This is such a dilemma. I'm a huge comic book fan and I still go religiously every week to my local dealer. The combination of cost for both the desire for comics and kaiju is starting to take it's toll. The amount I spend on comics could buy me 3 or 4 nice extra figures a month. I'm thinking the kaiju will win out in the end.

I personally think that all this toy business may end up like comics in the 90's...not kaiju...for the most part because of it's niche demographic (for now)...but all the other "vinyl toy," nonsense may be worthless in the long haul...I mean, what do you think you'll be able to sell those gorillaz figs for in 10 years or that new spray can figure (what a fresh idea btw)?

but the first run of gorillaz figures are so bad ass! (ok, the newer versions suck). i really like them.... although i was shocked to see how much they went for a few months after i bought them.

spawn #1 was so bad ass too

I dont think the monthly is completely done, there are new things by Image and DH, and Oni etc that are being released every week, that might not get the chance if all that was released were trades.I do agree though, my favorite stories of the last five years have been "elseworlds" type tales like Red Son, Batman Year 100, the first Ultimates, Allstar Superman.

Good small publisher titles I like rightnow are Invincible, walking dead, BPRD, Kickass, Criminal, and a bunch more I cantthink of right now.

And Ill buy anything Paul Pope puts out.anything.

paul pope can do no wrong.

and walking dead has to be one of the best reads. period.

i typically go to a local comics store once every 3-4 months and then have a reading binge.....

Kickass kicks ass! Walking Dead and BPRD I'll second. Other great monthly's that come to mind: Ex Machina, DMZ, The Boys, Scalped, anything by Ben Templesmith especially Wormwood series. Someone mentioned Mike Allred, Madman is awesome! Guess it's just me but I find a lot of monthly's I really look forward to reading. Most of them are not under the DC/Marvel labels though.

Just to clarify, you believe that because we occupy a smaller niche, that it's somehow less susceptible to a market crash?

I see alot of this "kaiju" tanking and being worthless.

During the Mihara Yasuhiro interview, his comment about prices always going up made me cringe a bit even if he was only talking about vintage.

And then to tie it back into comics, who are these people who are spending $300+ for Superhero and Predator statues that I see in comic book stores??

when it does, I can play catch-up and buy stuff so dirt cheap that my "hey day" overspending will even out with all the deals I get! awesome!

I stopped buying comics, just got bored with EVERYTHING. I'd rather get trades of older stuff for 1/2 off and read that, I'm just so bored with everything.



You don't wanna know, I came from a Star Wars toy collecting background, I knew those guys (though wasn't one) and they're scary.

I have one statue, Batman by Paul Pope, that I love, it cost about $60.Is that crazy?

i agree with that - it's already happened to a certain extent. i think a lot of vinyl will become just like beanie babies in the not too distant future.

Vintage vinyl might retain some value but only the truly rare pieces will have any chance of increasing in value.

I blow so much on vinyl even though i know in the back of my mind that most of it will likely be worthless. It makes me happy to surround myself with these things so I do it even though I know that financially-speaking, it's foolish.

I once read that "the people who invest in collectibles are the ones who can least afford to." I'm afraid that's going to turn out to be a very prescient observation.

Nope.

I have the whole Wild Things McFarlane figure set, and according to some film freak, I'm a lunatic...

But the huge $300 or so busts of Wolverine or Predator seem like a real committment.

i disagree with the monthly titles being dead. The Teen Titans (now just Titans) and the Outsiders (now Batman & The Outsiders) does not repeatedly rehash origins. Yes, they go back to origin times occassionally, only to build up stories that involve stuff that happened in the past. All of that continuity matters. Also the Batman monthly and Detective Comics monthly have a lot of depth, and the stories aren't just stories to piggyback or sell based on or support upcoming films. The films are still obsessed with The Joker, while the monthly titles have a wide variety of characters. Take the whole War Games saga and all the aftermath with Black Mask, a character that isn't even in an other medium of batman storytelling.

I will always follow an ongoing series before a mini-series, unless it is some event that ties into all the monthly dc titles, because it has depth and none of it works without the other. Mini-series are just quick sells for people who don't have the attention span or memory capablility to weigh years upon years of continuity against each other. The mini's are the ones that cater to the movies. I never have anything good to say about Marvel, and this is one of the reasons. They release mini series after mini series that stands outside of the whole box that is The Marvel Universe, tearing it apart at the seams. DC at least label their wacky stories as DC Elseworlds, and only recently managed to work them into continuity without effecting the onging universe.

Yeah, it's a pretty naive viewpoint, even when discussing vintage stuff. Vintage kaiju and especially vintage chogokin have really taken a nosedive in the past 3-4 years, both over here and in Japan.That's a great quote. Consider how many posts you see around here that go something like, "I need new brakes so I need to sell some stuff..." or "It's the end of the month and I need to make rent..."

Now imagine going into business and trying to make products to sell to these people. Pretty daunting, huh?

I stopped collecting comics when I started collecting records. That is ultimately what has been curbed for me. My loads of flat vinyl replaced by 3-d versions. Occasionally I'll get bent out of shape about a record I see on ebay. Its rare as I'd rather own a OG IKB hedoran over and KBD type record.

Although I will always always always do anything to get my hands on one of these:

my boss drops large coin on statues... he's eyeing a devilman statue that they have at meltdown right now.

The last comic series I read was "Fight for tomorrow"

Statues are cool, but Liquid is right, its a huge commitment.Next month there could be a new one that totally blows the on you just dropped 300 bucks on out of the water, and that sucks.

no...smaller runs...smaller supply. no double gatefold covered bagged, "collectors editions" of 10,000.

While I think bemons and such will keep their value, I think in 10 years they wont fetch as much as they do now...

ahhh~ RFTC! My friend still tells me he's going to be buried with his rocket ring hehe

i've learned never to buy statues for retail. since they have such larger runs compared to releases of kaiju, if you wait a few months you are garanteed to find them on ebay for a third of the price. big time shops are always unloading their overstock to get in the new stuff. i bought the Michael Turner Supergirl statue, which retailed at $195, for $60 about 6 months after it's release...

I have read the walking dead hardcover releases recently. Never really bought comics all the time, maxx before it went to shit, madman, evil ernie, stuff like that.

There is a new store over here in Irvine Spectrum filled with western vinyl and crap clothing brands nobody has heard of trying to be "street". There is just chunks of vinyl for 50 dollars and up and its horrid. I seriously doubt that stuff will be worth money, after all how much are D-u-n-n-y-s worth to the people that collected them prior to coming here?

I can already see a fall off in kaiju stuff, I have picked up AMAZING stuff for dirt cheap. However I like it and would want it if it was worthless and if there was tons of it for practically nothing I would be thrilled. Another variable is what if down the line vinyl becomes an extinct practice for toy making? The prime examples would be what we are collecting now, the new kaiju stuff is the pinnacle of what they have done with this stuff and they are still pushing the boundries everyday. It would be the most desirable stuff if vinyl toy making ceased.

As far as taking a step back and discussing financial stuff and thinking about oh crap I spent a hundred bucks on a freakin' toy is probably not helping the hobby out. For me the kaijus only damage has been taking away my drinking money, which couldn't have been a bigger blessing in disguise for me. 60 days sober

Let's see, I collected comics in Middle school, hung on to those and went through a "cool phase," where I was actually an overweight dork that was trying to find himself. About 19 I got back into American toys. After that I bought 1 transformer and things went downhill after that, between toys and comics I was spending an average of 50 dollars a week on comics. I had to put a stop to that. So instead I bought video games. I built up a back catalogue and realized I would never play them. I sold all of my comics and a lot of my western toys (including some KR). So as far as money situation, I'll always be collecting and spending cash on something. SB has a chokehold on my wallet at the moment.