Mara Jade - what's she worth?

[Mitsukara]

Ah, I come to rant once more on my favorite subject. Actually, not really.

I'm curious, though; eBay tends to overprice most SW figures except the normal POTF2 line and such, it seems. Mara Jade loose has gone for at least $16 every time I watched, and on card at least $20. There's buy-it-now stores that have carded ones for like $40, but that's just bogus.

But after someone else mentioned to me that a store in LA carried the EU figure set and she (maybe all of them were, dunno) was about $17 there. So I'm wondering, is $16-$17 some kind of universal price that's on 99% of Mara Jades these days? Are cheaper ones absolute flukes, or is this figure just in the more vicious part of a price cycle ATM?

I'm just curious. I'm pretty sure I'm going to try to make my own custom- someone pointed me to a good head for Mara and the parts combined will probably cost less than the official figure would.

Also, from those who own one, how much do you think the figure is worth? It looks like she's got pretty good sculpting and detailing, and I haven't seen any samples with bad paintjobs; the only problems seem to be that the area where the head meets the neck looks kinda lame like it did on Dagobah Luke, and that she has typical POTF2-style articulation (as most figures did in 1998).

Thanks for any input Sorry if this is like 40% of what I talk about here...

[Gatillo]

Value is extremely relative.  She was a nice figure for the time, to have but she does not compare to today's articulation wants and standards. 

Still if this is the item you want the most then she is extremely valuable to you and you most decide how far you are willing to go.  I got her for $8 online years and years ago.  Honestly I have no idea of was the average sale value for this figure is but paying more than $20 to $25 for a figure (any figure) kinda makes you a sucker in my book.  After all these are little pieces of plastic, not precious metals.

Then again one's holy grail, well...

[Lestat]

I got a loose Mara for 12.00 w/ a BIN on Ebay. You can get her for a relatively decent price if you're vigilant (and an opener). I think she'a a pretty decent figure. She's not all big and bulky like other females in that line, she actually fits pretty well with the newer stuff (despite, of course the  lack of articulation). I thought she was a worthwhile buy.

[Darth_Anton]

If you're patient and shop around, you can get a great deal on her. I have seen BIN's on Ebay for all those EU figures for $4-$5 a peice. Some people either don't know anything about them, or don't care.

[Ackbar]

I think I paid "$15-ish" for her MOC, on EBay, but that was at least 4-5 years ago.  (might have gotten ripped off, from the sound of it :oops: )

[Jesse James]

I got mine from the Fan Club for right around the same price, so I wouldn't say that.  They were $10 or so on the FC store plus shipping...  Pricey.  I got the EU in one large set there at least though.  Saved some that way.

[Morgbug]

I got mine from the Fan Club for right around the same price, so I wouldn't say that.  They were $10 or so on the FC store plus shipping...  Pricey.  I got the EU in one large set there at least though.  Saved some that way.

I thought they were even higher than that Jesse, around $15 initially.  And weren't they sold in two packs at one time?  Not physically tied together, but you had to buy Mara and ________, not just Mara? 

I'm still missing that damn Darktrooper to this day.  I'll get it eventually, I'm just so darn cheap.

[Jesse James]

I can't recall now...  I know I got all my EU at one time though as I never saw them in a store.  I've read things at some sites where people say if you looked you'd find these, but I know for a fact Pittsburgh got very few in at any store so these werne't anything that you just had to look hard for...  They were non-existant in some areas, mine in particular.

I think mine were $10-ish but I could be wrong on that Brent.  I do know they were tied in bundles though, not individual at first.  Later on you could get Katarn and the Darktrooper alone but I know I got my Mara with Thrawn and others in a "set" or some such.

Wait, nix that i got Katarn in that same bundle, it was the Space and Darktrooper that came as a pair later...  ANd were subsequently the hardest 2 of the EU to find.  I got THrawn, Luke, Emperor, Mara, Sentinel in their own bundle though.

[Mitsukara]

Wow... here I thought this figure started out as a $6 item and was priced the way it is solely because of it's rarity. Seems these were always expensive...

Hasbro really needs to revisit this idea, badly, methinks. I appreciate the existance of Scorch and such, but there's real money to be made (obviously, since sellers on eBay are doing plenty of it) with figures based on the more popular novel characters. And as this line demonstrated, it's not that hard to mix making a few popular unique characters with what Hasbro is doing in The Saga Collection- making figures seemingly not just because of interest in the character, but because it's something that fits in closely with what was seen in the movies.

I mean, really; why not make more imperial officers who are specifically EU characters, variants of our film heroes, and a sprinkling of unique characters like Mara Jade and Corran Horn and such?

And yes, I know there's absolutely nothing original in this sentiment/statement. All the more to argue for it :/

Part of me still wants to cave and buy the $20 Mara, but I really can't afford it, and after looking around there are some really good parts (when one goes including Joe parts that is) for making a custom figure that would really be just about as good... but I'd buy a new $7 TSC Mara in an instant, or even more than one for making customs (something I'm usually too cheap to do).

[jokabofe]

Technically, all of the EU figures - even the "rare and expensive" ones - were originally sold for $6 each in stores. If you were lucky enough to find them. I was not. I think this was right around the time that Hasbro really started messing up with their distribution, because if I remember correctly this was the first time I couldn't find a single figure at retail.

I ended up getting mine the same way JesseJames did - from the fan club. The figures were sold in sets - but not all of them. I remember buying Mara Jade/Kyle Katarn, Spacetrooper/Darktrooper, Luke/Emperor, Thrawn/Imperial Guard. Each 2 pack was $19.99 - basically $10 each. That IMO accounts for the 'premium' price that is applied to just about all of these EU figures right now. I don't honestly know of anyone who found them in a store.

[Jesse James]

Yeah I hear tell of these stories of EU figures on clearance out west, haha...  They were definitely out at retail, but man they didn't get out much.  I know one guy locally who found them at a TRU and bought the only ones he saw.  He didn't get a complete set even...  Nobody else was able to find anything and wound up like me buying them at the Fan Club store.

Price raping isn't anything new to the FC.

[TheBlackDog65]

I got 2 each of the EU on clearance when TRU got the POTF2 stuff in back in 1999 or so.  So yes, they did hit out West here on clearance. I acutally got more of Kyle than anyone, and just traded a Kyle, a Clone Emeperor, and a GA Thrawn for some items that I wanted. What frustrates me is I can find one of my loose Mara's, but know I have one or two more and cannot find em. I hate moving! I know its been a year and I need to take the time to finish unloading the boxes downstairs but life just keeps getting in the way.

[Jedi Idej]

I found all but the Darktrooper and Space Trooper at Target just as the stocker was putting out toys. It's been so long ago, but I want to say they were only $5 each, though they might have been $6.

I vaguely remember hearing about people finding the EU figs on clearance at TRU. I didn't find any, and in hindsight, was actually glad to have paid for the FC's Bobby Trippe special on the Darktrooper and Space Trooper.

added: The price for Mara Jade has fluctuated. I remember seeing them sell on eBay in the mid-$20s and dip to the low teens. Typically, I've seen them hover in the mid- to high- teens.

[hcmv007]

I've seen her go for the high 30's early 40's packaged, and about 8-12 for her loose around here.  Just lucky I got 2 of her.

[bamaker]

I got 2 each of the EU on clearance when TRU got the POTF2 stuff in back in 1999 or so.  So yes, they did hit [...]

They hit in the Dallas, TX, area, too.  I remember walking into a TRU around the lunch hour and finding an entire bin full of EU figures, priced for $2.98 each.   They looked like they had been picked over as about 80% of the figures were either Luke, Emperor, or Kyle; but I was able to score 2 each of the Dark Trooper and Spacetrooper, and an extra Mara (long since traded away).   This TRU was on the south side of Dallas, the notoriously bad side of town (according to local media, but really not bad at all), and that may be why the figures were still sitting there at noon.