Which Hot Toys 1/ figure is least likely to depreciate?

[Jameson Rook]

The Metal Gear Solid line up. Nobody's buying but gullible MGS fools such as myself.

 

[Galahad]

5. (hot toys) goes back and re-releases updated and improved versions of some of their hotter figures like Iron Man Mark I, Batman, Terminator and Predator. These are scooped up by the newer entrants (like me) happy to not have to pay $1K for a Mark I or $2K for a Tumbler. Much to the dismay of both the early buyers who watched their investment figure shrink in value and folks who had paid astronomical secondary pricing a few month prior.
6. A special edition "limited" figure (Midas) is released in select markets at special promo events creating long lines, buying frenzy, and crazy prices in the secondary market. Thus confirming the appetite for hot promos. Panicked Iron Man collectors pay $600, $700+ for a Midas--some people buy thinking the market might go up even more. After months of remaining mum on the subject Sideshow puts Midas up for sale for a comparatively reasonable but still very high $299 (but hey, it's not $600 so it's a bargain).
7. Hot Toys not only makes serious bank with what is essentially a repaint, but continues to establish a new price point 50% higher than what they pieces were going for just a couple of years ago.
8. Eventually flippers realize they can't make any money trying to anticipate the market and collectors can't justify paying $300 for a figures that should be $200, so they become more selective or get out completely. Effectively "bursting" or at least "correcting" the 1/6 bubble.

The moral of this story is, if you are looking to get into this hobby to chase investment potential, you're at least three years too late. .

nexus, you just described hot toys and sideshow's marketing strategy and my buying habits to a tee.

 

[RIDDICK]

Introducing facts isn't being defensive.
Toys are not an investment.

Can you hear that, Hot Toys and Sideshow? NO??? Cool.

 

[V8_Club]

It's thinking like this that creates a bubble in the market and drives up prices.
1. Folks see a few figures going for 2, 3, 4X their original price on ebay, a few articles are written, and suddenly there's a potential to make money.
2. So they start buying some of the new figures with the expectation they will be able to flip in a year or two and double their investment.
3. At the same time more collectors are starting to buy due to improvements in quality and the addition of hot licenses like Batman, Iron Man and Avengers --effectively creating a perfect storm.
4. Hot Toys sees that more pieces are selling out so they increase production (these aren't numbered). They also start eeking up pricing possibly in part due to cost increases for materials and licensing fees, but mostly to test the market.
5. The company also goes back and re-releases updated and improved versions of some of their hotter figures like Iron Man Mark I, Batman, Terminator and Predator. These are scooped up by the newer entrants (like me) happy to not have to pay $1K for a Mark I or $2K for a Tumbler. Much to the dismay of both the early buyers who watched their investment figure shrink in value and folks who had paid astronomical secondary pricing a few month prior.
6. A special edition "limited" figure (Midas) is released in select markets at special promo events creating long lines, buying frenzy, and crazy prices in the secondary market. Thus confirming the appetite for hot promos. Panicked Iron Man collectors pay $600, $700+ for a Midas--some people buy thinking the market might go up even more. After months of remaining mum on the subject Sideshow puts Midas up for sale for a comparatively reasonable but still very high $299 (but hey, it's not $600 so it's a bargain).
7. Hot Toys not only makes serious bank with what is essentially a repaint, but continues to establish a new price point 50% higher than what they pieces were going for just a couple of years ago.
8. Eventually flippers realize they can't make any money trying to anticipate the market and collectors can't justify paying $300 for a figures that should be $200, so they become more selective or get out completely. Effectively "bursting" or at least "correcting" the 1/6 bubble.
9. At the same time other 1/6 companies come into the market with products on par Hot Toys quality-- and characters that are not Batman or Iron Man. Which creates more competition for the figure-buying dollar.
10. Hot Toys sees that fewer figures are selling so they first scale back production accordingly, toss in more gimmicks or exclusives until they find the "sweet spot" (rolling back prices is a last resort and at this point and unlikely because the margin is too good). Plus they have hot new licenses like GotG, Batman vs. Superman, Avengers 2, Justice League and Star Wars VII coming up, so it's a good time to be HT.

The moral of this story is, if you are looking to get into this hobby to chase investment potential, you're at least three years too late. You might make a few bucks here or there, but that ship has mostly sailed. If you are looking to get in to collect high quality 1/6 figures you're maybe a year or so behind, but your timing is still pretty good, and maybe down the road your figures will be worth something, but maybe not.

Well written.

 

[morphosis]

I dont think its a good idea to collect hoping these are good investments, you should really just collect for the love of the characters and movies because any hobby could bottom out any time.

Not to mention several thousand are made of each figure usually, so they aren't like super rare. There are far rarer things out there as far as toys & collectibles and most are not crazy expensive. Some may be worth a few hundred dollars more than what you paid, but its not going to make you rich to retire from.

Just enjoy what you collect and if they happen to have a little value, its nice to know and but don't expect to get rich from them.

 

[Chiefrocka]

I don't know why people get so defensive over stuff like this. I collect because I enjoy these things, but, at the same time, I like to think that, in the event that I did need to sell them, I'd be able to make, at least, most of my money back. There's really no reason for people to look down their noses at people like the OP. We collect dolls; get over yourselves.

^^ agreed! Not gonna lie I'm fresh into this hobby (5 months). I found hot toys by accident looking for something for my kid. By seeing how expensive they were I immediately thought profit. I got my first figure batman dx12 in hand and was completely blown away by the detail in these figures! A few months later I have 6 and the one I did sell I made a profit but I miss my joker 2.0.. Boy was I wrong, I'd never sell a hot toy figure again. This is a very cool hobby and I wouldn't look at buying these as an investment, but I don't think if I was strapped for cash that I would get LESS than what I originally paid

 

[lerath666]

10. Hot Toys sees that fewer figures are selling so they first scale back production accordingly, toss in more gimmicks or exclusives until they find the "sweet spot" (rolling back prices is a last resort and at this point and unlikely because the margin is too good). Plus they have hot new licenses like GotG, Batman vs. Superman, Avengers 2, Justice League and Star Wars VII coming up, so it's a good time to be HT.

Don't say that, you're going to get people's hopes up, they don't have that.... Yet

 

[LipSmack]

Since I started collecting Hot Toys 1/6 figures, I've noticed the prices on some have plummeted and others have kept their value. I used to regard Hot Toys figures as an investment, like a lot of my old German tin plate toys. I have been very selective in what I bought, but for whatever reason, Hot Toys are not good investments. I think Babydoll is the least likely to depreciate in my opinion, as they are unlikely to make a version 2.0, and she is beautiful with loads of accessories.

Baby doll is one of the more likely ones to depreciate... no one cares as they didnt complete the team

Not all toys depreciate. Some of my old Corgi toys from the 60s are now worth over £400. The same goes for some of my transformers and tin plate toys, such as the Arnold Mac 700.

for the amount you'll make on this stuff you'll lose on other things... you wont get ahead in the long term because no one can truly know a grail piece until farther down the road

If you want to make money with toys, start a shop. If you think of collecting as an investment, you're in the wrong hobby. You'll be better off with classic cars, for example.

 

[vampirehunterg]

Its really funny that people say the Hot Toys George Lucas is worth anything. I have one in the black box and nobody has really shown any interest in buying it on ebay. Oh well.

 

[Lejuan]

I think you should lower your BIN price

 

[Wanderer]

It annoys me how many noobs come into this hobby with ££ in their eyes.
What happened to collecting as a hobby?