Is the Hobby at an all time low?

[Vracula]

Originally Posted by Gothamite

You should've just stopped right there.

I did and then I realized since u don't pay my bills u can't tell me what to do

[supermetroid]

I know it sucks to think about the Doomsday/bubble bursting but it can happen if a majority feel that the cost is too high for the value in return and when I hear people like risingstar and long time collectors start questioning that then it's eye opening. Remember the comic book industry collapse in the 90's...

[Gothamite]

Originally Posted by supermetroid

I know it sucks to think about the Doomsday/bubble bursting but it can happen if a majority feel that the cost is too high for the value in return and when I hear people like risingstar and long time collectors start questioning that then it's eye opening. Remember the comic book industry collapse in the 90's...

SF.com can be an echo chamber. There are a lot of forum members who join but have never posted. I'm sure there are even more lurkers who don't have accounts. On top of that, there are people who buy statues but don't even read forums like this one.

Furthermore, I see people making what I would consider to be impractical purchases. For example, I try to find the best deals on statues from DC Collectibles. However, there are people who pay full price + tax at my LCS. On Instagram, people have reported paying full price + tax + shipping from Sideshow for things I got for 50% off with free shipping.

So yeah, there's a lot of market behavior that supports the kinds of business practices we see.

[ukshaun]

The Hobby at an all time high - high price, and it's only going to climb higher.
Part of me is kinda happy to have run out of space, meaning limiting future purchases.
I'm also in the mind to hunt out deals

[Vracula]

Originally Posted by ukshaun

The Hobby at an all time high - high price, and it's only going to climb higher.
Part of me is kinda happy to have run out of space, meaning limiting future purchases.
I'm also in the mind to hunt out deals

The culture is definitely at an all time high.

[Raas Kaaz]

Low for Sideshow for me I didnt ordered anyting last year... glad there are other sources out there

[craigcliff1]

Can't imagine can keep going like this. From 2005 to 2015 I bought ten statues a year at least, bought TF, GI Joes, Star Wars, LOTR, now just down to TF and one or two Joes, PCS Shredder. One or two statues a year. Also shipping, use to ship coast to coast for $20.00 for a PF now it's $80.00 to $100.00. Market should keep going for now but how about when PF are $700.00, $750.00 and so on. SSC Darth Vader PF 2015 was $500.00 then now new one is what $700.00. So in few years is a new DV PF going to be $1,000. I have stayed in because I buy so little now. Wont start on resell it's a joke now glad when you get 1/2 what you paid, then throw in shipping
So it's not the market now that we have to think about it's the market in 2,5,10 years

[myskye23]

I'll be on my way out slowly (although not completely) after all my Pre-Orders are completed. I have 9 that I'm currently waiting on (7 are 1/3 scales from Prime 1. 1 is 1/4 scale from Prime 1 and 1 is 1/4 scale from Sideshow). I'm going to switch gears and buy older statues to complete my collection since many of them can be bought for much cheaper now off eBay. I'll probably end up Pre-Ordering 1 or 2 new statues per year, depending on what's being released and whether I can fit them into my existing cabinet layout.

[risingstar]

I never quite got the "if you hoped to retire off your statues" comment. It's utter nonsense. For one, no one is thinking that, not even remotely. In 20+ years of collecting, I have not once heard anyone ever say they hoped to retire off their statues. That being said, many of (us) older collectors, up until recently anyway, have been able to buy-new/sell-old for close to two decades. For the past 15 years at least, I have not had to pay a dime out of pocket for statues. It's been an awesome ride. At any time, I generally had 20 items for sale on eBay -- and they typically sold fast, and often at a profit. To date, I have moved over 300 pieces. Of course, it's unfortunate to see these easier-to-sell days go. All this to say, it's often laughable to see the oblivious dismiss this aspect of the hobby or misinterpret it as something barely resembling reality, yet they present their ideas as if it were a revelation. That's the internet.

[batman1180]

Originally Posted by mva5580

It's been said plenty here but if you're in this for resale value, then inevitably you're going to be disappointed. This isn't a hobby to retire off of, it just isn't.

I remember years ago there was a fellow forum member who literally said that they had their retirement funds tied up in this hobby. I couldn’t believe it when I read it back then. Hopefully they were able to get out and break even and diversify a little better. I don’t think there could be a worse place to put your investments for retirement.