How much would you pay for your grail/chase figure?

[Grimlocked]

Hello everyone,

As always, fun collector questions!

How much would you pay for your grail/chase figure? What are your categorized price ranges and where do you draw the line?

Happy Discussing!

[evenstaves]

Oh geez idk - a grand maybe?

I've been able to mentally justify up to four hundy on certain purchases
Actually probably closer to five; there are things I've been after that I passed on for five

[imfallenangel]

Impossible to really say an amount as it depends on the figure completely and how important that "grail" is.

I consider that I've spent quite a lot for some items that were at their "release" prices, and in hand, didn't feel like they were worth the price, but regardless of price, they are great to have.

So for some that were not common items, 3rd parties and such that have been out of production for a while, I've gone with anywhere from double the original price, to some rare occasions that was at maybe 3 or even 4 times that (as the release price was low and I missed out at the time and was catching up on a few.

I tend to draw the line at "common sense" if that's a thing.

[WereDragon EX]

Are we talking about this in dollars or organs?

[Autobotz24]

Are we talking about this in dollars or organs?

A kidney and my left testicle

[bishop]

The price of a MP skyfire/jetfire... lol

[steamwhistle]

If it's a figure I really want...

No more than 10% of my monthly salary. If original retail price exceeds that, then no more than double original retail price (for an older figure) and only if it's a figure I really want.

[Gatchatron]

I don't know exactly - but it's somewhere bounded by what I have paid (for non-grails) vs what I *refused* to pay (for "grail candidates"):

Did ~650 for "Hercules"

Did ~75 for "Draculus" (dammit)

DID NOT do ~$950 CDN for HasLab Unicron

DID NOT do $10,325 (or whatever the final, CDN expense would be) for Robosen Automatic Optimus Prime (+ trailer!)


...anyway, I think there may be a formula in there somewhere to determine where I'd land - but... you know, "math" and such.

[optimusb39]

I don't know exactly - but it's somewhere bounded by what I have paid (for non-grails) vs what I *refused* to pay (for "grail candidates"):

Did ~650 for "Hercules"

Did ~75 for "Draculus" (dammit)

DID NOT do ~$950 CDN for HasLab Unicron

DID NOT do $10,325 (or whatever the final, CDN expense would be) for Robosen Automatic Optimus Prime (+ trailer!)


...anyway, I think there may be a formula in there somewhere to determine where I'd land - but... you know, "math" and such.

I've seen that robosen prime for as low as 1000 on kijiji lately.

[ssjgoku22]

The thing about it is I don't even know what my grail figure is anymore. We've getting so many releases lately, I haven't even had a chance to think about something that I truly want. If something came out that I really wanted, $300 max (and that's pushing it).

[CyberDragon10K]

I've already spent several hundred on the single instance of shiny cardboard that is a Yu-Gi-Oh! card, so spending similar for an actual plastic collectible should be about the same.

Hell if I know what it is I'd call my grail though. I'm mostly waiting for the excess Legacy Galvatron stock to go on sale and for Swoop/Snarl to release in SS86 to finish off the Dinobots at this point.

[WereDragon EX]

I've already spent several hundred on the single instance of shiny cardboard that is a Yu-Gi-Oh! card, so spending similar for an actual plastic collectible should be about the same.

Hell if I know what it is I'd call my grail though. I'm mostly waiting for the excess Legacy Galvatron stock to go on sale and for Swoop/Snarl to release in SS86 to finish off the Dinobots at this point.


Out of random curiosity, and as a big Yu-Gi-Oh! player myself, what card was that?

[alternatorfan]

Paid $2000 for complete g1 overlord my grail piece.

[timcrook]

MSRP.

[Digibasherx]

I backed Haslab Unicron, so that's probably the most expensive grail piece I currently own. I probably would guess that's the upper limit for a grail that I would pay for.

[canprime]

"I'd buy that for a dollar!"


"One MILLION DOLLARS!"


Ok cheesy movie lines out of the way....


I don't really have grails anymore. I have owned, or own, lots of high priced, or rare items. They are great, but generally they all fall to the all mighty dollar, or rather what I can get for them versus what I paid.



I have a couple of Haslabs, with more on the way. Both versions of Hot Toys' Hulkbusters, etc. I don't have a lot of "vintage" items anymore. I have a bunch of reissues from different lines, and updated "vintage" lines.(G1 reissues, GI Joe retro, MOTU:O, etc.) So much has been reissued, or updated that I don't find the value anymore in vintage items, especially with the years taking more and more of a toll on them (GPS, broken thumbs/heels, plastic cancer, etc). So why would I want to buy something for a lot of money that is fragile, or likely already broken before it gets out of the package?


So long story short, I won't shy away from a high priced item, but it most likely won't be vintage, but rather new, and something I really like and consider worth the expense.

[CyberDragon10K]

Out of random curiosity, and as a big Yu-Gi-Oh! player myself, what card was that?

Overpaying for an Ultimate Rare Cyber Dragon from the OTS packs much closer to when OP16 (or whichever pack it was highlighted in) was circulating in tournament stores.

I ended up buying a 2nd Ultimate Rare copy eventually for much closer to current market pricing, and a Ghost Rare Cyber Dragon from for similar.

[Solauren]

With me, probably not alot. At this point, for stuff that's not a new release, it's mainly old Micromasters I'm looking for, and the odd other thing.


I mean, my local store has (N)MIB transformers there, including ones that are jaw-droppers they have them, but I haven't picked them up.

[Patate]

I'll maybe pay MSRP + 50% more if I really like something.

I started collecting a bit less than 2 years now and I'm having a bit of fatigue already and the most important thing: I'm not a completionist. So I'm happy to get something cool if I can but no Transformers really matters to me.

[VicRav]

I try to avoid holding any figure in too high a regard. I won't go much above MRSP. There is a small number of recent retail figures that I paid more for:

- SS86 Gnaw - preorder didn't come through with Gamestop and could not get a hold of him anywhere. Managed to get him for about $50 after shipping costs were factored in. He did feel like more of grail character, as I didn't have a sharkticon in my collection at that point.

- That Dirge/Ramjet two pack. Got it from Toysnowman after Amazon failed. The markup was relatively small when compared to how rare this two pack became.

There are figures that I am on the hunt for that are more rare, but if I can't luck out find a decent deal on them I will just continue patiently hoping something comes along. This is also why I will pretty much never buy MISB figures outside of retail. MISB often inflates the price and it doesn't offer any value for me when I want to take figures out of the package and transform them.

[Marcotron]

So, my grail figure when I started collecting was MP-01 Optimus. And I got it a long time ago, from a board member here. MP10 was around back then, but I still wanted the bigger, taller, die-cast metal heavy figure. Ver3 MP44 is great and all too, but It's a toss up between that one, and the three or four third party figures that all look great. But nothing will compare to the original big bot.

Since then, I've gotten a huge CW Devastator (on sale when it first came out).
I've also gotten a wicked MP Soundwave, and all the tapes (also on sale when it first came out). Nothing will ever be a more perfect Soundwave to me.
I've got two Megatrons, an MP5, and Despotron. Both are amazing in their own ways. I carefully compared all the available MP styled Megatrons before deciding on Despotron.

There is a balance between how much is spent, and how you treat the figure. If you buy some figure for a lot of money, and enjoy it by transforming it, and something breaks, it feels so bad. If it's like a hundred bucks, it's not the end of the world. If I had spent 200 or 300 on say a Fanstoys figure, I would never be able to fully enjoy that figure and it would just sit and collect dust (and then likely fall apart one day from air exposure or something, loose joints etc).

TLDR: max $150 on anything. The fear of having to maybe eventually replace it is too much.

[Vrillon77]

237.37 cdn thanks to dhl customs and import fees for an 8-year-old figure with an msrp of approx. $50

[imfallenangel]

237.37 cdn thanks to dhl customs and import fees for an 8-year-old figure with an msrp of approx. $50

I'm curious to which one it was....

I've done similar a few times this last year with a couple of 3rd parties that were 50$ or so at release (years ago) and the cheapest I could get was in that range of 200$+.

Some I found that they were worth it, others not the price, but still happy to have them, I just have to ignore how much I paid for them.

[Vrillon77]

Almost embarrassed to say, TG-31 Rhinox.

But Beast Wars was my favorite transformers show growing up (still is), and Rhinox and Rampage were my favorite characters. What really triggered me to finally get it was seeing the Kingdom rhinox release. Never bought it because it looked like a significant downgrade and felt like an insult to the awesomeness that Rhinox is. So went all out, and got TG-31 misb, preferred that coloration over the hasbro and lg-ex. Also TG31 was apparently less prone to loose hips and stuff like the hasbro release. No issues at all standing him, maybe I just got lucky with my copy.

[Landstander]

A g1 mega Zarak complete with box $900. A G1 overlord complete with box $1100. an unopened, still in brown shipper box, LGEX Grand Maximus $1400. Honorable mention goes to haslab Unicron $937.

[imfallenangel]

Almost embarrassed to say, TG-31 Rhinox.

But Beast Wars was my favorite transformers show growing up (still is), and Rhinox and Rampage were my favorite characters. What really triggered me to finally get it was seeing the Kingdom rhinox release. Never bought it because it looked like a significant downgrade and felt like an insult to the awesomeness that Rhinox is. So went all out, and got TG-31 misb, preferred that coloration over the hasbro and lg-ex. Also TG31 was apparently less prone to loose hips and stuff like the hasbro release. No issues at all standing him, maybe I just got lucky with my copy.

Outch... Looking him up and he goes for a lot less than that from the few I saw... Guess you got him at a bad moment? And the "hidden" fees that hits at times are frustrating...

Reminds me of when I got the Siege Galaxy Prime not long ago as I changed my mind after skipping it, and he went up but still found one at acceptable price but the shipping resulted in additional customs, taxes, FedEx charges, boosting the price easily by a good 40$ if not more, then the filler kit as no way I wanted such empty parts..

Just now, got another feature that was at 37$, did the best offer for 30$ (accepted) but the shipping and taxes brought the price to over 70$, which was discouraging.

[Vrillon77]

Outch... Looking him up and he goes for a lot less than that from the few I saw... Guess you got him at a bad moment? And the "hidden" fees that hits at times are frustrating...
Hmm, on ebay? He still seems to be about the same there, with the current conversion rate.

This was the cheapest one I saw on ebay:
Order total US $131.64 / CAD $190.37

When I got him in June:
Order total US $144.24 / CAD $193.39

but then 193.39 + 43.98 to DHL :( yes it was quite frustrating lol
Reminds me of when I got the Siege Galaxy Prime not long ago as I changed my mind after skipping it, and he went up but still found one at acceptable price but the shipping resulted in additional customs, taxes, FedEx charges, boosting the price easily by a good 40$ if not more, then the filler kit as no way I wanted such empty parts..

Just now, got another feature that was at 37$, did the best offer for 30$ (accepted) but the shipping and taxes brought the price to over 70$, which was discouraging.
Ah yes, the kits. With the current prices + extra fees, it's kinda sad that hasbro is releasing figures with enough empty space that filler kits feel mandatory. I ended up getting a kit for ss86 sludge myself.

[imfallenangel]

Hmm, on ebay? He still seems to be about the same there, with the current conversion rate.

This was the cheapest one I saw on ebay:
Order total US $131.64 / CAD $190.37

When I got him in June:
Order total US $144.24 / CAD $193.39

but then 193.39 + 43.98 to DHL :( yes it was quite frustrating lol

Ah yes, the kits. With the current prices + extra fees, it's kinda sad that hasbro is releasing figures with enough empty space that filler kits feel mandatory. I ended up getting a kit for ss86 sludge myself.

eBay is a bit all over and looked also at the variants of the thrilling 30 versions... but finding him here at much cheaper and appears to be in stock:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.agesthreeandup.com/amp/tg31-rhinox-takara/

Edit:never mind, it ends up showing out of stock but only when you add to cart... Stupid way to design a site.