Subject:
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Re: Minifig values (warning: kinda long post)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.appraisal
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Date:
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Fri, 11 Aug 2000 21:04:31 GMT
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Viewed:
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1318 times
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In lugnet.market.appraisal, Paul Sinasohn writes:
> Does anyone know of a guide to minifig values - even a relative ranking (Ice
> Planet and Forest women being the most valuable, Timmy the least) would be
> helpful.
A relative ranking might be fun to compile, but you know that it will lead to
disagreements across theme lines and because of personal preferences. I'd
place Sebulba at the bottom of the list, but then he isn't nearly as
ubiquitous as our dear lego pal, Timmy (then again Etoys/KB/ZanyBrainy/etc. is
currently dumping those Pod Race sets for like $45 USD!). At the top of the
list might be the white hat castle maiden.
Interestingly, certain elements may be rarer than the minfigs that they
comprise as a whole. Take the white castle maiden hat again, or perhaps even
the grey pigtail wig. Someone around here is obsessed with pitchforks, so
maybe that element is a hassle to obtain too.
Then there is the problem of distinguishing what may be truly rare over that
which is merely highly desired by particular persons. I would have thought
BTI hard to collect, but in the end collecting sets and minis was no
significant trouble at all. I have something like 40 original BTI minis,
besides another 40-60 mini clones I have constructed myself from other bits
and adhesive stickers for the torso printing. [for a hint of the fun
obtainable with adhesive stickers see:
http://members.aol.com/blueofnoon/lego/blaktron.htm]
I have heard some people have stopped auctioning and parting sets out because
of Lego Direct, or perhaps as I suspect because everything one wants is
ultimately available via the internet and prices ARE falling -- all it takes
to score ANYTHING is patience and some cash, less cash if you can be even more
patient. Some one Lugnet individual noted having 10 MISB copies of some set
like 6086. How rare does this make that set? I have three open copies myself
amongst my lego collective, not MISB, but two of the sets were in such
pristine condition when I received them that I defy anyone to assert that the
parts were even used. [I will admit to having some trouble obtaining the white
dragon feathers though...]
Yellow castle, which has never appealed to me that much, is asserted to be a
very rare set. I expect the minis are presumed very desirable and valuable
also. And yet I see this set for auction almost continually. I see that the
set recently sold on Ebay Germany for around $70, and around $175 USD on Ebay
U.S. -- both prices a far cry from the the value many have previously assumed
of this set. I recently rejected an offer for Guarded Inn (with the red hat
maiden and the Guarded Inn sign) for around $80. I trust the seller -- I just
thought it was too much cash for stuff I essentially already had. [see Poor
Richard's GI Variant with White Tudor Walls at:
http://members.aol.com/blueofnoon/lego/gi/givariant.html]
I used to think that the Lego Carribean Clipper had that "rare" set appeal.
Recent Ebay prices range from $46-76 USD, not much more than 10-20 cents a
brick. And its been like that for around a year or more -- and sets just keep
appearing! Yeah, but it's REALLY rare though, right? "This may be your last
chance to own this one..."
Uh huh...
I would have presumed Darth Vader fairly rare last year -- this year he is
available in a $5 set! See? Patience...
What I'd like to see and would be FAR more valuable perhaps would be for TLC
to release information regarding set runs. [as if...right?] Having the numbers
in which a particular set was made would give us all a better sense of
valuations overall. There is the question of "surviving sets," that is the
sets that remain available and undamaged after having been played with,
melted, run over with tricycles, etc. But then again, no valuation method is
going to be perfect.
Lastly, I'd like to make one analogy with another market that has a far
tighter basis for collectability -- comic books! With comic books you can
trace the date of the book very specifically (unlike Lego elements), and often
the run (#s printed) of the book as well. Todd McFarland's Spiderman #1 sold
originally for cover price and, if memory serves, with five variant covers --
the run was something like 1 1/2 - 2 million copies including all variant
covers. Within mere months, I was seeing some of the variant cover issues
being sold at ridiculous prices. Most people I knew had at least one reading
copy. What I found intriguing about this was that the comic book market was
estimated at that time to be no larger than 600-700 thousand readers (and now
probably far less than even that seemingly small number). What this means is
that anyone who wanted one reading copy probably HAD that one reading copy --
the rest was mere hype and/or speculation. Go to eBay item #388129593 and
check the price for some 10 mint green bagged copies right now (they
supposedly guide for $50 total -- oooo, ahhhh) -- yeah, but at $12 they had no
takers! They went unsold! What are they REALLY worth? Not a lot...! I
recently sent a copy of Miller's Ronin #1 to a fellow Lugnut "gratis." It
used to be valued at around $20 or so. Go check the current Ebay price. The
book is probably worth less than the postage it requires to mail it to someone
and keep it flat and in good shape. Am I nuts? Don't I worry that the price
of this book might go up? Maybe...
But them's the facts, my fellow Lugnuts (emphasis on the "nuts" part. We pay
high prices when we simply MUST have the set. I know I have done this, but
that's all it is...there is not so much that is truly rare lego-wise except
some pre-80s stuff that I am personally not likely to want anyway. And its
rare because not that many other persons wanted that stuff either. Hence,
they didn't value it or keep it in good shape. Then again, it's not my market
of interest so I am by no means an expert on it...
There are some real logistical problems to creating a mini valuation list
based on anything but whimsy. The presumption of rarity may be just that -- a
presumption. People buy at a price they are willing to pay and based upon how
quickly they'd like to obtain the item. That's about it. Y'all can dispute my
assertions, but I will insist that I already know the market fairly well even
though I can't always remember all the set numbers as some of y'all can.
Just my two cents though...
-- Richard
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Minifig values (warning: kinda long post)
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| In lugnet.market.appraisal, Richard Marchetti writes: <SNIP> a whole lot...and very well thought out it was. Richard, my nefarious hidden agenda is simply to try and figure out (no pun intended) what minifigs to keep and which to dump. The beauty of (...) (24 years ago, 11-Aug-00, to lugnet.market.appraisal)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Minifig values
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| Does anyone know of a guide to minifig values - even a relative ranking (Ice Planet and Forest women being the most valuable, Timmy the least) would be helpful. What about accessories? animals? Maybe we could create one, grouped by theme, (...) (24 years ago, 11-Aug-00, to lugnet.market.appraisal)
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