For a long while I obsessively kept the boxes, insert trays, everything, even the shippers. I live in a two bedroom apartment in Los Angeles. I had boxes everywhere: filling every closet, under every table and desk, in the tiny storage unit we have in our garage. It was insane.
One day I snapped and stacked them of Boxaggedon had come. I pulled out all the plastic inserts and foam annce then and lly feel that I will not resell any of my figures but there at a few that I bought on whims of one sort or another and may decide to part with (Nicholas Cage Ghost Rider with Cycle, Milk vsn of War Machine, Nolan Cat Woman, etc.) that I have kept the box and packaging but it is down to a half dozen or less.
I've always kept my boxes. Even when I was a little girl, I kept the boxes of my toys. Unfortunately, my parent's threw them away eventually. I like to have everything complete; it's easier to store, move and it generally sells better if needed. I've never needed to throw them away so why would I.
most kids never though about the boxes. no matter how nice the box looks it's the content we are interested on. the box looks great on the shelf but once you bring it home it's just recycle material.
i wonder what made you keep the boxes as a kid, or do you think that much further as a kid, like resell value etc.
I've always wanted to keep things as they were; complete and that included the boxes. The train set I got when I was about six, is still complete in its original box with all papers. I just loved it that I could put things away in boxes designed for the item so it wouldn't break and I wouldn't lose anything. As far as I remember, I have always done it and fought my parents about those that really mattered to me (like that train set) and gave in for those that weren't that important (like my Barbies).
This is something I've been thinking about recently actually, since starting my own company.
I'm still undecided on packaging. It's tempting to make a sexy printed box with a vacuformed tray and everything, but I don't think I can do that with a clean conscious. I'm a pretty environmentally friendly individual, and given the chance to choose for myself and my audience, I'm leaning toward a classic polybag and header card. It gets the job done just fine for a vinyl figure. The sofubi crowd sure doesn't care--a $200+ custom painted toy in a polybag is the norm.
Taking a $100 toy and sticking it in a fancy box doesn't make the toy better, but it sure creates about 80% more waste and increases costs both for the product and shipping, not to mention the additional shipping material needed to protect the box and to then put that box in an even bigger box! Sure, if you're a MOC collector, you can't stack a polybagged toy on top of your POP! vinyl collection...but maybe you'll actually open my toy and enjoy it for what it ls?!
That said, I do like to keep some box art if it's nice. I'll keep the card of a smaller toy, or cut one side off a box or flatten it and recycle the tray. And I figure a much less expensive and cumbersome header card scratches that itch, then you chuck the polybag in your local soft plastics recycling bin. I'd love some feedback on this.
I didn't keep the boxes for most figures up until the Sideshow Star Wars figures started hitting... I figured if I ever wanted to store the lightsabers I'd be screwed since they were so long and thin. So, after that I kept every box and while it's kind of annoying to have so much storage dedicated to them; it does help them hold value and makes it easier to sell since most everything is in one place.
But yeah, I'dd be cool with it if the packaging was just throw away... but that's not the collecting world we live in.
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