26 replies to this topic

[Shinzon]

I've been looking at eBay pages for ST Playmates stuff. I remember when you would pay upwards of $5 for one 4.5 inch figure. Now it seems no one is buying them at any price. (I saw one auction, now expired) for 3 or 4 9 inch figures for $5, no reserve and no one bid. Is Trek becoming a huge sellers market and no one buying anymore? It seems so strange to think that almost none of the trek stuff is being bid on anymore.

Anyone else see this trend, or am I misinterpreting the trend?

[VulcanFanatic]

Its a good time to buy and complete your collection but a lousy time to sell. When the next movie gets close to coming out and interest begins to perk up, sales will no doubt go up again. I have seen a lot of Playmates stuff for very good deals on ebay. Thats where i got most of my collection from.

[FHC]

It's important to remember as well that Playmates had the line when TNG was at the peak of it's glory. Where 1701 figures is a good run these days, back then it made people scream their heads off.

[knightone]

It might not have been as bad if they had made each one an exclusive to different retailers instead of just randomly sending out to random stores.

[BradMan]

I know I go on eBay every now and then an pick up a few things here and there that I was never able to get back when they first came out. There are still some items that seem harder to get than others... for example, Voyager figures always seem to sell better than any other Playmates figures. A few years ago I was on a mission to pick up a bunch of the Target exclusive "Insurrection" 4.5" figures of the TNG cast in their black and grey uniforms and they were always tough items to win. I still keep an eye out for them and they are not easy to find.

Eventually when I have the space I would love to have my 4.5" Playmates figures, my 9" Playmates figures, and my AA/DST figures all on display.

[FHC]

I look for the first run in the German packaging. So far I have about half of the set.

[Wildcard]

Well you also have to take into consideration general economic considerations. Summer is NEVER a high selling time as everyone is spending their money on vacations and travels. Also, in general, everyone is being more frugal with money due to high gas prices so they have less disposable income to spend on extranious purchases such as ebay items and such. I know I myself have not been able to buy any new Trek stuff for a while and it's KILLING me!

[JMW326]

I think it is just that no one is buying Playmates right now. The AA/DST, JL and Furuta stuff seems to moving just fine and at high prices I may add.

[VulcanFanatic]

I think there are many people dumping their Playmates collections on ebay for whatever reasons. Ebay is pretty flooded with Playmates stuff.Maybe they are tired of Star Trek, tired of collecting, more interested in DST's line or just need the money. I know some college age collectors sell their collections to pay off bills, clear out space or feel they have outgrown the hobby. I still like the playmates stuff, and when i have the extra cash, i pick up something i dont have. I have a complete 9" collection and many 4.5 loose figures, and several 12" figures and a few playsets and one ship. I wouldnt mind having them all someday.

[Jedigreedo]

Well you can be sure the Voyager ship will consistently go for an arm and a leg.

I've been thinking about picking up a carded collection of Playmates figures, I have several Playmates TNG/DS9 figures loose and enjoy pulling them out every now and then. One thing I've always been wanting to do is have the Bridge playset on one shelf and then the Engineering playset and the Shuttlecraft on a shelf below.

[Gothneo]

Well... It appears that I'm making my 1st foray into playmates 9" figures...

Many of you on this board have said how good you thought the 9" playmate figures were, so I worked a trade with someone recently... basically I traded 9 DST figures for 15 9"playmate figures. I dunno if I got a good deal or not, but I got rid of 9 extra DST figures and got 15 new trek figures I currently don't have!

They look good in the picts, so I hope I like them as much as everyone else.

[Artistix]

Luckliy I did not have to turn to ebay to (near) complete my Playmates collection. A kind fellow on Playtrek has sold me a lot of his...which I've undoubtedly mentioned in this section before...I've been paying it off for several months!

Now that I only had one payment left to make, he got the postal quote for the 2 boxes of goods.....$98US each airmail!!

But $160 postage for...like, 2 dozen or more figures in varyinging sizes...& the Orinoco, airmailed across the world, is fair enough. They weighed about 8 kilograms each!

He also threw in the 12" POTA Kirk & Spock for $50 together..he'd paid $50 each back in the day! Really looking forward to those two.
Only other 12" figures I ordered were Mugato, Gorn & Janeway. Not really interested in that scale....they didn't get to Crusher

They look good in the picts, so I hope I like them as much as everyone else.

Oh, you will!

The 9" line was beeeautiful.

[Gothneo]

Oh snap!

Nice pict Artistix!

I can see i'll probably have to pick up the few that I need to fill in.

I don't think Nurse Chapel was in the lot I traded for... I really want a nice Nurse and that one looks great!

[Sybeck1]

I just got a copy of "Mr Scott's Guide of the Enterprise" off ebay. Does that count? It replacing a copy I borrowed out fivr years ago and somebody misplaced.

[VulcanFanatic]

Luckliy I did not have to turn to ebay to (near) complete my Playmates collection. A kind fellow on Playtrek has sold me a lot of his...which I've undoubtedly mentioned in this section before...I've been paying it off for several months!

Now that I only had one payment left to make, he got the postal quote for the 2 boxes of goods.....$98US each airmail!!

But $160 postage for...like, 2 dozen or more figures in varyinging sizes...& the Orinoco, airmailed across the world, is fair enough. They weighed about 8 kilograms each!

He also threw in the 12" POTA Kirk & Spock for $50 together..he'd paid $50 each back in the day! Really looking forward to those two.
Only other 12" figures I ordered were Mugato, Gorn & Janeway. Not really interested in that scale....they didn't get to Crusher
Oh, you will!

The 9" line was beeeautiful.

Wow, that was a lot of postage. I bought a big lot of 9" figures from a guy in Canada a few years back and paid like 35 dollars US shipping for it and thought that was expensive. I got all of the Kirk/Spock exclusive sets from him, all of the Mirror/Mirror figures a bunch of other exclusives like the Data/Laforge Sherlock Holmes set, EMH and a lot of others really cheap. Like 6 dollars each for a lot of sets of figures that were 35 dollars each when he bought them. Which set of POTA Kirk and Spock figures did you get, the International version or the Newforce exclusive set?

[Artistix]

Which set of POTA Kirk and Spock figures did you get, the International version or the Newforce exclusive set?

I don't know. I gather the NewForce set would have their stickers on it somewhere?

I don't think Nurse Chapel was in the lot I traded for... I really want a nice Nurse and that one looks great!

She is a very nice figure in both scales she appeared in. I was very happy they managed to release her before the line died.

[VulcanFanatic]

I don't know. I gather the NewForce set would have their stickers on it somewhere?
She is a very nice figure in both scales she appeared in. I was very happy they managed to release her before the line died.

Yes, there is a sticker on the front, and there is a difference in the Spock figure. Without digging mine out of a storage box, i believe the international version Spock has the "Live long and prosper" handsign, but the Newforce version doesnt.

The Chapel is very nice, but the material her uniform is made of is pretty cheap compared to other figures uniforms.

[Artistix]

The Chapel is very nice, but the material her uniform is made of is pretty cheap compared to other figures uniforms.

Wasn't her outfit more like McCoy's satin looking short sleeved shirt? Or was it the same material as everyone else?

I had thought they were trying to achieve a different look.

[VulcanFanatic]

Wasn't her outfit more like McCoy's satin looking short sleeved shirt? Or was it the same material as everyone else?

I had thought they were trying to achieve a different look.

I think she wore two different versions, a regular uniform and the satin looking version kind of like McCoy's shortsleeved smock. The material on the figure just felt a little cheap, just like the see through pants the Jacket Picard figure has on.

[Artistix]

I think she wore two different versions, a regular uniform and the satin looking version kind of like McCoy's shortsleeved smock. The material on the figure just felt a little cheap, just like the see through pants the Jacket Picard figure has on.

The Mirror Mirror figures also seem to have the same cheaper material.

I gather they didn't have as much money to put in the line by the time. I believe the last few 9" waves warmed shelves for a long time?