Minifigures and their Secondary Market Value

Pitfall69

^Are there any Harry Potter minifigures that are $50 now?

sidersdd

^
hp080 Professor Delores Umbridge
hp049 Professor Trelawney
hp070 Mad-Eye Moody
hp060 Dumbledore is close (~$40)

Pitfall69

^Very good. I don't know much about the individual minifigures.

CCC

I just posted this on the toy fair thread too ...



from here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28341393@N00/8409006389/sizes/l/in/photostream/

cardgenius

waltonad said:

I'm after the Bane Minifigure from set 7787. He rarely is listed on eBay, and the price of set 7787 has gone through the roof recently. His price on Bricklink is expensive as well.

Is he rare, or is it just me? What price should I be looking to pay in £s?

It is definitely a rare figure. I've been looking to get one lately and they usually sell for around $100 usd.

BrickDancer

^Agreed, all I wanted was Bane but ended up having to buy a whole used set just to get him at a decent price. Really don't understand why he's climbing so high and fast. Same for Nightwing and Alfred, getting ridiculous nowadays.

prevere

Golden Figure updates for Series 10. Only 5,000 to be made. And themed CMF series coming...

http://www.thebrickfan.com/lego-collectible-minifigures-series-10-news/

Joseph

^ Umm... did you see ^^^^? :-)

prevere

Posted a little too fast. My bad.

CCC

prevere said:

And themed CMF series coming...

It doesn't say that. It says multiple theme offerings ... which is exactly what every other CMF has been. A series with mutilple themes in. Which can interact with the other core lego themes.

samiam391

This is incredibly intriguing.

So are the chrome figures completely unique and not merely chromed versions of the series 10 minifigures?

Samuel

CCC

^ I don't think anyone knows.

samiam391

CCC said:

^ I don't think anyone knows.

Yes, it was sort of a rhetorical/thinking out loud question. it will be intriguing to see if LEGO releases this information at one of the two upcoming toy fairs.

With a number like 5,000, you'd have to assume it's a unique figure.

Pitfall69

^Are they even chrome?

CCC

^ I don't think anyone knows.

That answer will be used a lot ...!

recordman

Here we go….just like Mattel did with Hot Wheels. Each case of 96 common cars had 1 or 2 "special" cars, the ubiquitous Treasure Hunt. Which led to years of door busting and racing down aisles to get to the pegs. Then sneaking into the back of the stores to rifle through cases and strip them of Hunts.

It all led to greater HW sales, (which is what Lego is expecting as well). All the while Mattel kept increasing the total number of Hunts produced until they were as common as dirt.

Then, guess what….they created a SUPER HUNT that was even harder to get that only insiders ever saw……and on and on.

The only saving grace for Lego is that the packages are not marked (hopefully, they will look the same as regular packs). Mattel's blister packs boldly announced TREASURE HUNT and you could see the special car.

I understand business is business. This is why I don't let myself fall in love with a company, thinking how wonderful they are. Don't get me wrong, it is an excellent firm with great customer service and such, but….

Bottom line rules, and if minifies bring in the bucks then, by gar, we'll get figs out the arse.

Just my two cents, Andy

Pitfall69

^I'm reserving most of my opinions until we know exactly all the information pertaining to the "golden" minifigure.

Pitfall69

As far as Lego is concerned. TLG is a business that is in business to make money. They aren't offering a service to the public. All businesses are always looking for more ways to be more profitable.

Tevans333

recordman said:

Here we go….just like Mattel did with Hot Wheels. Each case of 96 common cars had 1 or 2 "special" cars, the ubiquitous Treasure Hunt. Which led to years of door busting and racing down aisles to get to the pegs. Then sneaking into the back of the stores to rifle through cases and strip them of Hunts.

It all led to greater HW sales, (which is what Lego is expecting as well). All the while Mattel kept increasing the total number of Hunts produced until they were as common as dirt.

Then, guess what….they created a SUPER HUNT that was even harder to get that only insiders ever saw……and on and on.

The only saving grace for Lego is that the packages are not marked (hopefully, they will look the same as regular packs). Mattel's blister packs boldly announced TREASURE HUNT and you could see the special car.

I understand business is business. This is why I don't let myself fall in love with a company, thinking how wonderful they are. Don't get me wrong, it is an excellent firm with great customer service and such, but….

Bottom line rules, and if minifies bring in the bucks then, by gar, we'll get figs out the arse.

Just my two cents, Andy

We can only guess how this may play out, but remember, this isn't the first time Lego has done something like this. Chrome C3PO and Chrome Vader come to mind.

Goldchains

I have the Lex Luthor polybag that was given out as a preorder to the Lego Batman 2 game. It seems to have levelled out in value at the moment. Do you think this will rise? Or stay the same?

Zacherano

@sidersdd - This seems like a pretty strong list (posted January 23), though it is likely still too early to tell. I would agree with all of these choices, except I'm not so sure about the Ron fig; however, the 2004 Hermione with time turner has turned out to be somewhat valuable, and she appeared in multiple sets. I would add the Mon Calamari Jedi Padawan Nahdar Vebb from #8095 and the Battle Damaged Anakin Skywalker from #8096, along with the Wampa and Luke from #8089. As time passes, we will be able to see whether these predictions are sound.

CCC

Goldchains said:

I have the Lex Luthor polybag that was given out as a preorder to the Lego Batman 2 game. It seems to have levelled out in value at the moment. Do you think this will rise? Or stay the same?

It has levelled since the game is still available with the figure. Give it a few years and it will rise again if MISB. He's a popular villain and unlikely to be repeated in that costume.

Hemel

CCC said:

Goldchains said:

I have the Lex Luthor polybag that was given out as a preorder to the Lego Batman 2 game. It seems to have levelled out in value at the moment. Do you think this will rise? Or stay the same?

It has levelled since the game is still available with the figure. Give it a few years and it will rise again if MISB. He's a popular villain and unlikely to be repeated in that costume.

Any directions to as to where I can still get one of these as i missed out on that pre-release.

thxs

CCC

^ In the UK, amazon have them.

MinifiguresPlus

Still, with a number like 5,000, I would expect that any sane person would not be sifting through all their local TRU's packets for a chrome figure.

If every Walmart had 50 boxes and every TRU had 50 boxes that leaves 30 million packets distributed just in Walmart and TRU stores. I'm sure many of you would know better than I do, but even if they make up half the market, that is a .0000833 (1/12,000) chance you will get one every time you opened/felt a packet. If chance serves as chance, you'd have to invest about $36,000 before you 'probably' end up with one. And lets say each store was actually getting 4 times that many boxes...

And maybe I'm just throwing entirely irrelevant numbers out there. I suppose when I think about the 30th anniversary C-3PO, there may have been twice as many of them, but it sure didn't stop people from trying (taking extreme measures) to get one.


By the way, any thoughts on id'ing? They would have to have dots on them, correct? So would they just copy one of the 16 dot configurations ? (I suppose that question has to remain rhetorical.) Just a thought that was nagging at me a little.

cardgenius

sidersdd said:

Also some recent Star Wars figs, which don't appear to be resurfacing next year, and could potentially be bigger hits.

sw309 Shaak Ti (from #7931 T-6 Shuttle); lackluster set which always seemed on clearance, but nice looking fig

sw284 Aayla Secura (from #8098 Turbo Tank); nice wacky blue looking fig

Will these ever become $50+ figs in the market though?

It might be a couple years but I think both will get close. Aayla already sells for around $25 and Shaak isnt far behind at $15.

Im really curious to see what happens with Queen Amidala. She already sells for $20 and you can still buy that set in stores. I have a feeling she'll jump up in price once retired.

BrickDancer

^Yes she's a beauty! Only thing to worry about is her being placed again in a future set, i.e. Grievous. Even then, the price just stays flat ~$20 since they'll most likely place a nice fig like her in a big pricey set.

charlatan13

I should probably bite the cheaper bullet now and just bid on Amidala and Malgus now. I keep thinking about buying their respective sets but I really only want those two figures.

kwkw

charlatan13 said:

I should probably bite the cheaper bullet now and just bid on Amidala and Malgus now. I keep thinking about buying their respective sets but I really only want those two figures.

You should buy the Sith Fury Class Intercepter, it's a great set, best set in that wave in my opinion. A very fun build and you get some cool Sith Trooper figs along with Malgus. :)

mrtonytj

kwkw said:

You should buy the Sith Fury Class Intercepter, it's a great set, best set in that wave in my opinion. A very fun build and you get some cool Sith Trooper figs along with Malgus. :)

I wholeheartedly agree!!

charlatan13

I re-read the reviews and I guess I'll have to look at the set again in person (I think Target has one on display in a case). The lines just look off in the picture, but the reviews are all good. I also checked the reviews on the sub and noticed that the two Jedi have the breathers on the faces. Probably two more set purchases... I always enjoy the suggestions and the input from other members.

mrtonytj

^I just checked my own sub and they have dual faces.. One side normal and one side printed re-breathers.

TinKnockerHimes

Is there a price guide or any sites to look at minifig prices???

samiam391

eBay, completed listings. Always your best bet for accurate pricing.

Other sites that try to do a price guide for minifigures usually do not succeed at cataloging item condition.

cardgenius

BrickDancer said:

^Yes she's a beauty! Only thing to worry about is her being placed again in a future set, i.e. Grievous. Even then, the price just stays flat ~$20 since they'll most likely place a nice fig like her in a big pricey set.

Yeah, she really is a good looking figure. One of my favorites these last couple years.

Thats definitely something that would affect her value. I hope they dont. She was really the only reason to buy that set, IMO.

Tevans333

@samiam391 or anyone who may know, what's the history with sw175a? This is the Princess Leia figure that came in Tantive IV 10198, but apparently very few had smooth hair and seem to fetch ~$200?

samiam391

@Tevans333- sw175a, smooth haired Leia, is a misprint hair piece. She appeared in the first batch or so of 10198. LEGO saw their mistake, and quickly corrected it so that the set included the correct, more common, Leia.

Someone else reported that they found it in an X-wing set too, but that has yet to be completely confirmed.

They said they thought they had dozens of them. However, they never wrote back in to tell me if they actually had them or not.

That was a lot of "they"s... my sentences are awfully bland apparently.

Anyway,

Again, the only difference in the figure is the hair. Smooth versus lined.

Let me know if you'd like some pictures of it.

Tevans333

Thanks for the info. The reason I asked is that I was lucky enough to pick up a 10198 for a great deal of $135, but to my deilght is also had the smooth hair Leia in it:) I had no idea of the history of this variation, just knew that it existed.

To keep on topic then, it's currently at ~$200, is it topped out, or does it still have some upward potential?

samiam391

How about that, looks like 10198 paid for itself :-)

That should go in the "brag" thread!

It's topped. Hardly has budged, and if anything has gone down, in the past year.

BrickDancer

^Guess who just found a Smooth Hair Leia too? =D

Thanks for bringing the whole subject up @Tevans333. You're story sounded so much like mine, that I checked my #10198 also. Bought it unsealed but all inner bags sealed for $135. Checked to make sure all was there at the time, but put it away until just now when your story piqued my curiosity. Amazing Lego luck!

samiam391

@BrickDancer- Fantastic!

The only depressing part about all of this?

Mine is losing value as we speak! ;-)

BrickDancer

^This thread cuts both ways ;)

The hair piece does look peculiar doesn't it? Its still in the original sealed bags with other bricks, think its better to keep this way or remove and bag the fig separately?

Zacherano

Wow, I never realized that Smooth Hair Leia was actually an anomaly. I just thought it was an unusual, exclusive version only included in 10198. I bought the set shortly after it was released in autumn 2009, and sure enough, I now have a Smooth Hair Leia in my collection.

samiam391

@BrickDancer- Considering the 3 found in the last hour... open the bag ;-)

Pitfall69

I purchased the Tantive IV the day it was released from Lego. I'm wondering if I have the smooth hair as well. Is there any way to find out without opening the box? Is there a batch code on the seal that would be different than the corrected version?

Zon

With the new Jango coming out soon, do you guys think this will affect the classic (and awesome) 7153

I am leaning towards unaffected, but would love to hear other opinions.

Pitfall69

^It might take a slight dip, but it should still hold its own. I don't know if you can compare Action Figures to Lego Minifigures, but the first Jango is still a classic and collectors will still want it no matter how good the new one is.

Tevans333

With the New York Toy Fair only a couple weeks away, it got me wondering about last summers SDCC Super Hero Exclusives. These have been at the same levels since the Con for the most part. The previous years Green Lantern and Batman really shot up after last years con. Any thoughts on how last years may do over the next year?

Also, has anyone heard about any exclusives for NY Toy Fair 2013?

Brick_Obsession

^

The last item at the NYTF was not even in the same ball park as the Comic Con Exclusives. The Iron Man and Captain America are very high in price. I could easily say at least 4 times as much and still be conservative.

As for what, if anything being released it's been pretty quiet so far.

samiam391

@Tevans333- 2011 NYCC and SDCC were both limited to 1,500 copies at each Comic Con. So 3,000 for both Batman and Green Lantern (with minor variations).
2012 SDCC showcased the set of 4 figures, and were limited to 1,000 each. 2012 NYCC had a completely different figure, with Kraang (300), and Shadow Leonardo (500).

Give it time, and I'm sure you'll notice a slow change in price. The 2011 variants have a year of growth on the 2012 Comic Con figures. All they need is some time, and their more limited numbers, should push them on by eventually :-)