darkSpyro

I think some will be very valuable similar to how some Beanie Babies, McDonald's toys or Pokémon cards are valuable

It wont happen.

Skylanders was a fad, done and dusted. It'll probably end up being worth as much as you see the likes of Guitar Hero and Rockband--nothing. Activision didn't help matters with their marketing tactics either. You'll be lucky if any Skylander is worth more than a buck or two years from now.

not much will be valuable down the road

Key word you said there is "some", and the brands you give examples of have been around for decades. Unless someone like the Angry Video Game Nerd unearths them in the future and talks about them in great detail and gives them an air of mystery or adventure in collecting them (like his Swordquest video, or selling Action 52 as horrendous), then I doubt they'll get the prices some can get today. Even then, employee exclusive figures are ~£80, event exclusive ones are cheaper also from where I'm looking, so collectors will have an easier time as sellers find it harder to sell figures for that price to so few people, and eventually get bored of keeping them around the house.

This is of course assuming the NFC chips, toy pads/portals, games and consoles to play them on still function or people have the know-how to maintain them. As for the toys on their own, it's hard to say. I definitely think the smaller ones will be, or the Giants, but I can't see much appeal in collecting Trap Masters or Imaginators. I dunno, it's just something about toys being tiny that makes collectors go mad for them.

Skylanders is hard to judge. Will it be looked as a toy or a gaming related object?

Right now gaming is hot and anything old is worth money (or perceived to be worth money) and people are hoarding them or buying them up like mad to flip.

I'm an old fart and I've lived though the Atari 2600 being new, then liquidated everywhere where new games can be had for under a dollar. Then no one would touch an Atari 2600 (or other of those gen systems and games) for at least 20 years, then saw their popularity raise thanks to ebay. Now everyone snaps them up regardless of value just because retro games are hot right now, even if no one will ever actually buy one of your few dozen Pac-Mans you have.

I've seen the same thing happen with the NES to an extent. They were unpopular for about 10 years and ebay got their prices to raise. No one wanted a SMB/Duck Hunt and they were as common as dust. Now people are snapping them up, although they have almost no value still.

Of course they could end up being like old Sports games or the majority of Happy Meal toys. Absolutely no value at all and pretty easy to find. I just don't see that happening as Skylanders never had that much product out for such a very long time.

If Skylanders is seen more as a toy, then it really depends on interest, which is a little weak vs game interest. Worse case would be Beanie Babies where only a few select ones are worth anything and the rest you can get bucket loads for under $10. Mild interest, then they should end up like mid-90s Marvel action figures where no one particularly wants them and you can sell loads of them for an average of $1 each in bulk. If people are super nostalgic, then they could become like He-Mans or TMNT and have a value closer to $3 each in bulk. They are made in such large qualities that I doubt they'll ever reach more than $3 each or a higher level of toy collecting but it could happen. I think collecting though has progressed to where people won't chuck these things away for them to ever command high dollar (other than ones still mint in package).

So it'll be interesting what'll happen. I'm an experienced toy and game buyer and flipper and this is the right time to buy the stuff if you are into reselling. They can be had for about 1/50th of their retail value at loads of garage sales and if you are lucky you can flip for 1/10th retail in about 5 years. 20 years down the road is pretty much anyones guess but for most toys and games 10 years is about when stuff gathers interest again and starts becoming less than worthless and you can resell them for profits. It's very unlikely you'd ever get retail you had paid for your stuff, which is why you should always buy used on these things and buy new only on the figures you love the most.

Skylanders need a PS3 , 3Ds and Ipad to be fully enjoyed . Good luck finding those consoles in 20 years . Then there is question of will their chips even function after all that time ? Nobody is interested in just the 'statues'

You better off in investing in Smurfs or Teenage mutant ninja turtles .


Quote:

I dunno, it's just something about toys being tiny that makes collectors go mad for them.

Guilty

In 20 years, all toys from the first two games will be worth more then you paid for them IF ON CARD!!! Keep in mind, more then you paid can mean worth $15 when you paid $10. Toys from Imaginators will also be worth something. This is due to those being the smaller and/or most sought after runs at the time. Everything else in the middle is a crap shoot. You’ll have some rare ducks like Scratch that will be valuable due to smaller number and no reprint. But that middle section you may still find some on card still only worth around what they were on release.

As far as investment quality purchase? Again, in 20 years the kids that were 8 that liked them but didn’t have a lot of money will be the single males with lots of disposable income. Their friends will be like “I remember those!” Encouraging this new purchasing trend. With low liquidation points, more and more toys are hitting landfills, not eBay right now. And collectors will slowly but surely downsize figures on card as “they aren’t gaining value” causing them to eventually gain value.

In the end, most will assume they’ll never be worth anything or others (like me) will get mad how much room they are taking up on the shelf and not consider them a good investment.....because they inherently aren’t. With few exceptions, it’s impossible to predict with ones will be valuable off card, and not willing to wait for the Gen Z nerds to be in a financial position to be nostalgic, and then go crazy and be a completionists. Therefore, I’ll be making it easier on someone else to sell their <random $30 figure> in 20.....make that 15, years when the above nerds “start” the process.

To actual get this money though you have to be posting. Once a handful of, let say Series 2 Camos, sell for $40 loose, that’s when people DYING to get rid of them for a profit flood the market space, and then you’re back to square one for a bit.

In short, they will be worth something, but they are not a good, or easily redeemed, investment.

There will be a few edge cases (event figures, etc.) that will maintain some value, but you won't be paying for your college education with a Skylanders set. You might get a few textbooks.

you just have to wait 10 years at least, then enough people should have thrown the skylanders stuff in the garbage because they was worthless and dust collectors. then the popularity will slowly grow back, that is how it always goes.. the xbox have bc for x360 and ps5 will have bc for ps4 games so it should not be a problem to play the skylanders games. also the first game that was released on the pc can be torrent forever, since it was pirated and put out on the internet. the only platform that will struggle is the 3ds,wii and wiiu. since no one cared about the garbage 3ds games, the wii have the worst versions of the games and the wiiu will be a hard to get collector item, since not many bought it and that game pad is very fragile..

bury the remaining stock in new mexico

Quote: ZapNorris

bury the remaining stock in new mexico

where the e.t. game is LOL!