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Minifigures and their Secondary Market Value
samiam391
Member Posts: 4,506
With the blessing of the moderators on these forums, I've been granted the ability of being able to start a minifigure thread, similar to that of the "Predictions on Discontinuing Sets and their Secondary Market Value" that has been one of the most popular threads on Brickset for over a year.
I've noticed an increase of minifigure collectors on these forums, so I figure it is about time we kick start our own little thread here.
This thread is meant to discuss the many aspects of minifigures, including what people think about specific minifigures coming out in new sets, as well as previous ones. It can be any theme of minifigures, CMF, Star Wars, Super Hero, Exclusive, etc.. Whichever you have questions about or thoughts on... just as long as it is a minifigure!
I hope to see this thread take a direction of discussing minifigures as potential/current/past investments. However, I realize it's Brickset, and this thread will probably go wherever that its members choose :-)
But, with this general idea in mind, what minifigures do you all believe will be future "winners", which are being undervalued currently, and which ones in the past were overlooked and may be prepared to make a comeback? :-)
I've noticed an increase of minifigure collectors on these forums, so I figure it is about time we kick start our own little thread here.
This thread is meant to discuss the many aspects of minifigures, including what people think about specific minifigures coming out in new sets, as well as previous ones. It can be any theme of minifigures, CMF, Star Wars, Super Hero, Exclusive, etc.. Whichever you have questions about or thoughts on... just as long as it is a minifigure!
I hope to see this thread take a direction of discussing minifigures as potential/current/past investments. However, I realize it's Brickset, and this thread will probably go wherever that its members choose :-)
But, with this general idea in mind, what minifigures do you all believe will be future "winners", which are being undervalued currently, and which ones in the past were overlooked and may be prepared to make a comeback? :-)
14
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Comments
I'm curious to know where the Comic-con TMNT figures might go,they're currently rather expensive so will there way go up or down?
It's stating the obvious; I know, but I'm still having bags of fun turning them up in the most unusual of places. Easiest minifigure to feel, combined with the highest current value of the series makes him a winner in my books!
I also think that CMF series 8 Santa will climb in value each year, especially around Xmas. Also very easy to feel for the figure and be able to sell them sealed. I can see them being worth at least £15 next Xmas.
What does everyone think of the 3 figures in Wolverines chopper? This set was on clearance recently around here for $15. That's pretty cheap for a set with 3 unique and desirable characters that so far are only available in this set, and last I heard a Deadpool movie was in the works.
Will TLG mark future licensing milestones by hiding figures in sets or continue newer tactics and use exclusive figures to encourage consumers to spend during certain months of the year?
@jasonord69a, I would be surprised if S8 Santa will reach that much for the very reason he was easy to feel and many people will have stocked up for reselling at Christmas. Popular yes but maybe not S1 Zombie prices. IMHO.
Takes time and effort but in essence it can fund your minifig collecting.
S1 Zombie (and lesser extent clown and forestman, cheerleader)
S2 Spartan (disco / pharaoh)
S3 Elf (gorilla / samurai)
S4 Viking (hazmat / musketeer)
S5 Dwarf (gladiator / royal guard)
S6 Roman (highlander / bandit / liberty)
S7 no stand out (knight / galaxy patrol / aztec / bunny)
S8 no stand out (but Santa seasonal, conquistador, bat, businessman, cheerleader, actor, all reasonable)
S9 Forest maiden, knight (mech, alien avenger, cop)
Most of those are army builders, which is why people want them in volume, which is why they are harder to get hold of. None of them are going to be worth huge sums though, except the zombie - even then not really huge sums. The future value will probably be in selling whole armies. If you have 20x dwarfs to sell, they will sell well as a group. I can see the business man going for $5-6 but not much higher, since alternatives are available in the city line. Same with soldiers, vikings, etc. There will always be sets out every few years that keep prices for those in check.
The exceptions to the army builders have generally wide appeal - Santa at Christmas, Liberty in the USA.
There are of course others that I have missed out with specific appeal - hockey player, footballer (both soccer and US football) - which may be highly collectable for some, but haven't actually done that well.
It also depends what new sets come out. If LEGO produces a mythology set and it has a copy of the spartan in it, I expect his price will slide a little. The same could happen to any of the army builders, since it cuts out the people wanting volume. If a cheap(er) variation comes along, it is easier to build an army with that instead. This has happened a little with the zombie. I've noticed the same with S2 vampyre and S4 monster and S4 crazy scientist - prices have gone down slightly for these since MF came along. Witch is fairly cheap now too, compared to what it was. Santa is the best Santa there has been. He will do well unless he comes out in another set - although it appears that this years Xmas / seasonal sets will have an old style pirate-bandana hat Santa in.
That said, I doubt any of them will ever go very high in value, simply because they were so widely available at release, and available worldwide and not really time restricted like promos are.
I think there should be an emphasis on slowly rise in price.. however I think after a few years, he should pick up pace a bit as people forget just how mass produced he really was.
He could start to pick up the same enthusiasm as Chrome C-3PO (not near in price of course), since he is almost a carbon copy of him (minus them pesky wires sticking out).
The Nurse is actually commands higher prices than the Clown or Forestman. I just sold one a few weeks ago. I have no idea why???
I think that is why you find some prices higher than others for some CMFs over others (excluding rarity), is practicality. Which scenes or LEGO setups will/can they be utilized for?
I'm quite certain there are more LEGO hospitals than forests or circuses/parties :-)
Any thoughts on the Chrome C-3PO? I'd love to hear your all's thoughts on this piece. It was at a very rapid exponential growth, and has slowed down as of lot. Anyone think it has plateaued, or if it will continue to go up?
http://www.brickset.com/detail/?set=79006-1
Council of Elrond.
However, his torso/leg/(possibly face) art will be different. Which should keep the "collectibility" and rarity of the current Elrond poly steady. It's a nice figure.
The clowns seem to be sought after - and some people do have armies of them! I have a few I use for circus MOCs, when combined with pieces from the S5 clown, there are quite a few possible combinations to make them look different. The forestman is also quite popular as an army builder, fits in well with medieval soldiers for a Robin Hood style pack of bandits.
For the earlier sets, I think the price is determined by people wanting to complete sets, rather than for figures for MOCs. Many of the earlier ones have been repeated to some extent, or variations are out there in other sets, to make cheaper options elsewhere. Which is especially important if you want a dozen or more.
I think LOTR figures will go up in price after a few years
I do keep new ones if I don't have them - I don't have any Hobbit ones as yet, and will probably get them once the sets are on discount - but ones that are duplicates I will sell off. You only need so many Lukes, Hans, R2s, etc.
That said, it is hard to stop with the soldiers. I promised myself to stop at 64 Romans. But that idea was soon broken.
Most of the time they fight barbarians made from highlander torsos and legs. They outnumber them 2:1 as well, so it's an easy victory.
^^ It really depends who you are selling to. CMFs tend to sell better one-by-one at the time of release, going to people collecting them all. Later on, small groups sell well. Other minifigs, it totally depends what they are. If they are likely to sell, it doesn't really matter. Although it's hardly worth the bother selling, for example, one city minifig or a SW droid or rebel. Better to groups those together in a lot worth £10-20.
If it is an army figure, such as your roman which you have already provided as an example, than I've found it better to sell in lots of 10.
A nice example (yet another) would be that I had two listings a few months ago. One for a lot of 10 Romans ($90), the other to buy Romans individually ($10 a piece. The lot of 10 Romans (although $1 cheaper for each Roman) sold very fast. I than put up another lot of them, and again it was off the eBay site in a relatively fast time.
Another figure, using a figure such as Darth Vader, wouldn't really sell well in a lot. I don't really know anyone looking to complete their Imperial scene with 10 Darth Vaders, when one suffices.
A lame example with the Darth Vader, but I'm sure you get where I'm going with it.
Carrying over from another thread, where we had a small discussion on production quantities of promotional SW figures, I've been meaning to ask you out of interest in all TLG promotons and associated releases what reference or source did you use to know there are 10,500 chrome C3-P0 figures produced?
I never hold much credence in the numbers that float about for every promotion, even with the limited qauntity printed on the outer packaging for this figure I've always assumed there were more of these produced and/or 'escaped' than the 10,000 used in the promotion. Perhaps either employee/corporate gifts or extras run off at the production facility.
But apart from your post I've never actually seen someone directly reference another production number.
But for builders like @CCC I would fully expect LEGO to supplement the figures that lend themselves to being used in large number like the Roman and the Knights to add diversity to large armies. Maybe not often, but enough?? Maybe for those who keep track of secondary market values on figures it may level out the value of the core/original soldier/figure?
As for CMFs covering a lot of genres and themes not present in the standard core ranges, the one figure(s) that a lot of AFOL's would snap up would be a 'modern' soldier,as there seems to be a big market in customs. Now we know TLG would never go down that avenue, but it will be interesting to see in forthcoming series how 'close' they come in timeline terms (18th, 19th century etc..) and at what points in history it is acceptable to represent in figure form.
@kempo81
IMO the Hulk figure is very underated compared to other promotional figures and is a very nice companion piece to the larger character Hulk figure. It's nice to have a choice and be offered a genuine alternative figure not just an alternative print.
http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/comment/11079/#Comment_11079
True, in every aspect the Royal Guard is a modern soldier, but I also don't identify with him as such. The same is also true of the German figures from the IJ theme, although again a 'modern' soldier, I don't tend to identify with the figure as such as history tells and how they are portrayed in the films themselves.
Have you pictures of anything you have built with your Romans?
@rocao
Thanks, nice little nugget on info on this item. And pretty definitive really, aint gonna get a better answer!! I always read @davee123 posts (post more!!) with great interest but must have missed this one.
As far as "modern" soldiers go, I understand Legos stance, but again they created an Alien Abduction theme. They have a Space Soldier in the CMF line. I think that is closer to a present day soldier than a soldier from WWII.