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Battle Beast Values


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#1 nerzhin

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Posted 18 October 2018 - 04:32 PM

Hi-does anyone know if Battle Beast values on ebay tend to trend up or down, or have they only been rising? I have recently tried to start collecting them, but it seems like the prices are climbing out of reach, as in 30$ for a cobra and $40 for a penguin, to give examples. I am wondering if I should wait for a dip in prices or if this is one of those toylines, like Shogun Warriors, that is just not going to come back down....any thoughts? anyone want to sell or trade for battle beasts, while I'm at it?


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#2 Ericnilla

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Posted 18 October 2018 - 07:24 PM

Certain sculpts are popular and always pull more money, plus there are people that any build those sculpts and are always in the look out.

Best advice is to just keep trying at what you feel comfortable paying on singles, and buying lots will be cheaper overall.

And I do have a large lot for sale, but don't sell singles.

Edited by Ericnilla, 18 October 2018 - 07:26 PM.

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#3 ZebraLegion

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Posted 19 October 2018 - 04:56 AM

I've only been collecting the past 2 years or so (I can't speak to the prices before) and it seems like certain beasts (Lion, Cobra, Penguin, Zebra, Sloth, Rooster) always sell for more.  But if you are patient enough it seems like a reasonable seller comes along selling those same sculpts much cheaper than most people list them for.

 

Like ericnilla said above, the best bet is to buy larger lots with those harder to find/ more expensive sculpts in them if you can.  When I started collecting the zebras, the only way I could afford it is to get the zebra in a lot and sell the rest to try and recoup most of the $$.

 

I've got some extras I would be willing to sell or trade.  I'll send you a PM.


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Searching for any middle 12 or higher 12 lasers- happy with just the figures don't need weapons/shields/sled Killer HoundFighthorn

 

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#4 Exactobeast

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Posted 19 October 2018 - 08:04 PM

I’m also fairly loaded with extras as well
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#5 Jabroniville

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Posted 19 October 2018 - 10:38 PM

I built a whole army of Beasts a few years back, so what I've discovered is that the prices are usually pretty consistent, or go up by a bit. If you check the numbers, the "latter 30" or so almost ALWAYS sell for more, as they ended up in less homes. Stuff like the Bear, Tiger, etc., from the early numbers are usually pretty cheap.

The Penguin is probably the most expensive ones in the line. It's one of the "last batch" released, looks incredibly unique for a Beast, and there's one guy out there who literally buys HUNDREDS of them, meaning canny collectors are raising the prices artificially in order to meet the demand- this means that everybody else ends up paying more if they want the same figure. Like the others have said, there are other Beasts a little bit like that. "Horde" collectors can mess up the pricing of a Beast or two. 

Buying in lots is the easiest way to get lots of them for cheap... unless you want weapons. And this way ends up giving you a lot of extras. I myself did the "buy in lots" method for a very long time, but this was terribly inefficient and I spent a FORTUNE on shipping to Canada, largely because I was a little too new at this. The smarter and cheaper method for me would've been to just pick one of the 2-3 most-respected sellers on eBay and buy a huge lot in bulk... but I was so new that I didn't know them by name, didn't know about THIS website (which could have helped greatly), and was nervous about an "All my eggs in one basket" approach. The silliest thing was, I ended up buying multiple guys from a single seller, scattered across months, just because I'd either try to limit spending, or wait on certain guys. So I ended up spending MORE.

I also bought the entire line... and then decided that I wanted weapons, which necessitated ANOTHER bout of spending and lot-buying, and negotiating a price with that Mike133498 guy (or whatever his name is) on eBay.


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#6 Orkozero

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Posted 20 October 2018 - 05:36 AM

I’ve been collecting for about 10 years on eBay, and my non-scientific assessment is that they are trending up slowly. About 6-8 years ago a full figure with rub sign and weapon would be $20 at the very max (for cobra, penguin, etc) with the average Beasts being in the range of $12-$15 for the complete figure. I have seen that pricing higher in recent years, as you noted.
I also remember calculating about 6 years ago that for the bulk figures, the average price I would be paying per figure is ~$3 (not including weapon and possibly not rubs). I think the right bulk auctions are still in that price range.
So the average beast price hasn’t gone up too much, but the complete figures are more valuable.
Laser Beasts as well have trended up, and harder to get at a comfortable price.
I also used to find auctions where I could get figures for 1.5-2 per Beast if I was lucky. Alas, no longer.

Hope this perspective is helpful! Again, non-scientific single person perspective, to be averaged with what others have experienced.

Good luck!!
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#7 nerzhin

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Posted 20 October 2018 - 09:32 AM

Thanks for all of the information and advice. I guess still the cheapest way is thrift stores and such, if you get very very lucky. I found a penguin for 25 cents a few months ago and a crow for 50 cents a couple of weeks ago. Before that, it was a real drought, with only a beaver and frog in the entire year (bought in a bag with heman and blackstar guys for a buck at a church rummage sale!) The hunt is a big part of the fun, and I guess since ebayers do the hunt part themselves, they get to dictate a lot of the pricing.


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#8 Exactobeast

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Posted 20 October 2018 - 01:30 PM

I

Edited by Exactobeast, 20 October 2018 - 01:32 PM.

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#9 Jabroniville

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Posted 21 October 2018 - 04:07 AM

Thanks for all of the information and advice. I guess still the cheapest way is thrift stores and such, if you get very very lucky. I found a penguin for 25 cents a few months ago and a crow for 50 cents a couple of weeks ago. Before that, it was a real drought, with only a beaver and frog in the entire year (bought in a bag with heman and blackstar guys for a buck at a church rummage sale!) The hunt is a big part of the fun, and I guess since ebayers do the hunt part themselves, they get to dictate a lot of the pricing.

Holy... I've NEVER seen Beasts available for THOSE prices! A few shops sold them for $5, but that's for early guys, and usually with no weapons or noticeable wear. Less than a dollar is crazy!


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#10 Beastformers

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Posted 24 October 2018 - 02:16 AM

Battle Beasts pricing is one of the toughest things to tell simply because it´s always variable.

What is true is that over the past decade prices seem to have gone up gradually, if you speak to the long term collectors out here who´s been into the BB for 15+ years you´ll be confronted with stories of them finding Beasts for, what are for us today, insanely low prices. Prices which you´ll only find once you bump into them at a flea market or whatever today. So yes it is still possible to find Beasts for $0.50 - $2 or so if you´re very lucky but these days it´s more an exception than reality.

 

Especially the last 6 months or so, or maybe since the beginning of 2018, the prices from normal BB seem to have made another step with the normal, more common, Series 1 Beasts going for prices close to $20 each (complete) whereas this was often a whole lot less. Of course there are some exceptions here as well with the Lion and Shark who tend to be a bit more pricey/wanted. But seeing some Series 3 Beasts listed at prices of $60 or even close to $100 is pretty insane and those are record prices we haven´t seen before. Although if the prices of the Series 1 go up with steps like that you could expect to see some movement in pricing on the harder to find Series 2 and 3 figs as well obviously. Not as extreme as some might make it look though. 

 

Over the past decade the BB pricing has always been a bit of a wave with prices going up and down but it has to be said that the wave up always tended to go up a little higher than the wave down so gradually the Beasts have increased in value a bit over time. This is not to weird considering the age of the Beasts and the fact that the pricing is for the biggest part, or at least it should be imho, based upon the condition of the Beasts and their level of completeness. Once you´re only after the figures and don´t care to much about rubs or condition you can still get them for relatively cheap prices but the moment you´re going to hunt for complete figures with weapons in good condition you´ll soon experience for yourself that after all these years finding them in that condition is easier said than done, hence the huge difference in pricing.

 

Of course there will always be Beasts that tend to be more rare or harder to find simply because they´re more wanted, Lion and Shark are good examples of that within Series 1 while figures like the Cobra and Penguin are the extremes in Series 3. In some cases it´s said that´s caused by army building but this is not something I can fully agree with since even though Series 3 Beasts are relatively more rare than Series 1 they´ve still been released in massive numbers and even IF there´d be someone buying hundred of them, which is not the case as I´ve only around 75 of them and bought my last Penguin over 2 years ago, it shouldn´t affect the market in such a way. There´s also been a massive Shark army built in the past but also that one hasn´t grown in massive numbers for over a decade or so now so it´s ridiculous to think that´s still has its effect on the pricing. What it more likely the case is that the sellers of those figures are aware of those armies being around causing them to raise the prices to insane levels because of that which doesn´t say the represent the actual value. It´s a bit like the GBB which do show up at insane amounts simply because they can try... That the Lion is a more wanted Beasts as number one and representative for the whole line isn´t that weird imho because when you think BB that´s probably one of the first figures you think about.

 

So pricing and BB will always remain a variable but what´s for sure is that the longer you´ll wait the more likely it´ll be that the prices will go up simply because of the fact it´s been like that for decades. Also let´s not forget that the impact that the weapons have on the total value of a figure is getting more and more as well due to the fact they got broken or lost over time and finding them now loose is slowly becoming an impossible or expensive task. Almost 50% if not more already of the value of a complete Beast is made up out of the value of the weapon and I expect this percentage will only increase with the time passing.

 

Like some above already mentioned going for bigger lots is the best way to get lower prices on average but therefore it´s important for you to make up your mind and decide BEFORE you start buying figures what direction you´ll be heading with your collection because all money spend on cheap figures in less condition now will be extra costs you´ll have down the road once your goal is to built a full collection in complete and good condition. So in some cases it might pay of to pay just a bit more for that complete figure in good condition knowing it is the one you´re really after rather than just buying one now in a condition you´ll know you´ll have to update along the way. That´s the best advice I can give you.

 

Whatever road you take have fun because it´s still a great line, good luck with the hunt and...

Enjoy the Beasts!


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