Meccano Rarity Information

[Wreck-It Ralph]

Hi

I have noticed Meccano carded figures on some of my searches when looking for other Star Wars items and wanted to get a better idea of which figures are rarest on the square Star Wars card. Whilst looking I have seen the Jawa almost everywhere and have also seen Ben and DSC so I presume these three are the most common. Could someone tell me what the order of rarity is within the first 20 square Meccano carded figures.

I have also seen a rectangular Meccano Star Wars card which looks more like a conventional card are MOC on this type of card rarer as I have not seen any of these?

I have not been able to find an existing post which answers these questions but if I have missed it could you point me in its direction.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[Clarkspie&chips]

If you're interested in Meccanos I would highly recommend getting Stephane Faucourt's Meccano to trilogo book. This details all the mecanno releases and has a handy reference for rarity.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MECCANO-TRILOGO-French-European-vintage/dp/2952704600

 

[maxf]

Lots of books out there written by very knowledgable French collectors - even with a rarity ranking. I'd pick those up first to get you started.

 

[Wreck-It Ralph]

If you're interested in Meccanos I would highly recommend getting Stephane Faucourt's Meccano to trilogo book. This details all the mecanno releases and has a handy reference for rarity.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MECCANO-TRILOGO-French-European-vintage/dp/2952704600

Thanks for the link I just purchased the book hopefully it will answer all my questions.

 

[wrighty]

Thanks for the link I just purchased the book hopefully it will answer all my questions.

If you make it to FF in May you can meet Stephane and ask him directly. He can also autograph your book and get a photo!! :lol:

 

[Wreck-It Ralph]

Lots of books out there written by very knowledgable French collectors - even with a rarity ranking. I'd pick those up first to get you started.

Do any of the books discuss current values or just rarity and desirability?

 

[Nick_IoW]

Lots of books out there written by very knowledgable French collectors - even with a rarity ranking. I'd pick those up first to get you started.

Do any of the books discuss current values or just rarity and desirability?

As soon as you finish writing a book that includes current values - its an instantly out of date book.

 

[Wreck-It Ralph]

Lots of books out there written by very knowledgable French collectors - even with a rarity ranking. I'd pick those up first to get you started.

Do any of the books discuss current values or just rarity and desirability?

As soon as you finish writing a book that includes current values - its an instantly out of date book.

Point taken, so how does a new collector determine if something is cheap or overpriced?

 

[Nick_IoW]

Do any of the books discuss current values or just rarity and desirability?

As soon as you finish writing a book that includes current values - its an instantly out of date book.

Point taken, so how does a new collector determine if something is cheap or overpriced?

Don't buy anything right away - that's my best advice. Get involved in the community, talk to fellow collectors, pay attention to prices. If you see a Luke Bespin for 35 and one for 120 learn why its priced different. Is it because its a variant, shill bidding or just a chancer trying to catch out new collectors.

And with so many of us on facebook - just start inviting people you meet. Get along to conventions and meet-ups. Make friends. The best and fastest way of finding out values or if an item is worth X amount shoot them a PM on facebook and ask. Most are happy to help.

 

[Wreck-It Ralph]

Presently I only collect MOC's and sometimes I find it difficult to get prices or estimates on rare items as they are sold so infrequently and even when they are sold it is done in private resulting in no record of the prices paid e.g. how do find out the current market price for a MOC 30 back IG88?

 

[wrighty]

You can only get a market value for common items. If you are after rare items then it's whatever the seller's asking price is. If it doesn't sell then it's over price and if price correctly or low it will be sold very quickly. You have to make your mind up what you willing to pay. For example your £2600 Palitoy Jawa, you were happy to pay that hence to you it's worth it if not why did you buy it? As Nick says be patient look around and network. Otherwise why bother with this hobby or any hobby if you are not willing to learn and make friends. Just my 2 cents!

 

[wrighty]

Also timing have something to do with price the Palitoy FX7 sold on Vectis for £11k and the same figure a few month later sold for £1600. Just shows how desperate you are to land the piece!!

 

[Wreck-It Ralph]

Also timing have something to do with price the Palitoy FX7 sold on Vectis for £11k and the same figure a few month later sold for £1600. Just shows how desperate you are to land the piece!!

Did the two FX7's differ much in condition?

 

[wrighty]

I don't recall the condition but definitely not a £10k difference. Maybe some else that paid more attention can tell if if there were major differences!! 8)

 

[Wreck-It Ralph]

If you're interested in Meccanos I would highly recommend getting Stephane Faucourt's Meccano to trilogo book. This details all the mecanno releases and has a handy reference for rarity.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MECCANO-TRILOGO-French-European-vintage/dp/2952704600

I have received the book but have not had chance to read it yet. Can you recommend a similar book that covers Harbert Carded figures?

Thanks for your help

 

[Fishtalk]

If you're interested in Meccanos I would highly recommend getting Stephane Faucourt's Meccano to trilogo book. This details all the mecanno releases and has a handy reference for rarity.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MECCANO-TRILOGO-French-European-vintage/dp/2952704600

I have received the book but have not had chance to read it yet. Can you recommend a similar book that covers Harbert Carded figures?

Thanks for your help

As far as I know there is no book covering just the Harbert figures, there are probably several websites - do a google search. I'm sure others have mentioned, but if you're after Harbert and Meccano carded figures you will be looking for a very, very long time - they are highly sought after and rarely come up for sale, at least in public - most are sold privately.
You will easily find Meccano Square carded Jawa, Ben and DSC - there were a lot of block cases of these found in the Nineties hence they are found easily (I remember Jawas selling for £20-30 back then - you couldn't give them away) but you will hit a brick will with the rest, the cardbacks alone sell for the mid to high hundreds.
As for Harberts, the only ones I have seen for sale with any regularity are Darth Vader (or Lord Fenner as he is known) DSC, and Jawa - again you will hardly ever see the rest. I was looking for a Harbert 20 back Greedo for over 10 years, despite constant searches and want ads - nothing.

 

[Wreck-It Ralph]

I haven't bought any Meccano or Harbert figures yet as I have been kept busy collecting Palitoy. I started looking at both card types recently and I found the square Meccano cards more accessible than the Harbert card. Whilst looking I came across a few Meccano MOC's Jawa, DSC, Ben, R2D2, C3PO and Chewie all in varying conditions at varying prices. Whilst looking for Harbert at the same time all I found was Darth Vader MOC's. Before I start buying either card type I wanted a better understanding of rarity and price (price being the more difficult to access information on).

 

[Richard_H]

The Meccano pocket handbook gives you indication on rarity. However, some things are very rare and yet cheap. Some items are 'relatively' common but very expensive. It's all about doing your homework and being in the right place at the right time.

 

[Wreck-It Ralph]

The Meccano pocket handbook gives you indication on rarity. However, some things are very rare and yet cheap. Some items are 'relatively' common but very expensive. It's all about doing your homework and being in the right place at the right time.

I still find it very difficult to get information on prices, the rarer the item the more difficult to get information on it. You don't want to turn down an item that is fairly priced but determining whether it is fairly priced or expensive can be challenging. If you buy it and it's expensive you then get blamed for pushing prices up, I guess sometimes I am stuck between a rock and a hard place!

 

[Richard_H]

Try starwarstracker for a while. Record all the prices for what you're interested in