Megatron and LSF reaper both have ES's. Do you see those flying off the shelves from flippers and dealers trying to "hoard" them?
What they are priced at stops most flippers from even attempting aquiring these....why?....because they are not quick sells and the margins are two low to make a profit off of. Look at CM which are in my opinion a league above the LSF line for roughly the same price. They have set editions and are numbered, do you see those flying off the shelves? Why aren't flippers taking advantage of those being so "limited"? The CM predator was in production for almost 2 years before it sold out. Plenty of time for anyone that wanted one to buy it. It's a total waste of time for flippers to try and house these pieces and will only be able to sell it locally. You know how much it would cost to ship a box the size of Doom or Megatron to Canada from a private seller? I'm guessing $300-$400+. The buyers pool has now shrunk down even further once they have to consider shipping rates are no where near what SS offers.
The folks buying into the $2000 "price" is a limited "collectors" market therefore no need for ES's are fooling themselves into buying their own excuses. CM predator, terminator, T-800 ect all selling for well over $2000-$3000+ in the aftermarket these days. Then you have the 1:2 Ironman, LSF predator still selling for just retail (sometimes a lot less) after they have sold out. What does that tell you?
Follow me carefully, I'm not implying to ONLY purchase high price items with intention to flip them for a profit later. I am saying if you are going to invest in a line such as the LSF line, are you prepared to potentially lose a substantial portion of $2000 just to get your "it's cool, I want it" fix? You start adding up the average losses you will take ($300-$500+) with just 3 LSF's you could almost buy another LSF. Who in their sane mind is ok losing that sort of money? Even for the collectors financially able to spend these amounts without a thought would not be so stupid to throw away that sort of money.
Add to it the fact SS still controls the value of your investment well after you bought it, what is the point of buying? These aren't $300-$400 statues where you may take a $70-$100 loss. We are talking THOUSANDS in losses. Let that resinate in your brain for a minute. Who in this hobby considers this acceptable or enjoyable?
What's worse is that enough people condition themselves that spending this kind of money is "ok" they alienate the rest of the collecting community in also having to accept SS's terms. Jerry from PCS just said the other day prices in china are going up for all companies across North America THIS year. How would you feel about the LSF line when prices start reaching the $3000 mark at SS? How do you feel about potentially losing $1000 instantly after buying a LSF? You can't treat these as normal commodities that you take losses like TV's, phones, PC's, cars ect. Because no one buys new TV's, cars or computers every few months like people collect statues.
SS is pricing and absorbing these statues at secondary market prices for their benefit only, not the collector. And while I understand they are a business trying to survive they have to be able to put out products customer can get behind. The reason a lot of people aren't complaining about what I'm talking about here is because the LSF line and market are relatively new still and SS hasn't released much yet. But I guarantee you when collectors with huge LSF collections starts taking huge losses they will finally understand. Those who didn't listen, feel. As they say.
It's true I have a lot of LSF pieces. The difference is I don't pay retail for them if they are open edition. In some cases I've paid $500 less than retail, which means on a bad day at the very least I will break even on my investment. I only pay retail for items with ES's, it's very simple. You know why wealthy people stay wealthy? Because their very good at managing their money. What I see here by most people is a complete disregard and lack of respect for money by collectors. It just blows my mind what people are willing to overlook to get something that "looks cool" for temporary pleasure which fades a week after having the statue on display.
Collect smart and demand more
Chris