I'm still laughing at the LA-area movie producer who spent tens of thousands of dollars a few months ago, buying up all 8" Dunnnys on eBay, including duplicates of many, on the belief that they would be considered art objects in the future, and accrue in financial value accordingly. Before he stopped, several KR-peeps caught wind of what was happening, and put their Dunnnys up for auction at insane prices. The guy actually bought some of them at these crazy prices. Dunnny people wrung their hands over the market value inflation, but it was entirely false and temporary, all due to one guy with more cash than investment acumen.

Nothing is an investment unless you fully intend to re-sell for profit. The toy world seems too uncertain to me to be a worthy field of investment, with the exception of well-established categories like vintage tin toys, old cast iron action banks, vintage kaiju etc. Any number of factors including the increasingly likely-seeming scenario of a serious international recession could cause the market value of vinyl toys to plummet when people are forced to focus more on their needs than their desires. I'm sure most people here remember when, about ten years ago, Beanie Babies were all the eBay collectors' rage, and people were paying mad money for them. For whatever reasons, interest in the mini-plush toys dried up such that a lot of people got stuck with boxes full of the things in their garages, now virtually worthless compared to their brief heyday.

I don't expect anything that extreme to happen with kaiju generally, as there will always be a market for the vintage pieces, and because of how kaiju is more tied to national traditions and fan nostalgia than Western "art toys." I think it's harder to say what will happen in the long term with "neo" kaiju though. Whether we want to admit it or not, the neo market isn't that old and hasn't been time-tested for all that long yet. Obviously there's a big upswing for some items and brands happening now, to the chagrin of those without the deepest pockets, into collecting for the love of the toys. As we all know, some of the inflation is artificial (the flipper effect) and some of it is probably-foolish collector expediency, but some is due to growing popularity that no degree of newbie-bashing at this site will diminish. That's what's hardest to gauge I think ... How long the growth trend will continue before finding a plateau. I've seen any number of "booms" peter out with time (anyone remember the "magic boom" of the 70s?) while others seem never to stop (e.g. the popularity of science fiction, once considered a niche, now mainstream.)

Shooting your mouth off about something you have no idea about, who wants what and for how long... That's what I'm tired of hearing about. Fuck off, horseshit.

Great post! This is exactly why i got into this community and this hobby because what i saw over at KR was exactly how you put it. It was definitely not what i was about, once coming over here and seeing how things were done over here and the cool stuff drew me in.

Some people learn not to overpay because their auctions effect the community and the market prices but you can't stop the people coming in and dropping crazy amounts of money. I know it pisses the others off who want these things at not so crazy prices but if they wait eventually the prices will go down a bit, or at least i'm assuming

I admit i paid some higher prices on some rxh but never to the lengths that they have become. Instead i'm just going to make smarter bids waiting for something i really want at a good price and if i can't get it then oh well i'm not gonna I FART A LOT. I think since the prices made a sharp increase in a months time and that shows it won't last too long.

Chuck, looking at the top bidders, i'm not sure one can draw this conclusion.

Just saying...

First off....I'm sure you think you are quite clever. Horseshit? Haha, good one. I'm sure that took a lot of time and effort to come up with.

I honestly don't give a shit how many months you have been after something.
It does not make it a grail.
I don't know why that seems to offend you.

Yeah, I'm not sure why he seemed to take that comment so personally...

The only name i recognize is Plover.
And no, I don't know who is behind the Celga bid, and I believe chaosjapan is a bidding service too.

I said what I said due to the people on here caliing it a "grail."
It's getting fucking old. That is all.

so what is the minimum term limit for a holy grail - maybe 5 years? RxH hasn't even making toys for that long. Believe me most of the old-timers are laughing and watching and biding their time. Good things come to those who wait and generate large reserves of Toy Karma.

nice post xonocastle.

to me grail means that one thing that absolutely tops off your collection. the piece that once you have it, you could stop collecting and be happy. not something you'd like to have, or something you just really want, but the absolute paragon of your collecting life. teh thing that you would never sell even if you decided to quit the scene entirely and cash it in.
if it's a more recent piece or some obscure bit of vintage vinyl, whatever. im not sure i even have a grail piece myself, certainly there is nothing i would pay 1K for.

Isn't a Holy Grail a relative thing for each individual? Do you have to be an OG collector that's been in the game since the beginning (which is only 1-2 years before many of us) to have a Holy Grail? How long does one need to search for a toy before it becomes a Holy Grail?

Holy Grail means different things to different folks. Not sure it's fair to impose any definition on what a Holy Grail should be for anyone.

that's all...

That doesn't offend me - the ignorance of your post did. You don't know how long anybody has been after anything, or how anyone even perceives the concept of a "holy grail" item. Maybe I was a bit harsh with the language though...

This is an excellent point.

I'm constamtly astounded by the amount of money folks throw at relatively new toys that are based on, well.....nothing.

To each his own, everyone should collect what they like, but this is just the most recent example of people with more money than sense driving up prices on toys that are barely a year or two old.

I totally get what you are saying and agree with you.
But, I wonder, can someone really know that after a few months?

To me, most people are saying it because they just "really really like it," and quickly move on to the next thing.

Again, like I said...a new "grail" every few months, or so it seems.
This is not the case with everyone....but I've just noticed it happening more frequently lately.

practicing patience gone bad

for me it's a grail even tho i've only known of it a few short months, after i read the super7 issue with blobpus. i was already in love with the gogamezilla, the toy that brought me to this place to begin with. not long after arriving here, i fell in love with the blobpus pieces - all of them. i've managed to score over 70 of them now in just about 4 months time. i love the way they look together. i love the forms, i love his philosophy behind them. i love his colors more than anything. i have no intention of selling them and haven't even thought about them in terms of "worth." i just love them. so, yeah, i saw this piece as a grail. ii know i'll probably never see another one, but if i do, i'll be better prepared.

can someone post more pics of this set?...and is there any other mini gogas?

here's the oone from last night, the $1000 mama

what an awesome header

+1

Yeah, it was 10 or so made. I just missed it by about 1 minute when these were on sale at the first Sofubi Matsuri/World Hobby Fest a couple years ago.

Damn! that's my new holy grail.

Holy Grail
a feature of medieval legend and literature. It appears variously as a chalice, a cup, or a dish and sometimes as a stone or a caldron into which a bleeding lance drips. It was identified by Christians as the chalice of the Last Supper brought to England by St. Joseph of Arimathea. Miraculous in its powers, it could provide food and healing. However, it would be revealed only to a pure knight, and the Grail Quest appears in different stories. In Arthurian legend the purest knight is variously Parsifal or Galahad. The Grail is one of the most difficult problems of Arthurian legend, introducing as it does features of Christian story, Celtic myth, and ancient fertility cults.

Subject to severe interpretation unless you are a Knight that is pure and that has that has had the Holy Grail revealed to them

That being said.....for $1000.00, does the Blobpus even glow?