Are the downward economic times affecting your toy buying habits?

[transfan52]

You realize that if you want to invest, stocks are a much better choice than toys, right?

not necessarily... just look at bloomberg futures and the dropping dow industrial average... many ppl including leading economists are saying we are entering a "greater depression".

[Roger]

not necessarily... just look at bloomberg futures and the dropping dow industrial average... many ppl including leading economists are saying we are entering a "greater depression".

Tell you what, this week you buy an Optimus Prime and I'll put the same amount of money into an index fund and in 2030 we'll see which one appreciated more. ;p

[Vermillion21]

US Stock Market seems to be doing well/ok/rising today ... some mildly good news at least.

Edited October 13, 2008 by Vermillion21

[jenius]

Europe pledged 2.3Trillion into the market, that ought to boost everyone's spirits.

Roger is right, Toys = crappy investments in the grander scheme of things. Sure, you might get some every now and then that pay off pretty well as an investment but the vast majority of the time you'd be way better off playing the market. That said, this has been a really bad couple weeks to prove that point. At least with a toy you'll always have the toy and the government can't buy it all up and take it away from you just so it can continue to exist.

EDIT - maybe what's happening with LOS could affect numerous of our collectors. In the name of rabid speculation, it's quite possible that he had a business that depended on credit and he can no longer secure credit and is facing hard times.

Edited October 14, 2008 by jenius

[Excillon]

I'm unaffected, mostly because I build models now, and save for the occasional must have toy, I stick with that. I figure it's cheaper when I can just buy a Hasegawa kit, and paint it as Max, Millia, Roy, etc. That and I love 1/72 scale and having everything in the same scale which is easy to do in 1/72. I remember last year I sold off most my Yamato stuff, save for my 1/60 YF-19, Mplus 1/72's, and a few 1/48's. I mainly stick to Macross kits, and Gundam PG and 1/60 kits. That and I find that buying stuff I want is easier if I just wait, save my money and every 6-8 months buy a big lot of stuff someone is unloading. More bang for the buck and anything I don't want in the lot I can just sell off individually. I work as a machinist and surprisingly, we've actually been getting busier despite the economy being bad.

Actually though, the only thing on my radar is I preordered the frontier kits, as an X-mas present to myself. To be honest, there's not much out there I even want right now...

Edited October 14, 2008 by Excillon

[Morpheus]

You realize that if you want to invest, stocks are a much better choice than toys, right?

One reason why I buy fewer toys/model kits after I got married, my wife always asked me whether I could invest my money on other things besides toys on which I always say its for my collection.

Why can't we invest on our Otaku hobby

[Vermillion21]

EDIT - maybe what's happening with LOS could affect numerous of our collectors. In the name of rabid speculation, it's quite possible that he had a business that depended on credit and he can no longer secure credit and is facing hard times.

What happened to LOS? I just tried to hit his site and it seems to be down. Hope he's ok, cause was a great vender with awesome customer service.

EDIT:: Nevermind, found the related thread.

Edited October 14, 2008 by Vermillion21

[ron5864]

I am not really affected yet with my toy fund. I have been careful with my money during the economic boom times so to fill in for the down times.

Actually, this is a good time to get the toys that you always wanted on Ebay. This is because the bids will be lower and there will also be less people bidding for those items. Also, more people will be putting their things up for sale which will saturate the market. This will lower prices even more.

I would not invest in toys for financial reasons, but it is a good investment into ones happiness and well-being.

[CF18]

Well it looks like they are cancelling the Winter Wonderfest:

http://www.kaiyodo.co.jp/wf/index.html

The official reason has something to do with the the escalator accident in the last event.

[jenius]

What happened with an escalator at the last event????

[CF18]

http://gigazine.net/index.php?/news/commen...03_wf2008_open/

Long escalator overloaded/failure, 10 people injured.

[miriya]

At first I said no to the question's topic but now I will say yes. It has hit me finally. I am slowing down and cancelling some preorders too.

[sharky]

I am not really affected yet with my toy fund. I have been careful with my money during the economic boom times so to fill in for the down times.

Actually, this is a good time to get the toys that you always wanted on Ebay. This is because the bids will be lower and there will also be less people bidding for those items. Also, more people will be putting their things up for sale which will saturate the market. This will lower prices even more.

I would not invest in toys for financial reasons, but it is a good investment into ones happiness and well-being.

You couldn't be more right. I've been watching some items on ebay that are going for much less than they used to. I've cut back on my toy spending considerably, but I will save up and try to get some things here and there that I feel are good deals on stuff that I always wanted but thought to expensive in the past. Also, people will start to put things up for sale that they wouldn't have in the past, so you may see some rarer items out there.

[transfan52]

You couldn't be more right. I've been watching some items on ebay that are going for much less than they used to. I've cut back on my toy spending considerably, but I will save up and try to get some things here and there that I feel are good deals on stuff that I always wanted but thought to expensive in the past. Also, people will start to put things up for sale that they wouldn't have in the past, so you may see some rarer items out there.

Oh I know what you mean man... Things are getting expensive and I've been seeing alot of ppl on ebay selling a big part of their collection for less than I would've imagined... Even ppl on this site are trying to get rid of any extra toys or models they might have so they can have some money to pay off bills or whatever. The price of bandai's SOC line is cheaper than ever before now because there is such a glut of them on ebay atm.

[VFTF1]

Well - now I'M feeling the crunch - the Yen and the US Dollar just got 23% more expensive for me

But - whatever - I'm still buying as much as I did before. This probably has to do with the fact that I started a business only 9 months ago, and so my business plan calls for starvation and suffering for the next three years.

I figured that the recession would be the best time to start a business since recessions usually go hand in hand with costs being low; of course - there is no profit - but then again; start up businesses usually don't make any profits in the beginning anyways.

So - my reasoning was: dag - I'm gonna suffer anyways - might as well suffer according to plan

It's tough going and everything looks bleak - but the only way that this recession could really become a complete and utter calamnity that will see us living out the next 25 years of our lives in misery and poverty is if governments the world over decide to do crazy things like inflate the currency, go into even more absurd amounts of debt and then hike taxes everywehre....and I'm hoping that not EVERYbody will do all of these insane things at once..

Sooo... hopefully we're well on our way to the bottom. The quicker we get there the better.

Eventually, things will be so much cheaper and costs will fall so much more that suddenly it will be very economically feasable to invest in things that, up to now, were "too expensive" and resources will be reallocated towards more productive means...

I guess I'm an optimist - still.

There's been a bit of bad news on the toy front; the exchange rates are terrible now - not just because things cost more but mainly because they seem to be so unstable - flailing wildly about... There was that story about a toy factory in China closing down because they couldn't meet payroll, and the Chinese complaining that their prices were artificially held so low that eventually the business went under - but then again, the factory produced for "Mattel and Habso" - and if it turned out that production for Mattel was the main occupation, then it might have also been those unfortunate recalls... and the region's governor said he wasn't concerned because he wanted "low-skill factories" to be shifted further into the mainland and to try to convert the area for high tech activity...

so... I dunno... it's just hard for me to imagine things getting bad - but this is probably because I grew up in a communist country where "bad" meant:

a) one hundred people standing in line all day to TRY to get a loaf of bread

b) an inflation rate of roughly 2000% per month

c) dinner consisting of onions and water

d) Soup kitchens where you sat at the table with a random stranger and ate with spoons that were linked together by a chain (so that people wouldn't steel the spoons and use them for scrap). When you finished your soup, a lady would come around with a rag and whipe the spoon so the next people in line could sit down and eat... of course - you had to eat in sequence - since the chain linking the spoons was pretty short - whenever you pulled the spoon to your mouth, the other guy had to give you some slack and vice versa

So... I guess when I compare this "crisis" to my childhood and how my parents lived - it's just like "oh - whatever - so I'm buying one or two less Transformers than I normally would - wow - big crisis."

Pete

[KOTUS]

Most definately....a 1/48 yammie is now $100 more @ HLJ (closing in on the $400 mark).

Sorry, but thats too high a price for me.

I'm out.

[jet660]

Not to burst anyone's bubble, I copied a line from yahoo financial news:

"In currencies, the dollar weakened to 97.55 yen from 97.70 late Wednesday in New York."

I feel the crunch too and plan to go to back collecting books, cds, and some dvds next year. I will be even more picky on what toys I will buy now. Hopefully and maybe Yamato's toys will be more affordable than before, but that's wishful thinking.......

[Britai 7018]

The economy is definitely hurting my toy buying habits. I've been fortunate the downturn hasn't affected me directly, but the atmosphere has me thinking in a more money-conscientious way.

Of course, with the Macross Frontier frenzy that I'm in, I ended up spending more in the last 3 months than I have on Macross items in years... But as soon as the frenzy drops, it'll be back to cost-consciousness.

[VFTF1]

Most definately....a 1/48 yammie is now $100 more @ HLJ (closing in on the $400 mark).

And ain't I happy that I DIDN'T sell my 1/48s when the V.2 1/60 was announced ufff !

Pete

[baronv]

Well, I've cleared out about 75% of my collection. Partly due to economical reasons, partly due to space/storage, and partly due to thinking, "my god, I've got too many toys for a grown man!". Kept most of the Macross and sold the rest (bye Joes, Transformers, comic figures, etc.).

When the economy turns back around, gonna stick to low-profile hobbies that don't take as much space like my anime cel collection...if prices ever stabilize for those.

[Mr. Troska!]

Well - now I'M feeling the crunch - the Yen and the US Dollar just got 23% more expensive for me

But - whatever - I'm still buying as much as I did before. This probably has to do with the fact that I started a business only 9 months ago, and so my business plan calls for starvation and suffering for the next three years.

I figured that the recession would be the best time to start a business since recessions usually go hand in hand with costs being low; of course - there is no profit - but then again; start up businesses usually don't make any profits in the beginning anyways.

So - my reasoning was: dag - I'm gonna suffer anyways - might as well suffer according to plan

It's tough going and everything looks bleak - but the only way that this recession could really become a complete and utter calamnity that will see us living out the next 25 years of our lives in misery and poverty is if governments the world over decide to do crazy things like inflate the currency, go into even more absurd amounts of debt and then hike taxes everywehre....and I'm hoping that not EVERYbody will do all of these insane things at once..

Sooo... hopefully we're well on our way to the bottom. The quicker we get there the better.

Eventually, things will be so much cheaper and costs will fall so much more that suddenly it will be very economically feasable to invest in things that, up to now, were "too expensive" and resources will be reallocated towards more productive means...

I guess I'm an optimist - still.

There's been a bit of bad news on the toy front; the exchange rates are terrible now - not just because things cost more but mainly because they seem to be so unstable - flailing wildly about... There was that story about a toy factory in China closing down because they couldn't meet payroll, and the Chinese complaining that their prices were artificially held so low that eventually the business went under - but then again, the factory produced for "Mattel and Habso" - and if it turned out that production for Mattel was the main occupation, then it might have also been those unfortunate recalls... and the region's governor said he wasn't concerned because he wanted "low-skill factories" to be shifted further into the mainland and to try to convert the area for high tech activity...

so... I dunno... it's just hard for me to imagine things getting bad - but this is probably because I grew up in a communist country where "bad" meant:

a) one hundred people standing in line all day to TRY to get a loaf of bread

b) an inflation rate of roughly 2000% per month

c) dinner consisting of onions and water

d) Soup kitchens where you sat at the table with a random stranger and ate with spoons that were linked together by a chain (so that people wouldn't steel the spoons and use them for scrap). When you finished your soup, a lady would come around with a rag and whipe the spoon so the next people in line could sit down and eat... of course - you had to eat in sequence - since the chain linking the spoons was pretty short - whenever you pulled the spoon to your mouth, the other guy had to give you some slack and vice versa

So... I guess when I compare this "crisis" to my childhood and how my parents lived - it's just like "oh - whatever - so I'm buying one or two less Transformers than I normally would - wow - big crisis."

Pete

I once knew a MCPO through a VP squadron that my father was in back in the 90s that made it across the wall when he was 15; he left everything behind to reach the United States and his stories always had a profound effect upon me that later on in life, induced me to abhor the totalitarian savagery of communism and it's many, subtle permutations.

But on a lighter note, I have made provision for 1 V2 1/60, a set of S&S packs, and hopefully a Q rau if one can be found on the cheap...

[VFTF1]

One reason why I buy fewer toys/model kits after I got married, my wife always asked me whether I could invest my money on other things besides toys on which I always say its for my collection.

Why can't we invest on our Otaku hobby sad.gif

This is the perfect reason why one should NEVER listen to wives prattling on about money. The stock market has fallen FAR FAR more sharply than the value of vintage toys and collectibles.

Who would you have rather been yesterday: BBTS and their warehouse or Joe Stock Broker, or even worse Joe Shareholder?

Never listen to your wife or girlfriend when it comes to money.

Or at least try to spend just as much on Macross as you do on clothes, flowers, dinners, fancy dresses, vacations etc etc for her.

I think women get annoyed when they see that INSTEAD of spending on them, you're buying toys. If you spend lavishly on a woman, then she won't care that you buy Macross and hobby stuff.

You might even live long enough to see one of them actually buy YOU a toy (my 3rd and curent girlfriend, who wisely never ridiculed my collection, bought me God Ginrai for my birthday a couple years back, and the BW Reborn Takara Primal/Megatron remould reissue set)

Parity is key.

Pete

[Roger]

Macrossworld, your one-stop shop for investment advice... ;p

[carzooyah]

The stock market has fallen FAR FAR more sharply than the value of vintage toys and collectibles.

Who would you have rather been yesterday: BBTS and their warehouse or Joe Stock Broker, or even worse Joe Shareholder?

Pete

This is perhaps the most solid financial advice I've seen lately Yea... we need more toys.

[Wes]

http://gigazine.net/index.php?/news/commen...03_wf2008_open/

Long escalator overloaded/failure, 10 people injured.

Silly otaku, don't they know they're just temporarily stairs?

[eugimon]

Silly otaku, don't they know they're just temporarily stairs?

aw, now you made me miss the late, great, mitch hedberg.