Uh, oh......Secto Viper Repro Gear!

[SanitationViper]

So, what would be nostalgic about a whole series of repro stuff? If you were just starting to collect 82-'94, would you want everything in repro?

I don't think nostalgia is attached to whether or not it's original. 25th anniversary stuff sold so well because of nostalgia, but none of it is original.

If given a choice, I'm pretty sure everyone would choose to have the original parts. But the cost of certain original parts is too high for some collectors, so the real issue is repro or nothing. Would you rather have a whole collection of repro parts or no collection at all?

[navy viper]

I certainly would like that. I think it would be awesome to give my grandkid a nice bright white minty carded 1984 stormshadow without crapping my pants when he tears it open and buries it in the garden. I would love to see all of them redone, then I could let loose of all my spare parts because I wouldn't have to worry about breaking a figure when I put him on a stand, or put a gun in his hand. or even having the torso break when I try to open them to replace the oring (or have the chest crack when tightening the screw in 30 year old plastic. I liked the packaging of the 25th ann. joes, but for the most part the joes themselves were terrible, and inappropriate gifts for young kids with their tiny and fragile accessories and freakish posture (and the fact they couldn't stand on flat ground without a stand). vintage 1982-94 joes are gi joe to me. they have the perfect balance of pose ability, detail, ruggedness and accessories. of all the joes I purchased (for me) from retail in the last 13 years I would say 90% were vintage style. I still by carded Chinese or Japanese figures when possible with the thought of birthday presents for grandkids, so they can experience tearing open duke on Christmas or at a birthday party.

just to clarify, I bought a MISB soundwave (g1) for my kids 3rd birthday, he's received numerous carded joes (including the alien bounty hunters lobotomaxx, predicon and carcass) for presents- all to open. he used to play with my terror drome and defiant. to me these are just really cool toys, and watching my kid play with them was worth the money to me.

That's why your one of the collest joe collectors I have ever met in person

[hotdog]

Thanks man, I haven't talked to you in a while, last time we talked things were going much better, and it looked like a grand kid could be in your future too (god I feel old, you more so than me though.. lol).

[Pit Viper]

If it looked exactly or nearly the same then sure. I'd compare it to people buying vinyl records for nostalgia reasons even though the records are brand new and not vintage ones from the 70s.

[Katana]

I guess I'd fall into the "pro distinguishable repros" camp, but I'd want the piece to only be distinguishable by a very small hidden marking, as oppose to something like tinting the color or changing a detail... So, I'd want to be visually fooled into it being the original, unless I look underneath or inside it.

[grunt 4 mvp]

A couple of thoughts.
As far as devaluing our collections? Does your retirement nest egg consist of your GI Joe collection? Were you going to grow your collection to Rockefeller proportions, then bequeath it to your favorite nephew? Is it that serious? If you have turned your hobby into an investment that's your right, choice and prerogative. But remember, we chose to trade our hard earned cash for children's toys. We have essentially invested in little pieces of plastic. Risky? You bet. This all leads to the basic fact of no investment ever being guaranteed, and all the risks inherent in investing. When did this change?

Exactly. When you bought your little plastic toys no one promised you that they wouldn't lose value. Supply and demand of everything changes. You want a guaranteed return, buy a GIC. If you buy a $200 Heavy Metal action figure, accept the fact that maybe no one will ever want to pay you $200 for your toy in return someday. I wouldn't give you $200. Most people wouldn't. If i buy a toy, I buy it at a price I am happy with, assuming I won't necessarily be able to recoup that money.
No financial adviser ever gets "bullish" on 1988 Night Force figures.

[Falcone]

that would be added cost & take away from there profit margin , witch I would guess is pretty small anyway .

For starters, Black Majors profit margin is huge. Secondly, adding some type of mark costs nothing. Black Major sends the factory a vintage figure and the take it apart and build molds from it. All the have to do is part some type of mark on that vintage parts before making the mold. It takes no effort.

keep in mind, arah figures were produced between 500,000 to 1,500,000 depending on the fiugre, so honestly, do you really think 100-200 repro parts will actually effect the value? As a customizer, I like being able to spend $30 for repro killer whale veins, rather than use the more costly originals. Repros have their place, but as a buyer, you just need to be sure you're well informed

The MOQ for Black Major is in the thousands, so no it's not 100-200 parts. It's enough to have a major impact. Plus the vast majority of the originals are lost or destroyed so there is no where near the millions that were made currently out there.

I get it, people don't like repros because it hurts the value of their original item. But honestly, this hobby has proven to be a terrible way to invest money.

It's not about the investment. Investment implys expecting a return profit and buying specifically for that. When I spend $100 on something I want, I want to be able to get around that if I ever get rid of it. Not watch it's value become nothing.

[r07a23c]

No financial adviser ever gets "bullish" on 1988 Night Force figures.

This made me laugh, and for that I thank you.

To the topic at hand: The only thing that gives these value is the adults who choose to pay so much for toys. If another adult finds a way to squeeze value from them (producing repros, for example), then what's the complaint? Not that I condone it, but I guess I can't jive being upset about how a created market is being corrupted by somebody else creating another market. If anybody should be upset about it, it's Hasbro; GI Joe toys are their intellectual property.

As Bigbot said, buyer beware.

As grunt 4 mvp said, I buy a toy at a price I'm comfortable spending, without thinking about recouping the cost. I mean, they're toys.

It's like the old adage about lending money: Never loan money you want to see again.

[hotdog]

It's not about the investment. Investment implys expecting a return profit and buying specifically for that. When I spend $100 on something I want, I want to be able to get around that if I ever get rid of it. Not watch it's value become nothing.

I usually agree with things you say, but this doesn't make sense to me. By this logic a 92 skylark should still fetch $15,000.

I can see some logic in high grade Afa stuff, but that would be so risky an investment just on its own as every year more of the market dies, at some point vintage joes will be like grandpas war medals - neat but not worth much and sitting in an estate sale.

[3DJoes]

Based on our poll, ~20% are completely anti-repro, 55% are pro-distinguishable repros, and 25% are pro-indistinguishable repros.

The vast majority (75%) don't want indistinguishable repros.

The majority (55%) don't mind repros if there is some easily distinguishable characteristic.

It would be AWESOME for repro makers to consider the opinions of the community when developing new products. One could argue that it would be good for their business to be inclusive of this 55% of the market rather than alienate them by being unbending on the issue.