Why is prices going up ?

poncho

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prices going up

new rebooted franchise of our beloved starwars is a major factor

but ultimately i blame facebook and the influx of newbie uneducated collectors who believe what anyone tells them something is worth
 

ScruffyLookingNH

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spoons said:
Wreck-It Ralph said:
spoons said:
We're now heading into peak demand for vintage Star Wars. Generally men in their 40s with disposable income recapturing their childhood.

The rebirth of Star Wars by Disney has been a big factor in bringing in a load more of these nostalgia seekers. I think the big test will be in 15-20 years or so as people near retirement, and pensions may not be quite what we hope.

I'd expect a mass sell off then and I don't think the younger collectors will collect on the same scale as us, so prices will drop for the common stuff. There will still be demand purely for the SW logo but not on the scale we see today.

Action Man is 10 years older than Star Wars and there has definitely been a drop in prices over the last few years. How much this is due to an influx of reproductions or down to an ageing collector market is hard to tell. Probably a bit of both.

I am not sure whether you can compare Star Wars collecting to Action Man collecting as I do not believe I have ever seen a Action Man film or not in the last 10-15 years so that particular toy franchise is doing nothing to reinvigorate itself that I know of so understandibly popularity in collecting reduces and eventually disapears altogether until they start making films or cartoons again.

Superman dates back to 1938 and Batman 1939 I dont see those particular Characters popularity dying off any time soon and the collecting of the comics is still hugely popular and prices continue to rise. I think the same will happen with Star Wars if Disney continue making popular films like TFA and Rouge One that will refresh the collector pool and some of those collectors will naturally be drawn to the past.

Another important point is not all purchases are made by collectors some are made by investors and as prices rise it may attract more investor types as it has done with comics.

A fair point on the global appeal of action man, but the bulk of 80s and 90s superheroes toys are worth next to nothing. Its only the iconic pieces that fetch big money. I've got a few 70s mego superheroes and would liken them very much to Action Man. Its only the rare and sealed ones that tend to fetch good money (i.e. removable cowl batman).

Higher end stuff includes things like sealed Mego Palitoy Hulks for £200-£300 and they are generally bought by 40 somethings too, but they are pretty iconic so I'd expect to hold their value. Loose Mego superheroes seemed to have dropped in price considering inflation.

The very early superhero toys are good investments much like mint first issue early comics and the first 12 SW figs. But there will be 1000s of pieces of Star Wars merchandise made between now and when the next gen get to 40 odd. Do you really think future generations are going to be paying silly money on ROTJ Jabba goons, I'd also be surprised if a 1980s Luke Skywalker with orange hair or a red bar R5 will be at all desirable in years to come? The kids of today will have their own Episode 15 rarities to collect :) I feel that we are essentially the next generation of train collectors and we'll be replaced by video game collectors or something else.

Iconic pieces will go up in price, but I'd be willing to bet money that the bulk of what we own will be worth less in real terms in the future. The potential longevity of Star Wars may actually lessen its appeal. Does anyone get excited when another Marvel film comes out anymore - who saw Antman at the cinema?

Its a long held mantra but collecting should be for the fun of it, as soon as you start collecting purely as an investment you could find things go downhill quickly.

Absolutely nailed it, Andy. Cream always rises to the top. Yes, Action Comics #1 is worth a fortune, but look at Silver Age Superman comics; not worth a fraction of their Marvel equivelants and the Bronze age Superman stuff is worthless. I know, I have a few hundred of the buggers.

W-I-R makes good points about the influence of the films on the whole culture: Action Man, GI Joe/Action Force and even He-Man miss out on these super-popular films so their popularity will always be on a slower, lower curve. But Andy makes a great point with the Marvel films. I am a massive Marvel fan and have been for 25 years, but even I can't get excited about Ant-Man, Dr Strange, etc. Although I would like to see Logan I'm not desperate. There has been such a surfeit that it's rather killed it. Same with the endless TV shows.

So yes, to a degree, we are the next Gen of Baseball cards, model railways, Dinky Toys, and all those other declining hobbies. But whilst it makes money Disney will keep churning the franchise and reviving it. If they get the formula correct we'll never see the price drop. They do a Marvel (also a Disney company, note) then we'll see a Superman comic market: only the rarest most iconic will be worth anything.

I look at my more left field items and do not see them as investments at all, only fun. Luckily most of the price tags are still fun. If they're worth nothing in the future that's fine with me. Had my MOCs been worth nothing overnight I would have been a little upset!
 

peekaygee73

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spoons said:
The very early superhero toys are good investments much like mint first issue early comics and the first 12 SW figs. But there will be 1000s of pieces of Star Wars merchandise made between now and when the next gen get to 40 odd. Do you really think future generations are going to be paying silly money on ROTJ Jabba goons, I'd also be surprised if a 1980s Luke Skywalker with orange hair or a red bar R5 will be at all desirable in years to come? The kids of today will have their own Episode 15 rarities to collect :) I feel that we are essentially the next generation of train collectors and we'll be replaced by video game collectors or something else.

Iconic pieces will go up in price, but I'd be willing to bet money that the bulk of what we own will be worth less in real terms in the future. The potential longevity of Star Wars may actually lessen its appeal.

I completely agree with you on this - I just can't see vintage SW figures having the same appeal to future generations as they do to us; they'll have their own figures. I think there'll be a number of short-term collectors selling up in the next 2-3 years as Star Wars reaches saturation point, then once the current 40-somethings reach retirement there'll be another glut of people selling off their collections. I think this means prices'll peak in the next 2 years then either level out again or start to drop.
 

Dannywhiteley

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Look at it this way and see what you think.

If you collected something like vintage Action man or matchbox that as a toy line goes back years and years, but like me were born in the mid 70's would you only collect action man/matchbox from your own childhood or would you go (much) further back to earlier years of the line?

As vintage StarWars collectors we can only really look back as far as 1977 to when it all began, but if it did go back further where would you stop?

What I'm trying to say is this is how future generations of SW collectors might view vintage Star Wars toys. I think the serious collectors (that admittedly wil be a declining number) will tend to go right back to the beginning. Casual collectors might want a few they remember as kids, but the good stuff will always have a reasonably strong market.
 

Wreck-It Ralph

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This is a very uplifting thread especially to a new collector who has just spent a lot of money on 12, 20 and 30 backs in the last two months, I do hope they don't become worthless overnight :lol: :lol: :lol:
 

Wreck-It Ralph

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I just thought of another point, popularity of a franchise can also depend on how a film dates. Some films date well and are still as enjoyable today as when they were first made e.g. Jaws, Preadator, Alien, T2 and of course Star Wars IMO. There is still a chance future generations will want to collect what we collect if they see the old films and like them or am I just clutching at straws?
 

spoons

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Wreck-It Ralph said:
This is a very uplifting thread especially to a new collector who has just spent a lot of money on 12, 20 and 30 backs in the last two months, I do hope they don't become worthless overnight :lol: :lol: :lol:

Reckon you'll be alright with those - very iconic!

If i was an investor I think I'd be selling up in the next couple of years, prices will almost certainly rise beyond two years but after that it starts getting risky.

Saying that, I knew a man who sold his house in Oxford in 2003 as he thought the housing bubble would burst the next year. I think his house went up by 33% in that time - non-one can predict anything :lol:
 

Wreck-It Ralph

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spoons said:
Wreck-It Ralph said:
This is a very uplifting thread especially to a new collector who has just spent a lot of money on 12, 20 and 30 backs in the last two months, I do hope they don't become worthless overnight :lol: :lol: :lol:

Reckon you'll be alright with those - very iconic!

If i was an investor I think I'd be selling up in the next couple of years, prices will almost certainly rise beyond two years but after that it starts getting risky.

Saying that, I knew a man who sold his house in Oxford in 2003 as he thought the housing bubble would burst the next year. I think his house went up by 33% in that time - non-one can predict anything :lol:

With a bit of luck some collectors/investors wil read this thread, **** themselves and sell their collections that way I can finish my 12 back and 20 back run. Keep the negativity coming and don't mention that guy in Oxford again :lol: :lol:
 

Lom

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Absolute insanity and too much money I think - I was watching this very nice but common carded AT-AT Driver on eBay...

Forty something bids later it's gone for over £420... For a 65 back Jedi carded figure!!?? And bidding history shows that 5 different people thought it was worth more than $300; 3 different people thought it was worth more than $400.

As Grant said recently on another thread - if we were sensible, we'd sell our mocs now.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122379745767
 

theforceuk

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Yeah on the bright side most of us are sat on a small fortune, even if you just have a loose beater set. :)
 

tiefighterboy

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Between weaponless average Leia's going for a £100 and now I see basically groups of like 3 played with figures (paint ware and saber tips broken) from the first 12 going for £120, and people jumping at it like it's a bargain...this has me scratching my head and wondering two things...Why am I still in this hobby? and Why have I not sold up to all these morons yet?


Of course the majority of these prices are found on that one social network site..................Oh...wait we have a separate thread for that. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 

stormcab

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Lom said:
Absolute insanity and too much money I think - I was watching this very nice but common carded AT-AT Driver on eBay...

Forty something bids later it's gone for over £420... For a 65 back Jedi carded figure!!?? And bidding history shows that 5 different people thought it was worth more than $300; 3 different people thought it was worth more than $400.

As Grant said recently on another thread - if we were sensible, we'd sell our mocs now.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122379745767

Yep was watching that myself, as you may remember he is a little focus I have. Rocketed in the last few seconds which was clearly the result of snipers. Lots of ROTJ AT-AT drivers about, so clearly people are after clear bubbles and high grades.
 

kvavik

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Prices for loose seems to be going up, as more collectors come, the first thing they want is a loose set. We've to wait ned see if some of these will go into MOC collecting.

I've seen prices on some speciallty items drop as much as 50% in the last years. When prices reach 4 digits, there is a lot less collectors. We've also seen a drop in prices on items like Palitoy Luke Bespin 30 back and Chewie 12 back. Much because of the Toystore find. But this was not a lot of items, when we think about the numbers of loose that comes to marked every week. We're talking about 8-24 new items hitting the marked, which means a Luke Bespin went from £3-4k to £700.
 

maxf

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kvavik said:
I've seen prices on some speciallty items drop as much as 50% in the last years. When prices reach 4 digits, there is a lot less collectors. We've also seen a drop in prices on items like Palitoy Luke Bespin 30 back and Chewie 12 back. Much because of the Toystore find. But this was not a lot of items, when we think about the numbers of loose that comes to marked every week. We're talking about 8-24 new items hitting the marked, which means a Luke Bespin went from £3-4k to £700.

I'm not sure a 30a Luke Bespin was ever £3-4k consistently? Perhaps one AFA 85 fetched that, but most were around £1500 or even lower. The 30b would have fetched that.

Chewie definitely dipped, but supply has dried up and again it's a tough card to find - I've had offers for mine which were higher than the price I paid a couple of years ago, which I assumed I'd never get my money back on.
 

Pomse2001

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I would still not sell anything from my collection if the prices is going more up than they are today, I do not see it as an investmen, I only collect because of the fun, the hunt, for the memories of my childhood, because I think star wars is something special and for the community :D

But it is not as funny to collect today than it was some years ago when the items was cheaper.
 

plantainman

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Problems will arise soon though. I see them cropping up already.

Joe bloggs who buys X Variants for £125 on FB falls out of love with it a month later and lists it for 'buy it now' £150. A few days later with no inquiries, Joe bloggs adds "OBO, Just want near what I paid last month of £125".

no-one has the heart to tell Joe bloggs he paid £125 for a £30-40 variant and will never see that dead money again.

There's going to be a lot of dead money in this hobby over the coming years as newer, less informed collectors try to recoup 'what they paid' for their items from knowledgeable collectors, who simply will never pay those prices.

The argument "that's what I paid for it so it must be worth that on resale" will sadly bite many a noob, which will also have a knock-on effect for experienced collectors, because if people can't afford or don't want to sell, then a vortex within the community will appear.

Anyone still remembering the last housing market crash?
 

Darth Bobby

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I think the key is not to panic. If it takes 40 years to complete your collection well so be it. I agree that many people will get bored after the initial nostalgia hit and just want their money back. In a way it's a positive thing. So much stuff has been unearthed and sold on instead of being binned. The price rises are ugly but there's more and more stuff coming out everyday. Plus there are bargains still out there to be had. That's the fun and challenging part! Don't let it get you down.
 

Wreck-It Ralph

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plantainman said:
Problems will arise soon though. I see them cropping up already.

Joe bloggs who buys X Variants for £125 on FB falls out of love with it a month later and lists it for 'buy it now' £150. A few days later with no inquiries, Joe bloggs adds "OBO, Just want near what I paid last month of £125".

no-one has the heart to tell Joe bloggs he paid £125 for a £30-40 variant and will never see that dead money again.

There's going to be a lot of dead money in this hobby over the coming years as newer, less informed collectors try to recoup 'what they paid' for their items from knowledgeable collectors, who simply will never pay those prices.

The argument "that's what I paid for it so it must be worth that on resale" will sadly bite many a noob, which will also have a knock-on effect for experienced collectors, because if people can't afford or don't want to sell, then a vortex within the community will appear.

Anyone still remembering the last housing market crash?

I am a new collector and out of choice I would rather not be paying the prices I am paying but find it impossible to acquire the pieces I need unless I pay the market price. Although I am not collecting to make money I would hope the pieces I buy at least retain thier value as if they do not and we are indeed in some sort of bubble then I would have to agree that we could see a rapid decline in collecting popularity as nobody wants to loose money and once bitten twice shy!
 
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