Is the Hobby at an all time low?

[Sonic Boom]

Originally Posted by XMRogue

Sometimes I look at how much I've spent on these statues and wonder what I was thinking.

No one needs to buy a 2nd home to invest in and rent out. Just buy more statues!

[JP Sarri]

Originally Posted by demonhunter

It seems that collectors here are also generally cutting down on collecting. Gone are the days, people could sell a collectible like a superhero Statue or a Iron Man Hot Toys at good prices in the secondary market.

Personally, I feel that statue companies are pumping out too many products every year. And multiple repeats of the same characters. There had been so many Emma Frosts, Black Widows, Batgirl,Iron Man, Batman.

Secondly, more and more companies and making them bigger and more premium.

In my opinion, there isn't a huge resale value for these. For me, it was always about appreciating the characters they represent and the craftsmanship.
That's why I collect them.

If anyone wants to collect as an investment and make money off selling them, I'd suggest they invest in something else. I don't think anyone has become super rich by investing in statues.

After collecting for so many years ever since the early Sideshow days with the Adam Hughes designed comiquettes, collecting statues across the board with all companies is getting a lot more super expensive, a lot bigger and super heavy statues, and a lot more repetitive statues. It's hard, very hard to keep collecting.

[JP Sarri]

Originally Posted by Zombiez

As a new collector I feel that If statues weren't big , highly detailed and complex looking I never would have started in this hobby. If that comes with a higher price then so be it.... I only started collecting because the quality improved. For the older collectors complaining about price your pain just goes over my head

Don’t worry, grasshopper. You’ll get there.

[Spam Filter]

The question is, what hobby are you referring to?

There is the "collecting" hobby, then there is the home decorating hobby.

The "collecting" hobby is dying.

The home decorating hobby is still alive and kicking.

To all the "I don't care about the resale value of statues" people, you aren't collecting, you're just buy home decors.

People who buy home decors don't care about resale value, they just want something nice to look at in their house.

People who collect, do. Because the whole point of collecting is to have things that other people want but don't have. The value of a collectible is a representation of that because value is determined by supply and demand. High value means demand is high but supply is low. Low value means demand is low and supply is high. And if the value of a statue keeps dropping, that means it's one that fewer and fewer people want, what's the fun in having that as a collector?

The glut of products, from SS and other companies, combined with a re-issueing of the same characters over and over again, have pretty much killed the collector market. Instead of buying something at a decent price, and watch it's value go up, collectors are asked to pay a very high price, and watch it's value gradually wither away. That's not going to work for many collectors.

[Mepaphoros]

Originally Posted by Spam Filter

The question is, what hobby are you referring to?

There is the "collecting" hobby, then there is the home decorating hobby.

The "collecting" hobby is dying.

The home decorating hobby is still alive and kicking.

To all the "I don't care about the resale value of statues" people, you aren't collecting, you're just buy home decors.

People who buy home decors don't care about resale value, they just want something nice to look at in their house.

People who collect, do. Because the whole point of collecting is to have things that other people want but don't have. The value of a collectible is a representation of that because value is determined by supply and demand. High value means demand is high but supply is low. Low value means demand is low and supply is high. And if the value of a statue keeps dropping, that means it's one that fewer and fewer people want, what's the fun in having that as a collector?

The glut of products, from SS and other companies, combined with a re-issueing of the same characters over and over again, have pretty much killed the collector market. Instead of buying something at a decent price, and watch it's value go up, collectors are asked to pay a very high price, and watch it's value gradually wither away. That's not going to work for many collectors.

Is this really a hobby at all? Is buying expensive items really a hobby? Does my wife have a shoe hobby?

[Sonic Boom]

Originally Posted by Mepaphoros

Is this really a hobby at all? Is buying expensive items really a hobby? Does my wife have a shoe hobby?

Yeah, I just kind of view statues as something nice to decorate my empty home with. I'm not sculpting or painting them myself. I can't play them like a guitar or piano. There is some thrill I suppose in trying to hunt down a sold out statue or waiting to see if that one piece you need will ever be released.

[StatueDiva]

Originally Posted by Spam Filter

The question is, what hobby are you referring to?

There is the "collecting" hobby, then there is the home decorating hobby.

The "collecting" hobby is dying.

The home decorating hobby is still alive and kicking.

To all the "I don't care about the resale value of statues" people, you aren't collecting, you're just buy home decors.

People who buy home decors don't care about resale value, they just want something nice to look at in their house.

People who collect, do. Because the whole point of collecting is to have things that other people want but don't have. The value of a collectible is a representation of that because value is determined by supply and demand. High value means demand is high but supply is low. Low value means demand is low and supply is high. And if the value of a statue keeps dropping, that means it's one that fewer and fewer people want, what's the fun in having that as a collector?

The glut of products, from SS and other companies, combined with a re-issueing of the same characters over and over again, have pretty much killed the collector market. Instead of buying something at a decent price, and watch it's value go up, collectors are asked to pay a very high price, and watch it's value gradually wither away. That's not going to work for many collectors.

Exactly...

Prices have skyrocketed, but value is plummetting. What kind of backwards market is this?

You hit the nail on the head that this is now a decoration hobby. Most of these statues are not keeping value because they're completely worthless now. There is no collecting in collectibles.

[Augen]

Originally Posted by Spam Filter

The question is, what hobby are you referring to?

There is the "collecting" hobby, then there is the home decorating hobby.

The "collecting" hobby is dying.

The home decorating hobby is still alive and kicking.

To all the "I don't care about the resale value of statues" people, you aren't collecting, you're just buy home decors.

People who buy home decors don't care about resale value, they just want something nice to look at in their house.

People who collect, do. Because the whole point of collecting is to have things that other people want but don't have. The value of a collectible is a representation of that because value is determined by supply and demand. High value means demand is high but supply is low. Low value means demand is low and supply is high. And if the value of a statue keeps dropping, that means it's one that fewer and fewer people want, what's the fun in having that as a collector?

The glut of products, from SS and other companies, combined with a re-issueing of the same characters over and over again, have pretty much killed the collector market. Instead of buying something at a decent price, and watch it's value go up, collectors are asked to pay a very high price, and watch it's value gradually wither away. That's not going to work for many collectors.

Some fair points.

I guess for me when I was younger I got burnt on collections designed for profit. I swore my comics were going to be valuable only to see them be worthless in 25 cent bins and it made me hate the hobby for a time. When I got back in just to read the stories I found it much more enjoyable. Funny part is I did better from a collector mentality once I stopped collecting. The best thing to buy is what no one wants, and then everyone wants five years+ down the road.

[Spam Filter]

Originally Posted by Augen

Some fair points.

I guess for me when I was younger I got burnt on collections designed for profit. I swore my comics were going to be valuable only to see them be worthless in 25 cent bins and it made me hate the hobby for a time. When I got back in just to read the stories I found it much more enjoyable. Funny part is I did better from a collector mentality once I stopped collecting. The best thing to buy is what no one wants, and then everyone wants five years+ down the road.

Yes, that's the key here. You want to get something, and then see it go up in price because you were clever enough to want it before everyone else did.
That's a key part of the satisfaction and enjoyment of being a collector.

Imagine if you were asked to pay $20-$30 for those new comics you enjoy reading and watch their value go down because they keep reprinting them.

[MPCanes]

Originally Posted by XMRogue

In regards to the argument/bickering over those "priced out of the hobby" I don't see any fault in admitting to this. I actually applaud anyone who lives within their means even if that means for them that having a savings account is more important than adding a statue that they don't feel adds enough value to their everyday life for the price tag.

Even as someone who makes pretty good money and can afford many statues, this hobby has opportunity costs both in your home's available space and your budget that could go towards other things, like retirement, vacations, a new car, unexpected medical bills, other hobbies, even giving to charity which I like to do every year.

You don't have to be priced out of the hobby to not want to plunk down $2000 for an XM Dark Phoenix on eBay.

Sometimes I look at how much I've spent on these statues and wonder what I was thinking.

You raise a good point - being priced out of the hobby can be a more general term for "I can afford this, but I'd much rather take a 5 day trip to Europe instead, since that's what some XM pieces/Sideshow Maquettes will cost you."