the state of collecting

[gogorobo]

i was just wondering how any of you felt about this past year from a collecting standpoint, it felt like there was nothing new on the pegs for months and when there was it was stuff that was supposed to be released earlier in the year. For me it was a time to save money funny enough and focus attention elsewhere what was it like for the rest of you all? did you find everything you were looking for or did you just switch gears and focus attention elsewhere? inquiring minds would like to know

[Dragongravy]

most of the toys i bought last year were the joe stuff i found at ollies or other discounters....stuff that was out the previous years. dollar general joes were sorta big, but the biggest purchase f the year was voltron. this year doesnt seem to be shaping up much better with less than half the retaliation toys i plan to purchase. i'm still undecided about the con at this point, but if i am able to go i will be picking up con sets.

overall last year my focus changed to sourcing the parts i needed for some automotive projects.

[FATBALDDUDE]

I used the retail lull to pick up more exclusive type stuff and figures I missed out on the last couple years. Only retail shopping was at Walgreens and Dollar General.

[zrock1272]

I, myself, used the lack of primary Joe stuff as an opportunity to catch up on other stuff and save a bit of cash.

Primarily, I concentrated on my Marvel Universe collection, not that I have anything special. I'm just about done with my '90's X-Men and Spiderman sub-sets. I'm pretty happy the whole collection. I'm only waiting on the new three packs to come out, mainly the X-Men set for Rogue and the West Coast Avengers for Mockingbird. I will say it's bullcrap that their forcing yet another Wolverine on us. I'm also waiting on Nova for my Ultimate Spiderman animated set. I doubt they'd throw us a White Tiger. However, she's easy enough to custom.

There's also some odds and ends stuff I picked up, nothing special. The Dollar General figs were huge. I've got like 16 Dukes. My 'Joe Army's gonna be sweet.

[Gambit]

Its kind of depressing to see no Gijoe product in the stores. I haven't bought much action figure wise in a long while Marvel Legends are pretty cool but I'm taking the lull opportunity to save money for other stuff.

[Samantha]

I have used this time to catch up on some of the holes in my collection. Having the break has also allowed me to save some money. My main observation has been the simple fact that I am running out of space. I may end up cherry pick from now on.

[jaybeane]

I didn't save anything. Masters of the Universe Classics pretty much guarantees that there is no saving to be done.

I did grab some other stuff that I had wanted though. The Goon figures, the new TMNT stuff and a couple Predator figures here and there.

I need personal time to play in my toy room and get it finished. Right now it's like half way there.

[EDGEFIND]

I'm back purchasing everything I missed that I liked over the past few years being broke. Toy shows and you guys have been a huge help. There isn't much out there, bigbox stores suck ass for their toy departments anymore and general lack of coolness have greatly reduced my collecting. That's all okay though because I am enjoying playing with my son and customizing more.

I got sick of searching for stuff with no luck, so for the first time in years, I just preordered a case of the retaliation figs. I REALLY enjoy the hunt and all, but the efficiency of it all was seriously lacking and I finally decided to admit defeat. I haven't purchased a case of figs since the collector's edition 2 packs with Serpentor and the Twins pre-joe vs cobra. Things are definitely changing.

[zrock1272]

Right now, Retaliation is the only thing out worth getting...I know pigs are flying somewhere.

The only thing that remotely catches my attention is the remote possibility of a bad White Tiger figure from the Ultimate Spiderman line that I can get for my 3 yr old. He's been bugging me about building him a custom White Tiger, but I know he'll be satisfied with what Hasbro poops out. He IS their target audience evidently.


Other than a few Lady Jaye's, Joe Colton's and a few select other figures, I'm pretty good as far as collecting goes.

I've been army building those Radakai figures. I know, your asking "Why?" The Chem Masters make good aliens. The other figs make good random bad guy henchman for whatever. I've been getting them for 2 and 3 bucks a pop, so why not?!

[zrock1272]

Between scanning Ebay for deals and JoeCon approaching, I've pondering the resale value of my collection. A year or two ago, I would tell people the collection wasn't worth what I paid for it. However, with the declining quality of figures plopping out of Hasbro and other companies, things have changed. Figures that once choked the pegs at Walmart and later Marc''s and Marshal's are now going for $10 to $15. Alpine from the DVD set sells for $125...Holy Crap!, I have one. 25th Conquest that were $7 on clearance at Target are going for $40 to $50. I've got four. 25th Hiss tanks, $15 retail, $7 Clearance...They're going for $25 to $30. I've got 12.

I hit Marc's hard when the 25th figures were clearanced out through them. Cobra Troopers easily fetch $10 ea. I paid $4 ea...I have 40. RoC Reactive Armor Scarlett was $3 at Marc's. You can't touch her now for under $12, I have eight. The examples go on and on.

I don't have anything awesome in my collection, but what I do have could easily nickle and dime me to some real money. Now, having said that, I have no intention of selling anything. However, I no longer despair about losing money on a collection of toys.

Now that I think about it, I should probably catalog the collection and have it insured under my home owner's insurance. If there was a fire or theft, I'd have no way of proving I had it in the first place.