Many years from now which MOTUC item(s) will be most valuable?

[Stevan]

Ok MOTUC craziness is long gone and many years have passed which item(s) will be most valuable open or closed price wise. Everybody can give a serious list and one hilarious.

My silly list of valuable items:
Mighty Spector
Star Sisters
Baby Skeletor
She-ra polly pocket

Serious list
Fisto both open and closed
Sorceress both open and closed
Whiplash open and closed
Roboto open and closed
King He-man open and closed
Ram-man open and closed
Teela open and closed
Wundar open and closed
King Grayskull first edition open and closed

[Novelty]

Shadow Weaver
Teela
Fisto
Sorceress
King He-Man

[Captain Atkin]

Shadow Weaver
Teela
Fisto
Sorceress

[GREP-A-TOR]

Sorceress
Shadow Weaver
Fisto
Teela.

These will be valuable as more will break and reduce the overall quantity. I suspect there will be discoloring too.

Green Goddess
Roboto

[_RZ_]

When all is said and done, Bronze KG and Silver She-Ra will probably be the only ones worth any real money.

The regular figures won't be worth anything.

Most post-1990 toy lines aren't worth anything, and won't be worth anything, except in very rare circumstances. Once a line dies, so does interest, and prices fall. See Toy Biz, POTF2, etc.

[GREP-A-TOR]

There are exceptions, although this is pretty standard for most lines. GI JOE Club figures have shown to keep and increase value - although that line is technically still going - and the O-Ring figures are still very collectible although the line is dead.

Transformers - G1, foreign and Masterpiece.

Many people still collect the original MOTU figures, and though MOTUC has depressed the prices for them, they are still worth money.

I don't think we will ever see a Shadow Weaver for for less than $30.

[Stevan]

Nuts I did forget Shadow Weaver :bang:

[Eterni-or]

I reckon any that actually survive the aging process.

[_RZ_]

I reckon any that actually survive the aging process.

That is pretty damn valid as around 2008-2010 Mattel had lots of issues with all of their lines and the paint & plastic used. Some of the DC figures I have from that era are a mess, especially anything with clear or black plastic; even worse than some I have from the early 70's.

[Matthew L. Martin]

Scare Glow is probably going to be on the higher end of 'regular' figures as well.

[Draego-Man]

Cy-Chop
Spector
Double Mischef
Nepthu
Star Sisters
Dekker

[Mechanizor]

You forgot Plundor and Madame Raz! ;-)

[Draego-Man]

Oh yeah, especially Raz, what a gem of a figure!

[Croc-O-Bite!]

How about a Snout Spout with an un-cracked trunk?

[Shawn]

Unexploded Goddess
un-cracked Roboto and Scareglow

Really any of the critically flawed figures that miraculously survived will be worth a lot.

[_RZ_]

There are exceptions, although this is pretty standard for most lines. GI JOE Club figures have shown to keep and increase value - although that line is technically still going - and the O-Ring figures are still very collectible although the line is dead.

Transformers - G1, foreign and Masterpiece.

Many people still collect the original MOTU figures, and though MOTUC has depressed the prices for them, they are still worth money.

I don't think we will ever see a Shadow Weaver for for less than $30.

You're totally right, there are exceptions. And of course condition and MOC vs loose is always a factor as well.
I guess it also depends on what you'd consider "worth money."
I consider something to be "valuable" in the toy world if it sells for double, or more, than its retail price (adj for inflation of course) because if you're keeping something in your closet for 10+ years and actively keeping it mint, as well as it taking up space in your home... it has to *actually* be worth something significant to warrant it.

The GIJOE Club figures are not really the best example, as it's rumored they are made in even smaller numbers than MOTUC, and as you say the line is still going. It's impossible to really judge longtime value and interest in items that are currently "the bee's knees" If you want to use the GIJOE example, perhaps it's best to look at the 20th & 25th anniversary figures, as that line is "done"- and you'll see with few exceptions that the majority of figures sell for less than retail. If ten figures cost you $10 each, and one of them is worth $20 but the rest are worth $1 then it's not exactly holding its value. While the first 3 years of 0-ring figures hold their value quite well when complete, the following 6 years of figures are mostly worthless.

MOTU stuff (with the exception of 8-backs) have never really been high-ticket items. I bought my Eternia playset MIB in 1997 for $20. Granted interest is now very different (especially for carded/boxed stuff) but if you think about it, people had to hold onto these for over twenty years for them to be worth more than retail, and it was only fan's interest in redone versions (200x and MOTUC) that really made the stuff beyond the 8-backs big money.

Transformers are a slightly different thing too, because the G1s were fragile and broke easily in the 80's. This means that a complete unbroken one will be rarer than a damaged one. Also while Primes and Megatrons are always popular, many B & C-list figures don't sell for very much given their age or condition. The foreign stuff is again a different thing because as a North American or European collector, they are difficult to get right off the bat, while MOTUC is pretty easy for everyone to get. And the Japanese ones only really sell for good money when it's significantly different (like it has die-cast or is more show accurate), the vast majority of them are not worth that much compared to cost, especially out of package. The Masterpiece line right now is the bee's knees but when it is replaced by a new Masterpiece the desire for them goes down as does the price (example: 1st edition Optimus Prime MPs.)

I totally agree with you on Shadow Weaver. We'll probably never see it for less than $30. But the exclusives drop in price year by year as interest fades. I am sure any old timers here will remember the Toy Biz 5" Marvel line from the 90's, and all of the $100+ ToyFare exclusive figures that are now in dollar bins worldwide. If you look at toy history, you'll see prices drop dramatically as a line ends and interest fades. An example within MOTU that is perfect is 200x. I am sure some of you guys remember how much some of those figures were going for ten years ago, and now I can buy a nice collection of them for what one or two were going for back in the day. I guess what I'm saying here is, patience is a collector's best friend, and in the long term, despite what we as collectors want to be true, toys generally don't really hold their value.

[GREP-A-TOR]

I agree with most of what you say. I do think that some of the larger figures will hold and increase in value, as I have seen from other toylines. Granamir, Tytus and Megator, maybe even the Shadow Beasts. People will use them for other lines and display, maybe even customs.

If people think they are going to be selling these figures for double what they paid, they are mistaken.

[_RZ_]

I agree with most of what you say. I do think that some of the larger figures will hold and increase in value, as I have seen from other toylines. Granamir, Tytus and Megator, maybe even the Shadow Beasts. People will use them for other lines and display, maybe even customs.

If people think they are going to be selling these figures for double what they paid, they are mistaken.

Larger figures & vehicles don't necessarily hold their value better than other pieces. An example might be the vintage AT-AT or even vintage Grayskull; there are many figures in Star Wars and MOTU vintage that go for double what those pieces do. If you think about it, you can buy 2 boxed ROTJ AT-ATs for what one nice condition Luke Skywalker figure on a 1978ish Star Wars card goes for. A carded Lazer Skeletor goes for around what 4+ boxed Grayskulls goes for!

The factors I've found that make something go up in value tend to be Availability & Desirability. Can I just click "Buy It Now" on eBay or Amazon, despite it being a little overpriced? Is it an iconic or popular character that everyone wants? If you can't just click on something and have it sent to your house in today's day & age, that makes it much harder to get and much more desirable and expensive from a money/collecting point of view. And there are only two (2) MOTUC figures that I can not click on *right now* and have sent to my house. The "expensive vs. rare" discussion kind of starts there (they are two completely different things that some collectors use interchangeably to their own downfall) and will continue til the end of time

Out of all of those you mention, I would say Granamyr, but even that is kind of pushing it, because even now a year after release, and its quick sellout, it's only really about $20-40 over the retail price. The others were made in much bigger numbers, and are freely available for WAY less than retail. If you had asked me when he came out, Megator would have been my pick, because the vintage Giants are just so, so rare, and like He-Ro, it brought many vintage-line-only guys out of the woodwork. For what the vintage Tytus' armor or weapon alone goes for, you can buy 5+ MOTUC Megators. The only things in MOTUC I would think could be worth more than their retail value in 10 years time will probably be the most difficult & expensive pieces to find, take the most space to keep around, or the most expensive: Bronze Grayskull, Silver She-Ra, and Castle Grayskull.

I agree that people who think they'll sell their MOTUC for double what they paid are mistaken. I mean I use the equation of double price or more/ ten years, because that is a good rough average and starting point, and usually after 10 or so years the prices stay the same on anything made after 1990, and I say "double what you paid for it" because it is not worth it to keep something for years if your profit is only a few pennies. It's just not logical! Really, is it worth it to fill your closet with Megators for an entire decade, if you're only making like $5 off of each one? Seems like a waste of time & space to me. The giants and Shadow Beasts probably won't be worth anything, because so many were made and marketed, you can find them for way less than retail right now and it's been three years. Unless some media features one of the giants prominently I doubt they will be worth more than $20 a pop in a few years time and that is being gracious.

MOTUC, Marvel Legends, NECA, current Transformers... modern action figures just aren't valuable. There are exceptions but MOTUC is not one of them. They may be worth something this week because they are "the bee's knees" and everyone wants them, but once the line ends and people move on, they will be worthless. If you're collecting MOTUC sealed hoping to buy a new car someday, like buying doubles of everything, sell it all NOW, get out now before the prices really drop. And all you guys out there don't be offended in 2020 when I offer you $100-200 to buy the entire collection you paid $4k for, because that is what it will be worth . We all know about Marvel Legends and POTF2 and many other lines that have bottomed out and what was once a $100 in 2002 is now in the dollar bin.


This is the way the world is, it is sad but true... remember iPhone 3? Everyone paid double the price the day it came out... now I can't get $1 for mine... because interest is gone... in electronics it's blatant and well, action figure's values are just as bad if not worse. If you're buying doubles now is the time to cash out because prices have already started to fall, best to get out now and get the most you're gonna get than fill your house with MOTUC and end up selling them for less than you paid. Use the money you get and buy vintage MOTU MISB pieces if you want to make money (and you'll probably only break even on those at best)