MarketWatch: 4-LOM

Michael L. writes:

4-LOM, the last figure on an ESB cardback. Anyone who follows these posts will know that I always try to find every ESB cardback variant to report against for the character of the month. Writing these posts has made me aware of all the variants across the ESB line...but not so on the  ROTJ cardbacks.  But, that's the great thing about this hobby, there's always something to learn, so I am looking forward to a deeper dive into the ROTJ cardbacks.

I wasn't able to find a high end ESB cardback... which was a shame as that's where the crazy pricing exists. I would say though the $400+ for the 48C ungraded with a price sticker did seem high (but not unsurprising in the current market). Pricing tailed away pretty quickly after that. Quite a few graded ROTJs, which did fetch reasonable pricing (for the seller). As usual there was a decent amount of low end MOC's that went for well under $100.

Here's the data:

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

48C Ungraded - $413.00 (eBay link)

48C UKG75 (C75 / B80 / F90) - $363 (eBay link)

48C Ungraded - $205 (eBay link)

RETURN OF THE JEDI

48D AFA80-Y (C80 / B85 / F80) - $260 (eBay link)

65A AFA80 (C80 / B85 / F85) - $227.50 (eBay link)

65A Ungraded $109.99 (eBay link)

65C Ungraded $44.95 (eBay link)

77A Ungraded - $125.00 (eBay link)

77B Ungraded - $41.99 (eBay link)

LARGE

Red Armour (PBP) - $637.50 (eBay link)

Mail-away - $62.01 (eBay link)

And there ends the ESB characters from a MarketWatch perspective. It's been a few years since we started tracking the ESB characters, and the market has changed significantly since then (thank you Disney). I'll be interested to see what the ROTJ figures bring us...there's lots of main characters, but with a decent assortment of background aliens (and for the most part on yellowed bubbles I'd dare say we find some cheap MOC's in the coming reports).

Until next month, happy buying and selling. Wampa Wampa!!

MarketWatch: Zuckuss

Michael L. writes:

Two characters left in the ESB line to cover - Zuckuss and 4-LOM. I considered a joint post for these two bounty hunters, due to their name / identity crisis issue caused by West End Games but decided I will give them each their own due (though if you're ever searching to buy either of these guys, try both names!). I always thought Zuckuss was such a great figure - who as a kid didn't love an action figure with a gun that size (size always matter...right?). He was also a sturdy figure that had a simple pose that was easy to stand and hold that BFG!

From a market perspective, this month's data did offer up a number of high priced / high graded pieces. Even a clear bubble on ESB card were selling around that $300 mark. Once there was a drop off in quality, ungraded and then the ROTJ cards were a good deal cheaper. Nothing too surprising though, and the straight AFA85 figure could well have gone higher, but it does seem we are seeing a few signs that the top of the market has been reached and we might be coming off just a little. Let's see what happens the next few months. Now onto Zuckuss.

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

48A AFA85 (C85/B85/F85) $739.85 - eBay link

48A AFA85 (C85/B85/F80) $573.56 - eBay link

48B Ungraded $299 - eBay link

48B Ungraded $133.50 - eBay link

48C AFA80-Y (C80/B80/F85) $261 - eBay link

48C Ungraded $308 - eBay link

RETURN OF THE JEDI

65A AFA75 (C75/B85/F85) $141.38 - eBay link

65C Ungraded $109.87 - eBay link

77A Ungraded $79 - eBay link

BOOTLEGS

It's been awhile since I looked at the loose figures in the data, but this month I couldn't resist this bootleg from Poland.

Polish - 2nd Generation $52.50 - eBay link

And that wraps up the month's summary of Zuckuss. The market which has been so hot might just be entering a period of flat to slightly lower prices -- a little bit of respite for those actively collecting. High graded examples will remain high, and their upper limit is probably driven by timing and just who's looking for those cards at that time. Till next month...

Wampa Wampa

MarketWatch: Luke Skywalker (Hoth Battle Gear)

We're happy to finally present Michael's Luke Hoth MarketWatch tied in with 'Chive Cast 69. Much like the majority of that podcast, it is presented here as it was written nearly a year ago.

Michael L. writes:

After last month's attempt at finding a "game-show" version of displaying the data, I've decided it will revert to just presenting a simple overview of the market.

The market continues to power on...the pricing we are seeing for some of the more headline items in the hobby are reaching crazy pricing (yes 12 Backs, I'm looking at you). It's hard not to apply a simple financial logic to all this and say it is a classic asset bubble developing which is destined for a crash. That said, lots of emotion and nostalgia are tied up in these pieces and it is simply reflecting the fact that more and more people want to collect these items. I do wonder what will happen if Episode VII ends up having an Episode I feel in the fanboy community. That said, if Disney really nails this movie are we in for an even big price surge. There are lots of threads out there discussing this very phenomenon so I will end it there.

Here's the overview for the month (this data is from early 2015):

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

45 Back
 - AFA80 - $425.00
 - AFA80Y - $227.50
 - AFA75Y - $162.50
 - Ungraded - $150 (approximate - BIN offer)

47 Back
 - AFA70Y - $300
 - Ungraded - There were a range of these with varying quality from $99.99-$175. The MOC at $175 was quite beat up with the POP neatly removed but had a clear bubble.

48 Back
 - 48B Ungraded $83
 - 48C Ungraded $69.99
 - 48C Ungraded - sold together with a Han Hoth 48 Back $223.50 (the Luke Hoth had two price stickers - with the cheapest price tag of $1.88).

I wasn't overly surprised by the examples found this month. The debut card graded AFA80 went for a solid price, without it seeming too crazy. Still plenty of cheaper examples around for the ungraded pieces. And I really liked that double sale with Han Hoth -- nice way to add two nice pieces for just over $100 each.

45 Back - AFA80 - $425

45 Back - AFA80Y $227.50

45 Back - AFA75Y $162.50

45 Back Ungraded $162.50

---

UPDATE TO POST - February 2016:

Given the above data was compiled back in mid-2015, I felt it appropriate to add in a few current examples. Oh and yeah, you can disregard my reference to any thought that Disney might NOT have nailed Episode VII... it's safe to say they did! And pricing has certainly continued to be strong, though perhaps a few examples out there that the high graded pieces in the 12 backs (at least) may have seen a top, but we'll see if that's a trend or aberration in the coming months.

As you'll see below there is one crazy auction where the price settled on over $3k for a clear bubble AFA80 48A (the only offerless ESB cardback). It's hard to think the buyer actually went through with the purchase. But there are some serious deep pockets out there these days. The other two 48A's were much more reflective of what we'd expect for this figure.

The market has certainly increased a over the period between data points - the two $800+ examples plus the $3k (if we assume it was paid) show what the higher end more desirable examples are fetching. I would say though that when the examples are not graded the market has not risen too dramatically, reinforcing the premium people pay for those acrylic tombs for their MOC's.

Anyway, here's a quick rap of some pricing (circa late 2015 - early 2016) for Luke Hoth:

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

45 Back
 - AFA85-Y - $380
 - Ungraded - $149.99

47 Back
 - AFA80-Y - $369.99

48 Back
 - 48A AFA80 - $3,383.33 (here's the eBay link)
 - 48A AFA80 - $861
 - 48A AFA75 - $354.89
 - 48C AFA85Y - $821.25
 - 48C ungraded - $75

45 AFA85-Y $380

45 Ungraded $149.99

47 AFA80-Y $369.99

48A AFA80 $3,383

48A AFA80 $861

48A AFA75 - $354.89

48C AFA85Y $851.25

So I'll end the post at those examples. Was interesting to re-visit this post after the actual 'Chive Cast for Luke Hoth fell into the abyss for a period. The higher end pieces have certainly increased over that time. And there certainly has been a shift into ESB characters for the newer collectors, given 12 Back pricing has continued to climb and climb, thus driving up the high end pieces. There certainly remains value out there if you hunt the non-graded items ---and as a collector who started with graded pieces but moved away I would recommend the ungraded items. And you can always pop them in an acrylic case to give that almost 'high' end look :).

As always, happy buying and selling Space Freaks... Wampa Wampa.

MarketWatch: Bespin Security Guard

 
Michael L. writes:

Quite the "rogues' gallery" with this month's figure, the second Bespin Security Guard. It was easy to guess we'd find some pretty rough carded examples, including some of our "grails" here at the MarketWatch: offer cardbacks with the Coin Offer sticker as well.



He is one of the few figures I couldn't even be certain if I owned as a kid. It's unlikely it ever made a Christmas or Birthday wish list (certainly not mine). More likely an aunt or uncle would have seen this at a store and bought him for that Star Wars-crazed nephew!

He debuted on the 45 back, so we had a few ESB cardbacks to report on. Next month we move to 47 back cardbacks as we round out the ESB characters and move to ROTJ, thus thinning out available card backs for our figures. We also have added in a Facebook sale, from Ross Barr's "Above Average Sized Pick" sales threads. Ross scored a great lot of figures, with the majority having had the POP removed. Some great quality pieces in here, despite the POP having been removed (majority had them sliced only off at the back).

Onto the market data...

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Debut Card - 45 Back

This is the nicest cardback I found this month. Pretty nice example with a decent bubble, and although it has a price sticker, it was in a fairly discrete placement (and for me adds to the piece).

45 Back Ungraded $59.99 - eBay link

45 Back Ungraded $37.00 - eBay link

Facebook Sale
45 Back Ungraded (POP removed) $45

Only the three 45 backs, and no high graded pieces to speak of. I was surprised we didn't see slightly higher pricing, though with a background character it was understandable.

It was good to add a Facebook sale, given so much collecting is now run through that platform. These were some nice pieces, and great for the more budget-conscious collector who is searching for high graded items (though a lot of these actually look very clean, it's just the POP removal).

47 back AFA80 (C80/B80/F80) $212.50 - eBay link

47 back AFA85-Y (C80/B85/F85) $142.50 - eBay link

47 back Ungraded with Coin Offer sticker $36.00 - eBay link

47 back Ungraded $51.00 - eBay link

48A Ungraded $50.00 - eBay link

48C Ungraded $50.00 - eBay link

48C Ungraded $24.99 - eBay link
I really hope these didn't end up victims of 'U' grading. Got to love a set of beaters like this...

We got a good assortment of cardbacks, including that one offerless 48 back (which at $50 was a good bargain, despite its condition). No high grade examples, likely due to the fact these things sat stuck to pegs for quite awhile and they weren't too high on any collector's inventory back in the 80's. In fact the condition of items sold was generally poor -- it's almost like it would be worth just having a beater example sitting in your run.

RETURN OF THE JEDI

77A AFA85 (C80/B85/F85) $233.75 - eBay link

77A Ungraded $34.99 - eBay link

Not a huge selection of Jedi cardbacks -- and that 2nd one's bubble was almost orange. Even the AFA85 example went for a fairly reasonable price.

FOREIGN

Palitoy ESB 45 back Ungraded $127.50 - eBay link

PRE-PRODUCTION

We don't often get a pre-production piece, but was nice to find a proof card sell during the period.

Revenge of the Jedi Proof AFA85 $584 - eBay link

So there we have it...one more background figure down, and the last of the 45 backs. Not the easiest figure to find in decent condition -- but even the few that were wouldn't break the bank. The proof was nice to see, and at no too high a price (relative to recent times).

Until next month,  happy buying (and selling) Space Freaks...