Isnt it strange how plastic and adhesive determines this hobby

[_Lee_]

Ive just been thinking about how much some adhesive and a bit of plastic changes the ball game in this hobby. My point in question is that you can buy a resealed Palitoy 12 back for 100 or so, but for the same one sealed its maybe 10 times or so more. When you actually think about it, it makes you realise how the hobby has evolved. Is it the mystical,sentimental feeling knowing that the figure has been in the pack for 40 years since the good old 1970s ? thinking that it was made when you were a lad??

When you think about it, it is staggering how much we value and covet such sealed pieces - just because of some glue and plastic.

 

[Ruby2511]

Ive just been thinking about how much some adhesive and a bit of plastic changes the ball game in this hobby. My point in question is that you can buy a resealed Palitoy 12 back for 100 or so, but for the same one sealed its maybe 10 times or so more. When you actually think about it, it makes you realise how the hobby has evolved. Is it the mystical,sentimental feeling knowing that the figure has been in the pack for 40 years since the good old 1970s ? thinking that it was made when you were a lad??

When you think about it, it is staggering how much we value and covet such sealed pieces - just because of some glue and plastic.

I have not yet bought a sealed figure will do one day and will no doubt value it/them, but can definately see the sentimental feeling when collecting again. just received a loose obi wan kenobi figure i won on ebay, when i opened the packaging, it bought back lots of fond memories of the good old days, even smelled the same as it did back in the day, i love my collection so far and can see many years of enjoyment ahead of me collecting what i value.

 

[Snaketibe]

Yep, that bit of glue can make all the difference in the world to many collectors. The same can be said for adhesive tape on sealed boxed items. Otherwise identical boxed items can command very different prices depending on whether that little piece of sticky tape has been slit open with a knife ;-)

 

[TheJabbaWookie]

Yep, that bit of glue can make all the difference in the world to many collectors. The same can be said for adhesive tape on sealed boxed items. Otherwise identical boxed items can command very different prices depending on whether that little piece of sticky tape has been slit open with a knife ;-)

Which is even more odd given that you can't determine the condition of the contents within or even say with 100% certainty that they're all there!

 

[Snaketibe]

Yep, that bit of glue can make all the difference in the world to many collectors. The same can be said for adhesive tape on sealed boxed items. Otherwise identical boxed items can command very different prices depending on whether that little piece of sticky tape has been slit open with a knife ;-)

Which is even more odd given that you can't determine the condition of the contents within or even say with 100% certainty that they're all there!

Exactly! You're buying Schrödinger's MIMB items! :lol:

 

[Mini99]

Yep, that bit of glue can make all the difference in the world to many collectors. The same can be said for adhesive tape on sealed boxed items. Otherwise identical boxed items can command very different prices depending on whether that little piece of sticky tape has been slit open with a knife ;-)

Which is even more odd given that you can't determine the condition of the contents within or even say with 100% certainty that they're all there!

Exactly! You're buying Schrödinger's MIMB items! :lol:

Well summed up!
But we would hope that whats on the box is in the box?

 

[Darth Bobby]

Interesting thread, I've thought about this before but never wrote it on the forum for fear of getting too 'deep'. There's definitely something mystical and sentimental about it.
Figures safely sealed in plastic for 30-40 years as good as new, never had to deal with the troubles of the world. To hold a case fresh moc i find is like travelling back in time. A simpler time, etc, etc. Told you it was deep.

 

[Snaketibe]

Which is even more odd given that you can't determine the condition of the contents within or even say with 100% certainty that they're all there!

Exactly! You're buying Schrödinger's MIMB items! :lol:

Well summed up!
But we would hope that whats on the box is in the box?

Yes, one would hope! :lol: ... However, imagine having a sealed MIMB item with yellowing sticky tape. Years pass, the tape becomes brittle and eventually falls off... Curiosity gets the better of you and you very carefully take the opportunity to look inside your now 'open' (through no fault of your own) boxed item... only to find Kenner cocked up and didn't include one of the parts they should have! Don't worry though, the customer care leaflet inside says you can contact them to replace any missing items ;-)

 

[subzero]

It is a weird psychological thing for me, iv'e recently bought a MOTU Battle Cat, found a nice box and successfully sealed it back up, it all looks pretty much new just the same as a MISB example, it looks the same and displays the same but cost me 1/4 of what it would have been if it was MISB. I love looking at what iv'e resealed and it gives me as much enjoyment as it would originally sealed, but the difference is deep down I KNOW the toy has been out of the box, I KNOW it's been handled and probably played with over the years, I have this thought in the back of my head whenever I look at it.

For me personally, paying the premium for a MISB means I get the personal enjoyment of knowing the toy has never been touched, and knowing that the box ( or MOC ) has never been opened since the last time the toy went in there. There's something special about knowing that it's been fully preserved since that day and that it's been passed down through a few different collectors who all took care to look after and preserve the seal which could easily have been opened by anybody in an instant, but instead chose to preserve it's original state, and the fact that not many of these toys have survived this journey and the guaranteed eventual plastic/glue degradation is what makes it so special. That packaged plastic thing that you ripped apart once 30/40 years ago and loved more than anything else, there's still one out there somewhere that never got to be opened and now you own it again, still as it was when your mom/dad picked it off a shop shelf.

All of this is why I pay the extra cost of an original sealed toy, instead of just paying because it's the original 'glue'.

 

[Taffius]

Great and mostly deep replies here.

I think as I am still relatively naive to all the collecting morals and ethos, since my time here I have certainly thought more about such topics. Is it just glue and plastic thats the difference?

Is there a part of all this that actually lowers the value because someone has influenced the item by resealing it?

I think I am mostly biased to the same nostalgic feeling that an untouched and sealed item is a survivor of nearly or four decades and anything else is not the bar or standard set.

Should we reseal items for our viewing pleasure or future preservation or leave as it was aquired? Different debate I know but my dilemma is this - I have beater MOCs that have been repaired before I acquired them with tape. I have some that are cracked and missing parts of its bubble.

Why buy such a thing? They are old but believe the item is genuine as the tape is ancient or the figure and / or weapon taped in still cannot get out of it. So is it originality we crave for?

 

[_Lee_]

Interesting replys, and proves there is a lot more meaning to why we collect.

 

[poncho]

i love the fact some of these toys we collect have survived for so long mib/moc. and the journey why they havnt been opened all moc/mib have a story i particularly like beater moc/mib items not because of the price which is main reason but because it has survived

 

[Mini99]

I often look at a new sealed purchase and wonder......
Why was this not opened?
Why was this not played with, was it un loved.?
Who bought this originally, adult, parent or collector?
Where has this been the last 35+ years, in a cabinet, in a loft or in a box?
How many hands has this passed through?
Have I owned it before? :lol:
How many countries has it been in, traveled through?
Etc.
If only they could talk....what stories they could tell.

Yes, sealed items are like little time machines sealed when life was so different, mystical!

 

[_Lee_]

Some great posts here.

Sentiment and Nostalgia is key. i have 2 vintage items from my childhood , a n incomplete Leia Boussh an at ATAT bulb cover, and i wouldnt swap them for anything. i actually remember opening the leia as it was the last figure i got and the bulb cover was part of my favorite vehicle.

 

[coomber75]

for me its a lot about what i didn't have as a kid, relatively few sw figures, never had vehicles or playsets, but i rember clearly the figures i had, opening them and my mum giving the majority away!! also strongest memory strangely was owning the die cast imperial cruiser, never any others... so for me its about what i didnt have and open and tge fact i can now still all these years later buy them as if i had as a kid, brand new...

 

[tobeshadow]

Everyone is different and we all have unique and intensely personal connections to this line. Even the tiniest things that might seem irrelevant to most people can be so very important. For me, these toys are far more than just plastic representations of a 30+ year old trilogy that I happen to like collecting and I don't collect out of misplaced obligation or stubborn will. To badly paraphrase Mad Men, these toys are a time machine, they let us travel back and forward and back again, if only for fleeting moments, to a place we yearn to go again. This journey has to be genuine and untainted, meaning simple things like the adhesive holding an original plastic bubble down, that was once nothing more than a function becomes the very fabric of the collecting experience. People will try to fake anything, but you just can't fake true nostalgia.