ads in the local paper to a trawl through facebook or eBay. It's a cut throat business now with loads of ego.

The fun side is still their, catching up with collecting mates and the odd show. New films are great. We're a bit spoiled in that department at the minute. It's just ironic that the collecting side is so tedious now. Just money and acquisition.

Forget £120 for a Leia one sold the other day for £155 !!!! :shock:

My own attempt to answer the question of why loose might go for more than carded is that when you begin in the collecting game, most people rapidly find they have to focus on what they can afford. Some loose figures might be going for comparable or greater prices than their MOC equivalents, but the ones which grab the headlines remain vastly more expensive MOC than loose. I think this inevitably affects the way of thinking of many collectors, since most of us would like to 'have it all'. Having a complete MOC run is out of the financial reach of most collectors, especially ones starting these days with current prices. A lot of collectors won't want to start a collection they can never hope to finish; I've always believed that collecting only truly remains interesting when you are still looking for / acquiring pieces, but it's a lot less fun to want / 'need' something you can never have to complete your collection.

However, completing a loose run of the 120 or so major variants is still possible, albeit increasingly expensive. Therefore, if in your mind you are excluding MOCs and focusing on loose, you generally overlook MOCs, either because you literally aren't searching for those and hence are ignorant of the prices, or else adopt an attitude of, 'I want a complete loose run. I don't want one or two MOCs'. It might sound perverse, and I'm sure it's not true for all collectors, but I'm also sure there is a lot to that. If you aren't looking to buy something, you generally ignore it, and in this case, can lead to the irony of spending more for a loose figure than its MOC equivalent because you don't believe you can afford the MOC!

There may also be an element of many new collectors not wanting to open MOCs to get mint loose figures. I don't doubt there will be some new (and some old) collectors who are doing this, but I also believe there will be plenty of collectors out there who simply wouldn't do it (something most of us on this forum should be grateful for), hence increasing the price of loose relative to MOCs.

I could be wrong of course, but that's my best guess.

I did the loose run first so the whole lot of new collectors will be trying to pick up a full run im guessing so comes down to demand.
Now need to think of selling off a few looose doubles to help with my moc run

All good replies, thanks folks. I think what is also happening is a one off fluke, like that £155 Leia, means many see a sudden spike and think it's like the stock market trading floor - buy buy buy!! Prices go up.

I recently started an AT-AT Driver MOC focus, and thought I would be able to pick up several various ones for between £80-200. Got my 2nd for £143, then within weeks a similar grade one went for over 3x as much. Since then several have suddenly appeared for BIN similar to that price, and auctions have hit that area too. I've been outbid on several auctions as I'm simply not prepared to be part responsible for forcing the prices up because people are panic buying. Just hoping people come to their senses and the prices start dropping, like with the Palitoy 20 backs that flooded the market recently.

Graded is another level of bafflingness :? The value attached to those I really don't understand. Peace of mind I suppose