Collectibles displayed vs in box forever?

[Avenger]

Does displaying collectibles reduce their value much?

I see a lot of folks here like to keep their stuff in the boxes. My experience so far has been that for the most part, you can take these out of their boxes (especially the Hot Toys/SS 12" figures) without having to tear up the packaging. If you keep the boxes, seems to me you're not really damaging the collectability there. I hate to think if I ever had to resell my stuff, someone would frown that I've displayed it. I keep them clean and free of pet hair, and we don't smoke. Seems like if I'm going to have these, it's a shame to not have them out where I can admire them...

Perhaps that's not the way of the serious collector.

 

[JediFirefly]

Actually I think most people here take them out of the box.
I take all of mine out of the boxes.
Like you stated if you keep the box and keep them in good condition it does not really hurt any potential resell value.

 

[Voorhees27]

Displayed for sure! I discovered years ago that I could buy something, display it for years and if or when I got tired of it I could effortlessly break even or most the time turn a profit. Its dead boring leaving collectibles of this kind boxed up.

 

[Bloodsport]

Take em out the box. Why pay all that money to keep them inside the box. TO me that is a waste of money.

Let them breathe

 

[Cheungkinmen]

Free them of their cell it's what I say.

 

[Darth Madden]

Open 'em. If I have to sell them later I expect I'll get less but who cares.

 

[EXOTICLEX]

open them up

 

[Lejuan]

If you display them with care they should be no worse the wear than keeping them boxed up, even after many years. A little air can even do them some good.

 

[Batty]

Display and enjoy. Worrying about their resale value is secondary. And if you're buying them just to resell them somewhere down the road, you wouldn't display them to begin with. It's pretty simple.

 

[robbiethepainter]

I'm not in that hobby for resale. These are for me not some future ass that missed out.

 

[a-dev]

All the old arguments apply. I wouldn't buy them in the first place if I was so worried about their future value that I intended never to open them. Whats the point in doing that? Why buy something that you will never fully enjoy only to sell it on to someone else who might? Why not just not spend the money in the first place? Save it for a rainy day.

I say don't worry about 'serious collectors'. If you want this stuff here and now then buy it and enjoy it to the full - meaning open it.

 

[mr.thrifty]

Box this.............

 

[lt0778]

open it and enjoy it. once i move mine will be freed and i will enjoy them.

 

[Balsquat]

The single most important perk of high end collecting is that you can open items up and they will still keep a decent value.

 

[Theokan]

The single most important perk of high end collecting is that you can open items up and they will still keep a decent value.

Very true. In the high end world, most of the time the difference in value between opened and brand new is pretty minimal. The only reason why action figures like Marvel Legends or whatever have a higher value in unopened condition in the first place, is because the packaging gets destroyed in the process of opening up the figure, and you can't undo it once it's opened. You don't destroy the box with high end stuff so there's no major hit in value there, but if you try to sell a high end figure with a damaged box or with no original packaging at all, you'll get hit with the same decrease in value as you would with an opened 6" figure. In the end the damaged packaging is what really causes the value to decrease.

 

[Lejuan]

Plus you also know that if someone is obsessive enough to keep a box in mint condition, then they're pretty sure to have taken good care of the figure too

 

[Avenger]

Love these answers. You guys are totally right.

 

[iampoch]

I thow out some of my figure's boxes. But it has more to do with space than anything else. If I could. I'd keep all my boxes as well.

 

[brothersrobber]

Does displaying collectibles reduce their value much?

I see a lot of folks here like to keep their stuff in the boxes. My experience so far has been that for the most part, you can take these out of their boxes (especially the Hot Toys/SS 12" figures) without having to tear up the packaging. If you keep the boxes, seems to me you're not really damaging the collectability there. I hate to think if I ever had to resell my stuff, someone would frown that I've displayed it. I keep them clean and free of pet hair, and we don't smoke. Seems like if I'm going to have these, it's a shame to not have them out where I can admire them...

Perhaps that's not the way of the serious collector.

Enjoy your toys, invest in stocks. Otherwise, what's the point? You could make more money studying the stock market.

 

[Firebird]

I take my figs out of the boxes. I then store the boxes away back in the original shipping box. If you leave them boxed then you can not enjoy the true details of the fig. I don't plan on selling my figs anytime soon. Hopefully, not for a very, very long time.