To open or not to open....

[Utinni619]

I was just wondering...how many of you actually open your SW Figures? Recently I've been thinking of opening all of them up mainly cause I doubt they'll really have any major collectible value in the future...it's just like Beanie Babies, the prices in the so called "price guides" state one price BUT no one would really pay that since most EVERYONE has them. Think about it, how many thousands were made of each character and how many of us have them still MOC? I bet a bunch of us! :) Which means if we all have them then the demand is not that high, nothing like the Original stuff. Even people who don't give a crap about SW buy the action figures and keep them mint 'cause the think they'll be able to put they're kids through College with the money made from the collection... I know this just by seeing what happened at the SD Comic-Con, venders who knew nothing about SW were selling them cause they thought they could make money off WAY OVER priced figures that were not even "rare". So what do you think? AND don't even try and say go out and buy a second one to open...I HAVE ALL OF THEM, do you know how much it would cost to go and buy a second of each...YIKES!!!! Besides I'd rather spend that money to get MORE SW things!!!


Utinni

[Jedieb]

You are wise Utinni.
You've summed up the whole value issue perfectly. Current figures will probably never appreciate in value the way vintage stuff did because "everybody" has them. Which is why I've always OPENED my stuff. I use to buy 1 to open and 1 to display carded but now I just buy 1 to open. I even opened my R2 w/Hologram and I have NO regrets whatsoever. The damn thing was meant to be opened!

[Jedi Master Kyle]

I keep mine in the packages. Not for money, but because it just looks cool. I'll probably open them someday, like when I have a kid and he needs to play with proper toys, and not Pikachu.

[Utinni619]

Well, so far ALL of my Ep1 figures are now out of their packages...the Classic ones are gonna be a little harder...the red cards are gonna be the toughest.....

Utinni

[predhunter]

I was one for keeping all my figures MOC but then oneday I thought your not getting much pleasure out of them by just looking at them through the packaging, so I took great pleasure in ripping all the packaging off. aaaaaahhhhhh feels so much better!! plus they take up less room!

[Darth Larch]

Y'know, ironically, I'll bet opened POTF and Ep. I figures are *more* rare than MOC ones! For exactly the reasons stated already. I absolutely open mine when feasible. The only reason some are still carded is because I don't have a place to display them yet! The only appeal I see in carded vintage figs is that most ppl threw away the cards, and it's kinda cool to get that back. Well, luckily, I saved most of my cards. So although the figs are not attached, I still have the card to look at. Those old cards are much much cooler than the current ones, BTW. :)

[Jedieb]

If you keep them open because you like the packaging and find it easier to display them that way, then I think that's great. I just don't think keeping them in their packaging so you can cash in one day makes sense.

[Bromine]

I keep some in cards, and most I open. The ones I keep in packages are sorta "archived": I got them because they're neat figures that I doubt I will find again (like Mon Mothma, Palpy, etc.) but they just don't fit in to whatever scene I've got displayed at the moment.
Like everyone's said, I agree they do look quite cool on the cards. I'll probably end up saving a few just for nostalgia. (And I agree the next generation will need our old toys when all they have is Pikachu and Mario). Personally, I never understood the "one to keep, one to open". I suppose it's great if you've got the money, but I'd just keep thinking how my collection is half the size it could be! Ah well, to each his own.:)

Action figures became a very "hot" commodity very fast. My rule of thumb is that if something's already known to be hot and people have made money at it, chances are it's too late to stockpile it and turn out a fortune. Same thing happened with baseball cards and comics. The only was to make money at this kind of thing is to buy up something no one else is. I still kick myself for not buying "Power Rangers" figures. In ten or twenty years they'll be considered nostalgia.:)

[Utinni619]

Well..they're all open....except the Red Cards :) I just couldn't do it...I think of those as the toys that got me back into SW. Now I have an ARMY of over 130 SW fgures kickin' it around my room...I didn't think I had THAT many....now if they finally offer some limited figure or something cool to get with all those "Jedi Master Points" I now have....


EDIT: that would be 350 JEDI POINTS!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!

Utinni

[Bromine]

DOH! I forgot all about saving those things.:)

[DarthSnikelfritz]

just last week ive decided i should open my cared figures.plus my closet was over flowing w/ sw toyss.but anyways a few carded action figures are still hanging on my wall. only ones im not gonna open are the ones with scenes in the background, like the cinema scene, y-wing,etc.. . they have a cool special environment with the toys, so there gonna stay in the package. now i just need to get a wall self to display my loose action figures.
darthsnikelfritz

[Jedieb]

I think there are certain toys that actually look better in their packaging for display purposes. The y-wing is a good example. Once you cram them up on a shelf they just blend in with everything else. But I just can't help myself. I love opening stuff, assembling the toys, and applying the stickers. Good luck on your display DarthS.

[Oza Fett]

Wow what a coincidence. I normally only hang around on the props page but I was thinkin the other day about my Ep1 figures sitting on their cards in a box in my junkroom wondering if I should open them mainly due to the exact reason as posted in this thread. I think now I might just do that and get my dad to build me a new cabinet to hang next to my set of the Vintage Figures I have.

Ill try and post a few pics of my collection (all the figures with accessories) as soon as I find the missing photo)

Cheers
Oza Fett