Need help - selling 25th collection

[volleydan]

Once upon a time, I was an avid collector of the 25th line but once RoC came out, I lost all taste for the line, and for the ME sculpted figures in general.

Now, in the interest of clearing space in the house, I am getting ready to sell off my 25th collection. The problem is that I have no clue where to start. I have pretty much everything from the line with the exception of the yellow Stalker and Piper.....all of the figures from waves 1-13, all of the comic book packs, all five packs & seven packs, the Hall of Honor, and all of the vehicles up to and including the later semi-cancelled ones (white HISS, etc). With the exception of the VAMPs and Stingers, it's all going to go.

I assume that for 90% of this stuff, I'll be lucky to get back my cost on these items. My question to the helpful souls here at the Tank is: Which items should I be sure to get a proper market price on? I assume that variants (clear Wraith, black wolf SE) bring a premium and I remember seeing that the DVD pack with Alpine brings nice coin, but where else should I make sure to get full value? UBP? Rattler/Conquest?

I simply don't know a lot about this line anymore. Thanks in advance for any help you all can give.

[manicmotive]

Clear Wraith doesn't yield much anymore. Once they started hitting closeout chains they pretty much dove in value. I'd simply sell them as the waves they were released at retail. Some areas didn't get much in terms of certain waves, so people might be looking for a particular group of figures in this fashion.

Vehicles I'd just sell seperately.

If you're looking for market prices, simply list them on ebay. If you're looking to unload them for fair prices just to clear space, I'd ask people on here first, or start checking people's B/S/T lists to see what they need and may be offering.

[CVdelgado]

the easiest thing to do is use the "advanced" search feature on ebay, then "completed listings" to show you what prices they have been selling for.

[Black Llama]

Dan, are you looking to list all separately or are you selling as a lot? I may be interested in a few pieces myself :D In general though here is a list of figures that have "increased" in value on the secondary market.

Single card Shipwreck (both tattoo versions) sell slightly higher than average.

SE and Black timber should still be a 40$ carded figure if not more.

Embossed foil cards still demand a premium.

The original foil logo cards all still have a decent markup (think on average 19.99 each). Some of the rarer non-variant ones are:

Green Lady J (the ass ugly one in the hat)
Buzzer
Major Blood
Storm Shadow (Cobra, wave 4)

The TrU SRO three packs sell really well.

All of the DVD packs sell. Hell, Alpine alone, loose, is a 50$ figure.

I haven't priced the vehicles recently. I know I was able to grab another Stinger, loose, a few months ago for 20$.

[crock master]

if your figures are still moc then you could get $5 or more per figure as of demand.

if the vehicles are still misb then you can do good selling the rattler and such.

selling singles will do good on certain items, but usually if you sell all as a whole lot you might end up taking a loss.

selling toys is always a win lose situation.

[volleydan]

All figures (except some army builders - Eels, Snow Serpents, BATs) are MOC and in good condition. All of the figures through wave 5 or 6 (can't remember when they switched?) are original issues with the foil logos.

I'm leaning toward selling in-demand stuff and/or anything I can find a taker for individually at first, and will probably group up the leftovers somewhere down the road and dump them as a lot.

I'm trying to avoid EBay because, for all the deals I have done in the community I have never sold an item on EBay and don't want to take the double ding of being a "new seller" and paying their fees to boot on items that I sell.

Thanks for the tips, Llama - PM me a want list and I'll see what I have for you. I have everything you listed. After warming pegs for close to a year, who knew Buzzer would be a popular figure now???? Next thing, you'll be telling me I can get $40 for Wild Bill..... :)

[Black Llama]

All figures (except some army builders - Eels, Snow Serpents, BATs) are MOC and in good condition. All of the figures through wave 5 or 6 (can't remember when they switched?) are original issues with the foil logos.

I'm leaning toward selling in-demand stuff and/or anything I can find a taker for individually at first, and will probably group up the leftovers somewhere down the road and dump them as a lot.

I'm trying to avoid EBay because, for all the deals I have done in the community I have never sold an item on EBay and don't want to take the double ding of being a "new seller" and paying their fees to boot on items that I sell.

Thanks for the tips, Llama - PM me a want list and I'll see what I have for you. I have everything you listed. After warming pegs for close to a year, who knew Buzzer would be a popular figure now???? Next thing, you'll be telling me I can get $40 for Wild Bill..... :)

Not the regular one, but I sold the SRO Wild Bill alone for a little over 20$ :D

[firefox91]

I recently did the same thing and unloaded nearly every single 25th style figure I have except just a few. I kept all the vehicles since they are mostly vintage vehicles with slight improvements. My advice is to cherry pick out the high dollar figures and sell those off individually either on ebay or through the forums. I had a lot of success selling on Hisstank for those figures because the majority of modern collectors come here.

Once you sell those off, try unloading the loose figures in lots or 1 big lot if you can. For common the carded figures, I found a local buyer to give me about $3.75 per fig for a lot of about 80 carded figures. I could have got more on ebay but then I would pay all those fees and deal with the hassle of shipping large heavy boxes. In the end, I would have made the same amount of money.

On average, you are right in that you are not going to get what you paid for them. However many figures are worth many times what you paid for them assuming you got them at retail. So it helps even it out. In the end you might take a loss but you can consider that "rent". :)

I gotta say, I don't regret getting rid of those figures even for a second. I filled the wall where they were with vintage MOC figures (or repro carded) and I love it so much more.

[Xenos]

If I were you, I'd take a look at eBay completed listings for everything you have, take say 10%-15% off, and put up a B/S/T thread here.

[Steevy Maximus]

My general advice- sell the more popular stuff individually (stuff like the single card Lady Jaye, Buzzer, troop builders, etc) and bulk off the rest.
If selling via BST, then I'd start at a comfortable price for you (say, $15-ish per single figure, $20 per CP, and so on) see what you sell. Lower prices after a few weeks, and if you still can't sell, Lot them up.
UBP- I would look at eBay at completed listings for both the full set and individual figures. It seems some of the figures and items were more in demand than others, and you might make more breaking up the set.

The big issue with selling 25th is that SO MANY collectors and speculators bought into the line (not to mention waves 11-13 popping up in bulk at Family Dollar and Big Lots), selling this soon means there is still a TON of product in the market (with exceptions, of course).

[TheVP]

I bought a large 25th lot the other day off of ebay...mainly for troop building and and custom work but after shipping it came out to be about $3.00 per item. It had some figures I didn't have but I don't think any of it was really rare. Though besides dusting the vehicles were all in great shape. The rare stuff you need to peice out individually.

G.I. Joe toy lot figures vehicles army builder 25th anniversary | eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/180894002866?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649)

[firefox91]

I bought a large 25th lot the other day off of ebay...mainly for troop building and and custom work but after shipping it came out to be about $3.00 per item. It had some figures I didn't have but I don't think any of it was really rare. Though besides dusting the vehicles were all in great shape. The rare stuff you need to peice out individually.

G.I. Joe toy lot figures vehicles army builder 25th anniversary | eBay (http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?customid=hisstank&toolid=10001&campid=5335815854&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F18089400286 6%3FssPageName%3DSTRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT%26_trksid%3Dp39 84.m1497.l2649)

Man, all those clean sticker sheets are awesome for customizing vehicles. That is a nice pick up.

[Shipshape1983]

I'd love to buy the Best of 80s pack from you.

[speedlgt]

DO NOT GO BY EBAY!!! there are come crazy guys on there wanting 25 dollars a fig for something that was at the family dollar for 4!
alpine sells on ebay for 200!!! yeah no one buys it
also ebay guys do this I know a comic shop owner told me hes done it. they get friends to bid on an item just to jack the price up. ever wonder why something ends it 3 days and have 5 bids!???

I hit a lot of cons and toy shows and here is whats fair
MOC sells for 10, unless is a badass one like lady jay
loose complete 5 dollars
dvd packs 25-30
vehicles loose 5-8, MOC 20-25 30 may be pushing it.
this all fair pricing meaning you will sell stuff on the figs and you make "some" money back.
if you scalp it forget it your gonna be stuck w the stuff a while. it may take you 1 to 2 years to sell it all being greedy
,

[Tigereyes]

I sent you a PM about some items I was interested in buying if you have available. Thanks.

[Raistlin]

Try contacting smalljoes.com and bigbadtoystore.com with a complete list of exact items. A friend of mine got around $6 for each single figure after shipping and paypal fees. I consider that a minimal loss if its all in one transaction and shipment. Packing, shipping and providing tracking numbers for each individual figure will take longer than you imagine.

[whitemo58]

That's interesting..I've been trying to well my entire collection also. Vintage, 25th, roc,poc, 30th....all loose and moc. Except vintage.

[speedlgt]

look at this ....
GI JOE LOT | eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/GI-JOE-LOT-/110888296221?pt=US_Action_Figures&hash=item19d1751f1d)

you think thats a fair price??

I would give 500 tops
dont go by ebay

[volleydan]

Thanks again for the replies and feedback.

I'm not interested in making a mint off of these things - I'm well aware that on the whole I'll be lucky to break even on the collection and I'm OK with that. I do want them gone, but I want to know what my "winners" are worth so I don't eat it quite as hard on the "losers".

It looks like I really just need to invest the time to do a proper inventory and develop a price list for everything. As suggested, I'll probably note completed auction prices on EBay and undercut them by 10-15% to arrive at a "fair" price.

I'll try to do this in the coming week leading up to con and may even try to take some stuff to con for room-to-room sales. It'll just depend on how much will fit in our car.

In the meantime, for anyone who has sent PMs asking about specific items - I am keeping track of who has asked for what and will reply to everyone as soon as I have my prices in mind.

[dominic.18]

I am planning on selling my complete 25th collection on ebay as well soon i just dont have the time to sort it out and split it up.

[volleydan]

Just as an update for anyone waiting to hear from me.....

I had hoped to get a complete inventory of my collection done and line up asking prices so I could start replying to PMs individually, but life got in the way a little bit this weekend. So, I'm behind and don't see myself getting this done before I leave for con Thursday morning.

I want everyone to know that I AM still working on it, and WILL follow up with you all once I get back from NO. I have noted any items that people have specifically asked for and will let each of you know via return PM once I have checked everything out.

Thanks!