is the uss flagg over rated

[hotdog]

so back in 2002 when i started this toy collecting odyssey i had the view that the uss flagg was the ultimate piece of gi joe collecting lore. firstly because i wanted one as a kid but was too poor, and secondly because i was of the impression that there just weren't that many of them. around 2010 i thought i became the proud owner of some very cool and rare part of gi joe history. I'm just not so sure anymore. things i thought were cool and rare like starduster or ninja viper aren't really rare, and although they are hard to find the European tiger force and south american tiger force stuff isn't rare either, just rare around here (to some extent, there's actually a bunch of it, it's just not all on the market). by now most people know i was pretty inside on the reproduction stuff for a while, and even in some pretty tight collecting circles for a while before i got burned out. i know factually that one person sold almost 200 fan tail deck rails for the flagg. i thought there may only be like maybe 100 flaggs around, but i suppose there are more like thousands around. and if that is the case, if there are thousands of them out there in various states of completeness, is it really something to aspire to acquire given it's massive requirements in terms of space?
I'm kind of thinking that if you are looking for something rare, or truly something no one else (or very few others have) you kind of have to go with 2 ups or prototypes. heavy metal with a real mic is maybe 120 bucks, but thousands of people have him, and thousands more have fake mics, but the 2 ups i've seen are truly one of a kind. they're just giant inarticulate half painted prototypes, but they are awesome. so are the resin vehicle prototypes i've come across. they are heavy, fragile and funky looking, but they are amazing, and on the cheaper end there are test shots- still rare. I don't know? this post is all over the place, but i guess what i'm asking is; "does the flagg deserve to be a holy grail of joe collecting"?

[HoodedCobraCommander788]

I accidentally voted wrong. I do think the Flagg deserves to be a grail. This gets to an individual's collecting focus, which no one can decide for anyone else. Prototypes and 2-ups are cool to look at, but I don't have any personal connection to them. I would never seek one out. If I ever acquired one, I would either sell it or give it to someone who would rather have it. Those aren't grails for me.

The USS Flagg is a big ticket item. It takes some work to find a good complete one, and it takes a significant amount of space to display it. A lot of collectors will never own one, even if they want one. I think most of us remember seeing the commercials for it and wishing we could have one. A lucky few of us were able to play with one and have some great memories of it. The combination of those things makes it more desirable than most common G.I. Joe items, and THAT makes it a grail for a lot of collectors.

I don't collect things just because they're rare. If I did that, I could just collect stamps.

[skinny]

I find that if I don't have a personal connection to it, it is not as desirable.
Lately I have been seeking out artists to do commissions because,
1. It is a one of a kind.
2. It does have a personal connection because I chose the subject and look of the piece.
3. I get a chance to interact with a person who is involved in the GIJOE creation process.

I never had a Flagg as a kid.
I really wanted one but the practical side of me agreed with my parents.
Too big.

I purchased a Flagg a few years ago. It was exciting for a little while because it was a new discovery. It was kept under a pool table for decades.
It was also incomplete.
I had to reorganize the Joe room to accommodate it and the room is still in disarray.
It was nice to have for a while but there was no real reason for me to keep it around.

I think that all collections are individually tailored.
What we seek out and what we keep all depend on the person.
Terrordromes, Flaggs, Generals, Mobile Command Centers, Sears Missile Command, CAT tanks, all were mass produced. None of them are particularly super rare objects.

Everyone has a VAMP, but the VAMP in my collection was the one I saved up my allowance and waited weeks for while it was on Layaway at the Coast to Coast. Making payments until finally it was mine. I remember the day I went to pick it up because I was with a friend and his Mom. I kept asking if we were going to stop and go to the Coast to Coast over and over. I remember her getting slightly irritated but I also remember putting it together that afternoon. Applying the stickers...that is why I like my VAMP.

[Chicago]

I voted no, the grail status I believe should be reserved for things that are truly few in number. The fact that mass produced items are old, or vintage, doesn't translate to rare.

And I hear ya on the hoards that are off market.
In was watching videos on YouTube and saw a review on starduster, so I watched it. I missed him as a kid, and decided to try and locate one. In the comments section of the video, the poster talked about people practically giving them away at the 93 con. And how bad the market prices are. So I looked...and promptly closed the window. There must be a group of guys who have battalions of this guy, while poor saps like me lament missing the boat.

[msv]

I do think it is over rated. I knew I should hurry up to buy one to get it cheaper. I bought mine on ebay for 300$ shipping included + a terror drome for parts. Gold head steel brigade are a must for any collection. There are only 10 thousand made. But when I ordered the regular one, I was disapointed with the head sculpt. As for holygrails I think the best is yet to come-Imagine missile command tin toy-

[hotdog]

i guess i kind of agree with everyone. when i started collecting with my kid he was little, and i only started getting characters that i knew and had played with. the stuff at the stores has mostly been less desirable to me than vintage stuff, but i got this collecting bug that took me from just the stuff i had as a poor ghetto child, to somehow acquiring everything i ever thought i wanted or could imagine or other people said were cool. the flagg is definitely cool. but i guess the part that makes collecting still fun is the memories of your own stuff, and maybe the stuff you really wanted but never got. the 2 ups and prototypes are super cool, knowing that you are holding something that a designer made, or some of ron rudats art work, but i don't know. grail just seemed like too strong of a word, it implies that along with the terror drome and the defiant space shuttle complex, they are "must haves". i'm not sure they are, certainly the vamp is, and maybe the killer whale, or snake eyes v2 (must haves i mean). we could probably run through about 45% of the figure line that would be "must haves" and maybe 25% of the vehicles. I'm just not sure that you "must have" a flagg, you should rent one to play with on your birthday, or if that's too embarrassing than for your kids birthday, but after that, it's just not that fun. it's a giant parking lot for a couple skystrikers, and then a catch all for the piles of loose vehicles you don't have space to put anywhere else. it's hard to put figures on while you display it, because invariably one side has to face a wall, and that's the side with all the cool work stations, so they stand around on deck like dopes. it was an awesome and ballsy idea though.

[Labyrinth]

Greatest toy ever, surpassing the ball.

[Net-Viper X]

I don't think its overrated, its a huge awesome ship sure to impress anyone who sees it. I would not say its the most impressive of the Joe line however, that title goes to the Terror Drome. Anything huge, covered in giant Cobra logos, and given a proper Cobra color scheme of blue red and gray is going to be cooler than anything the Joes are capable of producing. I'm afraid that in the Joe line Cobra had the monopoly on cool, Joes are just wannabes by comparison.

[StkhlmDK]

To me the Flagg, Terror Drome and Defiant has always been a holy grail item because back in the days when GI Joe, or Action Force as we call it, became known here the catalogs inside showed pictures of these but the stores never got them. So as a 10 year old kid you could only imagine how cool one of these would be and when I started collecting in 2009 they were at the top of the list of items I never thought I would find. Now 7 years later I have all 3 (even 3 TD's all in all) and my collection is way beyond what I could ever imagine. In two weeks I will start to build a new display cabinet for all my items (heavily inspired by some of you guys ) and my Flagg will become one of the centerpieces. As Hotdog mentioned the display needs to be thought out well and I plan to use mirrors and LED lights to make the inside stations visible when on display .

[TolerancEJ]

I still wish I owned a USS Flagg. Today's prices put the item even further beyond my reach. lol