darkSpyro

Image not mine.

Because I have a house payment, medical bills, utilities, meds, gas, groceries. Need me to go on? Okay, animals to take care off, a wife to take care off, other stuff to buy.

Because when this fad dies out these won't be worth squat?

Because if you attended Toy Fair you got one for free? And you have someone that may be getting one for you?

I actually bought 2 for about $300 combined

He's out of my budget and while he looks cool he is ultimately not a priority for me.

I'd rather put $500 into my savings account or pay my mortgage. As much as I love Skylanders there is no way I'd pay more than $20 for a figure.

Because I got one for free from twitter.

Is that a real question?? Because toys aren't a priority for me like living expenses & investments are... I'd rather have a house, car, retirement fund and portfolio investments rather than a toy to sit in a cardboard box in the alley with while begging for chaaange... lol If I find one that's affordable and within my budgeted "fun money" then I'll buy it, but I'm not gonna go broke over some toys... my parents taught me better than that!!

Someday, when Activision has Guitar Hero'ed the Skylanders franchise, those who paid exorbitant amounts for chase figures will have the unfortunate experience of watching the value of said figures plummet.

As much as I love Skylanders, there is no future value in these things... Cool to have if you obtained one reasonably.

Kinda like when people were buying and selling the Charizard Pokemon card for hundreds of dollars back when Pokemon cards were the "it" thing (still love Pokemon cards, btw)... Now, you can get an old Charizard card, from a non-ebay source, for around $10.00... lol

My goal is to hang on to these. If they are worth something fine. If not it's okay. You know how much some of the kid toys from the 70-80's are worth now? Some are a lot some not so much. Point is we will never know.

Quote: Bazinga

My goal is to hang on to these. If they are worth something fine. If not it's okay. You know how much some of the kid toys from the 70-80's are worth now? Some are a lot some not so much. Point is we will never know.

In all fairness, the reason 70-80s toys are worth something nowadays (and the same goes for old baseball cards, for example) is because there are so few of them. It's the typical way a collector's market works. People discarded old baseball cards and toys, thinking they were not worth keeping, and indeed they weren't until a market for collectors was created ad hoc once people realized how rare they had become.

Chase variant toys as well as chase variant trading cards nowadays will never even come close to approaching and sustaining high values unless the amount available steadily decreases over time. My father has multiple chase variant sports cards from the 90s that are worth next to nothing now. Why? It's simple: because so many collectors kept them.

Same thing with Phantom Menace action figures. Remember when Episode 1 came out and people were buying the toys like crazy because they would supposedly be worth something someday? Here we are nearly 14 years later and they are worth even less the price paid for them in 1999.

Maybe I should have stated a longer time frame. Either way, I am not looking to make a quick buck off of them. I will keep them, and if they are worth something for some reason, that is great. If not, then okay that is cool.

Quote: Bazinga

Maybe I should have stated a longer time frame. Either way, I am not looking to make a quick buck off of them. I will keep them, and if they are worth something for some reason, that is great. If not, then okay that is cool.

Yeah, I'm not trying to give you a hard time or anything. I'm just saying that collecting them because you like them and think they are cool is probably a better bet than collecting them as an investment.

Quote: DeusTrinitas

Quote: Bazinga

Maybe I should have stated a longer time frame. Either way, I am not looking to make a quick buck off of them. I will keep them, and if they are worth something for some reason, that is great. If not, then okay that is cool.

Yeah, I'm not trying to give you a hard time or anything. I'm just saying that collecting them because you like them and think they are cool is probably a better bet than collecting them as an investment.

Yeah, for an investment you are looking at the wrong thing. I like the chase variants to keep in the box because I think they are cool. If they are worth something later, great. No big deal if they are not.

Quote: Bazinga

My goal is to hang on to these. If they are worth something fine. If not it's okay. You know how much some of the kid toys from the 70-80's are worth now? Some are a lot some not so much. Point is we will never know.

That's exactly how I feel about these things as well.

As to Zap's post: $500 is too much for one; at most AT THE MOMENT someone should be paying is $150. I'm averaging a little below this for my two.

Quote: DeusTrinitas

Someday, when Activision has Guitar Hero'ed the Skylanders franchise, those who paid exorbitant amounts for chase figures will have the unfortunate experience of watching the value of said figures plummet.

It's like when someone panic sells stock: smart folks will be buying the fear of the exit...imo yes the market for this will decline there will be folks that make a quick buck NOW and then there will be folks offering these up to the kids twenty years later after they have a good job and want to revisit their youth.

because with $500, I can buy all the first series Disney Infinity figures

Quote: Enderslot

because with $500, I can buy all the first series Disney Infinity figures

Hell yes! I want Davy Jones!!!

Quote: DeusTrinitas

Someday, when Activision has Guitar Hero'ed the Skylanders franchise, those who paid exorbitant amounts for chase figures will have the unfortunate experience of watching the value of said figures plummet.

The thing is, the Silver variants were only worth $50 when they first hit eBay, now they're worth $150 to $250..

BECAUSE WHO EVER IS SELLING IT FOR THAT PRICE IS A SCALPER NEED I SAY MORE

Quote: Matteomax

Quote: DeusTrinitas

Someday, when Activision has Guitar Hero'ed the Skylanders franchise, those who paid exorbitant amounts for chase figures will have the unfortunate experience of watching the value of said figures plummet.

The thing is, the Silver variants were only worth $50 when they first hit eBay, now they're worth $150 to $250..

I noticed...I'm kicking myself for not getting them back then actually.

Quote: cupraR300

BECAUSE WHO EVER IS SELLING IT FOR THAT PRICE IS A SCALPER NEED I SAY MORE

No he's a capatalist maximizing his return. If no one buys, then he's forced to lower his price. That's how a free market economy works. Scalpers are the hoarders who soak up initial supply and overcharge for a product when initial demand is there. Frankly, all that needs to happen is for folks not to fall for this, and there would be no more scalpers. I'm glad shops like Gamestop are trying to put a stop to this.

Quote: DeusTrinitas

Quote: Bazinga

My goal is to hang on to these. If they are worth something fine. If not it's okay. You know how much some of the kid toys from the 70-80's are worth now? Some are a lot some not so much. Point is we will never know.

In all fairness, the reason 70-80s toys are worth something nowadays (and the same goes for old baseball cards, for example) is because there are so few of them. It's the typical way a collector's market works. People discarded old baseball cards and toys, thinking they were not worth keeping, and indeed they weren't until a market for collectors was created ad hoc once people realized how rare they had become.

Chase variant toys as well as chase variant trading cards nowadays will never even come close to approaching and sustaining high values unless the amount available steadily decreases over time. My father has multiple chase variant sports cards from the 90s that are worth next to nothing now. Why? It's simple: because so many collectors kept them.

Same thing with Phantom Menace action figures. Remember when Episode 1 came out and people were buying the toys like crazy because they would supposedly be worth something someday? Here we are nearly 14 years later and they are worth even less the price paid for them in 1999.

^this
baseball cards from the early 80s and earlier are valuable because there was really only 1 company making them (Topps) and people didn't really collect them as investments so most were not kept in great condition. Once multiple companies entered the market in the late 80s, the supply increased while the demand stayed relatively the same, thus collectors prices in the long term dropped. Plus, people became more aware of the "collectable" nature of the cards and thus were more likely to keep them in plastic sheets and binders as opposed to shoe boxes and rubber bands.

The same thing happened to comics in the early 90s, when Image Comics entered the market and comic collecting became all about having Issue #1 to the point that comics were created for nothing other reason than to be a #1. This boom led to a bust a few years later once people realized that the market was glutted with product.

The other thing that happened was ebay. Ebay democratized the collectables market. No longer were collectors at the mercy of whatever the relevant guide said your item was worth (of which the local shop would give you half... maybe). now a collector could sell directly to another collector. Ebay shows you the actual worth of something, since it represents what someone is willing to pay rather than what a shop is selling it for.

The collectables market will never again be like it was pre-ebay again and modern items will never be as collectable as the stuff from the 80s and earlier.

Quote: DragonsDream

Quote: DeusTrinitas

Quote: Bazinga

My goal is to hang on to these. If they are worth something fine. If not it's okay. You know how much some of the kid toys from the 70-80's are worth now? Some are a lot some not so much. Point is we will never know.

In all fairness, the reason 70-80s toys are worth something nowadays (and the same goes for old baseball cards, for example) is because there are so few of them. It's the typical way a collector's market works. People discarded old baseball cards and toys, thinking they were not worth keeping, and indeed they weren't until a market for collectors was created ad hoc once people realized how rare they had become.

Chase variant toys as well as chase variant trading cards nowadays will never even come close to approaching and sustaining high values unless the amount available steadily decreases over time. My father has multiple chase variant sports cards from the 90s that are worth next to nothing now. Why? It's simple: because so many collectors kept them.

Same thing with Phantom Menace action figures. Remember when Episode 1 came out and people were buying the toys like crazy because they would supposedly be worth something someday? Here we are nearly 14 years later and they are worth even less the price paid for them in 1999.

^this
baseball cards from the early 80s and earlier are valuable because there was really only 1 company making them (Topps) and people didn't really collect them as investments so most were not kept in great condition. Once multiple companies entered the market in the late 80s, the supply increased while the demand stayed relatively the same, thus collectors prices in the long term dropped. Plus, people became more aware of the "collectable" nature of the cards and thus were more likely to keep them in plastic sheets and binders as opposed to shoe boxes and rubber bands.

The same thing happened to comics in the early 90s, when Image Comics entered the market and comic collecting became all about having Issue #1 to the point that comics were created for nothing other reason than to be a #1. This boom led to a bust a few years later once people realized that the market was glutted with product.

The other thing that happened was ebay. Ebay democratized the collectables market. No longer were collectors at the mercy of whatever the relevant guide said your item was worth (of which the local shop would give you half... maybe). now a collector could sell directly to another collector. Ebay shows you the actual worth of something, since it represents what someone is willing to pay rather than what a shop is selling it for.

The collectables market will never again be like it was pre-ebay again and modern items will never be as collectable as the stuff from the 80s and earlier.

I concur on the history lesson...and I also agree that online thrifty shops empowers sellers to more accurately get what the market will bear--as opposed to now aged ways of referring to a yearly price guide that's outdated even as it's printed.

I do not agree with the bolded comment however because I think there will always be a collectables market--simply that its availability will be made MUCH easier with the use of technology such as the Internet to connect buyer to seller. You could infer that a more fluid market is a double edged sword. In the case of skylanders it's hard to argue that over 100 million toys will make resale value harder in the future given there will be much more supply than demand. Keeping them boxed and getting chase variants is your "best" shot for these toys from a valuation perspective in the future in my opinion.

Good post!

I'm not saying that there won't be a collectables market. But it will never resembled what it did it the pre-ebay 80s. Just look at the difference between the original Star wars figures from 1977 and the ones from Phantom Menace. Kids bought the toys in '77 and played with them. Very few people bought them to keep them in their packaging and "collect" them. That idea just wasn't in the collective conscious yet. Now, people buy multiple copies of the same toy so they can leave it untouched on a shelf because they have been told that increases its collectable value. That fact alone means that pre80 will always have an edge over post 80s in terms of collectables, even in 100 years when they 10 year difference otherwise wouldn't be so significant.

Quote: DragonsDream

I'm not saying that there won't be a collectables market. But it will never resembled what it did it the pre-ebay 80s. Just look at the difference between the original Star wars figures from 1977 and the ones from Phantom Menace. Kids bought the toys in '77 and played with them. Very few people bought them to keep them in their packaging and "collect" them. That idea just wasn't in the collective conscious yet. Now, people buy multiple copies of the same toy so they can leave it untouched on a shelf because they have been told that increases its collectable value. That fact alone means that pre80 will always have an edge over post 80s in terms of collectables, even in 100 years when they 10 year difference otherwise wouldn't be so significant.

There's multiple things at work actually:
1. quantities of a mass-produced item rapidly decreases the chance of an item being "special" or unique"
2. quantities of condition conscious collectors thinking their items are unique or special

I agree after 1980 (and look at the world population after that time) has made the combination of the above a "death trap" for collectables in general. So yeah, 100% on page with you there. Collectables market will exist--but these aren't Amazing Fantasy #15s or Babe Ruth cards.

In my mind, why the chase variants go for more is the manufactured constraint in population. However, will there be a market for it? As others have said--it's a crapshoot. We simply do not know.

It's for that reason why I use the following rules for collecting in today's mass-produced era:
1. Collect what you like/love, not what is popular
2. Don't spend more than you can afford to lose

Quote: JerryPants

As much as I love Skylanders, there is no future value in these things... Cool to have if you obtained one reasonably.

Kinda like when people were buying and selling the Charizard Pokemon card for hundreds of dollars back when Pokemon cards were the "it" thing (still love Pokemon cards, btw)... Now, you can get an old Charizard card, from a non-ebay source, for around $10.00... lol

You have no clue what you are talking about, if you can go buy that "old Charizard" for $10 I recommend you buy as many as you can since they are very valuable. The only time it was worth hundreds of dollars was when you're talking first edition, so obviously you know that, that card in "near mint" condition is worth $250 minimum. How has its value diminished?

there price has dropped big time look

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GEM-...=item1c30907218

Quote: cupraR300

there price has dropped big time look

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GEM-...=item1c30907218

Neither of those are 1sr edition Charizards.

how does he show up in game?

just a regular series 2 chop chop

Quote: Hazard335

just a regular series 2 chop chop

^ Doesn't it show up as "Series 2 SPECIAL Chop Chop"???

His name says that. But he looks no different from a regular Chop Chop.

Quote: DutRank

His name says that. But he looks no different from a regular Chop Chop.

Gotchya, that's what I had figured... thanks for clarifying!!