Modern MOC 'investing'

[r5-d4cus]

I used my student loan and new found eBay site about twenty years ago to buy the full ep1 figure set for £250. I had a vague knowledge of vintage as I bought 100 loose figs for about 100 quid at the same time.

I put together close to a full episode 1 collection which stayed in my loft until a couple of years ago. I sold the lot in two batches and got my money back minus 20 years inflation haha.

I think when I got the figs my justification was that they would grow in value but I quickly realised this wasnt going to be the case. I kept collecting the ep1 run just because I had a bunch and wanted the full set.

Ironically around the time I was looking at moc r5 figs (my fave sw fig) for 30-50 quid and thought it was just too expensive. I've never been too savvy with investing...

 

[Dr_Ball_MD]

I've bought POFT2 and Episode 1 figures so I can actually afford a full carded run of something

 

[spoons]

As for putting together a full carded run, I hope you literally mean just the POTF2 figure line rather than the entire modern line :-D. The former is quite achievable, but the latter would be a truly enormous undertaking due to the sheer number of figures released!

Ha ha - definitely the former, with maybe the Shadows of the Empire figures too

Yes, I always liked the Shadows line, and also the 9 Expanded Universe figures. For some reason I've always had a soft spot for those (but not so much the later EU efforts). They're a neat subset and the packaging is great too, both carded and opened as the cards fold out into displays, as you probably already know!

SOTE 01.jpg
EU 01.jpg

they look great Jeremy, I've not seen the EU ones before I thought you were referring to McQuarrie. I'll definitely look out for some of those.

 

[subzero]

A bit surprising for me to see so many people liking / collecting POTF2, I really wasn't expecting that. :lol:

 

[Grant_C]

I love the POTF2 to EP1 range.

The prices have risen slightly in the last 10 years, as in they have gone from 'Cant give them away' to £5-£10.

I much prefer these to Droids or Ewoks or a vintage figure which is £100s extra because it has slightly duller paint application in its groin. :lol:

The 1990's was an amazing time to be Star Wars fan. The excitement os the New Testament arriving at the end of the decade. New never seen before figures of Slave Leia, Tarkin, Sandtrooper, Han Stormtrooper, Ishi Tibb, 12 inch Tauntaun....

It great that you can pick this up for cheap as well. I don't see anything exciting in watching collectors spending £1000s on figures that a few years ago a couple of quid. :?

When I first came on SWFUK all ROTJ figures were around £30-£40. Leia Organa and Luke Jedi were more as well as a few others and the condition was amazing. The sales I see to day are for beater MOCs for 4 times the price. Its a shame.

 

[Grant_C]

I am happy to buy all your POTF2 and EP1........so there is a little investment (with risk of no to low returns)

 

[Grant_C]

Another quick thought though- I have POTF2 Freeze Frame figures with £25 and £30 stickers. If you look at Model Mart, there are figure listings where POTF2 was going for more than ROTJ and Trilogo.

There was such an appitite for new figures as well as flipping. Its hard for collectors who weren't engaged to believe just how crazy things went for 0.001 Tarkin, Green Tint C-3PO, Darth Maul on Midnight Madness 1....... :lol: Great times

 

[Mini99]

There was such an appitite for new figures as well as flipping. Its hard for collectors who weren't engaged to believe just how crazy things went for 0.001 Tarkin, Green Tint C-3PO, Darth Maul on Midnight Madness 1....... :lol: Great times

Great times, as you say, I think that you had to be there to appreciate it!
I'd totally forgot "green tint" C3PO!

 

[Mini99]

Just remembered... what about the "delux" figures that you could find with a green front and red back card!
I had the Probot on one of those, wish I still had it!

 

[edd_jedi]

The funny thing is I was there during the POTF2 era, but it still didn't appeal to me. I had a friend who collected them all, and it made no sense to me that he was collecting those over vintage. At the time (mid 90s) you could still buy the majority of MOCs for £15-30, I certainly paid no more than that for my Luke Farmboy, Vader, trilogo TIE Pilot etc. So why spend £5+ on a figure who looks like he-man. Also there was no hunt, he just went to TRU and bought them. That didn't appeal to me, I loved the thrill of going to my local vintage store having no idea what would be in stock that week. Good times.

 

[lejackal]

I've been doing my bit to help modern R1 MOC collectors items appreciate in value by ripping all mine open - someone has to :lol:

 

[subzero]

Also there was no hunt, he just went to TRU and bought them. That didn't appeal to me, I loved the thrill of going to my local vintage store having no idea what would be in stock that week. Good times.

I actually really miss those days, back in mid 2002 when I first got into collecting vintage I used to finish work on a Saturday at noon and would get on the bus to go on a bit of a mission to a market, where I used to go buying/trading Dreamcast games then one day stumbled on a stall that sold vintage figures which was the only place I knew of then. I used to be well excited sitting on the bus on the way there wondering what they're gonna have that week, until several months later when I bought a toy collectors magazine and spotted an advert for ebay which stated "find vintage Star Wars figures on ebay.co.uk", and I was like what the hell is ebay :lol: and then it all changed. All I had to do was go to a post office and buy postal orders, fill them out, post em off to the sellers and buy whatever figures I wanted, now it's 10 times easier than that lol.

 

[subzero]

Another quick thought though- I have POTF2 Freeze Frame figures with £25 and £30 stickers. If you look at Model Mart, there are figure listings where POTF2 was going for more than ROTJ and Trilogo.

There was such an appitite for new figures as well as flipping. Its hard for collectors who weren't engaged to believe just how crazy things went for 0.001 Tarkin, Green Tint C-3PO, Darth Maul on Midnight Madness 1....... :lol: Great times

I remember seeing those freeze frame ones in Forbidden Planet, what's just come back to me now is noticing prices on some of them for £20 - £30+ and remember thinking wow why so much, is it a rare import or something. :lol:

 

[Starrider]

Power of the Force through to just before Episode 1 was a crazy time for collecting. Those figures were hotter than hot and in hindsight many including myself neglected and even traded vintage to get these shiny new figures. Hasbro didnt release all the figures in the UK and the ones they did get were usually delayed, so this created a huge demand for grey market imports usually offered through Model and Collectors Mart. While £10 was an initial ballpark for an import, £15 and £20 soon became common as demand soared and never before offered figures such as Leia in Slave Outfit and Darth Vader with Removable helmet were produced. I have good memories of this time, much of it was based on nostalgia and the fact we had been so long without figures. Sure some of the sculpts were questionable and looked a but naff even at the time but as the range went on it improved a lot. I remember things were at a fever pitch just before Episode 1 and everyone was braced for Star Wars to burst through the stratosphere, then the movie hit, Hasbro got greedy and stuff just sat. For most of the noughties the volume of product and the amount on clearance seemed never ending and destroyed much of the collectability. Also the same figures kept getting redone over and over, so the novelty of stuff like the POTF Rebel Fleet Trooper, Slave Leia etc soon wore off as improved versions were produced.
Ironically a lot of the post Episode 3 stuff is now becoming pretty sought after, search prices for the Ulic Qel Droma and Exar Kun comic pack set for instance, but thats precisely because nearly everyone had given up by this point. I run a comics and collectables store and all my regular customers who religiously bought every figure had thrown in the towel by 2008.
I think all the modern Hasbro stuff still has legs, but demand will depend a lot on what Hasbro does with the brand and how the new movies continue to fare. Nineties toys are also starting to creep up slowly in value, ten years ago you couldnt get anything for stuff like the Kenner Aliens or Batman figures but now these are attracting fairly decent prices. Also most of the hoarders have long since got rid, there was a period when I used to roll my eyes when people came into my shop trying to sell POTF and Ep 1 stuff, but I hardly seen any of it these days and when you do see it the cards are usually wrecked. I would venture to suggest anyone trying to put together a set of POTF on mint cards might not find it as easy as they think. I dont think we'll ever see individual POTF in three figure sums but one day you may just claw back that £25 you spent on monkey faced Leia.