You know just from looking at some of these end prices (not that I have any of these ultra rare items) and just doing searches recently on vintage toys, I'm really glad I got some of the vintage stuff when I did (even if it was just a few years ago). Vintage toys seem scarce and very very expensive these days (not that they were ever cheap unless you were buying in the 90's). I still have just about every character search on YJA bookmarked and wow not as much comes up compared to just a few years back.

I agree. Prices have been not much creeping up the past couple years as taking giant leaps. A couple times you might stumble upon something that people just ignore, or get a bargain on a more common character with a little wear, but that is slim. And the picking for character toys is getting harder all the time. I spoke about this a few times, but my assumption is that a lot of it is due to toys simply getting snagged into 'lifetime' fan collections, whereas there were a lot out there in the wild before from odds and ends and miscellaneous collections. There is ultimately a limited number of each figure out there, and even when those numbers are staggeringly large (compared to the rarez crap of today I mean), eventually most will be in the hands of appreciating fans - or stores/sellers who know the worth. As a result, the few remaining items on the market [few being relative of course] are fought over by collectors looking to add that piece, the price goes up, and all subsequent auctions are likely to increase as well from using that one as a basis. It is a self-feeding cycle, but one we unfortunately have to deal with. We'll also have to wait and see if there is any kind of 'bubble' effect to come, but I can't really see it being cyclic to the point of coming down much from now, unfortunately. It is getting to be a very difficult hobby, from my point of view, for the average collector. I am happy to enjoy what I have, and thankful there are reissues, but sadly there is still a lot out there vintage-wise I would love to someday have a shot at not just staring at the toy pr0n pics of.

Vintage Bullmark Casshern Kozuki Luna
Went for: 88,000 yen, that was the opening price and receive just one bid.

King Zaurus series clear Garamond Poppy
I don´t know if this figure it´s strange or rare but that clear green its sweet!
Went for: 52,101 yen

Beautiful but pricey! I wonder if the clear version was a special festival release? I'm only familiar with the solid dark geen version (which is also adorable, just like a begging pup )

The clear Ultra figures are campaign prizes for Lotte gum.

This Popy clear Eleking went for 151,000 yen today.



Some of the other clear sofubi Lotte prizes.

Thank you for the explanation and fantastic photos chimply.kaiju!
There is something about those clear versions--an extra dimension to admire visually. First Kabaya and now these Lotte Gum toys. Looks like a considerable amount of effort went into the design and production, especially for a limited promotional release. A vintage version of "happy meal" toys? I bet they would be fun, filled with colorful candy. Pricewise, quite a shocker! Egads!

Non-copyright mantis man (former Bandai Kamen Rider poppy)
I did not know existed bootlegs of the villains of Kamen Rider.
Buyout Price: 300,000 yen

For a bootleg?!? Prices are out-of-control.

Great Mazinger Pachi sofubi standard size
Went for: 89,600 yen
It's in great condition and looks like it has a small game inside, I can see some throwing stars.
But I still think it's too much ¥ for a Pachi figure.

Ultraman Taro ZAT personnel (MAT personnel) Soft Vinyl Bullmark
Standard size about 23cm
Went for: 101,200 yen

^ Always wanted that ZAT figure ! The Kr boot is pretty cool - a looks like tigermask body,legs and boots.

The height of lunacy....

^^^ Crazy prices! Love that tiger bootleg. I think I saw it last year under 5000 JPY, although not in baggie!

Yeah you posted it in the Tigermask thread - 4300Y ... 40,000 for the bag and generic header

Also .. I'm not a big fan on the new anonymous bidding thing on YJA - I want to know who what 3 letter name to curse when I run outside and scream at the heavens

a number ... thats just not the same

I haven't bid on YJA in over 2 years so that's new to me! Wow really, so there are no 3 letter ID's anymore? That sucks. How are you supposed to know your bidding services ID then?I had all Mandarake's ID's memorized (can't recall any of them now though)

Hooray for shill bidding.

Yeah I think you have something there Sanjeev. That might partially explain some of the ludicrous prices on not so rare toys.

I agree. The whole 'anonymity' thing is pretty stupid, and unneeded. Seems like a senseless change, that can only really benefited the dodgy bidding practices. Obviously privacy in Japan is a massive issue, but it is not like there was any 'outing' of identities with the first three letter of an already anonymous handle, in my opinion anyway. And, I haven't done any bidding lately, but I presume that if you are logged it, it doesn't show your own bids in this manner? But, as Lixx pointed out, so many of us have to rely on proxy bidding services, in which case you have zero way of knowing for certain if you are in the high bidding position. Seems like a really silly thing to change, and one which is going to cause more problems than benefits (if there are any) for the users.

You don't even see your own handle .. if your bidder 1 you are bidder 000001, if you are using a proxy bidder it will be confusing, it shows your feedback number but if its not your account thats not really a good identifier.

Well that's just silly. I don't think the intent was to encourage more shill bidding but it more than likely will. I think the intent is for Yahoo to maximize profits under the guise of privacy, but reality is they probably did tons of testing and found users driving up bids because they were unsure who they were in the bidding hiearchy and realized oooohhh higher end value more money for us! Yet again proves they can never leave well enough alone by destoying something and making it less user friendly- see Flickr for proof.

That is truly bizarre. I cannot see how this system would work for anybody then. Guess any future YJA funds should just be set aside for a 'Japan trip' to at least enjoy the thrill of digging through the shops there, if not buying.

If you are logged in with your own account it does show your user ID in the bid history. As well as the section that shows what you're bidding on. The only confusion would be from people with no account. I dont think the web designers at YJA consider the needs of foreigners using third party services when they make site changes . It sucks for people without accounts, but the site was never intended to be used that way. My advice would be to find a service that lets you have your own account. That way you can have your own watch list, bid when you want etc. Not trying to downplay anyone's frustrations just my 2 cents.

Yes, of course you are right; I guess what I was trying to say more was that, in addition to the inconvenience to 'us' and confusion over who was bidding, i.e. whether you were indeed the higher bidder or not - hence why I was asking specifically if it did show your ID when logged in - was that, while it may seem like a little change, something to reach, perhaps, an extra level of anonymity, I really see little to no benefit of even making this change, so I am confused 1) why they did it/what seemed necessary to change, and 2) why they would bother with this involved work unless there was a high demand for it. In any case, onwards, and forwards....

If you use a proxy bidder (and can't log into their account), you *still* know what your max bid was...so you ought to know whether or not you're winning, right? I think the frustration surrounding the rampant shill bidding that will inevitably ensue FAR outweighs that minor inconvenience.