Vintage investment collectors...30 years from now?

[Joe]

Anyone want to discuss people who collect as an investment?

Just had a little notion, I am I guess younger than most at 24 and missed all the films, I still got into collecting and know many collectors at a similar age group but I don't know as many younger collectors, and I certainly don't know as many collectors my age as there are older.
(hope you are still with me)

So in terms of groups-

Older original fans - Large number
Younger fans (second wave ) - Medium number
Even younger fans (final? wave) - Low

So lets say our older fans are pushing 40 now and in ten years or so decide to sell, they sell to my age group and in a further twenty years we decide to sell at which point there will be even less people wanting to buy these toys, so in that sense is it REALLY that good an investment as people think?

Given that many of you guys have families, you will in turn hand your collections to your kids, some may enjoy them and enjoy them for what they are and some may want to cash in on them (hope not!)

If they have no-one to sell them to, or the market is so flooded with overpriced collectibles that they have to flog them at very low prices (which I think will be the case) are collectors buy now to invest doing so misguidedly?

For me , the investment notion is long dead.

Edit- bad title thread as its always going to be relevant!

 

[burnsy]

Sorry Joe, don't agree. The investment side of it is not dead and certainly will not die.

I buy my stuff, like you say for my own enjoyment at the moment. Thrill of looking and finding items you
have been searching for, and then opening the packages when they arrive and completing focues and moving onto new ones.

But, long term, this is an investment for my family.
My oldest son already takes in interest in the collecting side, and once I've had enough it will be boxed up and put away for the future at some point.
I may become strapped for cash and need to sell or it will passed onto my kids when they are older.
Most of these items WILL increase in value.
Especially the foreign items, Kenner are ten a penny so maybe not as much.
Sure, some of the stuff my detirate (Bubbles etc), but these toys are part of our history and will become more collectible in the future.

That's my opinion anyway... :lol:

 

[Joe]

I understand your points Burnsy and to a degree I even agree! (lol)

Star Wars items will always have an interest with someone , somewhere,but what is worrying is that in 30-40 even 50 years your kids might not have anyone to sell these things to, that's more what I wanted to get at.

The part I agree on is as you said , the rare stuff, the foreign stuff, and the pre production and artwork, that will (I hope) have a market for much longer than most of the toys we buy.

The thing for me is, kids in 2009 have far less attachment,knowledge or interest in the toys as we do now. That is something you can't deny.

Unless every kid in the future grows up around star wars as most of the collectors did there won't be any interest.

 

[burnsy]

See what you mean mate, but there will always be toy collectors.
Tin toys, corgi cars etc have been a large part of the collecting community and Star Wars toys are the most popular, more modern toys to collect and will still be a huge part of toy collecting in the future.

 

[spoons]

I agree with both of you

the common stuff wont be collectable in the future, but the rarer and mint items will be.

As burnsy says people have always collected toys, whether they are memories of their childhood or their grandparents

My kids love Star Wars and if they get the collecting bug when they're older I can see them wanting to keep my stuff, and also collect stuff from their youth.

If not they can flog it, I doubt most of my common Han Hoth's will fetch much, but I reckon loose figures will hold their value, and the rarer items should increase in value.

 

[shawn_k]

Joe, I would have to say agree with your statements. I think as time goes by we'll see more collectors disappear and lose interest. As that happens I think items will decrease in value. At the same time yes there always will be collectors, but I think they will be more interested in the "rare stuff, the foreign stuff, and the pre production and artwork" because those items require more effort to acquire and were not produced in the same volume as almost everything else out there.

I have never looked at collecting as an investment. It might have been because I started collecting at quite a young age and have always bought what I could afford. I get enjoyment out of my collection by collecting items that I like. If the market fell out right now it honestly wouldn't bother me. My collection would just grow a little faster.

 

[mash]

Do u think any of the bubbles will still be attached to the cards in 30 years time??? there will be a lot of minty mint loose figs about in years to come!!! lol

 

[Ron]

Mash i think there will still be a lot off bubbles stuck to the cards in 30. Yes some will fall off. Give it 30 years I think most ROTJ, POTF will have turned to yellow. It all depends how they are stored

 

[plantman]

The idea of collecting often passes on generation to generation, my kids will be brought up and shown star wars films...its up to them if they take an intrest in it and pass it on to theirs.

In theory it could burn itself out if it became less intresting to new generations, then it would become less collectable and popular.

But star wars will appeal to any children who have a vivd imagination, my nephews love the vintage star wars stuff and asked me to buy the POTF2 figures of HAN, Chewie, Darth ect. They are 9 years old so its possible that it could happen, but not a very long time...if ever.

 

[burnsy]

I think you're right Skemp in that there a lot of items within a collection that have been massed produced and may not grow in value a great deal, just rising gradually. But yes, the rarer items will increase as they are rare!

I only started collecting a couple of years ago just for the fun of owning stuff I used to have. But now it's gone to a new level. I'm way behind most of you, but for me moving on from loose figures and bashed up boxes with incomplete vehicles, to sealed figures and vehicles is rewarding, but also an investment (that's what I tell the missus anyway :wink: )

 

[Ron]

Burnsy that how i started collectin. I only ever wanted a complete loose collection

 

[burnsy]

Burnsy that how i started collectin. I only ever wanted a complete loose collection

:lol: And look where that got you :lol:

 

[Ron]

Yeah burnsy I went a bit far. With the collecting. But am happy with the stuff I have. I cant see anything that i own go down in value. I HOPE

 

[burnsy]

Did you sell off all your loose stuff Ron??

You're stuff won't depreciate in value now mate, not with the items you have.

 

[Ron]

Burnsy over the years. I have collected. I have had 3 full sets off loose figures. Every vehicle playset,mini-rig loose with box. Sold everything then. Restarted collecting MOC, MOC AFA, MISB,MISB AFA. I had i think about three quarters of the vehicles playsets graded at 1 point. Also had 68 MOC AFA with the VC JAWA, YAK FACE. Very close to a complete collection off AFA MOC. I have also collected POTF coins. Got bored with it sold most the figures and playsets. To Focus on SW and palitoy 12/20 backs

 

[burnsy]

There be some serious cash floating around there mate!!!!!

Well if you ever change again, you know where those Jawa's are going :wink:

 

[Ron]

Burnsy I have a good collection and am happy with it. But it has taken me a very very long time to get it. All the stuff i have i dont think i have paided over what it is valued at. If i was to sell it tomorrow. I think i would make some money on it. Also it would sell easy has it rare hard to find stuff

 

[Ron]

I think star wars collecting peaked 2 years ago when it was 30 years. I have seen a lot off stuff go down in value since then. But some thing has gone up in value. When it comes to AFA grading. I cant see a lot of the ROTJ yellow bubbles go up in value. Yes the ROTJ,POTF clear bubbles will go up in value

 

[Lafos]

I cant see a lot of the ROTJ yellow bubbles go up in value. Yes the ROTJ,POTF clear bubbles will go up in value

Not to forget the value increase on ROTJ 2 Packs and the Early Bird figure sets.

 

[Ron]

Rare stuff will go up in value. I cant see loose figures go up much in value

 

[lee gray]

I too buy for my own enjoyment, as for investment with the amount of money I have wasted selling things cheaper than buying them for as for some reason when I want something everyone does and its expensive then when its time to sell no one wants it lol, i would have been better off buying nothing

some of the stuff will never go down in value but when ppl say to me what do you do with the toys play with them ? so i say no I just like to look at them and they look at me weird but I say to them its no different than someone buying a painting to look at

 

[Josh]

Not as weird a look Lee I bet when it comes to borrowing one of your books LOL!

 

[Lafos]

Bump after nearly 15 years. Where are we …?!

 

[kabuchi7]

In debt

 

[lejackal]

Bump after nearly 15 years. Where are we …?!

The names from this thread have mostly moved on - could sum that up with a Kenobi quote I guess

As new blood to the hobby (relatively speaking) I'd agree broadly with the earlier comments about true rarities, foreign (non Kenner), loose figures and top condition items - however, even solid investment collectibles, such as CGC comics, have not escaped the current downtown.

@ScruffyLookingNH would be able to go into more detail, but even stuff like the first appearance of Wolverine has dropped in recent months.
Fair enough that's not a RFF scale investment but it is a mid to high level POTF or Trilogo graded equivalent

if I'd have bought in 2009 I'd still be doing great. If i had bought in 2013-19 I'd still be very okay. If I bought during Covid times I'd be worried.

 

[lejackal]

Oh, and I wouldn't be buying now to expect a return any time in the next 2-3, maybe a smidge longer.

 

[edd_jedi]

It's interesting to look back for sure because a lot of the investwats didn't show up until much later, 2016ish. So you could say this post from Joe was aheads of its time

Definitely some widsom in the comments, although looking at my own collection I'm surprised by some bits that have both rocketed and stangated price wise. I think the honest answer, as with any investment, is that it's all guesswork and if you could predict the future, we'd all be rich!

 

[lejackal]

It's interesting to look back for sure because a lot of the investwats didn't show up until much later, 2016ish. So you could say this post from Joe was aheads of its time

Definitely some widsom in the comments, although looking at my own collection I'm surprised by some bits that have both rocketed and stangated price wise. I think the honest answer, as with any investment, is that it's all guesswork and if you could predict the future, we'd all be rich!

Do you still think (or have you ever thought) that the Facebook collector of the moment is a factor?

 

[edd_jedi]

Yes I think Facebook bought a whole new level of instant gratification and boasting for some people, yes it was present in some form on forums before of course, but on a much smaller and slower scale. You can get 100 likes on a FB post in a couple of hours, it would take weeks to get 15 replies on a forum post. I think a lot of those people got bored eventually

 

[ScruffyLookingNH]

The names from this thread have mostly moved on - could sum that up with a Kenobi quote I guess

As new blood to the hobby (relatively speaking) I'd agree broadly with the earlier comments about true rarities, foreign (non Kenner), loose figures and top condition items - however, even solid investment collectibles, such as CGC comics, have not escaped the current downtown.

@ScruffyLookingNH would be able to go into more detail, but even stuff like the first appearance of Wolverine has dropped in recent months.
Fair enough that's not a RFF scale investment but it is a mid to high level POTF or Trilogo graded equivalent

if I'd have bought in 2009 I'd still be doing great. If i had bought in 2013-19 I'd still be very okay. If I bought during Covid times I'd be worried.

All true, mate. I'm not collecting VSW at the moment and haven't done since about 2020 when I sold up due to crazy price increases and need for cash for a move. I've got numerous other hobbies that keep me busy including comics, classic cars, and comic artwork. I still follow the British miltary medal market. Without exception, each has experienced a "correction" as the auction houses like to call it.

I think you've got to remove any price rises experienced in 2020/2021 from the equation. Covid was a crazy, once-in-a-generation (hopefully) thing. No one foresaw the effect it was to have on the hobby markets . It was a blip and was always likley to be. Once that's removed if you compare 2019 prices to now, I don't think they're miles out. There are outliers as there always will be in any market, but the commodity items are probably about the same, if not a touch higher. I'll admit, I've done FA research on that (Vectis prices would have been my go-to as a straw poll, but you can't since they upgraded the site) but that's my feeling on it.

As for the future? I still see VSW as a single-generation collectible certainly in terms of value. Sure, SW will always be around, but VSW only means what it means to us. Whilst the VSW toy line is guaranteed a place in history, our kids will mostly see them as things their dad's collected, much like some of us see model railways, Dinky, stamps, etc. I think anyone collecting now with a view their kids can cash in when the shuffle off is mistaken.