Collectable figure lines from the 90s - now

[10incher]

What figure lines are popular and are still collectable from the 90s up until today? I know some lines are were popular for a little while, but have no collector demand or value now. I would say the Marvel Legends series is doing pretty good. What about any of the McFarlane lines?

[THE KNOCK-OFF MESSIAH]

i think mcfarlanes stuff is all gonna crap out pvc inaction figures are a fad that has been slowly dwindling it'll totally bomb out. i think of new lines the ones that will kill in the future are teen titans, power rangers, bratz dolls, and marvel legends. excluding line that have had success already like transformers and gijoe.

[10incher]

I agree with the McFarlane stuff, any of the 90s Spawn stuff still hold its collectability?

[cjk]

Unfortunately none of of the McFarlane stuff has really held it's value. The Sports Picks are about the only line they're doing now that are keeping their value. I was a die hard McFarlane fan since series 1, every variation whether it be packaging or figure I had to have it. All the exclusives and everything were a must. Then around series 20 or 21 I calmed down and basically stopped buying all together. I just didn't see the point of paying $10 a fig when I can hold off a year or 2 and pick up a whole series for $20 shipped on eBay. Now about the only time I buy McFarlane stuff is Media Play or EB clearance when they're 75% off or better.

Unfortunately a lot of the 90's stuff I don't see really holding it's value. In the 90's a lot of people got into collecting so there are tons of MIP products out there. No where like the 70's and 80's when toys were toys, they were bought and played with. Back then it was kind of rare for MIP pieces to remain intact. Granted it does happen and the prices reflect that but 20 years from now I don't really see a lot of 90's pieces having any real value like the stuff from the 80's does now. There's just too much of it being hoarded away. Star Wars for instance is a good example, everyone bought up tons of them because the original stuff is worth so much. Go do a quick look on eBay though and you could probably piece together a complete collection from '95 until now for $2 each or less. Makes me want to kick myself for paying $5 a piece all along

[ludevig]

I think the WCW Toybiz figures will become collector's items, especially the last ones that came out with lower tier guys like Disco Inferno, Billy Kidman, Konann, Vampiro, Wrath etc.
I also think The Incredibles will be hard to find as many of them are impossible to find right now, especially Fro-Zone and Mr Incredible with his Boss figures. Mind you they came out after 2000.
Pirates of Darkwater is a good line with some excellent looking figures.
Beetle Borgs, Beetlejuice, The Shadow, Toxic Crusaders, Captain Planet, James Bond Jr, Nightmare before Christmas, Last Action Hero, Super Mario Bros Movie, Demolition Man, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Terminator 2, Jurrasic Park and Men in Black are all lines i think will have collectability in the future.

[gort]

Power Rangers seems like the obvious one. A long running line that kids actually play with and that hasn't resorted to endless versions of the same characters (Batman, anyone?)

The problem with almost any line these days is that probably 5-10% of everything sold is bought by speculators/collectors in the first place, so MIB and good condition examples will always be fairly easily available.

[10incher]

Power Rangers I agree with, they really do have a great assortment of monster figures in the line.

I think there are a fair amount of early '90s lines that will be moderately collectible (and already sorta are) - Bucky O'Hare, Toxic Crusaders and maybe a few others. I do like Swamp Thing, Tales of the Crypt Keeper, Biker Mice from Mars and Captain Planet to name a few others. Once the POTF2 and McFarlane stuff hit the stores though I think that was when the demise kinda started.

I always wonder how collectible some of the movie lines from the '90s will be in the future like The Shadow, Stargate, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Last Action Hero, Demolition man, etc.

As for superhero stuff the early Marvel Toybiz lines have some promise, but like Gort said there seems to still be tons of this stuff around having been snapped up by speculators. Maybe JLU figures though?

[spockoda]

It seems like the more "artsy fartsy" toys like McFarlane's,the ones that are made not to be played with but are more adult/collector orientated(Sideshow,too)have a bad habit of having stuff break on them VERY EASILY. Some of my Sideshow 8 inch monsters broke at the elbow as soon as I tried to straighten out their arms fresh from opening them up.

[toyboxraider]

I have enjoyed Skeleton Warriors lately, and most of the other lines 10 states above.

[spockoda]

I would like to collect Skeleton Warriors and Swamp Thing. Sometimes the vehicles that are for the Swamp Thing himself can go for higher than I have ever seen them listed at in a guide.

[spockoda]

Aug 25, 2008 15:14:33 GMT -6 10incher said:

Power Rangers I agree with, they really do have a great assortment of monster figures in the line.

I think there are a fair amount of early '90s lines that will be moderately collectible (and already sorta are) - Bucky O'Hare, Toxic Crusaders and maybe a few others. I do like Swamp Thing, Tales of the Crypt Keeper, Biker Mice from Mars and Captain Planet to name a few others. Once the POTF2 and McFarlane stuff hit the stores though I think that was when the demise kinda started.

What do you mean,the demise of the collectibility of figures,the quality of figures,the public's toy buying habits? I'm just curious as to what you were meaning.

[10incher]

Aug 26, 2008 10:52:56 GMT -6 @spockoda said:

What do you mean,the demise of the collectibility of figures,the quality of figures,the public's toy buying habits? I'm just curious as to what you were meaning.

Spockoda, referring to it more as an over saturation in the market where companies started to put out figures with flaws and slight variations just to turn more of a profit from collectors. Companies started appealing more to collectors and the collectibility of their products rather than just putting out toys for kids. It all kinda lost something their for me around that time and thats when I quit buying newer stuff.

The same thing happened with hockey cards and comic books in the late 80s and early 90s.

[ludevig]

I don't like when figures now are numbered stating how many were made. Also i do not like the variants, When there is different versions of the same figure just painted different. Rather than a genuine mistake they now put out variants as a way to lure in collector's.
The most bogus way they also lure in collectors is poutting out the same figure but with different accesories. That's just lame.
I remember GI Joes used to have weapon packs where you could get additional supplies and weapons for your figures without having to buy a brand new figure just to get a certain weapon.

[spockoda]

Aug 26, 2008 11:04:39 GMT -6 10incher said:

Aug 26, 2008 10:52:56 GMT -6 @spockoda said:

What do you mean,the demise of the collectibility of figures,the quality of figures,the public's toy buying habits? I'm just curious as to what you were meaning.

Spockoda, referring to it more as an over saturation in the market where companies started to put out figures with flaws and slight variations just to turn more of a profit from collectors. Companies started appealing more to collectors and the collectibility of their products rather than just putting out toys for kids. It all kinda lost something their for me around that time and thats when I quit buying newer stuff.

The same thing happened with hockey cards and comic books in the late 80s and early 90s.

I pretty much agree with you. Trying to worship the almighty dollar,these companies are sucking the fun out of alot of things. I feel some quality and/or interesting toys are still being made,although alot of them are based on old properties. I'll cite the 25th Anniversary G.I. Joe line as a good example. I used to be an avid comic book reader,but I don't like the new ones. I used to buy Hot Wheels,but again,I don't care for some of the new ones so I kinda get your drift.