Investor or Collector?

Wreck-It Ralph

Jedi Master
Joined
Jan 16, 2017
Messages
893
I think I am more Collector than Investor as I don't see what I collect as a particularly good investment which means I am either stupid or I have a passion for it, hopefully not the former.

If we look at rare vintage MOC as an example from a financial investment perspective:

1. Rarity can not be established as no one knows how many examples exist.

2. Price or more importantly price increases are unknown as virtually all sales are done privately.

3. Deterioration of item highly probable due to bubble adhesive or bubble itself perishing.

Not my idea of a great financial investment!
 

jared007

Padawan
Joined
Apr 26, 2015
Messages
249
To call it *investing* implies that you are eventually going to realize any profit and cash in at some stage. That's certainly not me, I'd find it too hard to part with any of the items I've spent so long chasing.

As for an investment, it's probably the riskiest thing you could ever sink money into! For any serious return in the ballpark of what shares etc give, then you really need to be playing with really high end pieces. But there in lies the issue - your circle of clients become *really small*, and what you hold can suddenly become worth *much less* depending on flavour of the month. Plus, this stuff is fragile - crack an MOC in transit and you can't burn money faster!
 

Wreck-It Ralph

Jedi Master
Joined
Jan 16, 2017
Messages
893
jared007 said:
To call it *investing* implies that you are eventually going to realize any profit and cash in at some stage. That's certainly not me, I'd find it too hard to part with any of the items I've spent so long chasing.

As for an investment, it's probably the riskiest thing you could ever sink money into! For any serious return in the ballpark of what shares etc give, then you really need to be playing with really high end pieces. But there in lies the issue - your circle of clients become *really small*, and what you hold can suddenly become worth *much less* depending on flavour of the month. Plus, this stuff is fragile - crack an MOC in transit and you can't burn money faster!

This is my point do financial investors exist in Vintage Star Wars collecting at all?
 

yoda

Sith Lord
Joined
Jan 10, 2015
Messages
1,905
Location
Ireland
Wreck-It Ralph said:
jared007 said:
To call it *investing* implies that you are eventually going to realize any profit and cash in at some stage. That's certainly not me, I'd find it too hard to part with any of the items I've spent so long chasing.

As for an investment, it's probably the riskiest thing you could ever sink money into! For any serious return in the ballpark of what shares etc give, then you really need to be playing with really high end pieces. But there in lies the issue - your circle of clients become *really small*, and what you hold can suddenly become worth *much less* depending on flavour of the month. Plus, this stuff is fragile - crack an MOC in transit and you can't burn money faster!

This is my point do financial investors exist in Vintage Star Wars collecting at all?

To answer your question yes I think they do exist, I believe there are people buying and hording loads of vintage mint Star Wars with the plan or hope of making money on it once it's sold at a later date. And that they also have no connection whatsoever to it and don't really care what people think or how it harms the collecting community.

But I also understand other people moving bits and bobs on to upgrade have doubles or if they have just lost interest or more importantly need the money. I see these type of people as the true collectors and that making money was never the first motivation for them. And if they make a few bob so be it thats their own business it's part and parcel of collecting.

Edit : I really like Michael Siths view on this topic.
 

subzero

Sith Lord
Joined
Jun 20, 2017
Messages
3,052
Where do traders fit into this topic or do they at all?, even though they buy and sell with a fast turnaround, to me that's still an investment even though it's a short term one.

So isn't a long term investor just the same as a short term one in terms of how they might affect the hobby?
 

BradleyScott

Youngling
Joined
Feb 22, 2018
Messages
9
Now that I think about it I believe you answered your own question. Its all in how you identify yourself. You either collect for some satisfaction in some degree weather it be a focus or a completist.
OR
You Invest to hopefully make a profit.
 

gammoguard

Padawan
Joined
Jul 25, 2017
Messages
130
'Sort of' collector. I say sort of because I still have my original figures & vehicles from when I was a kid but the last time I added any vintage stuff (I have select newer things that took my fancy) was about 17 years ago.

My focus moved to other brands when the prices started creeping up past what I was prepared to pay (Blue Snaggle went up to £150 so couldn't justify spending that amount on something that, at the time, didn't give me a buzz) - in comparison I paid the equivalent for a loose Tyderium.

I'll never sell them through choice but if necessity meant that I had to (ie to fund a health issue) then I would. I've already told my kids that these items are now theirs (but they can't have them yet :wink:) and that when they are older if they need a cash boost then they can sell items (hopefully it won't come to that or they'll do it without telling me :lol:
 

Robstyley

Sith Lord
Joined
Aug 22, 2014
Messages
2,736
Location
The other side of Mos Eisley
Collector! I do it for the love of it, of the films and the toys. Only a buffoon would invest in this stuff. Saying that, anyone who bought a lot of their collection over 5 years ago as I did has made a good investment, even though it's without intentionally doing so. Nobody could have really known how much the prices were going to increase so I don't think there's serious investors in this. Maybe a few but I think you've got to have some interest in SW to even want to invest in it.
 

TWOFOOT

Jedi Master
Joined
Oct 19, 2006
Messages
998
Location
ipswich , suffolk
subzero said:
pizzathehutt said:
There was something on the radio I heard a few months back about investments

I cant remember all of it but it was to do with investing in the 70s, some people invested in shares or say an equivalent to an isa in a bank or something else

obviously people who had, did make profit but the biggest profit made, and it was something ridiculous! if you had bought £1000 worth of fine wine back then it was now worth £400,000 or something along those lines, craziness!!!

I was watching a pawn shop program the other day and a guy on there was saying some bottles of scotch whiskey for £100 5 years ago are now worth £1000. :eek:

Iv'e never understood a bottle of liquid being so collectable, it's not like as if this stuff is antique or anything even if it's from the 70's. :?

Same could be said about us. People will be saying 'how can a tiny brown plastic Cape be worth so much money.' lol
 

subzero

Sith Lord
Joined
Jun 20, 2017
Messages
3,052
TWOFOOT said:
subzero said:
pizzathehutt said:
There was something on the radio I heard a few months back about investments

I cant remember all of it but it was to do with investing in the 70s, some people invested in shares or say an equivalent to an isa in a bank or something else

obviously people who had, did make profit but the biggest profit made, and it was something ridiculous! if you had bought £1000 worth of fine wine back then it was now worth £400,000 or something along those lines, craziness!!!

I was watching a pawn shop program the other day and a guy on there was saying some bottles of scotch whiskey for £100 5 years ago are now worth £1000. :eek:

Iv'e never understood a bottle of liquid being so collectable, it's not like as if this stuff is antique or anything even if it's from the 70's. :?

Same could be said about us. People will be saying 'how can a tiny brown plastic Cape be worth so much money.' lol

That's a good point :lol: and we can't even taste a plastic cape if we wanted to lol.
 

Wreck-It Ralph

Jedi Master
Joined
Jan 16, 2017
Messages
893
I bought a X-Men 1 CGC 8.0 4 years ago and it has more than doubled in value so from an investment perspective comics are a much better buy than Star Wars in my opinion. Comic Books in general are quite common as in you can go on Ebay and buy one easily so long as you have the disposable income but some MOC Star Wars are really rare and for the most part their growth is slow and poor by comparison why is that?
 

subzero

Sith Lord
Joined
Jun 20, 2017
Messages
3,052
Wreck-It Ralph said:
I bought a X-Men 1 CGC 8.0 4 years ago and it has more than doubled in value so from an investment perspective comics are a much better buy than Star Wars in my opinion. Comic Books in general are quite common as in you can go on Ebay and buy one easily so long as you have the disposable income but some MOC Star Wars are really rare and for the most part their growth is slow and poor by comparison why is that?

Definitely, you can lose a lot of money trying to invest in them, but when you invest in the right ones the profit can be huge overnight.

In 2015 I was into collecting the new Marvel Star Wars comics and thought i'd also have a dabble at a bit of investing, in total I collected about 40 different comic variants ( just for the enjoyment of collecting them ) all of which either got me my money back or lost me a little by the time I sold them all off. Accept for just 2 variants which made me good profit, I bought about 70 of the limited edition 'action figure' Boba Fett variant for about £15 each to flip and tripled my money, the other one was the Luke Skywalker 'action figure' black & white variant, only 250 were made to give away at the C2E2 convention ( not available for retail sale ) which I bought 7 of on ebay for about £130 each. I sold those a year later and doubled my money on them, but now they're selling for about £800+ each. :shock: :shock:
 

Ruby2511

Sith Lord
Joined
Mar 11, 2018
Messages
2,379
I'm a Collector, reliving my childhood and loving every minute of collecting again with figures and ships i had back in the 80's.

Russ :D
 

Starrider

Youngling
Joined
Aug 25, 2017
Messages
12
I've never really collected as an investment, but occasionally sell pieces when either a better version comes out or I decide to streamline things. I would say from the selling I have done of my own collection over the years I am marginally in profit, some pieces I have lost on others I have gained on, but overall if I had wanted to invest I am sure there would have been better things I could have done with the money.
I am not sure investors exist anymore as that side of the market seemed to crash and burn in the 2000's when people realised their mass purchases of Power of the Force and Episode 1 werent going to go up anytime soon if ever.
The problem at the moment with any investing is that the market is so unpredictable, one can assume that any likely prices jumps on the new movie figures will be a decade or more off due to the huge amount on clearance. The Black Series seems to have been one of the best opportunities for a potential investor in more recent times, but even so its very much case of getting your timing right when you sell. Hasbro only need to resissue some of those early valuable figures or make a new improved version for several years of gains to come tumbling down again.
 

Wreck-It Ralph

Jedi Master
Joined
Jan 16, 2017
Messages
893
If I am an investor then I am a lousy one as I get too excited when I get offered something and find it impossible to sell anything.
 
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 365 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.

Latest posts

Top Bottom