darkSpyro

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: 4inCreation

[...]it really depends on how much each individual collector values it.

I completely agree.
I am, however, of the opinion, that the figure simply *working* makes it potentially more valuable just because it opens the market to more potential buyers.
If 50 people want a non-working Hot Dog, it's worth $1 more than however much the #2 guy is willing to pay.
If 51 people want a working Hot Dog, it's still worth $1 more than however much the #2 guy is willing to pay - but the more potential buyers, the more wallets you have to pick from.

That's just assuming the market you are opening up to would pay more for a prototype than someone who really wants it and doesn't care if it works or not.

Again, though, less supply and more demand.

Guy on facebook bought the High Volt prototype(?) and already returned it because it didn't work.

Conceivably, I don't see a single person saying "Oh, this figure doesn't work! I will pay more for it!"
But I can easily see "Oh, this figure does work! I will pay more for it!" being true - I fully admit, I'm possibly a bit skewed, since I'm in this second camp.

He probably wanted a working High Volt, and the listing didn't mention that. If you're looking for unofficial chase variants, I can understand. Like an incomplete drawing, the beauty of prototypes is that they're works in progress. It doesn't need to work in the game if you're just displaying them.

I actually meant incomplete. Some drawings look intriguing with the focal point colored and finished, and it gradually turns into a sketch towards the edges. It's like you can see the process.

The lack of chip is more convincing that it is real rather than a fake prototype that someone just repainted.

Quote: UncleBob

On the bright side, looks like the seller has some more of those Hot Streaks potentially up for sale down the road.

Uncle Bob,
He told me that he had only 2 the one on Ebay and one more at home. I think someone got to him and offered to buy his items if you ask me.

Hi every body i only have 1 more hot streaks like the one i sold im sorry that i didnt have time to get back in forum but i work week days till late but i will put all the skylanders on ebay i will put like 10 a week so thanks for everybodys help ..now going back to work see guys later ...thanks

I just read this whole thread. It's great to see such a cool community help Agust. Thanks, 4inCreation for starting this thread, I now have my first prototype as a result. I guess I can call myself a serious collector now. Once again, great post, it's a refreshing break from all the supercharger complaints.

Glad this topic has been some help!

Any idea what's going on with Agust2016? Looks like the listings have all suddenly ended.

I heard uncle Bob might know something.

.....

Activision most likely got involved. That's what happens when a bunch of prototype figures get so much attention.
"there may be questions about the chain of custody of these items"

they all... just vanished....

Hi guys i want to let you that im fine i will let you guys know whats hapening by nex week
Thanks to everybody

Hi so some guys from activision got in contact with me so may have to sell the toys back to them

Well that's sucks...it's good some community members got some figures before this happened!

Quote: DAWNOFWAR

Well that's sucks...it's good some community members got some figures before this happened!

Ehh... not as such. There appears to be an issue with how these figures ended up in the seller's possession.

He got them from an auction, which, in and of itself, is perfectly fine.

But somewhere between them being in possession of Activision/VV/TFB/whomever and making their way to the auction house, it appears they may have changed hands without going through proper channels. If this claim is true, the ownership of the figures still belongs to Activision/VV/TFB/whomever, regardless of who currently possesses them (or, unfortunately, however much one might have paid for them).

The figure I bought, the prototype Smash Hit, is sitting on my table in a box, ready to be shipped back to a partner of Activision as we speak - while it is a very unique figure and a neat addition to my collection, I simply do not wish to be any questions about my integrity due to my job and daily duties. As I told the individual I spoke with, Activision hooked me up with the three Yawn Traps, which would retail for about what I paid for this (and I think the aftermarket value of the Yawn Traps would be more than this), so it seems like a fair trade - and it gets the property back into the hands of the rightful owner. :D

Bad luck everybody.

Glad to see he made it to the forum! But it sucks that all of the figures weren't able to be sold... Does everyone who bought from him have to send their figures back to Activision? Glad I didn't get the blue Hot Dog after all... I have been kicking myself for not shelling out the $35 for him after seeing these were legit prototypes. Now I don't feel so bad.

Quote: DobermanOwner

Does everyone who bought from him have to send their figures back to Activision?

I am not a Lawyer, but...

In theory, if Activision can prove they are the lawful owners and that the figures were illegally removed from their property, then, yes, you'd be looking at having to return the figure if asked or via court order. You cannot legally transfer ownership of property if you do not own the title to it. So, even though the original auction service most-likely had no idea they were stolen and even though the eBay seller did not know, and even though we buyers did not know, we're just all out should Activision decide to force the individual buyer's hands. (In theory, the buyers could go after the seller and the seller could go after the original auction source.. but that can get messy and is much more than I care to look into for a $13 mistake.)

In practice, I'd say it's unlikely that Activision will *demand* anyone to return these (unless there is some safety concerns - remember, these weren't necessarily designed with kid's play in mind).

I reached out to one of our friendly regulars to verify the authenticity and when I was told of the origins, I immediately offered to return it. No request was made. So, potential buyers are *probably* in the clear.

But, again, IANAL. :D

This topic is more interesting than SuperChargers has been for me in the past year. I'm hoping they'll go to some Activision display or something where fans can enjoy looking at them. You know, instead of them tossing them into a compactor or melting them down. It'd be such a jerk move to recall the promos only to destroy them. They can auction them off and donate the proceeds to charity instead.

Quote: fairyland

This topic is more interesting than SuperChargers has been for me in the past year. I'm hoping they'll go to some Activision display or something where fans can enjoy looking at them. You know, instead of them tossing them into a compactor or melting them down. It'd be such a jerk move to recall the promos only to destroy them. They can auction them off and donate the proceeds to charity instead.

If some older figures stuck around for so long, they probably just store them somewhere should legal ever need samples. They're far from TFB's handpainted prototypes to go on display, even Knight Light was forgotten on top of some divider since he was broken and had no paint.

I really liked that blue hotdog too, too bad they didn't make him.

Here's a pic of all 5 together:


This is the listing if anybody wants to see it:
www.ebay.com/itm/ONE-OF-A-KIND...s-/322114752326

^ That buy it now for $600 (about $85 a figure) seems very fair priced to me. You get 3 carded and the prototype set of 5. If I had money to waste, I probably would buy it myself!

Zap
www.ebay.com/itm/ONE-OF-A-KIND...P-/322121033995

That's one of Zap's first iterations after Cyclops Slime was scrapped. Interesting he has a different shading style, that's possibly a remnant of the slightly darker Spyro's Kingdom stuff since the little footage shows a lot of somber moods.



In fact, that might be the very figure that was on the prototypes article's picture o_o looks exactly the same, unless it had several copies like Bash.

Tarclops
http://www.ebay.com/itm/EXTREM...S-/322226207349

Doesn't look too legit, too finished as well compared to the figures of him we know. He was also another color when the name was changed from Cyclops Slime to Tarclops, and from what the interviews talked about they weren't anywhere far in figure production when they finally decided to axe him and recreate as Zap.

Okay, now those are cool. The Zap looks a lot more legit than the Tarclops, though. I never thought I'd see someone with them. Because they're a lot earlier, I thought they were far too rare to find.

Quote: 4inCreation

Tarclops
http://www.ebay.com/itm/EXTREM...S-/322226207349

that's dope

Honestly Tarclops' design looks terrible and I'm surprised he ever made it far enough into development to getc a figure. Sorry for being off-topic, just had to get that out there.

He reminds me of B.O.B so I don't like him too much either. On topic with the actual figure, it looks like some random toy that's a lot different to the other prototypes. I don't know what it is, maybe the materials is what makes it feel odd?