Pete writes:
Happy New Year Space Freaks! It’s 2019 and I’m here with your first look at the market in
the New Year and how we closed out 2018.
Last year was a bit of a mess in the world of Star Wars with split opinions
on a saga film along with lackluster or non-existent feedback on the most recent spin-off
Solo, it was a bit of an off year for the franchise from a film
perspective.
Additionally we saw the
company reaction, which resulted in the cancelling of a previously announced
Boba Fett movie and any other spin-off films that were being developed.
On the non-film front we had the announcement of the partial
slate for the Disney Streaming service that is launching in the coming
year. With the ever familiar and
popular Clone Wars series returning and the addition of the first ever live
action Star Wars series The Mandalorian, fans new and old have something to
look forward to.
The lack of progress in the narrative as well as the contrast
of generally negative feedback on its primary character-developing channels
had an impact on the market as well. We didn’t see fallout on a major scale, but we saw the softening of
other segments.
Outside of the hobby the overall global economic environment
was a bit less stable, but nonetheless growing. The economic trends as usual had some impact
on the hobby, but it was immaterial at best from a price perspective with more
of an impact on volume. Needless to say, with a generally healthy
economy in most parts of the world the hobby saw generally good performance
this past year.
With that being said, let’s
look at a few things that hit the market as we closed out 2018.
AUCTIONS:
Luke Skywalker Double-Telescoping Lightsaber MOC AFA 75 - $9,100 - eBay listing
Our first piece has become a staple of the MarketWatch over
the years, as we try to incorporate sales of this special piece into the
articles whenever one appears.
Still by
any standard an iconic piece in the Star Wars universe, the rare MOC double-telescoping variant of
the series' primary protagonist is as iconic and timeless as the movies themselves.
This
piece was down significantly from the $12-$15K range we had been seeing on
these, however with quite a few coming into the market in the past few years
this piece may be losing its luster.
Darth Vader Double-Telescoping Lightsaber Loose CAS 80+ - $6,646 - eBay listing
In the same vein as our first item, here we have the rarer
DT figure of the pair: Darth Vader.
With several variations of the double
telescoping Vader saber out there, here we have the more traditional version of
the saber.
Overall a good deal with
AFA 85 examples pulling $10K, given the lower grade and the distance between an
80+ and 85 in the eyes collectors I would say that this is about right.
Boba Fett Star Wars 21 Back MOC AFA 80+ - $6,100 - eBay listing
Ever popular and in high demand, the 21 back Boba Fett is easily one of the most desirable MOCs of any toyline from 1970-1990. Here we have a great example of the figure in 80+ condition. Even with a bit of a light end to the year, this piece managed to pull in a good finish.
Early Bird Set with Double Telescoping Luke C7.5 - $4,800 - eBay listing
Here we have a pair of Early Bird items: the Certificate and
the EB set itself with a DT Luke.
These
pieces have a wide range in terms of value and tend to follow the overall
trends of the market from a price perspective.
It does seem that some of the Early Bird pieces have lost some of
their attractiveness to the general collecting community over the years, at
least in terms of public transactions of pieces. This could be due to what seems like better
availability and a bit of saturation as next tier items such as the Early Bird display
have grown in popularity and demand over the past few years at a strong rate,
while certificates and EB sets have fallen off slightly. In both cases here the prices seemed very
fair given the condition of the items.
Star Wars 12 Character Header Display AFA 85 - $1,715 - eBay listing
Star Wars Toy Center Shelf Talker Display AFA 85 - $1,371 - eBay listing
Moving onto another niche in the hobby, we have a few
examples of staple display pieces.
First, a Star Wars header display
with the original 12 characters -- one of the most common header displays and also
one of the more shippable/displayable of the series given its relative small
size.
This particular one did extremely
well, especially give the market. Condition was definitely a factor, but the pairing with the shelf talker made for a nice combination.
The shelf talk itself was a
very nice example as well, but fell short of the header which was
surprising seeing headers typically sell for around $1,200 and Toy Center shelf
talkers sell for around $1,500.
Again, finding an 85 of the header display is
more difficult than finding an 85 shelf talker, but the shelf talker definitely fell short of where it would typically.
Lando Calrisian Skiff Guard First Shot Clear Torso AFA 85 - $1,600 - eBay listing
Another great set of auctions that hit the market in the last
part of the year were a series of first shots from
the vintage line. Here we have Lando
Skiff Guard with a first shot torso and production head and limbs. A popular item to put together from some of
the Kenner first shot parts that have been found over the year, I’ve happily
come to refer to him as FrankenLando. The seller posted several other pieces as well (including an Admiral
Ackbar), all employing a high starting price which eventually was the winning
bid in many cases. Price-wise I think
this is right on to slightly low, but given the starting price I’m sure a lot
of would-be buyers may have passed him up.
Boba Fett / Luke X-Wing Pilot Department Store 2-Pack MISB C8.5 - $1,925 - eBay listing
Going into one of my favorite areas, we have a very nice
example of a great figure combination via a department store multi-pack: Boba
Fett with Luke X-Wing.
Still sealed
and in overall great condition, I’m actually surprised this particular auction
didn’t break the $2K mark, but timing was rough on this as December and
November tend to be two of the worst months of the year.
21 Figure Bell Display with Boba Fett Offer C8.5 - $8,109 - eBay listing
Then there was one of the tougher displays in
the production lineup. The Free Boba Fett Bell is something that holds a great
deal of desirability among many collectors out there.
A niche item along with most of its display
brethren,
it’s one of the highest valued items in the series.
In this case we
see a resulting value of $8,109. Interestingly enough, $7,000 of the final price
came via bids in the last 60 seconds.
With
18 graded by AFA and several others like this one in collections, these have
become more available than they once were. However, they still demand high
prices with graded examples fetching into the $10,000 + range.
Thus, this result was a great buy for the
buyer given they had no AFA premium, and the item itself had some surface and
edge wear -- both elements leading to the lowest priced example to sell in recent
history.
That’s all for this season! Check back for more MarketWatch and everything
vintage here on the Archive.
Wampa Wampa,
Pete
