Happy Holidays Space Freaks!
Welcome to a special edition of the MarketWatch for the
month of December. Now a lot of you have
all your Holiday shopping done and may have even celebrated the season with
your family and friends. That doesn't
stop me from bringing you a quick recap on some of the best deals and gifts
leading up to the Holiday season from our favorite site eBay. This month we’ll focus on 10 items all under
$1,000 that would make great gifts for the Vintage collector. I wanted to bring to light some pieces that may not
be top of mind for all collectors, but should be a home-run as gifts due to the
fact that each has a cool aspect, a lot are rare, and a lot were pure steals
given the influx of items listed during the Holiday season. Unlike the usual monthly updates, I’m
covering items that may fall at the lower end of the price band, as I typically
discuss items on the high end and ultra rare. To my surprise if you’re stalking eBay you can really find great deals
on high end and rare items. Thus here
we have a listing of great items that covers the gamut of Vintage Star Wars,
without just focusing on the highest ticket examples. So although it’s a
MarketWatch update, it’s a little bit reversed from the normal coverage.
So let’s get started with our list!
An odd duck to start the list is one of those white boxes
with figures inside, our favorite vanilla segment of the Vintage line; a
Mailer. In this example we have one of
the 20+ sets created for retailers during the Return of the Jedi toyline
release. This piece from what we can
see is a sealed set, and has been cased by AFA, although not graded. These sets are fairly common given the
number released, but this particular set is one of the exceptions to that rule
as it includes Darth Vader and two Snowtroopers. The figure combination is always key with
multi-figure mailers as it really drives the demand and rarity, and in this
case it’s one of the top few released in the ROTJ series. With a non-sealed version with open figures
going for nearly $500 earlier this year it’s easy to see why this piece made
the list. If you have an ROTJ collector
on your Holiday Gift list this would have made you look like a superhero!
ROTJ 3-Pack Mailer AFA Cased - $400
Next up on the list is the coolest Ewok item of them all,
the Ewok Battle Wagon. Fully equipped
with a battering ram and a giant skull from some other Endor inhabitant, it’s
quite simply the best of the best in the world of the furry little critters
from Endor. Add in the fact that it’s
one of the few vehicles created for the Power of the Force line and you have
yourself a great gift for any collector out there. With an AFA grade of 80 and a price tag
under $500, this one was a steal as like examples have sold in the $700 and up
range consistently for the past few years.
Ewok Battle Wagon AFA - $440
Number three on our list isn’t exactly the cheapest example
of the figure, but ask any Han Solo collector what the toughest cardback to
find in good condition with a clear bubble is, and they will quickly point to
the alternate photo Jedi cardback. Like
most of its alternate photo counterparts such as Luke Gunner and Tatooine Fett, collectors of all kinds gravitate
towards it; it’s a great example of how
easy it can be to reinvigorate a carded figure that has been out for over 6
years. This particular example is
actually pretty rare given there are only a handful of clear bubble examples of
them, with very few that would make the AFA 85 grade. A great item for your Star Wars loving
counterpart!
Han Solo ROTJ AFA 85 - $600
Coming in at number four is our Vehicle to make the
list. Something that could make the
regular MarketWatch because it’s simply the best example of one out there, we
have an AFA85 B-Wing fighter. Not the
cheapest per capita, but if you have an extremely particular collector that you’re
buying for, this is a great piece for what you get. Because of its size there just aren't that
many B-Wings out there that can pull an 85 -- Making this one of the best examples of this item to ever make it’s way
through Roswell, GA. It’s a great item
and although you can get an ungraded piece for under $300, it’s hard to say
that the condition and casing of this aren't well worth it.
B-Wing Fighter AFA 85 - $671
Rounding out the top five of our list, is a nice complete boxed example of the 2nd best Bounty Hunter (yes I just called it) in the Galaxy, IG-88. Some may argue that Bossk or even Dengar holds that title. Well if they do where they hell are their 12” figures, huh? This piece always stands out regardless of its company. It’s truly a fan favorite and being the rarest of the 12 inch production figures is like being the hottest girl at the high school dance, so point A proves B and so on. Not being a 12 inch collector myself, I have always wanted to keep one of these in my collection and many collectors share my sentiments on the topic. Thus, he’s taken our number five position.
IG-88 12 Inch Figure $750
Coming it at number six is a an unloved item that in its own
way is so cool. Like many of the early
Star Wars playsets, the Rebel Command Center is more cardboard than playset. But with the cool three dimensional cutout
and really the only Rebel home base playset in the entire series it has a cool
place in the pantheon of Vintage Star Wars. Given its rarity, it’s easy to say most collectors don’t have one in their
collection. And with its exclusive
retail status, great back drop, and figures featured, there are few that would
scoff at receiving one of these bad boys.
Rebel Command Center MISB $815
With tons of them on the eBay market over the past decade,
it’s hard to call the Vinyl Cape Jawa a rare figure. Sure they demand a lot of money, but at any
point in time you can find one out there on eBay with an auction ending pretty
much weekly. However that doesn’t
distract from the fact that this is an iconic figure and one that most would
love to have an example of. Throw in a
COA from CIB and a little AFA acrylic, (yes that’s three acronyms in one
sentence) and you have a great collector’s item that would be appreciated by
the most avid collector, to the most casual.
Jawa Vinyl Cape MOC AFA75 with CIB COA - $835
Moving from one expensive loose figure to another, our number
eight spot is held by our old friend the Double Telescoping Lightsaber version
of Luke Skywalker. Without sounding
completely repetitive, this figure much like the Vinyl Cape Jawa is rare in a
way, but also readily available with auctions ending weekly on these guys. Most that you see trade on the market are
graded these days, and I think that’s a good thing. The
loose grading of figures is one area that I have a hard time debating with
anyone on in terms of legitimacy as it makes the figure look iconic, just my
two cents. Just like the aforementioned
Jawa, this figure is great for any collector with any focus as it’s such a
well-known and desirable piece. Although
they are readily available most collectors don’t have one, and I don’t know
many that wouldn’t love to have this piece, even if there not a loose figure
collector. Thus it’s gifty, rare and can
be found for well under a grand.
DT Luke AFA 80 - $850
The number nine position belongs to another steal of a very
rare figure, the Droids release of Boba Fett. I won’t pine on about how great Fett is as a character, or the fact that
he demands more per capita than any other character, or that he has such a cool
persona...okay I’ll stop. Simply put,
you have the rarest version of the most sought after figure in the production
series, complete with a solid cardback and what appears to be a clear bubble. Whether you’re a Droids fan or not, this is quite
simply one of the coolest figures you can get in the overall series -- the
artwork is great, the coin is superb, it’s just all around a great item. Add in the great condition and a price tag
that’s roughly half of what they normally demand...this made someone’s Holiday
just a little brighter.
Boba Fett Droids MOC - $900
And on to our last auction of the month -- one that should be
marked not only by the item itself or the rarity of the item, but more than
anything by the price of the item, because people, someone got an absolute
steal on this one! The POTF Gamorrean
Guard is one of a few extremely tough to find POTF figures, along with the
featured figure from last month’s Podcast the At-At Driver, Nikto, Yak Face and
Anakin. Most of these demand over $2K
for a high end example. Here we have one for under a grand. A buy it now auction with someone that was
able to drop it like a steaming lava rock into the hands of a very happy
collector. Not only was it a great
steal, but it’s a great gift for any collector. The POTF Gamorrean Guard is such an iconic
piece that Gentle Giant skipped its ROTJ release in their 12 inch scale line
to feature the POTF version given its place in the Vintage community as a rare
and ultra-cool item. The Gamorrean
Guard in this case received an AFA85 -- the highest grade of any example out
there. Thus seeing this piece for the
price that we did makes it the most expensive and one of the best gifts we
looked at this month.
Gamorrean Guard POTF AFA 85 $895
I hope you enjoyed the Holiday MarketWatch. We’ll be back
with some of the biggest and rarest items to hit the market in the Month of
December this coming January.
Until next time, Wampa Wampa.
FB24
Great breakdown. Thanks for compiling all of this. I really enjoy your posts.
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