anonym0use
11/01/2010, 11:31
I'm thinking of writing an article on value and wondering what figures have kept their financial value through the years?
As I see it there's a number of factors playing into financial value - which is at its base, what people are willing to pay to own. Sentimental value is another thing entirely, and hard to rate on a wide scale.
I see financial value stemming from rarity first - the more exclusive a piece, the higher the value. Of course some items are almost too rare - collectors and completists can't hope to own *every* single paint master, much less one of a kind figures like The Spider or the Stan Lee prize from Emerald City Comic Con. From my perspective, value starts at a Chase level rarity, followed by variations (WoS Nightcrawler), with Convention Exclusives and LEs ranking slightly higher than SRs (given that SR's are available through over the counter purchases, but LEs & Con figures have to be bought or won).
But where do brick figures tie in? Some are numbered, others are not. It seems like while Brick figures are somewhat rare (limited to +5000?) they would still be more plentiful than many SRs (given a case count of ~10,000 per modern age set, with about half of any sets SR in a case).
Aside from rarity I see two other factors determining price. First is power level. Power pieces always demand a higher going rate - the point and click crowd love the Power Cosmic TA, or in the case of Crisis - the Uber-Supermen. Anything with a 300+ point value is sure to turn some heads, as is the ability to do something no other figure can. LE Susan Richards & Cosmic Spider-Man could shoot through walls.
And then there's the matter of character popularity affecting value as well. Hippolyta was questionably the cheapest figure from Origin, behind the Quintessence TA Wizard Shazam, and the Wild Card abusers Lois & Alfred. If the character or variations of characters (Marvel Zombies) aren't easily available through other means it drives price as well.
Add any three of the factors: Rarity, Power level, popularity and you increase a figures cost.
But it makes me wonder about figures like Victor Creed, which I see priced ~ $100.
Powerful? Not especially. Not game breaking like some.
Popular? I suppose. There are plenty of other variations though.
Rare? I guess.
How rare is Victor Creed that he can justify a C-note price tag? Will his price hold in the coming of GSX?
As I see it there's a number of factors playing into financial value - which is at its base, what people are willing to pay to own. Sentimental value is another thing entirely, and hard to rate on a wide scale.
I see financial value stemming from rarity first - the more exclusive a piece, the higher the value. Of course some items are almost too rare - collectors and completists can't hope to own *every* single paint master, much less one of a kind figures like The Spider or the Stan Lee prize from Emerald City Comic Con. From my perspective, value starts at a Chase level rarity, followed by variations (WoS Nightcrawler), with Convention Exclusives and LEs ranking slightly higher than SRs (given that SR's are available through over the counter purchases, but LEs & Con figures have to be bought or won).
But where do brick figures tie in? Some are numbered, others are not. It seems like while Brick figures are somewhat rare (limited to +5000?) they would still be more plentiful than many SRs (given a case count of ~10,000 per modern age set, with about half of any sets SR in a case).
Aside from rarity I see two other factors determining price. First is power level. Power pieces always demand a higher going rate - the point and click crowd love the Power Cosmic TA, or in the case of Crisis - the Uber-Supermen. Anything with a 300+ point value is sure to turn some heads, as is the ability to do something no other figure can. LE Susan Richards & Cosmic Spider-Man could shoot through walls.
And then there's the matter of character popularity affecting value as well. Hippolyta was questionably the cheapest figure from Origin, behind the Quintessence TA Wizard Shazam, and the Wild Card abusers Lois & Alfred. If the character or variations of characters (Marvel Zombies) aren't easily available through other means it drives price as well.
Add any three of the factors: Rarity, Power level, popularity and you increase a figures cost.
But it makes me wonder about figures like Victor Creed, which I see priced ~ $100.
Powerful? Not especially. Not game breaking like some.
Popular? I suppose. There are plenty of other variations though.
Rare? I guess.
How rare is Victor Creed that he can justify a C-note price tag? Will his price hold in the coming of GSX?