Power-Con Exclusives

[Mathius]

So I have a question.. I know some enthusiasts will open their figures, or some will buy one to open, one to keep in the box, etc. The Power-con figures pretty much most of them tripled in price the moment they hit the second market if not more, so I can only afford to buy one of each. I am still missing 7 figures.

Anyways... I have no plans to open mine, I will display them as is. In fact, I don't open most of my figures because when I do open them, I end up messing around with them for a bit and then they go back in storage, so it seems pointless to open something that I am just devaluing and I won't actually use.

But the Power-con figures are all shipped in boxes with artwork on them and the figure's title in font, etc.

The Tri-Klops Fan Choice/Mini Comic figure I got didn't come with this box, so I had no options. It's still in its peg package the same as all the other origins figures come in, but I don't have the Mattel shipping box with the fancy script on it and the art. But I received the Grayskull accessory pack today and I am debating if I should open the packing box or not.

The way I see it, Pros, it could potentially be more valuable. Cons, there's no way to tell if something inside it is damaged or missing.

I am totally leaning towards opening it, but I was hoping for some thoughts.

TL;DR - Do you take your Power-Con figures out of the shipping box with the artwork, or do you leave them in there? Do you think taking them out devalues them because they're "more open" or increases the value because you can see the figure is undamaged?

[Andy]

Sealed action figures tend to go for more than lose/complete ones do. This isn't always the case with video games and sometimes comic books. I think it has to do with folks wanting the privilege of ripping those bad boys open themselves. If we're talking toys that are 80 yrs old then there's a difference because there aren't many with or without package.

So you have got to figure in how many are produced subtracted by how many folks have opened. I don't know if that will help you with your decision but it's up to you as a collector if you want it more for value in the long run or if you want simple enjoyment alone.

If you want the maximum value try looking over the package and consider grading it then you'll be more inclined to keep it in package. If you want the experience of holding the figure in your hand physically you can always take an exacto knife and slice along the bubble to remove it. It devalues the figure like it's opened but it will sell faster IMO

[Mathius]

Yeah, I understand that opening the figure package devalues it, but I'm talking about the shipping package. Normally, you wouldn't care about the box the item is shipped in, but Mattel took the time to put artwork on the box. To me this is kinda a gray area since you can't tell the condition of the figure if you don't open it, but if you do open it, the integrity of the original package is challenged. I'm not sure how people are viewing this.

I'm trying to post an image but I've never used this before on this board and the original attempt left it huge.

To be clear, I haven't sold anything on eBay since 2009. I have no intention of selling any of these figures right now. But I can't personally look at the prices I'm paying and not think of it as an investment.

[Andy]

Personally I don't think opening the outer mailer matters much. I sold an org keldor still sealed in its white mailer and it didn't make much difference price wise. I guess if you open the mailer you have the advantage of seeing any blemishes through the plastic. (Loose ankles, bad paint apps, two left feet, etc) To some folks the condition means everything and to some folks pristine makes all the difference. It all comes down to your personal preference.

I didn't mean to come off judgemental or
anything, to me it's spending money either way and personally I feel like we're all investing into our collections

[Mathius]

I guess if you open the mailer you have the advantage of seeing any blemishes through the plastic. (Loose ankles, bad paint apps, two left feet, etc)

That's how I feel, that's what I'm leaning towards. I just didn't know if anyone knew any different. Collectors can be funny about value. As an example, we all believe a card is worth more if it's unpunched.

I didn't mean to come off judgemental or
anything, to me it's spending money either way and personally I feel like we're all investing into our collections

Naw, it's cool, I didn't think you were attacking me or anything, but I didn't want to come off as a scalper to someone either. It's a weird, and frankly disappointing place our hobby is at, where I love to collect these things for me, and I wish I had more money to spend to spread them around to more people and whatnot. As an example, in my doctor's office, he has an area where he has children's toys. I thought it would be amazing for them to be able to play with a new castle grayskull and some he-man figures, and I thought about buying some.

But it's also really hard to overlook the fact that every time you see that long hair he-man warming the pegs for $14.99 retail, that there is someone on eBay, somewhere that just sold one for $25 or more. It's a really tempting trap to fall into, becoming part of the problem.

I just bought the Battle Armor He-Man/Battlecat 2-pack off eBay a week ago (it hasn't even shown up yet) for $69.99 and another $19.99 to ship. I wasn't happy about it, but I felt it was reasonable given the price averages on actionfigures411 and the fact it was an exclusive that was released earlier in the year from what I could tell. I'd been to Target 20 times or so and not seen it. But last night, the shelf was full of them. I bought another one, but the nagging idea kept popping into my head that I could pick up a few more and turn a quick buck. I didn't, but man was it hard.

[Andy]

That would be cool to see at any doctor's/dentist office.

I think the word "reseller" is becoming a thing of the past..err at least the connotation of it. I see people reselling all the time on youtube and they get some flack but their subscribers know them and they know their philosophy about it.

I think the only time I've ever screamed scalper myself is when someone bought all of something and they could've let a few people have them at the cost they were getting instead of bowing to the all-mighty dollar. All I can say is karma.

I'm a reseller myself BTW. I see it as using knowledge to stay ahead of the game, not to take an advantage of it but that's me.

[Andy]

I wonder if you don't open the mailer and get it graded then what the value would be in a few years compared to an open one with the same grade.

[Black Zodac]

I would take it out of the artwork box. The box can always be displayed next to it, or behind it. What people want to see are the figures inside.