Wednesday, January 9, 2013

~ Collecting Toys as investment ?

    Some people thinks that collecting toy is very childish. Other people treat it is a hobby while some buying toys for investment. I have been collecting toys since I was young.
    I started to know how to take care of toys when I was around 6 years or 7 years old. Those days, my parent only bought small die cast cast and LEGO for my bro and I. LEGO is fun to played with family or alone. I remember that my dad will help my bro and I to assemble the bigger sets like air port and restaurant. LEGO is not that expensive that time. The big airport set also cost less than RM200. Nowadays, I think you will have to pay at least RM350. Later, I started to collect Gundam when I was about age 11. My parent bought me a Master Grade when I was 12. Those days don't have special toy shop that sell cheaper Gundam. We end up paid a lot more expensive at local departmental store which is about double the price of Japan retail yen price.
    Toys changes a lot within these 20 years in terms of quality and prices. Let us talk about prices of toys. I believe that almost all the toys price have raised up to a few fold in the last 20years. For example, Hotwheels last time around RM4 each but nowadays cost RM7.50. While the basic Lego vehicle set is around RM29 but now is at least RM49 or more. Is it worth paying extra? I think it will be based on your personal opinion. Price goes up but toy manufacturer does improve the overall looks of the toys especially action figures. You might want to check out S.H.Figuarts release by Bandai. The improvement of the details and joints of the figure is very good. But of course, the price is about 4 times higher compared to old release action figure like power rangers.
    Now let us look at another perspective in terms of quality. I think old toys has better quality. Those vintage toys were made from more durable materials which you can rarely see the toy break apart. I still can remember some of my toy plastic outer layer plastic chipped off but it wont break. My only Transformers Road Caesar which I played until all the stickers worn but the plastic is still OK and joints are still tight. The new Transformers released these few years starts from the movie line, the toys plastic are not that durable and prone to breakage. You can easily see stress marks on the plastic when you apply some force during transformation. I bought a leader class Ironhide last year. The pull for action tab "auto" broke off when I was removing the Ironhide from the box. It really disappointing me. A toy that cost me RM150 has such bad quality.
    I started become very active in collecting toys since year 2007 after I found out online toy forums that discuss about all sort of toys. The "poison of collecting" slowly injected into my body. I was exposed to different toys especially Transformers, SIC, and Hotwheels. Then, I start buying many toys whenever I saw toy news updates. Of course, that time I start to work part time before I enroll into high school. Until now, I only realize that actually I have overspent on toys.
    I have seen some collectors collect a lot of toy but end up sell all their collections after their marriage. Some of them manage to earn extra after selling their collections. Some value of the toys do rise up when the toy manufacturer no longer produce them. Some people still keeping them if their wife allow them to continue collect toys. I really admire those toy collector's wife or girl friend that do not stop them from collecting the toys. They still have the freedom to collect what they want. I can see some of the benefits of collecting toys is that you won't simply spend money on outing like clubbing. Some people spent a lot on wine and beer. You may resell the toy in future if you do not wish to collect it in future. Collecting toys is fun and can cheer up your life. I do not play with my toy now, but admiring them in the display cabinet. Oh well of course, you can disagree with my statement. Life is yours, you may choose what you want to do.
 

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