What's the deal with 'Vintage Collection' figures?

Iv'e been out of this game for a good few years of collecting vintage, and coming back into it iv'e noticed the modern 'Vintage Collection' figures. Searching daily on ebay for vintage SW I spot these modern figures everywhere. I don't know anything about them besides that they are released to commemorate the vintage figures which is self explanatory, and releases of other new characters with the card backs in the vintage style.

Why on earth are these so expensive?.. iv'e seen sold auctions of some of these going for around £100+ each.. I seen a modern Royal Guard figure go for just over £100 when you can actually but the damn original for that amount :?

Are these supposed to be 'limited edition' or something?.. why are they so ludicrously pricey?.. I can't find any info online as to why people pay so much for this modern **** lol, I see them all the time and it baffles me.

Wouldn't surprise me if there are some noobs buying these thinking they are the originals, other than that I couldn't see why they would go so expensive

I was thinking the exact same thing with maybe a handful of sales, which is plausible. But iv'e also seen these being listed for sale graded too which means collectors are actually putting money into these to grade them, I just don't see the appeal of these figures whatsoever at the prices they're being sold for.

I can understand somebody wanting them being just modern collectors, or for a bit of variation to their vintage collection?, but not at the prices iv'e seen them at. I know modern convention exclusives for certain collectables can demand high prices, but to my knowledge these aren't even rare or limited edition.

#confused :?:

I believe the Vintage Collection Royal Guard is relatively hard to get (presumably a short-packed / short production run figure), so the people wanting them push the price up, just like with anything else. This is taken from Rebelscum's excellent photo archive (http://www.rebelscum.com/Emperors_Royal_Guard_Jedi_Vintage_Collection_TVC_VC105.asp):

"The final wave of The Vintage Collection was released as an online exclusive in November 2012, having originally been revealed at the New York International Toy Fair the previous February. In addition to the Naboo Pilot, Mawhonic, Aurra Sing and Gungan Warrior that were previously released as part of the Walmart exclusive Discover the Force line, the remaining eight figures were all brand-new sculpts and comprised the second and third figures in the realistic Clone Wars style, Ahsoka Tano and Obi-Wan Kenobi, as well as Lumat, Emperor's Royal Guard, Nien Nunb, Weequay and Orrimaarko from Return of the Jedi, and finally, Republic Trooper from The Old Republic."

I seem to recall that the Royal Guard was the most popular figure in the wave at the time, and some complaints were heard that it was hard to get. It also took ages to be re-released, and then not in the vastly more popular Vintage Collection packaging.

There's a long history of the modern line having certain figures that spike in price as people believe (rightly or wrongly), that they are hard to get and pursue them vigorously, driving up prices (remember good old 'Monkey-faced' Leia from the very first wave in 1995? :-D). Most of those prices eventually come back down again, but certain figures have held a relatively high price (although usually not compared with true Vintage prices of course... At least, not yet!).

There have also always been some modern line collectors who get their figures graded (although quite why you'd pay an extortionate premium for a graded modern line figure when a mint ungraded example can easily be had for a fraction of the price is quite beyond my capacity ;-)). Is the VC Royal Guard worth £100? Is a Palitoy VCJ worth £20,000?... Yes, if someone else is prepared to pay it! If you are just a Vintage collector, then prices in the modern line might seem baffling, but I dare say there are plenty of modern line collectors who shake their heads in bewilderment at the prices Vintage pieces go for / Vintage collectors are prepared to pay! . I wouldn't start mocking modern line collectors for paying too much for items in their hobby, as we'd all be on pretty thin ice there! :lol:

Thanks for the info Snaketibe that's very informative, it's just been bugging me for the last few weeks seeing these for sale and what they go for so I had to ask. I had a feeling they might have been some kind of limited edition figures but I couldn't find any info anywhere, so now I know

I look at modern and I see worthless crap, they might look at vintage and see worthless crap too lol, I suppose what seems crazy to us is completely normal for modern collectors and they see the worth in what they collect/trade, that's their market and their world, but one that i'll never be a part of 8)

Some of the VC figures can reach a good amount of dollars these days. I never got into collecting them like some of my friends but later on I bought the 3 that mattered and would fit into my focus, them being the Ewoks as well as the 3 pack Ewoks and catapult that were also released. I didn't pay anywhere near as much as some have reached in sales, almost all was bought for less than 1/4 of the average price at the time and all bought locally. Like anything if you wait long enough a bargain can be found and with most modern another will always pop up in another day or 2

Post the question in the modern section instead of vintage and you might get an answer

db94 said:

Post the question in the modern section instead of vintage and you might get an answer

Click to expand...

Ahh I did not think of that lol :lol: but thanks anyway as the guys here have already told me.