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Hi everybody. This past month has seen me turn a page in my life. I'm getting back into toy collecting after trying to find happiness in the likes of Collectable Card Games, Role Playing Games and Collectable Miniatures Games. It's good to be back in the saddle, and I'm hopeful that I won't be half-assing it like I have been for the past six months or so.
First up, let's check the rumor mill for anything interesting for forthcoming product. According to the Rebelscum.com rumor mill, there are going to be re-releases of some of the more expensive (on the secondary market) vehicles for the Star Wars line. There will be a re-release of the ARC-170 Fighter, TIE Bomber and AT-RT; as well as an ARC-170 Figures Battle Pack.
The ARC-170 Fighter is supposed to have a blue and white paint job this time like the Titanium Series and Transformers versions of the ship. I hope this is true because the action figure scale Revenge of the Sith ARC fighters that you can find on E-Bay go for double what they cost at stores, minimum, and then an obscene amount of money for shipping. That's a minimum of $72.95 after shipping if you don't get into a bidding war.
I priced the TIE Bomber on E-Bay recently and from what I understand, those go for about five to ten dollars above retail and have a reasonable cost to ship, and that is with pilot. The one that came out most recently is common on E-Bay and is probably the best one I've seen to date. I don't think bidding wars will start on TIE Bombers because if you look hard enough there are plenty to go around.
The AT-RT vehicle is rare on E-Bay and bidding starts at retail and goes up from there. I think I saw one with a "Buy it Now" of thirty dollars with shipping, and that includes driver. There are others that have the Kohl's exclusive extra Clone Trooper figure for twenty-six dollars and eight dollars shipping. You have to wade through a bunch of AT-RT driver action figures on card, and the Order 66 Obi-Wan and AT-RT driver two packs.
The ARC-170 Figures Battle Pack appears to be a three or four pack of action figures for your ARC-170. It might be a clone pilot, two clone troopers and a possible R2 unit to put into the re-released ARC-170 fighter. This should be good for collectors because finding all of those figures are tough to find for a reasonable amount at secondary sellers like Brianstoys.com. I just wish we had a K-B Toyworks that I could get stuff that other K-B stores could not sell. There are no longer any K-B Toys or FAO Schwartz in the city of Dallas.
For more details, here's a link to the article on the Rebelscum.com site: http://www.rebelscum.com/story/front/New_Star_Wars_Rumor_List_105173.asp
I also want to tell you about what has drawn me back into toy collecting. All throughout the year 2007 Hasbro is releasing a series of sixty figures with collector's coins. They are like the Power of the Force figures released back in the early 1980's; only this set is based on all six movies and the expanded universe of Star Wars. I have been doing a little research on the set, and so far only the first two sets, which covers about fourteen figures so far, but I have only been able to find the first set only and it's already May. I'm hopeful things will pick up by the summer because that is when kids are free to be kids and parents fold faster then The Flash on laundry day when it comes to toys.
I have a question to pose to you out there that read my article. That question is, where do you go to buy things like toys; on-line or brick and mortar? If brick and mortar where do you go? If on-line what sites do you prefer to go to?
There are only two types of discount brick and mortar stores around me, Target and Wal-Mart. There's only one chain toy store around here and that is Toys 'R' Us (TRU). Those three are picked clean by the weekend and they are always slow to restock. I've worked Flow Team at a local Target and had family members work the floor at another, and restocking the toy section is not high on the priority scale for those stores unless it's near a child based holiday like Christmas or Easter. I made a purchase of Star Wars toys at the local TRU, and when I went looking for a figure that I wanted, most of them were bent or had their bubble's damaged in some way except maybe two figures. I was buying these figures to open anyway, so I purchased one of the damaged ones, checked out and went on home. This is what bother's me about brick and mortar stores; lousy selection and sometimes the figures are in bad condition; which is bad for collectors, but for someone who buys their toys to open then this is okay.
I may start going the on-line route to purchase my toys. I have been pricing various web sites like Entertainment Earth, Big Bad Toy Store and Brian's Toys, and found the best one to get new items for price and service is Entertainment Earth. I can get a case; which is twelve Star Wars figures, for retail and pay only between ten and twenty dollars for shipping depending on how fast I want them and if it comes via USPS, UPS or Federal Express at Entertainment Earth. If I can save the wear and tear on my car and fuel, it's worth the twenty-six cents extra with shipping per figure to get all the figures I want from a case and I can either keep the extras or sell them on E-Bay. I'll more than likely keep the extras and donate them to a toy drive at Christmas time so that the disadvantaged children can have something fun to play with.
Send me an E-Mail at the address above (just remove the .nospam between the hotmail and .com) and tell me where you go to get your collectable toys; on-line or brick and mortar and your favorite places to go on-line or brick and mortar. I'll start by listing mine:
Brick and Mortar
Toys 'R' Us - Although they had the beat up figures at the store, they have prices that are good and selection that is usually restocked on Sunday night and I can go to them and they generally have something that I want if I have the cash for it.
On-Line
New Toys: http://www.entertainmentearth.com
Their prices are competitive with other places and shipping prices are listed on the site. I ordered from them back when Attack of the Clones was in the theater, and the items I purchased arrived in great condition.
Toys from the 80's, 90's and 00's: http://www.ebay.com OR
http://www.brianstoys.com
I would look at E-Bay first and Brian's Toys second before I order anything that I want. Prices on things can vary depending on age and condition at Brian's Toys and they have a tendency to charge more for shipping than Entertainment Earth to my area even though they both use the same services for shipping. E-Bay you have to watch your item and know how much you are willing to pay in advance, with shipping, so you can make a good bid.
For next month, I want your ideas for what I should do for my article. Should I continue with the greatness that is Hasbro and their Star Wars line? Should I go into why I think the 1980's were a good decade for action figures? Should I do something completely different that I need time to research ahead of time?
Let me know and I'll see what I can do.
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