What do you think a Blockbuster Yoda is worth?

[Jedieb]

I'm tempted to lay out some serious money to buy one of these and I was wondering what some of you thought it was worth. I spoke to someone who actually got offered $1400 for one their son won. I haven't seen any on ebay sell that high. If I could snag one for under $400 I'd probably buy it.

If your not familiar with the Yoda I'm talking about it's the 3 foot tall statute that Blockbusters across the conutry were giving away as part of their TPM video promo. The skin is made of latex rubber and they look simply awesome.

Well, what would you pay for one?

[vadork]

what are they going for on ebay? i looked a week or so ago and there were a ton of them going for various prices. i think the key is to find one thatis selling near you and then yuou can pick it up and avoid shipping charges and possibility of damage. i bet you can get one off of ebay for around $400. the price really just depends on whatever the market will bear. i would bet that in time they are going to get pricier as there will be less selling and just as many people wanting to buy one of these babies. i have been trying to get the darth maul statue for a while now with no luck. i really dont want to pay the $200 in shipping so i only bid on auctions in the NY/mass area.

[Jedieb]

Good luck on your Darth Maul search. What are those going for?

[Albi Wan Yankovi]

I love my Yoda! (see pic below)

[Jedieb]

Congrats Albi! I hope you won it and didn't have to buy it. But if you did buy it, what did you pay for it? And if you won it, what would you have paid for it?

[vadork]

it sucks that so many of those yoda's went to people that were just looking o make a buck rathre than to fans. ther are a ton of the yoda's on ebay right now ranging from 300 to 3000. i guess some sellers don't do any research to find out what the fair market value is on the item they are selling. idiots!!!.

anyway i really want one of the darth maul statues or maybe even the don post lifesize boba fett. pretty expensive ($1000 for maul $3500 for fett) but i was able to amend some past tax returns and get a sizeable refund so when it comes i might let it burn a hole in my pocket.

[Jedieb]

Well I was tracking a couple of auctions and they both ended at around $425. And neither one met the seller's reserve price! If you're not familiar with ebay the reserve price is a price a minimum price a seller can set to insure they get at least that amount for their item.

I found an auction where the seller had no reserve and the starting bid was at $299. With just over a day left the auction had no bids!! This was probably due to the fact that the seller misspelled Yoda (Joda) in both the the item listing and the description. I figured that the reason for the misspelling was that the seller was Hispanic (I'm Cuban). The seller was from Texas so I fugured they might have been Mexican or some other Hispanic nationality. Why? In Spanish you spell the Yo sound in Yoda with a J, not a Y.

And the bonus was that my father-in-law lives within a half hour of the seller!! I emailed the seller and asked if I could pick up the Yoda/Joda and he said yes. So I'll save myself the $65 shipping charge!! And if the goods aren't as advertised my father in law won't hand over the check, he can inspect the Yoda on site!!

I won the auction (1 other person did finally stumble on to the auction) with a bid of $335. And I'll be getting the blue stand and a couple of the blockbuster posters as well!! If this works out this will have been one of the best collecting runs I've ever had!! I won the Target R2 last week and now I get my hands on one of the best EP1 promo items ever made!! I hope everyone here has the same kind of luck.
MTFBWY

P.S.
I've done some research on what these are going for and the prices ARE DROPPING! I spotted close to 70 auctions on ebay. The first few sold at around $600 but the prices have been dropping ever since. Most are now going in the $400 range. They're still some auctions in the $300 range. Just try to find one that doesn't have a reserve and hold your bids until late in the auction. And remember to e-mail the seller and ask if they have the blue display stand, that does add to the value and not everyone got one. Good Luck.

[Jedieb]

Well the Fan Club is now selling same exact Yoda replica that Blockbuster gave away. The onlly difference is it comes with a silver stand with a black and gold Star Wars Episode I label on it. The Fan Club is selling it for $450 plus $60 for shipping. So I guess the price has been set. I think the number to work with for these Yodas is 4,200. With 500 or so of these being the Blockbuster version.

I wonder what the Fan Club Yoda will do to the Blockbuster Yoda prices. I would think some sellers will now set their reserves at $450 now that they have a price to work with.

[Albi Wan Yankovi]

Oh... I finally got back to ya... I won him (first thing I ever won) and I paid $2 for 2 tickets, and the second won! Yay me!

[Bromine]

I think some sellers will try to push the fact that the stands are different, so the Blockbuster Yoda's are rarer and somehow worth more. However, I think people would rather deal with the fan club than someone on E-Bay, so I agree with Jedieb about the prices.

[Albi Wan Yankovi]

Actually, the Pepsi ones are rarer... only 500 made of that one and the Blockbuster ones had 5000 made of that. So, really, the Blockbusters are more rarerest.

[Jedieb]

So how many Yodas are we talking about?
The Pepsi Yoda
The Blockbuster Yoda
The Fan Club Yoda

Now mind you, I'm pretty sure the Yodas are all identical. Only the stands are different. I think the stand with the Pepsi and Fan Club Yodas are similiar if not identical. (The silver base with black and gold stamp.) I don't think the Blockbuster one came with anything like that. Just the crate and the circular gold and blue display stand. I won't know until my father-in-law ships mine to me. (I may actually be getting it today or tomorrow!:) )

So eventually the price of these will depend on the stand or promotional material that you still have. I know some Blockbuster winners received only the Yoda and nothing else. These will probably be the cheapest. If the Pepsi Yoda was limited to 500 then it should be the most expensive but that's only if there's some way to distinguish it from the Fan Club version.

For me the point of future value is moot. I'm never going to sell my collection. The only reason I'll need prices for is for insurance purposes. Congrats again to all those that have managed to secure one of these.