Question for those familiar with G.I. Joe consumer behaviour:

In what way(s) has the 25th line impacted the vintage market?

I haven't bought a single vintage figure since the summer of 2007, I know my consumer spending has changed considerably but I'm curious about the short-term/long-term effects on the vintage line.

Not everyone is bowled over by the 25th product but are sales for popular army builders fluctuating or are they still commanding the same market price since 2000? '86 Vipers, '86 BATs, '85 CGs, were anywhere between $20-$25 at their peak.

Also ARAH exclusives still look to be helluva strong - Roddy Piper nearly $400, Canadian Joe Con Black Ice (I think) went recently for $300+, but the 25th stuff is getting there - gold Pimp Daddy Destro, Snake Eyes w/black Timber - will the 25th see such huge price increases like ARAH? I've also seen price drops on ARAH Joe Con exclusives like the Dreadnok set a few years back - so it seems that everything is all over the map.

Any long-term effects?

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I haven't notice any decline in sales since the 25th began. I think the overall economy has a bigger effect on collecting, personally.

Sales on my site have actually been up quite a bit this year, but that comes with the amount of product and regular repeat customers. There will always be RAH collectors, so overall I don't think the market has been effected too much (that I've noticed anyway).

High dollar stuff still sells for me, as well as complete figures, loose figures, vehicles and parts.

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Locally, I can definitely say that the demand for ARAH has shot up dramatically since the anniversary. And prices have shot up as well. Before 2007, EBay Philippines had very little Joes, and most of those were from members of my group ToySoldier 1:18 or fellow collectors we already knew. But now there are so many sellers of ARAH and my groups membership is also increasing rapidly. At least one new member per week, which is alot, considering the size of my country.

This sudden increase in demand (& supply) of ARAH but not of new sculpts promted me to start the thread on new sculpts being forgotten.

- JM

Actually those prices dropped around spy troops/VvV, pretty much the market got saturated.

Which is the effect I see, most have thier collections and thus why buy more. I only have some odds and ends that I sparaticly get when I feel the need.

Prices have been steadily falling since their peak in late '03 and early '04. There was another precipitous drop (especially in many highly desirable figures) at the end of 2006. Since then, the market has largely stabilized.

I don't think the 25th has had any real impact on the market. The real impact was the move to DTC which killed retail and then the end of that DTC prior to the announcement of the 25th. The new buyers who are largely supporting the 25th have no interest in vintage toys as they only buy what's available at retail. That's why you see modern figures that were readily available in multiple case assortments (like Flint) still fetch $40 on Ebay while mint, complete '82 Joes can be purchased for less than half that.




That figure is expensive because it's Piper. Thus, it generates a LOT of interest from wrestling fans who don't otherwise care about Joe. All of the other con exclusives that were produced in similar or lower numbers have no where near that level of pricing. (Even the jet pack troopers have fallen considerably in recent months.) Were that just some guy in a kilt, it would be a $20 figure. Since it Piper, the interest in it remains higher.

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I stopped buying RAH Joes for several months sitting on so many 25th pre-orders....


Ultimately, though, I am (in general) not as happy with the play in the anniversary sculpts, so I'm going back and picking up RAH's again just to remind / keep myself from mindlessly ordering new product (that looks sweet on the internets) instead of saving some of that money to fill in gaps in my collection that are more important to me.


That's my personal experience - on the other hand, the 25th slot better into the line as replacements than any new sculpts did (not counting RAH rereleases).

Umm thats NEW SCULPT not ARAH sculpt.

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I stopped collecting vintage about 2 years ago. I had completed 95% of my collecting goals.

And the difference is?

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