Are the baby boomers leaving Macross collecting?

[Protoplast]

I've seen a lot of ebay auctions and for sale threads of people exiting or stop collecting Macross items and dump their goods on ebay and classifieds causing price drops on not only newer valks but also older vintage ones that are rare.

I've seen 3 ebay seller where they were auctioning off every macross item and are taking it at a loss by selling a lot of good stuff at very below market price.

Do you think or aware of many baby boomers getting out of macross?

It could also be this housing bubble that everyone is scrambling to liquidate their assets just to buy an inflated value property...

[baronv]

Maybe they're growing up and abandoning this childish thing of collecting toys! Maybe they're actually investing they're money in something so foolish as stocks, bonds, and a house.

[EXO]

Baby boomers is the generation of people that were born between 1946-1964. The last of which were into their 20's and probably too old to watch afternoon cartoons in 1984.

I think you're thinking about the Gen X'rs... People that were born between 1965 and 1975... Who grew up in the 80's... also known as the slacker generation...

Edited August 10, 2004 by >EXO<

[LORD KUNGFU]

what happens is the nostalgia wears off. Its like, before ebay , it was hard to find any macross items, so when you did find them, it was like gold. wether is was a beat up old jetfire, or an aplha with broken legs, it was the greatest. Good luck finding any takatoku back then or at least a cheap takatoku. Well anyway, you just get burnt out. YOu can find anything if you got the money now, thanks to the internet, and with all the reissues of macross, and transformers, all the old stuff just takes a dive. I mean, can remember when a takatoku valk was worth a lot, but then bandai did the reissues, and they went down.

[bandit29]

Ya I don't think the baby boomers are selling off any Macross toys. I doubt most baby boomers even know what Macross is lol

I'm 30 so I'd be a Gen Xer. I have sold off most of my collection. My Macross collection is rather small right now. I still collect anime based toys but Macross is kinda "eh" to me right now. Which is kinda wierd since I have been collecting Macross stuff since the mid 80's.

Edited August 9, 2004 by dejr8bud

[Mechamaniac]

I'm 33, and fall pretty much into the same category as Dejr8bud. My collection these days consists of only the best quality stuff, PG Gundams, and 1/48 Valks and DVD's. I was never really a completist, but age and other responsibilities have made it easier for me to focus only on the things I really want. I won't buy everything out there just because it sports the Macross logo.

On the flip side, about 12 years ago, when I got home from Japan, and had amassed a pretty nice collection while living there, I sold off all of my stuff to pay for something more secular, a car!.

Years later, I regretted having done so, but alot of those toys would have been ground under the heel of "something more accurate has been released" by now anyway.

The only thing I wish I had kept had been my original Ride Armor toy in the box.

[LORD KUNGFU]

Maybe they're growing up and abandoning this childish thing of collecting toys! Maybe they're actually investing they're money in something so foolish as stocks, bonds, and a house.

collecting toys is a good investment monetary wise. But just like stocks, you have to find the right items to collect. My neighbor has a collections of dolls, and other stuff, but mostly dolls are the value. Anyway, the last I heard, was that her collcetion was valued at $300,000 plus. And over the years, she spent less than 20k to accumalate that stuff. Not a bad invesment. Actually, believe it or not, the house she bought went down to half of the value after she bought it. But with the real estate market as it is now, her how has now over doubled in value.

[MicronianDevil]

I'm a Gen X'er and while I have stopped collecting at the moment, I dont think I would ever sell my collection. I really love Macross. I dont see myself giving it up just because I am getting older. I might not be as enthusiastic about it, but I wont give it up. I will keep my Valk collection and Macross DVDs till the day I die.

[LORD KUNGFU]

I agree. My collection has value monetarywise, but more value to me personally. Im 31 and recently have slow down collecting, they are just coming out with to much to fast. (Burn Out). I still have everytoy I sacraficed so hard for as a kid, and no way in hell will I sell out. I remember have to starve myself for months just to save up enough lunch money to buy my legioss, or orguss. And I dont care what you put in front of me now, be it a ferrari, or something else, it will not give me that deep excitement that I had when I was a kid when I finally had the $25 it took for me to buy that legioss or cyclone at the swap meet no less. Just like anything, the no matter what it is, the harder you work for something, the more it means to you, even if its just a junky toy to somebody else. I have the money now and can buy cars at my convenience, but no car will every have that power that I had when I bought my first rust bucket 1978 honda accord. That was some serious freedom.

[do not disturb]

i'm a x'er too, and i recently had to sell off parts of my collection to go to a wedding but after i get back, i'm ready for the next macross release.

and while some people might think toys are a good investment, i'd rather put my money into mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc...sorry but those are guaranteed payoffs while toys is somewhat of a crap shoot.

every month, $150 goes into the 401k and $850 into mutual funds. i'd rather worry about my retirement and financial well being now, rather than trying to sell off a bunch of toys when i'm 60 something so i can eat.

[MicronianDevil]

Your right on the money LordKungFu.

I remember the thrill of buying my first Valkyrie, a Hikaru Takataku (sp?), after weeks of saving money I earned from mowing lawns. I would also buy Macross Valks from the local swap meet.

Oh, and my first rust bucket was a 79 Honda Civic.

[Mechamaniac]

collecting toys is a good investment monetary wise.

I think if you're collecting stuff to resell it later on, then IMHO, you're collecting for the wrong reason.

I started off with that philosophy, then realized that a toy that remains encased in it's cardboard prison is not doing me any good, so now I free them, and let them collect dust, and fingerprints etc. I still keep some of the boxes only because they make for easy storage and transportation etc, but I don't intend on ever selling off my toys at a later date to make a profit.

Like MicroD, I will keep my valks until I either keel over dead, or lose interest, and hopefully by that time my kids will be interested, and I can pass them on to them and maintain visitation rights.

[EXO]

I've stopped on my collecting...

hmmm... 2:47...

OK... time to start again!..

*goes to ebay*

Edited August 9, 2004 by >EXO<

[ewilen]

I agree with haterist, mostly, except that mutual funds, stocks, bonds aren't a guaranteed payoff. Even US Savings Bonds and FDIC-insured savings accounts can be losers if inflation outstrips interest. There's no way to take risk out of investment.

That said, collectibles aren't especially good investments for most people. And to add to Mechamaniac's comment, if you're just collecting for the sake of investment, you're going to incur the ongoing cost of storing your stuff. If you happen to have a spare bedroom, then it's just an inconvenience (at least until you start a family). If you have to move to a bigger place, rent storage, or build an addition to your house, you'd probably be better off selling the stuff.

[do not disturb]

i'm not saying there isn't any risk but i'd much rather put $10K towards mutual funds before i invest $10K into toys. plus a bank isn't giving me a loan to buy a house/car/boat because i have the ill toy collection.

of course anything can happen and i could lose it all, but the same thing could be said if i had a storage room full of collectible toys and the place burns to the ground.

to each his own i guess, if i had a spare million, sure i'd buy all sorts of ridiculous stuff for no reason at all. but unfortunately, i haven't won the lottery and my plans world domination by holding the US at ransom hasn't panned out yet.

[VF-1Guy]

Personally, I think investing in stocks (in the current market) is one of the worst things you can do with your money. I don't expect the market to return to 90s levels for quite a few years. The whole .com thing was a bit silly. I'm happy if I get flat performance from my mutual funds right now.

Investing in real estate is usually not a bad idea, but I'm not so sure I would want to do that in N. CA since most people agree that the current levels can't be maintained forever. I would hate to spend $1M on a shack only to see the housing market eventually crash and readjust the value to $100K where it belongs.

I think people may be selling off Macross simply becuase they acquired too much or are ready to move on. I've sold off some of my 1/60s when I decided that I don't need 10 of the same thing in my cabinet. Also, my interest in collecting the modern Macross toys was born out of the desire to get the perfect representation of the VF-1. I now have that in the form of my 1/48 VF-1S Hikaru Strike. If a 1/48 GBP-1 came out I think I would stop VF-1 collecting all together since I would feel that my collection was truely complete.

[Godzilla]

I am an X'er and I can tell you I am enjoying the collecting now because I never had a lot of macross toys in the past. I always thought that the Alphas were too expensive. I already have my money investing in stocks and my retirement. It is that I dont collect anything that has Macross on it as well.

[do not disturb]

investing in real estate rocks if you move in at the right time and obviously the location. i live in NYC and the prices here are ridiculous now and has been for a while. which completely sucks because as soon as i actually had enough money to buy into something the prices skyrocketed...no thanks to the dotcom fad and every numbnut trying to claim there from new york. dudes move here from jersey/conn for a year, then call themselves new yorkers. its sad really.

well it didn't take long for a studio that used to be $400, to turn into a studio for $1400. i found a phat spot on 5th ave in the late 90's for $56K but got denied because i was too young(only 21 at the time) if i had that place right now, i could easily sublet it for $1800+.

i wish i was older just so i could've bought real estate in NYC back in the 80's when the city was hurting....man i'd be rolling in the dough right now.

[Protoplast]

investing in real estate rocks if you move in at the right time and obviously the location. i live in NYC and the prices here are ridiculous now and has been for a while. which completely sucks because as soon as i actually had enough money to buy into something the prices skyrocketed...no thanks to the dotcom fad and every numbnut trying to claim there from new york. dudes move here from jersey/conn for a year, then call themselves new yorkers. its sad really.

well it didn't take long for a studio that used to be $400, to turn into a studio for $1400. i found a phat spot on 5th ave in the late 90's for $56K but got denied because i was too young(only 21 at the time) if i had that place right now, i could easily sublet it for $1800+.

i wish i was older just so i could've bought real estate in NYC back in the 80's when the city was hurting....man i'd be rolling in the dough right now.

The only people enjoying it are people like my uncle who owns 3 buildings in NYC since the 80s and now it paid off big but he's not selling..

I think commodities like gold and natural gas are hot buys just weeks ago oil was around $38-42 and now shot up.. Damn..

Well, that also means that eventually gas will cost more.

As for the toy collecting, yes it sounds like Yamato and Bandai both released too much as evident on ebay, tons of 1/55 reissues going for 1/2 price and even 1/60 Yamatos have been selling 30% below market value.

[Chowser]

I just turned 30 last Thursday, so I fall into the Gen.X. category.

The only reason I was selling off some of my stuff was to raise some cash to

remodel the stinking bathrooms. (2 Whirlpool Jacuzzi tubs aren't cheap even with a discount). Also, I was really running out of space. I generally only collect a few things now. I still have the 1/48 Super Hikaru VF-1J and Hikaru VF-1S. Most of my 1/60s. some 1/55s. some destroids, etc. But I just find that I can't really spend as much on Macross goodies as I'd like. I have another $600 sword coming in a few months, and HK is asking $800+ for the new P2000SK.

10% of my check goes into the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund, and I have $400 a month going into mutual funds for retirement. I've also got a few acres of land that I'm waiting for some developer to come knocking

Also, I'm diversifying my anime collecting to include more than just Macross, so it's getting harder to spend everything on just Macross.

Now, the only Macross thing I think I will be waiting for, is a better (not the 1/100) VF-0S, and if they ever, ever release the YF-19FP resculpt.

[ewilen]

No real disagreement with what you say, haterist--I'm just pointing out that even a seemingly safe investment has risks.

Basically, unless you're very good at somehow predicting future value, I'd look at collectibles as something akin to gold--in the sense that their value should track inflation. But they're riskier than gold since they're also subject to fads. Also, it's a lot easier to sell gold at a known price point than it is to recover the value of a collectible--especially a niche item like a Macross toy. And again, storing them is a liability.

[JsARCLIGHT]

I got rid of about 75% of my Macross collection last month due to a reduction in shelf space. I myself am just getting tired of macross. The new series does not hold my interest, the upcomming toys seem to be nothing I want and I am just finding better things to spend my spare money on. It was a fun ride while it lasted but the lack of new things that interest me and my dislike of most of the franchise except for the original TV show and movie does not give me much room to manuver in Macross collecting.

And for the record I'm 34 and technically a Gen-Xer if you can call me that... I always have refered to myself as a MTV generation kid as I was in high school when MTV first burst upon the scene. I think the big generation for macross stuff is the generation after me who were born between 75 and 80.

[StealthLurker]

Going to cut down on toys and games for a while because I am in the process of buying a new house. I should have enough stuff to keep me busy for a while.

[VF-1S Alpha]

I think I am a Gen X'er too...current age is 36.

My first old rust bucket was in high school a 1977 Toyota Supra...had to starve for about 3 months...but hey, got freedom!

Back then, my first Macross toy was a High Metal toy (1/72 scale) of VF-1A which came with a small Lisa(Misa) figure, gee...back then I loved Misa more than Minmay...

So being a student, working part time, you don't get enough cash to pay your rent, pay for gas for the car, and living expenses. So Macross was something for the rich kids...my dream was to have a 1/55 VF-1S....(Takatoku/Bandai)...

15 years later, I am a successful with my job, money flow was steady, and started to collecting Macross (back then searching on BBS forums) any find was a treasure.

Now, I am with a room full of Macross books, models, toys, you name it and with an angry wife asking me what these "trash" is all about...I tell her it's part of me, a childhood I never had!

So will I sell them? Not likely! I still invest in funds, stocks, you name it, but I balance buying Yamato toys.

And life goes on, maybe one day, my son will cherish the toys I collected, and not sell it for 1 buck at a flea market a 1/48 Yamato VF!

Just my thoughts!

[Firefox]

Yeah, I'm in the Gen X category, I'm trying to sell away most of my Macross collections and other (aircraft/Macross models, Transformers, some anime/sci-fi DVDs). The only Macross items I'll keep is the 1/48, the 1/60 VF-1J and some Hasegawa models.

Like the rest, I'm in 30, and need cash to many things. The other half of mine just raised the concern of when could we get a house. I've got to give in.

Like many Xer, we born in a world where elders told you to get good grade and land on a good job. With the job security gone, I'll have to watch my bottom line carefully. Macross is my all times favourite since 80's but when reality sets in, something has to give way

[Jolly Rogers]

I blame it on the overmerchandising. Back in the days, every new release was a true event. Nowadays these companies crap out new products on a regular basis, it's not even exciting anymore. It's not easy to not get jaded and just say fark it, I ain't gonna let them milk me dry with subpar and overpriced products.

[StealthLurker]

Maybe they're growing up and abandoning this childish thing of collecting toys! Maybe they're actually investing they're money in something so foolish as stocks, bonds, and a house.

collecting toys is a good investment monetary wise. But just like stocks, you have to find the right items to collect. My neighbor has a collections of dolls, and other stuff, but mostly dolls are the value. Anyway, the last I heard, was that her collcetion was valued at $300,000 plus. And over the years, she spent less than 20k to accumalate that stuff. Not a bad invesment. Actually, believe it or not, the house she bought went down to half of the value after she bought it. But with the real estate market as it is now, her how has now over doubled in value.

Here in southern california real estate is a good investment. Forget the toys. It's chump change.

[CID]

Its just due to over whelming number of supplies. Of course, as time passes on, there will be less and less number of Macross collectors. That is the nature of most hobbies.

Yes, some are dumping Macross toys, because they need cash to buy other toys or what and other are selling because they see no profit potential and other various reasons.

I still have most of my Macross toys in three or four sets (Some I do sell off to make moeny for other new ones or old ones). But, most will be kept as long as I can. I belong in the X group (Sadly and suddenly, I feel really old), sometimes my friends or others will comment (Mostly negative) on my collections, but, I really do not care.

It all depends on the person collecting the toy. If they bought it to keep it for long sake, they will mostly hold on to it. If they bouhgt it for profit potential they will sale it fairly quickly. Of course, all those that bought the toy can do what ever they want with their assets.

[wolfx]

i'm seeing this 100 bucks auction for a 1S with Super/strike parts and wanting it.....looks like its from someone on this boards....

[EXO]

I believe if people here invest their toys for anything, it's to buy more toys. Not to buy a house or send their kids to college. Most people...

[arrow]

It's hard to keep interested when the original tv show isn't supplemented by a continuing series(something like macross zero, but lengthier) that is more adult oriented. We are all getting old.

As for the investments, try investing in asian sovereign bonds. Their yield spread over us treasury notes and bonds are wider. Coupon (interest) is about 8% onwards.

[Firefox]

Storage space is one hell of the problem as well. Yes, it's also lack the TV series to keep the heat on. Macross Zero series is far too short and the each episode takes too long to come out. Sometimes, I have to re-watch the previous episode in order to catch up the story line. Bad thing, just like Yukikaze.

[Protoplast]

I read this "lack of TV show" support issue.. But the truth is that there hasn't been much TV show support ever since the TV show was over in the 80s, so between the late 80s, 90s, and up to now a span of 20+ years, the Macross franchise has not had the show support like Gundam has and yet the interest seemed to be still there, I think..

I guess lesser casual fans than before ..

It also may have something to do with all the toy companies reissuing goods and there is only so much money people can spend monthly and the toy companies dumped too much to try to get us all to buy too quickly..

[Protoplast]

Maybe they're growing up and abandoning this childish thing of collecting toys! Maybe they're actually investing they're money in something so foolish as stocks, bonds, and a house.

collecting toys is a good investment monetary wise. But just like stocks, you have to find the right items to collect. My neighbor has a collections of dolls, and other stuff, but mostly dolls are the value. Anyway, the last I heard, was that her collcetion was valued at $300,000 plus. And over the years, she spent less than 20k to accumalate that stuff. Not a bad invesment. Actually, believe it or not, the house she bought went down to half of the value after she bought it. But with the real estate market as it is now, her how has now over doubled in value.

Here in southern california real estate is a good investment. Forget the toys. It's chump change.

Question is, how long can the real estate market sustain itself..

An avg $400k house now is asking for $500k and people bid up to $600k, I would like to know how can many people keep up the mortgage payments if the economy showed that income growth is at the weakest levels in decades.

So if the housing bubble burst, soon many of these $500k+ houses started to fire sale back down.. Could cause another recession..

[connor99]

Fortunately for me, I've only bought the MAC toys that I really wanted and not in multiple quantities (although, I don't see anything wrong with having to buy like 20 1/48's or something! and with the exception of the HIKARU 1S! ), so a lack of space is not a problem for me. As for other reasons on getting rid of my collection, well, let's just say that I've wanted to start my collection since I was 10, so having to sell them off is probably out of the question. And yeah, I'm a Gen'Xer, too, if that wasn't obvious enough!