Q: Does a retired vinyl go up in price?
It's not a given that a retired vinyl automatically goes up in price once it's retired. This depends completely on each individual figure and its desirability/popularity in the collecting community. Several figures from the retired Cutesters series sell on the secondary market for $10 or less, whilst retired Park #1 figures will sell for upward of $100. The prices of retired vinyls depends entirely on 1. the popularity of the figure and 2. the availability - how many are being sold at any given time
Q: Do vinyls that have been out a while drop in price?
Usually yes, but this is not an automatic rule. Often vinyls that have been out for a while, regardless of whether the series is active or retired, drop in price because collectors already have them. The desirability decreases (because they're already owned) and more people have them to sell (because they've been out a while). For example, Wild West Pluto has been released for 8 months and originally retailed for $12.95, but now you can pick him up on eBay for $7 or less. However, if a vinyl is popular it will sell for potentially a lot more than original retail. For example, Ariel is the most popular figure in The Little Mermaid series and often goes for over $30 on the secondary market, her original retail price was also $12.95
The craziest sold listing I've seen on eBay - a Park #13 chaser variant sold for $1,000
Q: Why are some vinyls really expensive?
It's true, some vinyls get into crazy money, just take a look at the above picture. In summary, it's supply and demand. A lot of people want Marvel #1 Vinylmation figures, but at the same time a lot of people are selling them, and so they're going for between $20-$40 on eBay right now. Whereas the high demand for the Wild West Mickey Variant is not being met with a high number of people selling. I've only ever seen about 5 of these figures listed on eBay. As a result, high demand and little availability is causing these figures to sell for $200-$300. Compare this with the High School series, which is not a popular series, and was overproduced. These figures sell on eBay for less than $5, half their original retail price
Q: How much are Vinylmation worth?
Again this all depends on the individual figure. Is it popular? Is it readily available? I mentioned before about Marvel #1 being very popular, and so on the secondary market these are "worth" an average of $20 despite starting with a retail price of $12.95. I also mentioned how High School is not very popular and so these are "worth" more like $5 despite an original $9.95 retail price. Some people will trade common with common since technically all vinyls are worth $9.95/$12.95/$14.95 unless they're a limited edition or combo set. However other people are very in tune with secondary market prices and judge the vinyl's value based on that. Therefore people will only trade chaser for chaser, variant for variant, or multiple commons for a more popular common.
Q: Are chasers the most expensive Vinylmation?
Typically, yes they are. But again this varies between chasers. Some chasers are more desired than others and of course there's always the influence of supply and demand. Urban #3 Watermelon chaser sells on eBay for between $20-$25. That's more than your average Urban Redux vinyl sells for, but it's on par with some Marvel #1 commons - sometimes less than what you'd pay for one of those figures. But the Furry Friends Cheshire Cat chaser sells on eBay for $150-$200, far more than any common. Therefore chasers aren't necessarily the most expensive figures, it's all down to the popularity of each figure.
If you have any more questions about Vinylmation, price related or otherwise, please leave a comment and I will try to answer them in another post :)
I have the 2013 Halloween Vampire Stitch in mint condition, still in the box. How much is he worth? I can't seem to find any solid information...thanks for your help.
ReplyDeleteMy personal valuation is that he is worth $15 if you were to sell him on a platform like Instagram or in a Facebook group. If you were to sell him on eBay I would say he's worth $15 plus shipping or $20 with free shipping. You might be able to get more, some buyers might try to get you to sell for less, but on average that's what I believe he's worth.
DeleteI hope that helps!