After Hasbro rereleased Cosmos, Galaxy shuttle, Tarn, and the cone heads i've come to think of figures i bought as "investments". Like rare sought after toys you bought not because your an investor but it was kinda cheap, and you thought you could sell it for some profit down the line, but of course that never went through. For me it was thrilling 30 Gears, sought after him for a couple years until i got him at a convention for 50$. Not a week later Hasbro announces Legacy Gears and t30 Gears drops to 45$. Now that's about what i paid for him, but now he's a whole lot less special. He just stands on my shelf, a totem of my ignorance, a specter of failure

 

These are not investments. They are toys. If you want to pay way over retail go ahead, but understand that ANY toy, even Haslab Unicron, could some day see a reissue. You are paying to have it now and for the certainty. And even if the toy never does get reissued, there's an excellent chance that they'll just replace it with a new version later (See: Earthrise Ironhide and Ratchet but not Prowl.....yet)

 

Well, it's been stated many times... These are toys and not investments.

Their value are completely dependent on what someone is willing to pay and for most, the moment a new version is released, the demand for the older version usually drops a lot.

So I don't expect you are going to get much sympathy about that mindset of buying only to hope to profit from it.

 

As toy collectors, we loathe scalpers and those buying these as investments. Those who do so are our enemy, an anti-thesis to why we collect to enjoy the figure

We rejoice in their investment being reduced to nothing and exalt in their suffering. This is a practice dating all the way back to the celebration at Generations Thundercracker coming out and decimating the aftermarket on Botcon Thundercracker

 

Thinking of toys as investments... Doesn't that take away any potential fun with them? Honestly, the only ones I could accept as being investments are the "1 of 10 lucky draw golden and please don't open me ever or I'll disintegrated or something" figs, but those are already unimaginable expensive as is.

I think I tried once ages ago as a test (to trade for a fig I wanted) but sold it for less than retail..... Don't remember what it was, but I do remember it was a 3rd party fig.
(I am still atoning for my sins)

 

Speculative collection will never end well, see 90's Marvel's Bankruptcy and Beanie Babies for more info.

 

LOL

 

I buy the Transformers to enjoy the figures. I don't think about it's value down the line much, because it'd hinder my enjoyment of it.

 

Best thing you can do is have a dollar amount in mind that you want to sell the figure for, and if it starts going for that dollar amount, sell it. Don't just hold on to see how high it will go.

Don't assume that just because Hasbro is rereleasing Tarn, Cosmos and Galaxy Shuttle that they'll be any easier to find this time. This is an added wave that most retailers wouldn't have planned for, releasing at a time when they're not much interested in keeping their toy shelves stocked. The dip in value might be temporary.

Buying T30 Gears on the aftermarket for $50 was indeed a bad investment. You already paid way over retail for a figure of a 1984 character that was almost ten years old, in a period when all of the 1984 characters were being updated. Anybody could have told you there would eventually be a new Gears that would be more accurate and therefore more desirable.

If you want to buy toys as investments, and avoid a lot of the nastiness being leveled at you here, you have to haunt the clearance sales and the liquidators. Nobody who stocks up on Ollie's Transformers loses money as long as they're smart about it. And because those toys sat around at regular retail forever and nobody wanted them, there's less vitriol thrown around when suddenly they're worth multiples of their original price.

You do have to "read the tea leaves" a bit. The Legacy Walmart Beasts that have taken up residence at Ross are unlikely to rise in value, but they're super cheap right now, and if you have the storage space and don't mind sitting on them for a while, why not pick up a few and see what happens. This is why it's called "speculating," after all. Those characters are also unlikely to get updates that will lower these figures' values, also.

Remember, if a figure retails for $50, sits around unbought, gets clearanced to $25, disappears, and then you sell your extra for $50, you double your investment and only a few people complain at you. And most of those people are salty because they had ample opportunity to buy the figure at $25 but didn't because they were waiting for it to hit $12.

Data on Star Trek TNG said it best: "There is a certain degree of random chance involved. I believe that is why they call it gambling."

 

I mean I buy my figures with the idea of not selling them, plus I collect weird shit that mostly no one wants? Lol.

So it’s not something I consider.

 

If you want to invest in toys buy Lego. Even then it's not guaranteed but it's certainly more stable than most other lines.

 

Toys are a horrible investment, full stop. I don't hold it against anyone for hoping they'll get rich off of their toy collection one day (daydreaming is fun), but I definitely think that person will more than likely wind up very disappointed in the end.

 

Having worked at McDonald's during the heyday of Beanie Babies. I have some stories to tell. Screaming Karens before they were Karens. Threats of physical violence.

 

That sounds like a nightmare (although most stuff involving entitled adults sounds like one too for someone with a social anxiety disorder  )
I can never fathom why folk can get into that kind of state over toys, I've been collecting for decades and if I can't get a figure I really want I just accept it and move on, chances are another one will come around at some point and if not no big loss.

 

yikes on a fucking bike

stop treating hobbies like investments. if it ain't fun, don't do it, and get out of the way of the people who actually do enjoy it.

ffs

 

I would rather feel foolish overpaying than regret a missed opportunity to have a figure I really want.

I have overpaid aftermarket a handful of times to secure an item to complete a collection. I always do so knowing full well that it might get reissued or upgraded, so it doesn’t bother me as much when it happens.

The thing is, you can’t predict if a new version is coming or how long it will take…so, if I REALLY desire the item, the risk of value plummeting is worth it.

But I have paid above MSRP very sparingly.

 

I’ve never viewed my hobbies as investment opportunities— that would ruin the fun of it all. I’ve built many cars in my day— I’m much more of an automotive enthusiast than I am a TF fan— and I’ve enjoyed them all. I’ve only ever sold them to make space or to escape my wife’s nagging, and I never considered trying to make money off of them.

My hobbies are only an investment in my personal satisfaction and enjoyment. The day I make a business out of any of them is the day they’re no longer fun or worthwhile.

 

To be fair, that's really because T30 Gears is a failure as a figure. He always was terrible, well before you overpaid the ridiculous aftermarket price for him.

 

I never realized T30 Gears was ever desirable. I’m not sure I’d give $5 for that mediocre toy, much less 50. Besides which, if I were shown a greyscale image of it, I wouldn’t have even known it was supposed to be Gears.

 

You just gotta know what figures will end up becoming investments and be quick to sell before the inevitable upgrade.