What is more worth?

[FlaBtl (Sfl) 606]

I have a very uncommon questions. What condition of a figure is "more" worth?

For example:
Would you buy & pay more for a factory sealed oop figure (you dont know the castquality and if its complete!)

or

would you buy & pay more for a non sealed oop figure (you see its complete and with a good cast quality).

Im very interested in you thoughts.

 

[Banjer]

I would not pay more for either but would like to see what I an getting.

So option 2 but I wouldn't pay more.

Bill

 

[Babelfish]

If it's an OOP figure I'm interested in having, I'm not really bothered if it's sealed or not as long as the price is sensible.

- Steve

 

[Martin64]

An OOP figure is worth what the buyer is willing to pay for it. The factory sealed boxes are for collectors that do not dare to open the box and are happy to own the model kit they remember from the past - makes maybe sense if the seal was not opened since the seventies or earlier.
I personally do not care about the sealed box or opened condition as long as it is the kit I missed in the past. If the seller asks more money than the original price I really have to need this kit to make me pay that price which rarely is the case.

IMHO collecting figures is not an option for making big money some years later. Still there is always the exception. I for once offered my childhood dream (Airfix Waterloo Battle Set 1/76 scale) in a nice condition and got 280 DM (today about 140 Euro) from a collector for a kit that had cost me 19,80 DM (about 9 Euro) from my pocket money in the seventies. Rumors that the farm acessories of this set were lost forever and will never be reproduced increased the value at that time amongst collectors http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/ShowFeature.aspx?id=5 - check the last sentence at the bottom of the page. I still don`t own a Porsche...

Cheers, Martin

 

[Warren SMITH]

If its a figure I have been chasing and stupidly missed when it was originally released, I have been known to be a bit silly and pay above market price for it..
For example when I was completing the set of Mike French 120mm Rorkes Drift figures, which I now have, or when I managed to pick up a built 1/9 Fort Royal Review British Para. So I think it boils down to how much you want the kit, factory sealed or used its irrelevant to me..
At some point I may even come across a Verlinden WW1 French Infantryman.. who appears to be very rare and stupidly priced, these days.

 

[Wayneb]

Impulses, desires and attitudes change along with age. The world is changing along with attitudes regarding art and models. In today's world; If you want it, you buy it, you paint it.....Nobody's guaranteed tomorrow, and today's not over yet.

 

[blaster]

Yr question was on the OOP comparative value of a mint in box kit unseen versus an openly transparent kit.

I would always opt for the latter as it is wysiwyg
Given possible errors in missing pieces or poor castings, these are all masked. Heat sealed pkg is easily removed and redone. Don forget with metal castings, they also deteriorate with age.

 

[Mirofsoft]

This kind of question is basicaly for people buying figures painted ( toy soldiers ) or figurines ( movies, TV, Rock )
The american way is

Largepatch of lost colours 10 - 20
More than one notch and/or 40
Good slight decoloration and or a tiny notch 70
Very good sky decoloration 90
Basicaly perfect condition value 100
The same with box between 120 180 depending of the box
With unopened box in perfect condition, no decoloration( sun ), sealed, 200
The same with the original seller/shop sticker with original price 210-220
The same in limited edition with certificate 500 to ..... ( I mean less than 100 produced )
A prototype never produced in a well known saga 5000 and up


For us tin-lead, preferably unpainted, we do not realy collect oldies, we just want it as souveir of the good ol days, or we absolutely want to paint that one, lets say 5-10€ a 54mm, 10-20 for 75/90mm

 

[Viking Bob]

I have seen figures that I have wanted to paint on eBay but I won't pay the high price asked for. I have been lucky and got the figure I was after and for a fair price.