At what point does size vs. cost take over? I often read of people making these comparisons and find it sort of odd. The bottom line is all of these toys are very expensive - even more so by the fact that a majority of us do not have the opportunity to but them directly from the stores.

Can value be determined by the amount of vinyl used in a figure? One of the articles in the Mook actually spoke of collectors giving greater value to figures that weighed more, so maybe it can?

Valuation in any collector's market is a fickle and usually artificial thing. Yesterday someone asked why Kozik's signature on one of his customs would make it any more valuable than one without the signature. Good question! While it makes sense that a pound of onions would cost more than a half pound of onions, as the weight relates directly to the volume, the value being how much food you're getting out of the purchase, it gets a little stranger where valuation is less tangible. The bit about the weight of vinyl sounds a bit more artificial to me ... a consensus valuation. We've all seen plenty of hefty toys that wouldn't hold one tenth the value of a much-desired smaller toy. For me it's all about attractiveness, character, collection compatibility and how I respond. For another person it might be rarity, age, or any other number of criteria. If the price of the RxH minis seems a bit high, even given consideration of all production factors, profit margin, and international shipping, and reseller profit margin, then the thing to do is only buy the ones you REALLY want, assuming you can. Don't just buy 'em because they're RxH and everyone wants it and maybe you can flip it some day or whatever. That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

I'm stuck at someone else's job today with too much time on my hands. You can tell.

I don't completely see this myself.
Look at the detail of Exohead in a small amount of vinyl versus say the Bigaroid.
While I like the Bigaroid, I think Exohead has amazingly superiour pieces.

i think that quote from the Mook was in reference to multiples of the exact same figure, not different figures, and was specific to collectors in japan

for example, among japanese collectors of vintage pieces, a heavier (meaning there is more vinyl) bullmark standard tiger7 would fetch a higher price than a slightly lighter (meaning there is less vinyl) example of the same figure.

the quote was in comparison to american collectors of vintage pieces, for whom a bullmark tiger7 with more of the original paint still intact would fetch the higher price than one with a lot of paint rubbed off.

I thought it was that entropy requires Chaos to be increasing in the universe. Mori's just doing his part!

I'm just happy the little buggers cost less than the bigger lugs... I had been trying to craft some response that laughed at the amount of vinyl being used to justify "greater value" of a figure, but then realized I just better shut up and keep my yap closed.

Thanks for your clarification on my comments regarding the Mook Josh. I think both you and xoconostle hit the nail on the head. The value of any of this stuff, financially or otherwise, is determined by the collector. There are a myriad of things that come into play - only some of which include -

Size, sculpt, paint or lack thereof, rarity, current popularity, condition, and yes, even vinyl thickness.

remember these are all toys that are material-wise made out $5 of vinyl and paint. The value is all in our hearts and heads.

...heh..our hearts yeah, but I don't think many of us are using our heads when we buy this stuff.

turn out that the new evil is quite limited.
although suddenly released, already sold out!

So it has been officially released? Ugh, let the panic ensue!

Isn't S7 will be getting that soon ?

GP said a few, who knows?

dam that evil is gettin up there

oh gosh, it's now 18000 yen on YJA, holy

will either of these make it out to any of the network stores?

On hype alone.

I'm hoping this isn't a sign of things to come in general with RxH. The store opening Bigaro was a blip on the radar and now these...

Wrong Rider there G. V-3 not Rider 1

Looking forward for the fight for this little guy. Nice looking!

I missed the auction ending (and don't have the gen to check finished auctions) . . . anyone know what was the final price on the Evil badboy was?

30 000 Japanese yen = 290.91 U.S. dollars

yikes...that's not including fees...eesh

This shit is going too far now.

We've been saying that for months lol, this isn't a NEW trend.