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Re: Unofficial Photographic Archive vol 1 and 2
I saw this thread at tfw2005 as well, and I made a reply. I wanted to copy and paste it here, also. Here it is:
I originally posted there should be no prices shown in the book. But after some thought, I know I would appreciate market value worth, whether I'm reviewing the book at present time, or years later. The reality is, ALL collectibles SHOULD have an official (or publicly-accepted) price guide for the obvious reasons of buying, selling, trading, insuring, replacement value through insurance if stolen, damaged, etc., etc.,
While sportscards publish monthly and annual price guides, along with "up-to-the-minute" price guide websites (eg. Beckett), this is a rarity amongst collectible items. Many collections are lucky enough to have one, or a few books, published across many years, with prices in them. This is the case of Transformers. But most collections don't have a reference to prices/value, and I can see how that can be at a disadvantage per the reasons mentioned above.
Ebay is probably the biggest tool people use to gauge market value. But it can also have huge variance amongst 'sold item' costs between two+ identical items sold, for no rhyme or reason other than 'timing' of when it's listed. Some might say that's a 'good indication of average', but I truly believe it's first and foremost more about 'timing' and 'luck' (regarding when the item is posted, how it's titled for searches to pick it up; who happens to notice the item; how many happen to notice the item; who are bidding, who are not bidding because they don't know it's on ebay right then; who is overestimating/underestimating their 'buy it now' price; sellers only caring to make 'x' amount of profit so they have uncommon sticker prices; etc. etc. etc.) Basically, do you want your figure to be based on a noted 'fixed value'.... or an average of 'timing and luck'?
That being said, is there another way to get a fixed value not influenced by the aftermarket purchasing/selling swing? I would say no. The only way would be if something was always readily available in stores. Then you can say the fixed value is the MSRP. No argument. But since all Transformers leave the retail shelf at one point (or become hard to find on the shelf due to customer demand, short-orders/delivery of the items; or no retail store around the collector's vicinity), the prices change.
Other previously-published Transformers Price Guide books mentioned they used Ebay and retail/convention dealer information to come up with their prices. My guess is this is how this new book will come up with the prices too. It's not perfect, but it's the best method, I believe.
We don't know in 20yrs if Ebay will still be around, or if it will get replaced by a similar site. Or even if there will be new/replaceable methods of how to buy/sell collectibles. Therefore, gathering the data now when it is immensely available, is critical, in my opinion. Expecting a monthly publication of Transformers toys and their values is unlikely (not since Toyfare magazine folded), and so is the expectation that many more publishers (as the generation becomes older) will have interest in making another G1 price book (of which case, people will still argue against prices). Even if Ebay was to exist 20 years from now, trying to find prices on 50+ year-old toys will be a heck of a harder task, and the sample size will be probably be insignificant to make any logical conclusion. Hence, the earlier published price guides would have staying power. The prices are 'guides' for selling and buying. If we all stay within a reasonable percentage of that, the book did its job.
And besides, when it comes time to sell my toys, for example, who wouldn't rather have a one-stop-shop in going through all the values in one book? If the Transformers brand is still strong in 20 yrs, add 'x percentage' to the price in the book to get a market value; if the brand is weak or non-existent, minus 'x percentage' from the price listed in the book. Simple.
So yes, I really really want prices in the book. And not price ranges, either. One price per category (i.e. MIB, MLC, MISB, etc). Let the seller/buyer determine how much to differentiate from it.
And PLEASE keep the category showing how rare that figure is (ranked out of 10). Nice idea!! This is very important. If it's rare now, it will very likely be rare in 20 yrs, and vice-versa. That bit of information will also help in deciding final buying/selling price of an item down the road, no different than if you have the box, or accessories, or paperwork, etc.
The author Mark Bellomo had a 2007 and a 2016 price guide book on G1 Transformers. The 2007 values shown were quite large, as expected since the popularity of TF was huge at the time. The 2016 book had their prices increased, again, as expected, since the height of popularity for TF is huge, if not bigger than it was in 2007. I don't know if there was a common 'percentage' increase across the board, but it would make sense.
It would be interesting to see what this new 2017 book will have for price values. I would expect insignificant differences from Bellomo's 2016 book.
Anyways, that's my take. Hope my feedback is taken into consideration when final print comes.
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