JediDefender.com Forums
Community => Watto's Junk Yard => Topic started by: Rob on November 10, 2006, 04:42 PM
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I'm tinkering with the idea of downsizing....
And I'm thinking about starting by getting rid of my carded figures.
So how would you do such a thing? Ebay? Forums? Elsewhere?
Split them up into lines? Individually? The whole thing as one lot?
This collection consists of every carded figure from 1995 to present, plus deluxe, plus lots of exclusive figures as well.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
?
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(http://media.ign.com/boardfaces/33.gif) Well, I've never sold big chunks of my collection at once, so take my advice for what's it worth and with a particle of salt....
I would avoid selling it in a few large lots. The bigger the lot, the less likely someone will bite just to get a couple of items they want. Nobody likes having to buy a bunch of crap just to get one item they want.
Probably do the more recent figures individually, as much as feasible anyway. And with older and/or less desirable figures, you might start clumping them as you move "back in time"--say, in lots for POTF2 and common Episode 1 but individually for TSC. Listing on the classifieds here, it wouldn't be so hard to do individually, but I don't want to think about the hassle of eBaying thousands of toys separately.
I think I would also begin listing on the forums (first here, of course ;)) before eBay.
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Divide them into lots of 10-20 figures. Be sure to include 1 or 2 valuable figures per lot. Arrange them roughly chronologically.
You're not going to make back your investment by a long shot, but you should get a few bucks this way.
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Hold off until you come to your senses, and avoid doing something you are going to regret.
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(http://media.ign.com/boardfaces/33.gif)
I would avoid selling it in a few large lots. The bigger the lot, the less likely someone will bite just to get a couple of items they want. Nobody likes having to buy a bunch of crap just to get one item they want.
That's my thinking as well. My extreme preference would be to find someone who doesn't collect carded, but could afford a modest price to suddenly have a complete carded collection.
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Hold off until you come to your senses, and avoid doing something you are going to regret.
Well I've been holding off for probably almost 6 months now. I'm just not enjoying buying two of everything anymore - especially with rehashes and repacks.
I'm thinking I'd like to get it down to just the loose figures, I could army build, and buy just one of everything else.
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To an extent I agree with Dressel. At least with respect to the waiting aspect. I know it's a pain in the ass to hold onto the stuff but I'd suggest waiting until the cartoon or TV series rev up and interest peaks again.
Every time the movies came out, interest peaked and prices climb. Collectors get fired up again and new collectors roll in, trying to fill holes with old stuff. About a year or so after the movie has been released, shortly after the DVD release, interest starts waning and keeps going lower as the bandwagoners steadily jump off and there's a glut in the market. Prices drop and stay low.
So my suggestion is if you're really wanting to unload stuff, get rid of the stuff you can get good money for now and hold the rest until something sparks interest. Really, that Episode I Palpatine on a minty cardback is going to be either a throw in or generate you maybe a buck right now. It's never going to be worth much anyway, but it might climb to $2 at the right time (yeah, I know, probably not).
I'm in the same boat, wanting to really downsize on a lot of my collection, at least notably the Hasbro side of things. My mentality falls somewhere between yours and Mikey's. I'm not about to abandon my loose figures entirely but I too have no real interest in most of the carded figures, save maybe the VOTC stuff.
If you are going ahead, I agree with Bill, do lots. It'll save you grief in the long run in terms of more boxes, more buyers, more things to keep track of. And like I said, those Episode I carded figures will just end up being throw ins that are largely zero dollar generators but you'll get rid of them.
In a charitable sense I might also suggest that the really craptastic stuff you'll have a hard time selling for even a buck would make a great donation at this time of year to a gifts-for-kids program of some sort. That's my plan for some of the stuff that's not worth the hassle of listing/shipping for minimal return.
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Well I've been holding off for probably almost 6 months now. I'm just not enjoying buying two of everything anymore - especially with rehashes and repacks. I'm thinking I'd like to get it down to just the loose figures, I could army build, and buy just one of everything else.
I recently made the same decision as well. The rehash waves (GB & HV) were the straws that broke the Tauntaun's back and the Endor Wave (Chirpa, DSG, etc.) was the beginning of the end of collecting 2 of every figure. (1 open, 1 to covet).
I've started parting out my collection first to guys in the MN Collector group. I'll later hit the customizer group as there always looking for fodder and then eventually resorting the eBay.
Good luck on how ever you go about it.
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Wait, Rob, have you been a carded completist all this time, even the past 2 years?
If you have been, as it looks like in your original post, why don't you just stop buying rehashes and repaints and kitbashes carded, and just buy the new figures carded like I do?
You can have a complete collection carded to present, and then just buy the 50% new figures carded. You will enjoy it more.
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Thanks for the advice guys.
Dressel, I should clarify. I'm not necessarily a carded completist, so the 'one of every figure from 1995 to present' doesn't entirely apply.
I buy every figure carded, but if they re-release the same exact figure, I don't buy it twice. So my OTC set isn't all of them, my Saga2 set isn't all of them etc...
One of every figure applies - one of every carded example of every figure, does not.
As for timetables, Brent makes a great point about waiting until interest picks up... not just for the idea of maybe making a few more dollars, but maybe I'd re-new my interest as well and decide not to do this.
The other time-table issue for me is that if I do this, I'd like to do it before I leave Dallas. I don't know exactly when this will be, it could be 1 year, it could be 3 or even 5 years. But if I downsize, I don't want to move everything and then do it. I'm not anticipating having tons more room than I do now whenever I move, mostly because I want to live inside a major urban core, so I'll probably have 1 or 2 bedrooms tops...
I'm definitely ready to have them out of the bedroom - this is probably contributing to this downsizing thing. I don't have a separate room, and I'm not in college anymore.
The loose figures will never go away though, those still bring me a great deal of joy to collect.
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In a charitable sense I might also suggest that the really craptastic stuff you'll have a hard time selling for even a buck would make a great donation at this time of year to a gifts-for-kids program of some sort. That's my plan for some of the stuff that's not worth the hassle of listing/shipping for minimal return.
Great idea! We may look at, say, a Episode I Jedi Duel Qui-Gon as crap, but I'm sure there's little kids out there who'd love to get one.
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Great idea! We may look at, say, a Episode I Jedi Duel Qui-Gon as crap, but I'm sure there's little kids out there who'd love to get one.
Yep, blind kids.
Bad joke, I know but I feel fiesty today.
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Well I laughed. :D
But I bet you have a loose one in your collection.
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I'd be very happy to give away all of the ones that don't have any value.
Only right now I'm hoping that this has value as a set - so if I do decide to sell them, and I'm unable to sell them as a unit, and there doesn't seem to be any reason to break it up like POTF, E1, POTJ, SAGA, etc..., then I'll probably give 200 or more away.
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In a charitable sense I might also suggest that the really craptastic stuff you'll have a hard time selling for even a buck would make a great donation at this time of year to a gifts-for-kids program of some sort. �That's my plan for some of the stuff that's not worth the hassle of listing/shipping for minimal return. �
Please consider:
http://www.pswcs.com/toydrive/
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Everyone should consider that - any massive donations from me won't happen until next holiday season though.
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Donating to a charitable cause for Christmas to make any child happy is the way to go. This year I'm dumpimg a bit of my modern crap to Santas Anonymous at TRU. :-*
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Donating to a charitable cause for Christmas to make any child happy is the way to go. This year I'm dumpimg a bit of my modern crap to Santas Anonymous at TRU. :-*
As long as you don't donate that avatar of your's, I'm all for it.
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No worries, the avatar stays. ;)
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You could donate the avatar to me this Christmas...
That's not your sister, though, is it? I wouldn't want to impede on any family traditions.
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I downsized my carded collection. I started off selling most of it on forum boards then took the ones that didnt get any interest to ebay and the ones I don't sell on there will be going to Toys For Tots this year.
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Rob, I have sold just about all of my modern stuff in the past couple of years. With the exception of one botched transaction for Ep I stuff, everything went pretty smooth.
I divided all my stuff into lines, POTF2, Ep I, POTJ, and Saga. The Saga went first when I was selling followed by POTJ, POTF2, and Ep I, which I still have now. I sold all of the stuff on eBay, knowing I wouldn't get all my money back, but happy to get something for it and get it out of my house. If you want to sell fastest, put an entire line on ebay with a decent BIN and you may get some people to bite.
Otherwise, I suggest do as someone else (Bill maybe?) suggested and divide the stuff into lots of 10-20 or just donate some of them to a kids program for Christmas. I'll be donating much of my Ep I to the Marine Corps Toys for Tots.
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I say hell with it, Rob. You don't have anything to lose by throwing the whole kit and kaboodle up there on eBay for $3000 or whatever. Maybe some rich dude will want to give himself a Christmas present.
If it doesn't work out, you lose the listing fee (I haven't eBayed anything for awhile, so I don't know what that's climbed to), and you can go back and get rid of things by individual figure or lot by lot.
I also had an accumulation of a bunch of carded stuff I didn't want anymore, but I just hate the eBay process so much that I gave it all to the son of the lady who cleaned our offices.
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As horrible as it may sound I'm just going to get rid of a lot on an upcoming garage sale for dirt cheap. We are moving in January/February and a lot must go since we are going to a smaller home. Plus, I'm tired of having a bunch of "stuff" sitting around.