Prices dropping?

[Ikijigoku]

Been out of the collectors loop for a while. Are prices dropping? Binaltech goiung for $35 everywhere!! Do I sense that the whole Transformer fad in popularity fading? Think that the Transformer Movie is too little, too late.

[anna]

i think the problem actually is theyve gotten so expensive(60$ for a loose spriner???)(really thats the price someone on this board charged me i didnt go for it) so collectors have stopped buying and with that the demand is not as much so sellers have to lower thier prices to get people to buy.

[BB Shockwave]

Heck, Cybertron Jetfire and Scourge go for 50$ here... I know I'll never spend that much on them,even though Ilike the toys.

[Ikijigoku]

I guess it hurts die hard collectors like me. Having 92% of every general public released Transformer both in the US and in Japan, I guess the investment or value isn't there anymore. Don't take it wrong when I use the word invest. I didn't "invest" the thousands of dollars in my collection because I had aspirations of making a profit.

I made a decent profit as a fair Transformer dealer for 3 years. I sold to little comic book and collector shops, independent sales, and ebay. I used whatever profit I made to buy more for my personal collection. I used this "Transformer cycle" for three years and I came across a lot of gems. It took me only 5 months to collect every Hasbro and Takara released Beast War figure. All the Takara figures I got MISB.

Once I came across a figure that was in better shape than the one I had in my personal collection. I replaced it. I went though 3 Shockwaves until I got one absolutely mint. It took me a while before I could get a mint diecast Predaking. Divebomb is one of my few originals from my youth that never fell prey to the cycle. At least 100% of my figures are complete, and 97% of my figures are mint.

Now getting back into the word invest. I use the word invest because if I pay $400 for a MISB Galaxy Shuttle, and a year later, he is selling for $200, or even $375. As a collector, it's a bad investment. As a collector I should have recognised that Galaxy Shuttle could lose demand and drop in price. This is why I never paid the $800 for Star Convoy. I ran into a few people that tried to convince me that he would never be reissued and that he is worth the $800. I, till this day, believe Takara will release every leader, yes even Victory Saber and Deathsaurus. The only reason I invested in a Deathsaurus, Star Saber, Greatshot, and Leokaiser (three out of the four were MIB without stickers applied) is I bought all four in one lot for $450 with $70 for s/h. Breaking that down, I paid $125 for each. I thought that was a good investment. The word investment can be taken in two ways, both a bad and a good. The "bad" investor is like one of those mothers that goes to the store and buy every single 1996 "Power of the Force" Star Wars figures on the shelf, hoping to pay for their 8 year old's college eduation in 20 years. Believe me, I saw mothers fill up carts with those figures. No love for Star Wars, just the false belief they can sit on them for the next 20, and make a killing. Like the originals were valued at the time (1996). Then you have the good investors. The ones that know the actual value both as a colector and monetary wise. A collector that doesn't sell their house to get "the one". One that can shop around and be able to get a good find without feeling guitly about how much they spent.

It's all about how much you love your collection, but it's also about being smart about it too. Don't invest in a fad, because you will lose money. Transformers still one of the most collectable of the vintage toys, second to Star Wars. That is a big accomplishment, after looking at every toy that's been released since 1984.

[Denyer]

I tend to look at money spent on toys as "lost" from the moment of purchase. The same with books, music, films, etc. With relatively few exceptions, there isn't much of a resale market.