Is it just me or are prices for current collectibles/toys getting out of control

[Anton Phibes]

I am posting this because, like most not so young (getting ready to hit 40) working class Americans, I am taking note of the recession and the impact it is having on my priorities. I decided I would downsize my "hobby" of collecting comics and comic toys/statuary, etc. and my real passion Universal and Classic Movie Monsters collectibles. Drastically. I dropped a bunch of titles.  I stopped buying dvds. Stautes were halted except for the sparse releasings of Sideshow's UM diorama line. Then Marvel raises their prices by $1.00 per title (now issues are $3.99) so I dropped more.  Sideshow just recently showed a lot of swag at the comicon, and I was stunned at how outright high this stuff is getting.  An Alien premium format figure is SRP of $800.  This is what I paid for my first car in 1990.

I am beginning to feel that collecting anything new is going to be for rich people only. No double digit income working stiffs allowed.   Is it just me, or are prices becoming absurd? i mean, I thought paying $300 for the Wolfman pf was ridiculous.  Now an Alien is retailing for $800?

[raycastile]

I'm noticing it, too.  One more reason why I bailed on the new stuff a few years ago.  I'd rather spend my money on vintage toys.  You could buy some great vintage stuff for $800.  Do you have a Kenner '79 Alien?  For $800, you could probably buy a minty boxed one and a nice loose one to display alongside.  There are obviously enough people willing to spend the money on this new stuff, otherwise they wouldn't keep producing it.  It's probably easier for them to find one customer willing to pay $800 for a premium figure than 20 customers willing to pay $40 for a "standard" figure.

[Creature Features]

Completely agree. Like you, im a big comics fan,  but my buying is pretty much down to two or three books a month...i just cant AFFORD to raise a family and be a comics fan, AND a horror fan, so the comic /statue/figure collecting has pretty much come to an end.

The economy, and the fact that my wife and daughter arent really into comics, but they both like horror (albeit the more modern stuff), finds me more interested in purchasing  horror dvds...we can all watch them together as opposed to me reading a $3.99 dollar comic in about ten minutes off alone in my den.

And you're absolutely right; even just being a horror fan is becoming increasingly tough. The prices on some of those statues are just plain crazy.

Do you happen to have a link to the new Sideshow stuff?  i still like to browse, even if i cant afford to buy.    

[Barlow]

Prices on collectibles have been outrageous for some time and is only getting worse. There is little to nothing of the new stuff that I bother with. For me it's 99.9% vintage stuff. When it comes to comic books, I consider everything that's come out since about 1986 to be utter crap. I wouldn't pay 2¢ for most comics today, much less $3.99! 

I went to a comic sale recently and ended up with something like 40 issues averaging $3 a piece for great condition (most in Fine or better) stuff like Kirby's early Journey Into Mystery and Thor work for Marvel, etc. Now that is worth $3 an issue! 

[Type3Toys]

It is true. Prices for these things are going through the roof. I have not collected new comics for decades. I not only hate the price, I am not a fan of this new style of artwork or story telling. I do, however, still enjoy to collect and read some of the pre 1980 mags. My real passion is toys, monsters first, super-heros second. I am pretty picky about what I buy, because of the cost as well as my display space. I build action figures and have for years. I spare no detail when it comes to design and I charge alot of cash for the difficult peices. I beleive in my heart of hearts they are worth every cent. What have made these new collectables so expensive is a level of detail that has never been seen before. I mean, I cant afford to pay these prices, but as a designer of custome figures, I cant say they are not worth the price IN SOME CASES. I am not sticking up fot these folks, but you have to admit, the detail on some of the toys, busts and statues is off the hook. I think one of the things that is happening is the increased detail is add cost at the register. Back in the day, sculpts rarly needed approval and were basic and toy like. Now this crap looks real!

[depressedlarrytalbot]

Jeez, now I really am depressed. I could weather this issue to an extent but as a now-locked thread noted, the hobby is about to be descended upon by the corporate police as well. If there is no fandom aspect to the hobby, what will the mags and websites have to talk about, let alone sell?

Time to find a new hobby perhaps. I'm down to caring about little else besides the UMs as it is; yet they used to one of many. As I age it's getting easier and easier to say to myself, "This is all crap". Time feels too short. I've stopped catching new films and I can barely be motivated to rent them on DVD a few months down the track. I miss entire seasons of genre TV without one whit of concern. I can't fathom comic books, and I work in the retail part of the trade.

Maybe it's sort of a cultural entropy // Dark-Age thing.  
If so - I hope it's cyclical....

[Creature Features]

I went to a comic sale recently and ended up with something like 40 issues averaging $3 a piece for great condition (most in Fine or better) stuff like Kirby's early Journey Into Mystery and Thor work for Marvel, etc. Now that is worth $3 an issue! 

Absolutely! Lee & Kirby's work on Thor and Fantastic Four are easily two of the best creator runs on any comic EVER, imo.

[michblk]

Lee and Kirby are one of the best.  I too quite buying comics.  They got to be too expensive. 

I also no longer try to keep up with everything, I used to buy complete sets of all the monsters, then it was just classic monsters,  then just monster stuff I really liked.  Now my focus is mainly Creature related, but I still pass on thing such as Sideshows bust as I think it's too much $'s.  I'll still ocassionally buy some of the other monsters, but it's rare.

It's the same with autographs.  I used to buy everyone, but I even cut that back.

As for DVD's.  I am enjoying these Big Lot sales and Wal-Mart $5 bins.  The thrill of the hunt is still there.

BK

[MDG]

Well, I'm another one who bailed on comics, probably when most new books were still $2. I was buying a lot of original art in the 80s-90s, but those prices went nuts. In the early 90s, I cold go to a 2-day con w/ about $250, and that aid for room, meals, 2-3 pages of art, 2-3 sketches and a stack of back issues and other stuff.

I was never big on new collectible toys--too often it felt like companies were fueling a habit. I think the last thing I went after were the original sideshow little big heads, cause the rice was right and they looked neat. They felt like TOYS, not "collectibles".

[Creature Features]

As for DVD's.  I am enjoying these Big Lot sales and Wal-Mart $5 bins.  The thrill of the hunt is still there.

BK

Agreed. I've found some cool modern horror at Walmart for a very low price.

[Toy Ranch]

Prices are up there, and will be as long as they are getting it.  If they stop selling at those prices, the prices will come down or they'll go out of business.  That goes for $800 Sideshow Aliens and $3 comics.

Is it realistic to delay your comic buying and pick them up for a quarter a few months later?  I do that with books.  Don't buy the hardcover for $17, don't buy the new paperback for $8...  buy it later for $1.  It's the same book it was before.

Sideshow prices probably aren't going to come down, but a lot of the newer "collectibles" are much cheaper than they were when they were fresh on the rack. 

[ChattyLMS]

I'm not a collectore of new things, I like vintage much more.  I'm sorry to hear this.  Also when you buy from ebay the postage prices are exorbitant.  They're killing us with that to get more money.

[BlackLagoon]

I think Sideshow was always a bit pricey, however everything I ever bought from them is top notch quality. Really great stuff. Lately though I've backed off just because A: I pretty much have every monster I wanted and B: The older I get the harder it becomes to part with 100+ dollars for something like that. Then again, it may just depend on my mood.

eBay on the other hand, I dont know if its the economy, or the people who are willing to pay for such things, either way it is mind boggling. A Imperial King Kong went for 40 bux..I waited a few months and got the one I wanted for about 20, that was including shipping. People are starting bids at 25.00 for a Forgotten Prisoner kit and then they sell for over 100 bux...that is INSANE!!!!

The more time I spend on eBay the more I see that people are completely out of their minds.

[Toy Ranch]

I'm not a collectore of new things, I like vintage much more.  I'm sorry to hear this.  Also when you buy from ebay the postage prices are exorbitant.  They're killing us with that to get more money.

You just have to figure postage as part of the item cost.  It's price plus postage.  If the item is $5 and the postage is $25, it's the same as item being $30 with free shipping.  Actually I don't see most sellers gouging on shipping anymore, I see the postal rates being very high.  I know different types of items have different standards and practices...

[ChattyLMS]

If the item is $5 and the postage is $25, it's the same as item being $30 with free shipping.

Yes, of course, but shipping for a vintage 3 ounce troll for $10 on top of the $25 for the troll is just outrageous!  $35 for a troll that is really only worth $25?  Well, I skip over those.  The greedy ones miss a perfectly good sale.  I keep my shipping prices reasonable when I sell.