32 replies to this topic

[Tortle]

Look at these prices! Good Lord!

Bloodstone MIB - $86.00

Shriekbeak MIB - $137.50!!!

This is a far cry from when I bought my first RBTs, Gravelguts and Rockadile, MIB for $15 each! One of the reasons I got into RBTs is that they were fun and obscure... and cheap. After I posted My Tribute to Rocks & Bugs & Things on my site, RBT-collecting exploded, and now it's so insane that I can't even compete! Note to self... keep my obscure toy line collecting under wraps...

-Nathan

[Tortle]

Rocks & Bugs & Things are pretty "obscure", and Bloodstone and Shriekbeak are probably the most "rare" of them (in quotation marks because they're production toys and, like all production toys, are not really obscure or rare at all since there was thousands of them made). They seem hard to find at first, but they're definitely out there and auctions pop up every once in a while. These prices are really just a fad... people THINK that they're really rare since so few people know about them, and are willing to pay an ungodly amount for them. And, as you probably know, what people think about a toy is really what dictates its price. I'm certain that, after awhile, people will lose interest and things will calm down, just like any other toy line.

There's a reason so few people know about them, and that the RBTs toy line was so short-lived: frankly, it really isn't that cool. It's fun and campy, but the toys are made of a flimsy, brittle, and cheap plastic and once you have them surprise the Mordels a few times, there isn't that much more you can do with them. That's why I'm not even trying for alot of these auctions... they really aren't worth it.

-Nathan

[arforbes]

DoctorKent...Hmm, let me check the member list.

[arforbes]

Isn’t Doctor Kent a member of these boards?

He is a member of this board. He posts every once in a while. I wonder where he has been.

[arforbes]

No, no. I don't even consider that "rolling eyes" icon to be a rolling eyes emotion. To me it looks like he is looking up at something, in this case, the member list link at the top of the page. That's why I put that in there. Sorry about that, I guess now that I think about it, it is a rolling eyes icon, huh? I didn't mean it that way though.

[Tortle]

I was asking more as an invitation for Doctor Kent to reply and explain why he felt these toys were worth the price. Tortle, who is a fan of the toys (I hope that is fair to say Tortle), didn’t even think it was worth the price.

Yeah, it's fair to say that I'm a fan of the toys. I think they're alot of fun! But I don't think they're fun enough for $100...

But I would like to say that there are very few toys that are worth that much to me. I don't care if it's a MOC 12 back telescoping Luke Skywalker... $100+ is generally way too much for a toy. I'd probably pay that much for Jumbo Machindeer Shogun Warriors, but that's about it.

-Nathan

[Tortle]

Wow is that a poorly phrased paragraph. I hope you know what I meant.

Ha! Yeah, I know what you mean. And I understand why some toys are worth more than others. But, for me, $100+ is too much for a single little toy like a carded 21-back Boba Fett, or MIB RBTs, or a Spinning Head Ashura... you get the picture. Then again, I'm sure some people would freak out about me spending $70 on Garbage Pail Kids.

(In my defense, I did get about 1,000 of them, but still... $70 is alot of money for a bunch of cards. Oh well...)

-Nathan

[Ridureyu]

Garbage Pail Kids?

[DoctorKent]

Hello to all,

DoctorKent here. Yes, I did bid on and win the aformentioned Rocks and Bugs and Things. And the prices shown are not normal at all. Let me explain this for everyone who asked.

When I decided I was going to do a website, I wanted to do one that no one else had done before. Sure, I have craploads of Gi Joes, but what could I say that hasn't already been covered? I was digging through the bins of my massive toy hell and found the lines that would become my websites - RoadBlasters, Computer Warriors, and Rocks and Bugs and Things.

My brother and I have been collecting these toys since 1985 - not hardcore or anything, just kind of casual. I have been checking eBay for about two years straight now, and this is only the second Bloodstone and the first Shriekbeak boxed that I have ever seen. The last Bloodstone went for about $15 bucks MIB, in an auction that totalled $30 with another RBT. The ONLY reason I lost this auction was getting sniped and not being able to complete another bid due to a computer crash.

Flash forward to a couple weeks ago. I picked up loose examples of all five rocks for a couple bucks, but still needed the Mordles and boxes for each. This seller posts two of the three Rocks I need - and one of them has a Mordle which no one has been able to provide photographic proof of. The prices were normal for RBT up until the last day - previous to this, the most expensive price for a single RBT was $30 - and I paid that price for a MIB Blooderfly.

I checked the auction Friday and Bloodstone is at $51, and Shriekbeak is at about $35. A Japanese bidder had entered the battle. I had been thinking of bidding about $80 a piece for them, and this changed things a little bit.

Now a bit of background before I proceed - I have been collecting toys for about 15 years now. I've collected most of the major lines to within pieces of finishing collections - Star Wars, He-Man, Transformers, Gi Joe, Marvel Super Heroes, Super Powers, Microman 99....the list goes on. I have (or have had) just about every toy that I have ever wanted, excluding stuff I didn't think was worth it, like Cyborg from Super Powers. Or an original Megatron. A $600 Fortress Maximus. I don't jump into any lines - I check the price guides, and eBay, make lists of all possible items and see if it is something I want to get into.

RBT is not a line that is rare from demand, it is rare from undemand. Not many people bought them, thus not many people sell them. I find most of my current favorites are like this. They all pop up eventually....

So, back to the story - theres about four minutes left on the auction. I say to myself - okay, you have the money, go ahead and bid your $80 for Shriekbeak. He'll be the most expensive ever, but you'll have him, and thus anyone who comes to the website will see him in all his boxed, Mordled glory. Hmmm, I've been outbid. Let's try $90. Outbid. And more and more, until finally at $137.50 I win the auction. Was I fully in my right mind when I bid this much? Nope. I have to say I got caught up in the moment.

I win Shriekbeak, my buddy IM's me and I wonder if I have done the right thing. Bloodstone is coming up. I figure, for making me pay for Shriekbeak, I'll bid my $90 bid and if the other bidder has outdone me, so be it. But no, I have won that auction as well.

So that's how it went down. One last tidbit: I'm not sure how much you guys have paid for MUSCLES - that's not one of the lines that I've ever been too heavily into - but in my collecting days I have spent big bucks on items I really wanted. I have an item on my site in the for sale page, mostly for laughs, of the Perfect Change Getter Robo. I bought it for $500 - I had saved up the money for it for about half a year to get. Was it worth it? That's a post that belongs in another topic.

And to answer the other posts in this topic, in a sort of order:
Nate, keep collecting RBT. You can have all of them except Bloodstone and Shriekbeak for under $30, and with time, even those will be cheap. If the other insane guy gets his, the field will be wide open. You have to watch with RBT - they are not a true collector's line - I have noted over twenty different bidders for RBT, and have not talked to most of them. There's a Japanese contingent who collects these "weird" toys, and they will bid accordingly.
Again to Nate, RBT fits in nicely in an Inhumanoids display, they can terrorize Gi Joe pretty nicely, and He-Man has his problems fighting giant bugs in my household.
To General Veers, I have never understood the Star Wars mentality of 12 backs, 21 backs, etc. Sure, they came out earlier, but the differences in prices. Then again, I'm not a big fan of MOC anyway. Toys for me are meant to be played with, touched - a tactile experience. MIB is different, you can have an opened toy be MIB with all pieces. There's no point, to me, of having toys that you haven't opened.

So, that's about everything for now. I invite you all to swing by my page and see what all the fuss is about now - I have updated with some pics of Shriekbeak and all - and check back next week (hopefully) for the captured on digital film experience of opening $225 worth of RBT's.

DoctorKent
http://doctorkent.tripod.com
The Home for Rocks and Bugs and Things.

[DoctorKent]

One point that wasn't fully answered in the previous post: why? Why did I need to have these so much?
The funny thing is, I only needed the boxes and Mordles, so I essentially (is this worse, Nate?) paid that $$$ for cardboard and PVC.
I had to have the Mordles. End of story.
DoctorKent

[Tortle]

Hmmm, I've been outbid. Let's try $90. Outbid. And more and more, until finally at $137.50 I win the auction. Was I fully in my right mind when I bid this much? Nope. I have to say I got caught up in the moment.

Ha! Well, I'm sure all of us have gotten caught up in the moment when it comes to Ebay bidding! You know, that would make a pretty good topic...

Nate, keep collecting RBT. You can have all of them except Bloodstone and Shriekbeak for under $30, and with time, even those will be cheap.

There's only a few that I want, and I only want them loose: Shriekbeak, Bloodstone, and Trapasaurus. And frankly, the recent RBT activity on Ebay have proved to me that none of them are worth either 1) the hassle of trying to compete in these crazy Ebay auctions, or 2) the insane Ebay prices. So, no offense Doc, but I'll let everyone else go nuts, and when the dust settles, I'll see if they're worth my time.

To General Veers, I have never understood the Star Wars mentality of 12 backs, 21 backs, etc. Sure, they came out earlier, but the differences in prices.

I think it has to do with the fact that a certain figure came out first on a certain card. There were (quite literally) millions of Star Wars figures made, and many figures were continuously available throughout the line, so the prices may account for the prestige of owning the first available version. For example, I'm a big Chewie fan. Chewie was available throughout the entire run on alot of different cardbacks, but he was first available on a 12-back card, so I would rather have a 12-back Chewie than a ROTJ Chewie.

The funny thing is, I only needed the boxes and Mordles, so I essentially (is this worse, Nate?) paid that $$$ for cardboard and PVC.

Yes.

-Nathan

[DoctorKent]

To General Veers, I have never understood the Star Wars mentality of 12 backs, 21 backs, etc. Sure, they came out earlier, but the differences in prices.

I think it has to do with the fact that a certain figure came out first on a certain card. There were (quite literally) millions of Star Wars figures made, and many figures were continuously available throughout the line, so the prices may account for the prestige of owning the first available version. For example, I'm a big Chewie fan. Chewie was available throughout the entire run on alot of different cardbacks, but he was first available on a 12-back card, so I would rather have a 12-back Chewie than a ROTJ Chewie.

Well, a Star Wars carded version VS the ROTJ carded version I completely understand - they are essentially two different lines. But the difference between 21 figures on the back and 12....that''s a bit much for me, although I even can understand that a bit. The thing about Star Wars collecting in recent times is the .0000 crap. And the warning sticker/age warnings etc. A collector could literally have ten Boba Fetts from POTF2 - all the original sculpt, but with half circle, full circle, triangle - Blech.

DoctorKent

[Tortle]

A collector could literally have ten Boba Fetts from POTF2 - all the original sculpt, but with half circle, full circle, triangle - Blech.

To each his own, I guess, but that's something that I never really understood either. Why have a million variations of the same figure? It wasn't even as drastic as a different paint application (like tan vest Luke Jedi), but instead, these "completist" collectors would buy all the different card variations, like if the card had .001 instead of .000 in the UPC, or if a word was misspelled. I thought at the time it was more than a bit excessive and pointless, since nobody would care about most of the variations in the future. I seem to be right, as the vast majority of these variations go for basically nothing on Ebay today.

-Nathan

[DoctorKent]

A collector could literally have ten Boba Fetts from POTF2 - all the original sculpt, but with half circle, full circle, triangle - Blech.

To each his own, I guess, but that's something that I never really understood either. Why have a million variations of the same figure? It wasn't even as drastic as a different paint application (like tan vest Luke Jedi), but instead, these "completist" collectors would buy all the different card variations, like if the card had .001 instead of .000 in the UPC, or if a word was misspelled. I thought at the time it was more than a bit excessive and pointless, since nobody would care about most of the variations in the future. I seem to be right, as the vast majority of these variations go for basically nothing on Ebay today.

-Nathan

Hee-hee. You said the magic word!

I feel bad enough for myself, having a nearly complete loose collection of Star Wars figures that now have barely any financial value. The poor collector out there with over two thousand carded figures, half of them carback variants....hell, I don't feel bad for those collector-types at all! That'll learn em that collect-uh-bulls is worth money, yup. My fave was scalpy at the flea market, stading there in the blistering cold with his table of Spawn variants, marked down to *gasp* regular store price and not selling anything, his rosy cheeks a shade of red indicating frostbite has occurred.

Now RBT variations, don't get me started...if the Bloodstone Mordle really is blue, then there is a variant blue one out there...I give up.

CLICK-CLICK
BOOM!

(He was) DoctorKent
He had majorly updated his RBT website - please check it out.
http://doctorkent.tripod.com

[Adamantiumwulf]

I don't think they are ripping on collectors who like to keep stuff on the card. At least I hope not. They are ripping on the collectors who have to have all the variants of the cards.

When at all possible I like to keep some figures on the card or MIB. There are some that just look sweet on the card. It also has a sense of reliving the joy of when you first found them at the store.

[Tortle]

Yeah, I was ragging variation collectors, not carded collectors. I still have a few figures that are my absolute favorites that I keep on the card, for the reason that AdamantiumWulf said. I don't have anything against MOC collectors, but I don't do it myself since it's 1) very space-consuming, and 2) not as fun as loose collecting, IMO.

Variation collectors used to piss me off back in the day, though. All I wanted was one figure, for example, Boba Fett. I didn't care if it had half circles on its gloves, or a .000 on its cardback, I just wanted one Boba Fett. But the variation collectors just kept buying as much as they could as long as there was the slightest insignificant difference in the card or the figure. So basically, it was harder for me to find just one figure because they were buying multiples. Sure that sounds selfish... but hell, if I'm not looking out for myself, who will?

-Nathan

[Tortle]

I don’t go for the .000 and .001, but sometimes a different sticker is kind of cool (like Zam’s with the current Saga line) or packaging variation is cool (again, Zam with the side and front pose).  But even if I did collect the .000’s, etc. then what is wrong with that?

Well, I used to get pissy because variation collectors get multiple versions of the same figure. I understood if the variation is significant (like you said with Zam's pose) and I didn't really mind that, but when people bought a bunch of the same figure that I was looking for just because of slight differences (like .000), then I got bitter because it made it so much harder for me to find the figure.

Okay... for example, let's say that Ehpant Mon (a figure you said you were having trouble finding) has a variation: they fixed a misspelling on the back of the card. Now, you're a big Ephant fan. You're having trouble finding just one, and frankly, you couldn't give a flaming bag of crap if they misspelled "Saelt Marae", you just want ONE. I happen upon two Ephant Mons in TRU. In this theoretical example, being a variation collector, I see that one Ephant has the misspelling and the other doesn't, so I buy both. You walk in the store just five minutes later, but it doesn't matter... I snagged them both. You're screwed.

You're right... people can collect whatever they want, and frankly I just don't care that much anymore because I don't really collect new Star Wars as much. I just thought it was inconsiderate to other collectors to buy a crapload of figures that have insignificant variations because it made the figures so hard to find.

-Nathan

[Wraith]

well, i think you need to calm down a bit veers, first getting mad at me for posting too much, then getting mad at arforbes for using th emoticon, and now mad at nathan for ragging on guys who collect the same figure 10 different time because oh no, the little number in the corner is different. we are all friends here and you need to realize that this is about fun. not everything has to be serious, especially toys. im sure this will piss you off, and i dont mean to anger you. grab a beer, sit back, and shoot the crap with the guys. it's all about FUN

[jkaris]

I think people who collect variants are the same as a completist. They just want to have one of every one there is. Nothing wrong with that.

What irks me is people who buy variants to resell immediately. It's annoying that they cause artificial shortages of toys. Really though, if someone wants to spend all that time searching for variants to make a $3 profit on eBay, fine, let them. They can waste their time. I'll just wait.

What the real problem is, is the toy companies who purposely short pack items that they are going to mass release a month or two later. This causes a great demand for that particular figure, especially by scalpers, and ends up screwing the collector out of getting a figure early on, or the impatient collector being butt raped for a huge amount for a figure that will be common place next week. It is ANNOYING as all hell! And for the toy companies it really works. Reason being that the toy sotre gets numerous calls for a certain figure, let's say Yoda.
Collector: Hey, did you guys get any Yoda's in in this shipment?
Store: Nope, try next week. The Store gets TONS of calls for this short packed figure, and when they are available, they order a TON of them thinking that they will all sell out, but instead they will be peg warmers, because by that time, anyone who really wanted one, found one. And it is the store who gets screwed. Hasbro got it's $$$ already for the shipment. And you would think alot of stores would realize this and change ordering practices. But sadly enough, retail stores have a very high turn over rate, and people that were around 2-3 xmas's ago to see al the peg warmers are no longer there, and the new people in charge are vaguely reminded of how hard it was to find a E1 Yoda so they order a TON of E2 Yoda's when they come in. etc.etc.

I guess I said all that to say this. The toy companies need to get with it.

On a side note, I'm kind of happy the way MOTU is doing their variants. A different paint scheme instead of an actual different figure. The 4-1 ratio on HEMan/Skeletor to everyone else is annoying though.