At a crossroads in my collecting days...

[WWFhasbroFan]

To all my fellow wfigs members here I just want to say for years I have viewed this forum and have always loved seeing other great wwe collections. I am now 27 years old and since I was 3 I have collected wrestling figures. I am a completest for the most part and I have every hasbro loose and have been building my moc collection over the past few years and have been doing the same with remcos and LJNs. Throughout Jakks time with the wwe line I have 90% of everything made from the bone crunchers to the end of the Jakks line so thousands of figures as you can imagine. Now with the Mattel line in full swing I have not missed a figure and with the insane detail, I have found myself buying 2 of everything to keep one moc and one for loose display. Problem is as you can imagine it has become to costly. So to sum it up, I am at a crossroads with a big decision to make whether i continue to collect moc or open everything and collect loose from here on out. I can't keep up with both because of the prices these days. I have considered pros and cons with both like loose collecting saving space big time in my apartment, or moc display being worth more value wise in the long run... I only ask for my fellow collectors opinions and feedback on pros and cons for both forms of collecting and what path you think I should choose. Ultimately I know its up to me but I don't want to make a decision without some thought and hearing out other collectors. Thanks for your time.

[thisguy89]

Just collect loose, and save your boxes in storage bins that you can stack up in a closet. This way, your figures never lose value if you want to resell down the road. Just because someone keeps there figures MOC and does not open them for years and years, does not mean its going to increase the value of the item. Especially with Mattel elite packaging. You can easily just snip the tape, open, display loose, and repack it up to see it again for just as much as a MOC collector would years and years from now. It's what I do. I display loose and when i want to get rid of a figure, I just repackage it, sell it MOC and someone always buys it and never complains.

[kingrey4]

Damn your problem is you buy 2 much lol

[Labeled101]

I collect loose simply for the fact that I have no intentions of ever selling off my collection. Remember that you can always resell them at a good price if you ever decide to opt out down the road. There are just as many loose collectors as there is MOC collectors so the demand will always be there.

[Goon.]

Sept 15, 2012 13:20:10 GMT -5 Labeled101 said:

I collect loose simply for the fact that I have no intentions of ever selling off my collection. Remember that you can always resell them at a good price if you ever decide to opt out down the road. There are just as many loose collectors as there is MOC collectors so the demand will always be there.

[0,Y]

I collect loose for the simple that I like to pose or animate with them. It's alot of fun and it doesn't take up so much space.

[Figure Addict™]

I do both. I keep all of my Legends and FBs in their plastic Hell and all the current carders I take out of the box to display.

[qdogg]

Damn you have 90 percent of all jakks figures ever made? Thats insanity!!!!!

[Darkhawk]

Well here are my pros and cons between loose and MOC.
Loose
Cons:
-Find unaware smudges
-Can get loose joints
Pros:
-Examine the figure
-Play with them a bit
-Look great in display
-Cheaper Price

MOC
Cons:
-Can be expensive
-May loose interest
-Takes too much space
Pros:
-Keeps figures in Mint
-Box looks great
-Can sell for more than retail price

[figurehunting101]

I have always collected MOC every since I was a little kid, I never opened toys to play with them. I just liked looking at them and then hanging the package back up! Multiple reasons I like it, box design and graphics go great with the figure, you can hang them on the wall in chronological order (as I do myself). MOC figures make for great items to get autographed. And of course a reason a lot of people state is the value increase incase you ever decide to get out of collect or a rainy day was to come. From what I have seen its always been easier to unload a MOC figure over a loose figure. Just all my 2 cents of course though!

[pacey]

I'm 27 and a college graduate that can't find work. I"m a substitute teacher and work at toys r so the fact that you are buying 2 of everything boggles my mind right now. My collection is loose because they take up less room and I have no intention of selling them.

My advise is to finish off your old collections 100% and display them properly. See how much room you have left and then make a decision on what to do with the mattels. Another pro if you decide to go loose is that you can sell some of you duplicate mattels off to pay for future figures.

[Deleted]

Dude, I had every Legend Figure and Ever D.M , Fix ups of the basic legends now in Elite and more and I hit that same crossroads. I decided to sell everything and just quit but keep a small handful of guys, It felt great to have more of a personal and selective collection and Ive kept collecting just now I dont buy everything that comes out.

[onleeone643]

Sept 15, 2012 13:10:21 GMT -5 @thisguy89 said:

Just collect loose, and save your boxes in storage bins that you can stack up in a closet. This way, your figures never lose value if you want to resell down the road. Just because someone keeps there figures MOC and does not open them for years and years, does not mean its going to increase the value of the item. Especially with Mattel elite packaging. You can easily just snip the tape, open, display loose, and repack it up to see it again for just as much as a MOC collector would years and years from now. It's what I do. I display loose and when i want to get rid of a figure, I just repackage it, sell it MOC and someone always buys it and never complains.

If you open it and resell it then its not considered MOC. I could tell when a package has been opened. I should stay away from your Ebay auctions. lol

[peghound]

I decided midway through trying to collect all the Jakks CS line to give up on being a complentionist, took a lot of pressure off myself and have enjoyed the game more ever since, just cherry picking the figs I liked the most.

I also like doing little side projects like wanting all the Mania Main Events or the entire Nexus set. It's whatever you want to do. In terms of value, there are very few pieces that will net you a lot of dough and when you get to the point you're at, you're going to have to sell your collection as a "lot" which will result in a loss.

Quick note about what figs are worth...people always look up eBay to get a gauge on pricing, that's fine but look at sold/completed listings and not what people are asking. There are tons of CM Punk 16s for $39.99 buy it now, all of them don't sell. He's prob worth $32 shipped which nets the seller maybe $4 profit after fees and gas. Collect for fun, the only guys making money at this are the retailers, Mattel and select aftermarket sites (RSC).

I sold my whole Jakks collection and prob broke even in terms of retail, but I certainly didn't make money unless I sold them one at a time. But listing hundreds of figs and shipping them on eBay is such a drag you just sell the whole lot and be done with it. Good luck with your decision, as for me I am now collecting loose as they cost less, take up less room, display nice, and are fetching pretty fair coin here and on the bay. Sorry for my long winded response, hope it helped.

[WWFhasbroFan]

Thank you so far for all the input, You guys really have some good points. I do buy too much but its been my hobby and passion since I was 3 so its hard not to lol. I dont really intend to ever sell my collection but if something ever happened where I was in a serious financial situation I think keeping them moc would be better investment wise. I also strongly agree with you guys who collect loose and how moc collectors cant pose or really see the fine detail and craftman ship of the figure in all its glory if you keep it moc. Maybe I will turn in the loose direction slowly and buy only those moc that I really really like and Exclusives. Mattel makes it easy to put figures back in package like they never were opened but the problem is, Jakks and Hasbro and LJN did not have that option so if you open a figure, the packaging is toast. This is really tough lol. I think I should finish the moc ljn and hasbro collections and start my loose collection with mattel minus the exclusives and few favorites to keep moc or buy one to keep moc and loose of. My wallet can't take anymore buying doubles lol. Especially with the demand and price tags of some of these elite flashbacks...

[peghound]

Good plan!

[JC Motors]

I'd sell the Jakks stuff on eBay

[WWFhasbroFan]

Sept 15, 2012 18:14:37 GMT -5 JC Motors said:

I'd sell the Jakks stuff on eBay

Even if I did sell off the Jakks stuff there is no market for it so I might as well hold onto it. The classic superstars are one of my favorite pieces of my collection.

[mrassbillygunn]

Collect loose.

[mikey1974]

my collection is almost all loose,except for some Undertaker stuff:

SDCC Ministry
Entrance Greats Series 3
WrestleMania Heritage 1 of 1000
Royal Rumble Heritage 1 of 1000

...that said,i seem to be at my own crossroads more often than not recently,in regards to continuing to collect or not. i'm pretty much strictly a Legends/Flashbacks guy,and the pickings are pretty piss poor lately. i'm preordered up to Mankind,but have yet to drop the money on Lawler, nWo Savage, or RSC Austin.

if it wasn't for the Coon,who's found me some stuff i needed,i'd probably be out of the game already. it's ridiculous to have to pay $30 + for a retail figure that costs half that,but distribution around here sucks. big time.