Collect or Play? Investment or Display?

[Echotransformer]

Welcome to the boards Cyblue!

Having a complete line, boxed feels kinda awesome and having the patience to not open them as you bought them isn't easy! What I do is take pictures of the entire line MISB, then open them slowly over time, say a couple figures per week. I find I really enjoy each figure this way.

[Pgianos]

Why are people still having this discussion! They will be worth nothing! Save for a few perhaps! Did people from the 90s comic book baseball craze teach you nothing!? Sell them and buy index funds!

[Zenith27]

Originally Posted by Pgianos

Why are people still having this discussion! They will be worth nothing! Save for a few perhaps! Did people from the 90s comic book baseball craze teach you nothing!? Sell them and buy index funds!

Index funds! I watched that Frontline!

It's funny. I've bought MISB GI Joe stuff from the 80s and they always turn out inferior to something that was opened and lightly played with.

I've been collecting TFs a little since the late 90s and nothing I've bought has really gone up in value since I bought it as far as I've seen (feel free to correct me anyone).

Early MP figures, not really. Most have been replaced by better later MP figs.
Binaltech figs, no way Jose, can't give them away.
TrU Commemorative figs, up a little. Some Takara ones go for a bit more.
More recent MPs, not at all. They all get re-released.
CW through now, only Metroplex (pre-CW I know) seems to go for more than he did new.
Anything from Takara that was expensive in the after market seems to get re-released so the prices rise a bit then drop off. I'd guess Computron is the most valuable one at the moment.

I can only see the exclusives that are a pain to get ever increasing at all and then only the cooler ones. A fig like Punch-Counterpunch or Arcee will sell for a bit. Repugnus or Black Skateboard Prime, probably not.

Better to open them now and be sure they're complete and unbroken while you can easily return them for a replacement. I would say this for all Transformers, including expensive MP and 3rd party ones.

[protoform_ironhide]

Open and play with them. These toys have no investment value.

[joshimus]

I prefer to enjoy them. The only boxes I keep are for Hot Toys, some 3A and my Masterpiece boxes. That's it. Everything else, boxes long gone.

[RNSrobot]

Hahahahahahhahahahahahaha "investment"

[RNSrobot]

Originally Posted by Pgianos

Why are people still having this discussion! They will be worth nothing! Save for a few perhaps! Did people from the 90s comic book baseball craze teach you nothing!? Sell them and buy index funds!

And all those copies of Jim lee X-Men #1...inthe dollar bins.

[Sun Swipe Prime]

Originally Posted by Vain

Buddy of mine (Protoman) said it best. Things boxed in the 80s and prior retain their value because everyone opened up their toys and played with them. It's far more rare to find something from that era in good shape or boxed hence the value.

But now, look at how many of us are buying and displaying transformers. There's so many of us that keep things misb nowadays as well. So none of it is really going to appreciate in value because it'll be all over the place.

On top of That, transformers are a false investment. They're only worth what someone is willing to pay. That's why it's so easy to turn down someone who prices items higher than you want to pay. Your misb galaxy convoy could be worth 300$ to you and you price it as such, but if it's only worth 150$ to me, then it's and easy pass. On the flipside, someone who REALLY wants it may value it higher and jump on The price. These are The same people buying mp 44 and unicron. For them, it's worth it. The TY craze was an interesting case study in terms of collection values.

So, just open up your tfs and enjoy them or keep them misb if you prefer that look, but don't expect to rake in the cash one day. Do it for the fun that it brings you.

Pretty much this. Very few things from the modern era will go up in value and stay there. I got back into collecting a little over ten years ago, and I've seen the ups and downs on figures.

Remember when City Commander came out? Combined with the Ultra Magnus base figure, that thing was going for $300-$400 on the after market.

Then came the re-release, the KOs, and then the collector's frenzy died down, followed by official releases of Ultra Magnus looking a lot more like his G1 self, especially the MP version.

Haven't checked the pricing in a while, but I'd say you'll be lucky to get what you paid in retail for it now.

That's the thing about TF collecting and pricing. Demand for a figure can be very volatile. For certain figures, the demand comes from it being the best representation of a certain G1 character available. Remember Cybertron Downshift, Shockblast, etc. The figures that were homages to G1 characters were desired because there was nothing else better.

Now, there's tons of choice. All it takes is a new, updated, and better version of that character to come out, and suddenly, the prices on the old version bottom out. Once Siege Sideswipe came out, I wonder how many people dropped their Classics version onto their for-sale list? Once the new MP version of Prime was announced, I wonder how many people did the same with their MP-10s.

I've seen this happen over and over. Except under some very specific circumstances, modern mass produced, mass distributed TFs don't hold any value beyond what you paid. It's more like buying a car than a house.

I open most of what I buy. Only under certain circumstances will I keep something in box.

[canprime]

Originally Posted by RNSrobot

Hahahahahahhahahahahahaha "investment"

Of course they are an investment.

You invest your time, money, and emotions.

Seriously though, just like any collectible it can be an investment. A very bad investment, but an investment too be sure. As others have said, if you want to invest for retirement then look to the markets and other financial tools. Or get rich and invest in high end art/collectibles.

Toys are just another way to spend money, and thankfully you can get some of that money back by reselling, but to expect a financial gain from "investing" in toys is insane.

[Grimlocked]

What you do with your collection is up to you. When I grew up with The Beast Wars era, I always opened and played with my action figures because that was just the thing to do. Unfortunately as I grew older, I had to throw out the card backs due to space and just growing up. Ever since then, I got back into it with Fall of Cybertron and Transformers Prime and swore to only buy figures at a discount (ie Winners/TJX) and also, the figured that look great to me. However, one thing lead to another and I began collecting the generations line since they've been doing a better job with the details.

The one major issue I have is like yours, so far, all of my figures that I've collected after Beast Wars and starting in FOC have not been opened and have began piling up with my other MIB collection of other things. I had to move a few months ago and I can tell you that it was not fun at all - counting every box, making sure nothing was damaged and was, "mint", and if something was damaged, I learned to just ignore it and move on.

What have I learned after comparing the value of my Beast Wars figures and recent ones? The value between an unopened transformer from 20 years ago is no different than now. There is no signifcant difference in value even MIB - Transformers is not a hobby for investing. You should just go into Stocks or if you're really keen on it... collect trading cards but that is niche and also advised to not be seen as an investment hobby. After factoring in the potential time and cost of travel of even trying to "flip" these figures along with the space needed, it's just not worth it. Remember, Transformers itself is niche. I never really understood what the guy selling me a Combiner Wars Leader Silver Megatron meant when he told me that he was selling his stuff at retail value - while telling me to collect what I want wisely, but I guess it all makes sense now.

What are my options now? Welp, I'm in a relationship planning for the future soon and I can say that I will be opening them up just to play with them when I move in with my partner - also, SPACE. I initially began collecting because of my nostalgia with these characters and the fact that I couldnt afford to while growing up. The more exclusive things and sentimental ones will not be opened (ie. Target FOC Grimlock with Silver Optimus, POTP Nemesis Prime that she got me for my Birthday or Golden Lagoon Soundwave obtained from Japan). Hope this helps.

Just Read Echotransformer's approach - I like it. It captures that moment when you obtained a figure that you've hunted for in the stores.