Well I have no idea on the price, however if you do put it up for auction, let us know where. As long as you post to the UK, I'll be all over this.
Take care,
Matty-lad
No worries, M-L. I'll definitely open the auction up to the UK, Holland, Oz, and most other "safe" countries to ship to. And I'll post a note here at TTF when I do, no problem. I hope that's kosher with the forum rules. Is it?
Considering that this may only be 1 of a handful, or maybe even the only one in a package in existence, you can name your price really. Hardcore Star Trek collectors will pay what it takes to get an ultra rare figure like that in their collection. Of course they dont want to pay more that they have to, so dont let yourself be taken by someone who will just resell it for more money , who may not even be a collector, just a scalper. I would list it worldwide on ebay for 2500.00 for a month or even two. Depends on how much patience you have and if you need the money right away. Collectors will find it on ebay, place plenty of pictures, give a great description and dont take the first lower bid you get. If people want it, they will eventually pay what you want for it. If there is no interest after two months, lower the price by a hundred dollars. If you really want the most money you can get from this item, it may take time. Then again, if the right person see's it , you might sell it in 5 minutes. Good luck!
Thanks very much for the advice, VF. I had no idea that it might be in that price range, I'm floored, TBH. I've shown it to a few collector pals and had a few offers so I'll set a reserve but I have to think hard on it. I'm not in a hurry, in any case. I've had it for 3 1/2 years!
...its not all about the money to me, but it is to other people out there, so why let them get your rare item cheaply so that they can make a big profit off of it. During the 25 years that I collected, I rarely made a profit from anything I sold. For every item I made a profit on, I probably sold 10 items at a loss or came out even on it. I have even given brand new, valuable collectibles away and paid for shipping to folks who were very appreciative of it.
That's just it, isn't it. Like you, about 90% of my ship collection is worth less than I paid for it, and the other 10% is crazy expensive and overvalued due to rarity. As you say, you can break even only if you're not too sentimental about it. And I know that my kollecting karma is good: I've helped out many folks in the recent and distant past for zero financial gain (or a loss), and I've been helped out on many, many occasions, too. There are some great peeps in the community, that's for sure.
But... this item is truly a special situation as there's only one in existence. I will never see another.
Yeah, it's the old common sense vs helping out fellow collectors conundrum. If I had a Ferrari, I'd love to sell it to a Ferrari fan but I really can't afford to be too emotional about it. If I'd won the lottery, I wouldn't mind letting it go for a song... but regretfully, that's not the case.
Sorry that you were attacked personally, that's totally out of order, IMO. I asked a question, you answered honestly. I appreciate it.