I WANT IT ALL AND I WANT IT NOW! - Part III - The Golden Years

Breaking News!!!!!
- R2-D2 Knocks Yak Face Out Of The Park!

A spokes person for Yak Face Said....
- "On behave of my Yak Faced client I would just like to say.... Fuckety Fuck Off you Ashcan Andy wanna be!"


Prices inevitably rise, whether it be Cornflakes, cars, drugs or your monthly subscription to Gay World, they only ever really rise, it's the way of the world unfortunately. Fortunately our wages rise also which is how we manage to maintain an existence. In recent years however, this hobby of ours has seen unpresidented sales prices and has become govened by money, where even friendships have been put second to cold hard cash.
Probably the most sought after thing on the planet is the black gold that is oil. In 2003 the average price of a gallon of Petrol was £3.68, 15 years later it is £5.40. It hasn't even doubled, In 2003 the average price of a mint and complete loose R2-D2 with Pop Up Saber was £90, today it is £720.... 8 times higher!!!
So high that it has even surpassed the price of an MOC example of the same figure, which presents worrying times a head.

Interestingly, a recent sale pointed out by Bill in another thread of an L-Slot Rocket Firing Fett Prototype hit a staggering 86K again more than 6 times the price of the same figure 15 years ago.

I thought it would be interesting to have a look at some of the prices that were the norm 15 years ago. At a point where they had remained reasonably steady for some time.
AFA was just about to embark on it plastic imprisonment of everything and anything, sparking an early jump in price, even after the U-Grade scandal and the Toy Toni Scandal their reputation remained bizarrely intact. The new wave of films saw the prices hike conciderably and only ever up. Many new collectors no nothing other than todays prices so I figured it would be nice to take a trip down memory lane for all.

Everything seen below are taken from Brianstoys catalogues circa 2003 (yes they where openly selling repros then as well)






























Good times!

Most informative. I've been looking at ungraded 12-backs lately and surprisingly they seem to have risen a lot slower than some other items. Graded is another story. But you can find some good condition ungraded 12 backs for around double the prices listed here lol much better than 6 or 8 times higher.

Jeez Alex , nice idea for a thread .
I recall those days , funny how i remember thinking those prices were ridiculous as my initial run of 96 plus the ewoks and droids were long complete back then . Variant collecting wasnt what it is now nor was i into it like i am now. I mean i had the regular boring commonly known stuff but not like these days with the foreign items taking up 90% of my collecting budget. I always also felt bryans toys were priced a bit high .

As for the pop up r2 thing all i have to say on that is im sure glad i aint searching for one these fuckings days . Screw that!! Lol

Poch lando moc= 8k +

Funnily enough, I used to also think the same Bill, that Brians Toys was a bit pricey!!! There used to be a local shop in my town that was over priced but is were I got a lot of my early figures as it was local and easy and I wasn't online at the time, '97 - '98 Thing is he had some quality MOC's, I always remember one that I kick myself about now. He had a Takara Stormtrooper (alternate sculpt) on a mint card for £300. I remember at the time thinking.... "who the fucks gonna pay that" funnily enough it was the lack of sales that made him have to shut down!!! He still lives locally and aparently still has a huge collection, Me and my mate who runs the local Sci-Fi convention are hoping to get in touch and to see what he has. Interestingly there is a guy coming to the Sci-Fi convention this year from up the road at Whitby, it's the guy who sold that Palitoy Fett at auction for 17K

Very interesting to look back a the “good old days” like this, great article.
Enjoyed it so much I have gone back and read parts 1 and 2, just as interesting and relevant.
You are correct, prices used to creep up, but lately they seem to rise daily!
Thanks.

Its funny that i see no end in sight as well . I mean everything technically speaking should have an end price im value but even the most common of items is now worth more than i wouldve ever imagined. I think back to 1978 to 1980 and those christmases just opening up 12 and 20 backs and empire cards . Man i wish i would have just stored them away .

Well, you'd have had to store them really well for 40 years too, and hope that your parents picked out good examples. If the figures weren't perfect, that's a lot of work for a few hundred dollars each.

You were probably better off with whatever impact enjoying them made on your character. Probably.

probably