Is the Hobby at an all time low?

[Medusoid]

Originally Posted by off

I must have missed the rules of being a 'real' collector.

It's like saying you're not a 'real' fan of whatever.

So stupid, people really need to get over themselves.

Agreed.

It's called 'gatekeeping' and it's complete bull. I love how that guy feels like he gets to decide who's a true collector and who isn't based on his ridiculous standards.

Anyone who collects these... is a collector! Gasp!! Sounds crazy, right? Must be a difficult concept for someone like him to grasp, I guess.

[off]

Originally Posted by gagaliya

Sideshow is spamming promotions for invicta watches and Disney backpacks. What do you think....

This is an excellent point.

[Vpuik]

Originally Posted by gagaliya

Sideshow is spamming promotions for invicta watches and Disney backpacks. What do you think....

Definitely. Statues aren't selling like they used to. You need to make money in other ways.

[sith_apprentice]

Barnes & Noble and Gamestop are into collectibles now because no one buys books or games at a brick n' mortar anymore, so it would make sense that Sideshow would branch out. At least, until the point where we all design and print out our own statues and action figures, but that probably won't be in my lifetime lol

[Zombiez]

Sideshow as a business is more than most likely doing just fine and the statue and collectibles business is also doing great. In fact i wish side show would go public so that i could buy some shares along with my statues. I have stock in funko and i am totally satisfied with how much growth they have had.

[Comicbookguy]

Originally Posted by Zombiez

Sideshow as a business is more than most likely doing just fine and the statue and collectibles business is also doing great. In fact i wish side show would go public so that i could buy some shares along with my statues. I have stock in funko and i am totally satisfied with how much growth they have had.

I wouldn’t dare buy stocks for statue companies. Sales are in bubble territory with less people preordering. Multiple competitors are saturating the markets and prices are going so high making many buying so much less for full price. Prices will continue to increase while buyers decrease at least buying from retail. It’s not looking any better unless you’re a buyer who likes to buy for much less in the aftermarket.

[Silas Loki]

Originally Posted by Medusoid

Agreed.

It's called 'gatekeeping' and it's complete bull. I love how that guy feels like he gets to decide who's a true collector and who isn't based on his ridiculous standards.

Anyone who collects these... is a collector! Gasp!! Sounds crazy, right? Must be a difficult concept for someone like him to grasp, I guess.

I must have read "that guys" post wrong, because it seemed to me that he was suggesting - if you're buying statues based ONLY on their potential to increase in value, an investment, if you will......then this doesn't qualify you as a "collector".

If that was his meaning, then, to a point, I agree. However, I don't imagine there are many people who fall 100% into that mindset. Most people who drift into statues do so, because of a fascination for the art form (I imagine), and every now and then, buy a piece more because of hype then a love for the character or the statue itself.....a, opportunistic investor - but still a collector

[Zombiez]

Originally Posted by Comicbookguy

I wouldn’t dare buy stocks for statue companies. Sales are in bubble territory with less people preordering. Multiple competitors are saturating the markets and prices are going so high making many buying so much less for full price. Prices will continue to increase while buyers decrease at least buying from retail. It’s not looking any better unless you’re a buyer who likes to buy for much less in the aftermarket.

Maybe you are right but on principle I buy the stock of every company that produces products that I buy/consume. If sideshow gets 10,000 dollars of my money I would like some of sideshow.

Hardcore "old" collectors may not preorder but I do and I suspect most casuals still do. yeah prices have gone up but many people either don't realize this or don't care because they haven't been collecting for 10 years and cannot feel the impact of that increase.

[silentwinter92]

At current edition sizes and that inflated price point with the plethora of companies offering everything from chubby wolverines to old school anime licenses. Industry is anything but in decline. Facebook always has unboxings, always has new releases, always has new concepts being teased every week.

The downside to all of this, Not enough factories to go around.
Turnaround times are 1.5 to 2 years on average, factories have more bargaining power to squeeze profits from consumers. There is no comfortable price range products are floating at and there is no price ceiling for products catered to the premium consumer. The best statues will slowly be out of reach of the average consumer when we approach the level of mortage payments.

[mva5580]

Originally Posted by silentwinter92

The downside to all of this, Not enough factories to go around. Turnaround times are 1.5 to 2 years on average,

This is easily the worst thing about the hobby for me. It's just a long, long wait for so many statues and I feel like by the time a lot of them release, I'm nowhere near as excited as I was when it was first revealed. Sure I enjoy them when I get them, but this point alone is pretty much why I don't plan on being as into it as I have been for much longer. Another year or so at most and when I have all the statues I'm interested in now, I'm pretty much done. Just not a fan of the waits at all. And yes, I get the reasoning for them. Doesn't mean I have to like it. And none of this is even getting into the fact that there are so many situations where a statue is teased/put up for PO on a character that you like in say, 2018, scheduled to release at the end of 2019, and in between that time there's another statue of the same character teased that you may like even more. It just wears thin.

Originally Posted by silentwinter92

The best statues will slowly be out of reach of the average consumer when we approach the level of mortage payments.

Obviously the amount of a mortgage payment can vary depending on multiple things, but in general we're pretty much already there.