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A few months ago I bought a portion of a guy's toy collection for a hefty, but reasonable, price with the intention of reselling them. Probably paid a little more than I should have but at the same time the return has been well worth it.

What I bought before was all Star Wars and G. I. Joe's which I am very familiar with and I know the resale value I'm getting. Now I'm in discussion with him to buy the remainder of his collection. Or at least a portion of it.

Problem is, I am not sure if some of the toys are worth getting. Some of them I know about and others I have no idea. Not asking for anyone to do research for me , I'm doing plenty of that as we speak, but I am asking for your advice or recommendations.

I'm sure he's going to be asking a pretty penny for the entire thing so I might have to pick and choose from the most desirable items.

Here's the short list of what he has. There's some more but I don't recognize them.

Dino Riders (says it's a nearly complete collection including Ice Age, Bone Age
Other World from Arco
Robotech SDF 1 Playset
Robotech Zentraedi figures
Sky Commanders
Guns of Navarone playset
also a whole bunch of metal toy soldiers from the 50's I think

There are a couple of big GI Joe vehicles that I'm struggling with. He has the USS Flagg aircraft carrier, Defiant Space Shuttle Launch Complex and the Cobra Terrordrome. I really, really, really want those - especially the Flagg - but the space they will take up, the rareness that those sell and the difficulty in packaging them up for shipping makes it a risky purchase. Not to mention that the shipping I would have to charge would be a really tough pill for a buyer to swallow.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Depending on how far you'd be willing to drive, but what I've done when I've sold super bulky items that were just impractical to ship (either size, condition, or both) was to set a range you'd be willing to drive to deliver them and make a day trip/mini-vacation/buying trip out of it. Just be upfront about how far you're willing to drive. (Also, be very careful to have the person verify and sign everything that they're receiving. If it's a toy with a lot of part, come with a checklist listing every part that is being delivered and have them go through the checklist.)

I've only done it a few times, but every time I've researched the area, gotten the day off from work, and then hit up all the comic book stores there and on the way there. Though my limit it about 7 hours of driving so I can make it back in the same day without stopping over at a hotel.

But every time I've done that, I've come back and been able to knock both items off of my list and more items to flip. (Also estimate the amount of gas required and use that as a shipping charge, though I based the miles strictly off of there and back, not including all the in city driving)

Those Dino-Riders can be pretty decently priced, especially if they're Ice Age and/or 100% complete (but then again, most toys from that time are like that because they're so hard to keep at 100%. I know the clips from Omega Supreme can be really expensive... especially the smallest ones, which were the easiest to lose (I only have one), up to $30 each.)

But those three massive G.I.Joe toys, those are prize possessions right there. If they're complete or near complete, then you're talking between $500-$2000 (before shipping) for each one and in cases like those, it's much easier for people to swallow a shipping charge of 10-20% of the purchase. The alternate and more blasphemous option would be sell the parts individually to reduce the shipping costs into smaller bites, though you'd almost assuredly get a lot less money for them and be branded a heretic for breaking up a near complete or complete set.

The other stuff I'm not that familiar with, I'd just be doing Ebay searches which you've probably already done.

I would NEVER do that!

I see that a lot on eBay and I would rather sell an incomplete vehicle than sell parts individually.

I have thought about doing local pickup/delivery only but that certainly cuts down potential buyers from out of the area. Maybe if I get any I'll try them on Craigslist. Just thinking about eBay fees for the Flagg gets my head to hurting.

Obviously the Flagg is a grail vehicle for Joe collectors. I've been wanting one for 30+ years now and have never even seen one in person complete and assembled. The guy has it, but it's in pieces so I would need to put it together if I were to buy it. So many parts I can't even be sure that it is complete although I have no reason to doubt the seller. He did tell me that the megaphone is missing.

My big problem (pun intended!) with that one is definitely the size. I don't think I have enough room to store it disassembled much less put together. The Terrordrome and Defiant Complex are large as well but a little more compact.

Of the other things he's got the Dino Riders do look to be the most desirable as far as reselling them goes. A brief search through eBay shows that they sell consistently for pretty good prices.

I'm pretty sure the asking price he's looking for might be a bit out of my capability. I might have to get an investor or someone to go halfsies with. If I were somehow able to get everything then I would have no need to get anything more for a couple of years at least.

Wish I lived closer I would go half.

I remember I asked my mother for the Flagg
She was like is that all you want & I was yes.
Christmas morning came & I opened my only package to find the american flag.
Once my mom realized what I was talking about she felt bad

Too Much!!

That is both funny and sad!

I wish you lived closer too, Spence. Doesn't look like I'll be able to get everything myself. I do have someone who might be willing to invest and then I'll pay a percentage of sales until it's paid off.

I do know that if I pass on the Flagg then I might never be able to forgive myself.

Have a sale here on CCL to fund future investment purchases.

There you go, have a "Help me buy some toys" sale

Probably not!

Actually, since PayPal no longer gives you back the fees on refunds I don't think I will be doing any more sales here until there is a Point of Purchase discount option.

Is there a way to mass reduce the price of books you have listed for a limited time ? Figure there isn't since all the sales I can think of on here were of the refund variety.

That's the kind of thing a lot of us have been hoping for. Right now the only way we can do it is for the buyer to pay up front and then the seller sends the refund. It does not make it easy for a store to run a sale because there are so many variables involved post purchase. I hope that the new look CCL will have that feature.

The sale I had in March was a real headache to keep track of who I shipped to, who still needs a refund, did I not find a comic in the order and have to subtract that from the total and then apply the refund...it was not easy. Some people it took me almost a week to refund their money and I am not really comfortable with that. In a few cases it was a lot of money and I felt bad that it took me so long to get it done.

With a Point of Purchase discount that would not be a problem anymore.

Don't feel bad, Howie. I think the longest it took me to fill orders were three weeks when I would hold a sale. Granted, they were a whole longbox worth of comics that had to be pulled and double checked. Considering the savings they are getting, they can wait to make sure everything is right. Sorry, just being honest.

One thing I can't recommend highly enough is to do the research. Get a complete list of everything he has or even better, take as many pictures as possible for future reference before making an offer. (Sorry if I'm coming across as patronizing, but I've gotten burned pretty badly several times in the past jumping on a deal because I was sure I knew what was what only to find out I had gotten burned pretty badly.)

And now to join in on the off-topic conversation!



And yet somehow for all of the lamentations from CCL stores about how long it takes them to get comics out and refunds during a sale, every single one of my experiences with them in those situations has been infinitely more palatable then my ongoing experience placing an order with the second largest comic book retailer in Illinois who had no major sale going on.

I placed an order on Memorial Day. They were upfront about how they only process orders once a week on Thursday. No big deal, they're up front about it. But when going to check out I find out they don't accept Paypal... who doesn't accept Paypal online? (These guys, apparently). On top of that you MUST keep a credit card on file with your account (seriously, that's crap. First thing I'm doing when I get my order is changing my CC number to gibberish and if that doesn't work, flat out deleting my account.)

So Thursday rolls around... and nothing. Friday... nothing. Finally they mark my order as being processed on Saturday. Not processed, but processing. It's not until Monday that the order is finally marked as processed and shipped. Except Tuesday rolls around and the tracking number shows that it wasn't dropped off with UPS yet. Finally Wednesday night rolls around and they finally give it to UPS. Crazy. (Even funnier, I also placed an order with the largest comic book retailer in Illinois on the same day and received their shipment before this one was even marked as being shipped.)

So yes, kudos to the sellers on CCL. You get backed up during sales, but still manage to do extremely well in getting everything out in a reasonable amount of time. (Also, sorry for cheating on CCL, but I placed the orders because of Transformers RI covers, which are few and far between to begin with on CCL, let alone ones I actually need.)

Wows. At least I can fall back on the excuse that I'm not home for at least 12 hours in a day thanks to my accursed real job. Not sure why it would take an actual comics retailer so long to process.