This Week In Your Plastic Crack, Action Figures and Toy Collection 26 26

[fantastic_four]

What do you guys store your loose figures in?  The storage issues with figures seem essentially the same as with comics, i.e. you want to store them in archival plastic so you're not left with acid damage after a few years.  Food ziplock bags, for example, would leave sticky reside after a few years.  I've already seen paint scratching with piling my son's figures in a big stack in a plastic box.  I'm also assuming that the storage challenge with figures is the same as with comics in that figures aren't created with archival plastic, so the figure itself releases acid in a similar--but probably far less pronounced--way that older comics made from wood pulp release acid.

These look compelling, but they seem to leave you with no place to store accessories, unless you perhaps put them in a small archival bag along with the figure.  It's a company called Toy-Gear that just started selling these after running a KickStarter fundraiser in 2015.  The trays are designed to stack horizontally for storage as well as to be vertically displayed within the tray.  They have trays that range from 3" tall for Hot Wheels to 7" tall for larger 1:12 scale figures.  I haven't researched yet what the trays are constructed from, so I'm not yet sure they're archival even though the company that makes them claims their material is archival.  Not sure what the ideal storage solution is, but I'm debating between something like these trays and little Mylar bags to store the accessories in that go into the tray with the figure, or just larger bags for the figures with smaller ones in there for the accessories stacked in something larger.

Then there's the larger problem of what to do with irregularly-sized figures, like Hasbro Build-A-Figures, or 1:6 scale figures.  No idea what to do with those yet.

http://www.toy-gear.com

Edited February 3, 2019 by fantastic_four

[Cat]

5 hours ago, fantastic_four said:

I think you're right.  The Marvel Select one looks more elaborate than that ToyBiz phoenix backdrop, but I'm not sure how either compare to the newer Hasbro Marvel Legends backdrop.

I seem to recall the MS flame not being compatible with ML-scale figs, but I'm really not sure. 

[comicwiz]

6 hours ago, fantastic_four said:

What do you guys store your loose figures in?  The storage issues with figures seem essentially the same as with comics, i.e. you want to store them in archival plastic so you're not left with acid damage after a few years.  Food ziplock bags, for example, would leave sticky reside after a few years.  I've already seen paint scratching with piling my son's figures in a big stack in a plastic box.  I'm also assuming that the storage challenge with figures is the same as with comics in that figures aren't created with archival plastic, so the figure itself releases acid in a similar--but probably far less pronounced--way that older comics made from wood pulp release acid.

These look compelling, but they seem to leave you with no place to store accessories, unless you perhaps put them in a small archival bag along with the figure.  It's a company called Toy-Gear that just started selling these after running a KickStarter fundraiser in 2015.  The trays are designed to stack horizontally for storage as well as to be vertically displayed within the tray.  They have trays that range from 3" tall for Hot Wheels to 7" tall for larger 1:12 scale figures.  I haven't researched yet what the trays are constructed from, so I'm not yet sure they're archival even though the company that makes them claims their material is archival.  Not sure what the ideal storage solution is, but I'm debating between something like these trays and little Mylar bags to store the accessories in that go into the tray with the figure, or just larger bags for the figures with smaller ones in there for the accessories stacked in something larger.

Then there's the larger problem of what to do with irregularly-sized figures, like Hasbro Build-A-Figures, or 1:6 scale figures.  No idea what to do with those yet.

http://www.toy-gear.com

I think a lot of these types of solutions are geared towards finding more creative ways to display the toys.

I have the majority of my collection in clamshell blister cases that are designed to store figures individually. I'm sure I could find a number of creative ways to display them in their blisters, but space is a factor, and the grade of plastic used on them is safe for loose figures.

I've also had two custom displays made entirely from acrylic, and those combine the best of all aspects, in terms of safe storage, display, in a dust-free enclosed area, and one I had made that could either be used as a counter display or a wall mounted display. Full display cabinets have to really be thought through, because they need to tie-in with room decor, and even when you'd found a spot and it works for your space, you quickly find out it's limitations in terms of how much can be stored, etc.

I have two detolfs, and I guess I could go with some figure risers to get more into the shelves, but the one thing I won't do is put them in ziploc bags, nor do I really trust the original action figure carrying cases. I've seen a lot of figures show stickiness when looking at collections, I do believe it's a combination of the outer case vinyl reacting with the hard plastic trays that produces a chemical reaction where the plasticizers begins to leach out of the figures. You see this as frosting with figures still sealed on the factory cardback, but loose, it looks like the figures are sweating  - same issue, just presenting differently. As a general rule, the softer the plastic, the more chemicals present - acrylic has become something of the hard plastic standard in toys now in the same ways as Mylar is for paper ephemera.

Edited February 3, 2019 by comicwiz

[fantastic_four]

18 hours ago, Mecha_Fantastic said:

I seem to recall the MS flame not being compatible with ML-scale figs, but I'm really not sure. 

Shartimus Prime shows the Marvel Legends regular Phoenix mounted on the Marvel Select base, but I'm not sure how it attaches because he doesn't describe in the video how he did it.

 

[F For Fake]

Any fans of old school DC Direct figures around here? I have a great fondness for the early figures, in the days before DC Universe Classic gave us definitive action figure versions of these characters. You only got so many waves per year, there was no telling what they were going to be, and God help ya with the scale issues. But, at the time, it was all we had! 

When DCUC came (and went) it killed a lot of the market value on the DC Direct figures, because, well, the DCUC figures blew them out of the water, for the most part. But I still think the DC Direct figures have a lot of charm, and there are some instances where I prefer them over their DCUC counterparts, simply because the relative lack of articulation makes for a "cleaner" looking sculpt.

Anyways, picked these up at HPB this weekend for less than $10 each. Back in the day these were worth some $$$, but no longer, which is cool, because now I can buy them all back dirt cheap! Packaging is a little rough on most of these, so I'm going to go ahead and open them up, and try to complete the Golden Age Justice Society set on the cheap.

[F For Fake]

6 minutes ago, fantastic_four said:

Shartimus Prime shows the Marvel Legends regular Phoenix mounted on the Marvel Select base, but I'm not sure how it attaches because he doesn't describe in the video how he did it.

 

I had the Marvel Select Phoenix way back when it came out (and subsequently sold it off) and my recollection is that there are spots where you stick the feet into the sculpt. My memory is that it didn't stick very well, but YMMV. It was a nicely sculpted and dynamic figure, but without the stand, it was useless. as the weirdly sculpted legs/feet were made to fit into that base, and she couldn't stand on her own. 

Edited February 4, 2019 by F For Fake

[fantastic_four]

18 hours ago, comicwiz said:

I have the majority of my collection in clamshell blister cases that are designed to store figures individually.

What do you keep all of your blisters in?  And what do you do with accessories?

18 hours ago, comicwiz said:

I've also had two custom displays made entirely from acrylic, and those combine the best of all aspects, in terms of safe storage, display, in a dust-free enclosed area, and one I had made that could either be used as a counter display or a wall mounted display. Full display cabinets have to really be thought through, because they need to tie-in with room decor, and even when you'd found a spot and it works for your space, you quickly find out it's limitations in terms of how much can be stored, etc.

My general plan is to keep most things stored and just pull out the ones I want to display.  I prefer dynamic fighting displays, and those aren't terribly space efficient so I've got to find room outside of my cases for most of my stuff.

18 hours ago, comicwiz said:

acrylic has become something of the hard plastic standard in toys now in the same ways as Mylar is for paper ephemera.

Why would the material be different between the hobbies?  The point of Mylar is that the Library of Congress's testing of the material indicated that it doesn't release acid for over a century.  Is that true of acrylic?

When I Google this topic, I see really basic info.  More than anything I see people recommending polypropylene, and I know for sure from experience with comics that material degrades over a decade or two.

[F For Fake]

11 minutes ago, fantastic_four said:

Shartimus Prime shows the Marvel Legends regular Phoenix mounted on the Marvel Select base, but I'm not sure how it attaches because he doesn't describe in the video how he did it.

 

PS: i don't think he has her "attached" to the base, just sorta standing/leaning in front of it. Like I said, there are "footholds" on the base that the Select figure slips into...there may be foot pegs too, I can't recall. The Select figure attached not quite midway up the base, sort of hovering above it. In this vid it just looks to me like the Legends figure is sorta standing up against the background. 

[fantastic_four]

4 minutes ago, F For Fake said:

I had the Marvel Select Phoenix way back when it came out (and subsequently sold it off) and my recollection is that there are spots where you stick the feet into the sculpt. My memory is that it didn't stick very well, but YMMV. It was a nicely sculpted and dynamic figure, but without the stand, it was useless. as the weirdly sculpted legs/feet were made to fit into that base, and she couldn't stand on her own. 

This picture shows it from the side, but I can't tell what's supporting the figure.  I don't see her feet sticking into any slots like you described, so I dunno.

[fantastic_four]

Really like the Marvel Legends Venom wave of figures, although I may end up selling Poison because I know so little about the story of it.  I also never read the Typhoid Mary runs in Daredevil, so I'm unsure if I'll keep her until I read those.  My daughter loves Spider-Ham, which I figured she would and it's why I didn't feel so bad about having to buy it to complete the Mac Gargan Venom.  Even if I loved Spider-Ham, which I don't, that figure is SO under-done with no leg articulation at all other than foot swiveling, plus it's tiny and not really worth $20.  But it does have the massive Mac Gargan Venom torso, so it doesn't feel like a rip-off with that in it.

This kind of posing is why I love the 1:12 scale.  I can imagine posing scenes like this at the 1:6 scale, but wow, it'd take up SO much room, not sure where people stage that kind of thing.  Or how they achieve flying poses.  I'm very surprised that nobody makes really sturdy flight stands.  All you'd have to do is make the risers two or three times thicker than what you can see on the Obitsu stand in the pic below that Spidey is mounted on, but nobody seems to do it.  I wish they would, though, because even at the 1:12 scale I can only pose regular-size figures, I don't know of ANY way to pose the Hulkbuster or Mac Gargan Venom in the pic below in flying poses because they're too heavy for all of the stands I've ever seen, but I'd sure like to pose Hulkbuster flying and ramming Hulk into a building.

Edited February 4, 2019 by fantastic_four

[comicwiz]

4 hours ago, fantastic_four said:

What do you keep all of your blisters in?  And what do you do with accessories?

I put them in large boxes. I have a few of these see through plastic containers with an interleaving folder-over top. I find it is beneficial to allow some breathing to occur. I always store the accessories weapons with the figure, whether it be inside the blister, or on display. For figures I have on display, I have individual figure stands, and always keep the accessories on the figure, and if for some reason the weapon doesn't stay firmly in the figures hand (as is the case sometimes with vintage figures) I just put the weapon the base of the figure stand. I bought an original owner collection where the person used thread to tie all the weapons to the figures wrists - I kept those as they were, and I really try to keep the figures I acquire as much in their context so I can appreciate their history, as I do have quite a bit of them now.

4 hours ago, fantastic_four said:

Why would the material be different between the hobbies?  The point of Mylar is that the Library of Congress's testing of the material indicated that it doesn't release acid for over a century.  Is that true of acrylic?

When I Google this topic, I see really basic info.  More than anything I see people recommending polypropylene, and I know for sure from experience with comics that material degrades over a decade or two.

I'm not sure what made acrylic the defacto standard. There are applications of "true vue" acrylic which are meant for optical clarity, and AFA does have an "archival" designation with their grading service offering, but you do have to pay an upcharge on it. I find my exposure to paper ephemera degradation has heightened my awareness, and maybe even my approach to storing my toys. The same things you would avoid, such as humidity, drastic temperature changes, UV exposure, would all apply to plastic degradation. The one thing I have never seen any confirmation about is whether there is a benefit to allowing paper or comics to breathe in open top sleave Mylar or top loader storage, versus using a closed flap. There's people who swear that open top will impact page quality, but I'm not sure. With toys, I definitely believe allowing a breather hole of some sort is important, particularly when the toy is still sealed on it's original cardback, because there is a higher chance of a chemical reaction happening between the cardstock, soft plastic blister, and hard plastic PVC figure.

You start getting into more complex issues with factory tape, windowed boxes, ties, and yes, sometimes even batteries which were included with the toys. To say nothing of the materials they used to tie the figures themselves together. I know AFA has a breather hole in a lot of it's custom cases. What I do is allow a little opening on the sliding bottom acrylic cases for carded or boxed figures and store my figures pretty much like I do my comics (i.e. in a dark, cool, temp-controlled environment). Where I see the greatest issue with degradation in toys is the frequency of them being sold through serial flippers. It is no coincidence that I've tracked degradation in higher-end figures which were tracked through their graded serial number, that began showing discoloration or even damage from being shipped back and forth to new owners. I think we might be sweating the details a little too much when it's in our homes, but not realizing we inherit a lot of the negligence which accelerates degradation when we buy into another persons methods through the acquisition of vintage through trades or purchases, and that  most of the damage that's occuring is happening during transit, on extrene heat or cold, where packages are sitting in the back of a delivery truck for an entire day, or for a weekend depending on repeat delivery attempts.

[fantastic_four]

36 minutes ago, comicwiz said:

The one thing I have never seen any confirmation about is whether there is a benefit to allowing paper or comics to breathe in open top sleave Mylar or top loader storage, versus using a closed flap.

I have.  I saw a study on the Library of Congress web site over a decade ago where they ran advanced aging tests--which are basically shoving an item into something like an oven--using paper products and Mylar that was closed entirely, with one side open, with two sides open, and with all sides open.  The least damage occurred on the two items with two sides and all sides open, and the most occurred on the one with all sides closed.  The idea is that if the item itself releases acid, trapping the acid in a closed container is bad and the item essentially begins to eat at itself, whereas releasing it with open sides is better.  There's a long thread from the mid-aughts in the restoration forum (started by me) where we discussed this in great depth.  CGC also implicitly understands this, which is why they've always put microchamber paper in their slabs since the case design doesn't allow for much off-gassing.

36 minutes ago, comicwiz said:

I think we might be sweating the details a little too much when it's in our homes

Yes we do, and preservation isn't even the main reason I think about this.  It's more that I don't want to have to buy bags again, but it's both.  I bought all those damn polybags when I was 8 to 20-something, and then had to replace them later?  WHAT A PAIN!    I spent more time replacing bags than the money I saved on polybags was worth at the rate I value my time at.  I'm 47, and if I'm lucky I'll be alive and mentally present for another two to five decades.  I do not want to have to re-bag everything when I'm losing my faculties, I'd rather buy storage items now that last longer than I do, so spending a few hours researching ideal long-term storage and going with that is more than worth it to me.

My fear about acrylic with toys is that it's poorly researched.  As far as I can tell with comics, the only reason we use Mylar is because one of two guys researched it and passed their knowledge onto the rest of us in the form of mylar bag products--either Bill Cole or Ernie Gerber.  I tend to think it was Gerber, but that's just a guess based upon what I've seen from his existing work and I really have no knowledge of which of the two of them did the research, it could easily have been Cole, or even both of them since they were originally in business together selling Mylar bags for comics.  If not for whichever one of them looked into the Library of Congress's research on Mylar, I'm not sure we'd even be using it with comics today.  So my first fear is that the players in the toy hobby may have never done the research that Cole and/or Gerber did.

I think you know this because I've said it a few times over the last year or so, but just in case you don't--keep in mind I'm a toy neophyte.  I bought Star Wars and G.I. Joe as a kid, but I never got back into action figures until very late last year, so I'm just now starting to think about issues like storage for the first time.

Edited February 4, 2019 by fantastic_four

[fantastic_four]

49 minutes ago, fantastic_four said:

I saw a study on the Library of Congress web site over a decade ago where they ran advanced aging tests--which are basically shoving an item into something like an oven--using paper products and Mylar that was closed entirely, with one side open, with two sides open, and with all sides open.  The least damage occurred on the two items with two sides and all sides open, and the most occurred on the one with all sides closed.

On a side note, my understanding is that based upon the study I'm referring to the Library of Congress stores a lot of its archives in stacks on shelves, and when they do use Mylar it's by default with multiple sides open.  That's why Gerber sells what it calls "L" sleeves, which are Mylars with two sides open, which opens their product line up to be used not just by comic collectors but also by archival librarians:

http://egerber.com/catalog_archivesL.htm

However, this isn't as useful for you or I because we're not storing our items in sealed vaults and clean rooms with temperatures kept between 40 to 55 degrees that bugs don't tend to live in like library archives tend to have.  Bugs are a real concern for you and I that they aren't for archivists because of the facilities they work in, so sealing the container matters to us.  But I can't see that leaving holes for access is any problem for action figures unless you know of a critter that feeds on plastic.  

Edited February 4, 2019 by fantastic_four

[comicwiz]

3 hours ago, fantastic_four said:

I think you know this because I've said it a few times over the last year or so, but just in case you don't--keep in mind I'm a toy neophyte.  I bought Star Wars and G.I. Joe as a kid, but I never got back into action figures until very late last year, so I'm just now starting to think about issues like storage for the first time.

I think it's part of our human nature, particularly our fight/flee response, that determines how much we want to be invested in the nitty-gritty details. I think it's mostly reactionary, meaning someone notices their toy degrade or get funky during their ownership, and they begin to research the why, and how to make sure it never happens again. The community is typified by two mindsets - the first is the type who just wants to enjoy their toys without concern for degradation and when that day comes, they'll offload it on to someone else. The second is the type that becomes invested in their hobby for the long haul and begins to make more informed choices on what to buy and how to store it. I feel it doesn't matter as much how long we've been collecting, but rather, what our first experience is that allows us to dig deeper. Mine happened with a 12 Back I owned where I noticed some frosting on the figures legs which wasn't there when I purchased it. That single incident had a cascading effect on understanding what happens to plastic in less than ideal storage conditions. It also opened my eyes to rogue reconditioning techniques which made me a smarter, more informed buyer of vintage items. The owner of the Star Wars toys that hit Heritage last summer had purchased nearly everything less than a year prior on Hakes, and I was told by one of the dealers that he was selling them because he'd started to become unnerved about storing them in a hot climate (I believe he lived in California). You'd think that someone that goes and buys a quarter of a million dollars in toys would be able to maintain a temp controlled environment for his toys, but some people panic over the slightest thing, and he took a major hit on resale. And the kicker is that the guy was a comic collector and got into toys later on, and chose Heritage as the venue because he'd already had a relationship with them from purchasing comics for his collection. With this person being a clear exception to the rule, I find that most people who have the background in comics understand how to properly store their collection.

It occurred to me that acrylic might have become the defacto standard (at least from the perspective of third-party grading) because it offloads a lot of the initial ramp-up in tooling costs to fabricate a tamper evident case. The material rigidity is ideal to reveal any cracks or attempts at tampering, and you could fabricate anything provided you have accurate dimensions. If you consider CGC used to use barex for their inner well because the material was conducive to forming recessed cavities in the well, could be sonic sealed, and provide a tremendous usefulness in terms of identifying tampering on slabs, then we can relate to seeing less than idea materials becoming an industry standard. I always believed Mylar had the added benefit of making objects and colours pop, but if you think about how it's utlization is entirely sheet-based, it's application practicality is finite. It just occured to me that Mylar is also used on coin flips. Old paper likes to degrade, but silver loves to tarnish, and I can't say I've ever seen any of my silver coins tarnish in a coin flip, but I did have one tarnish on me in one of those soft plastic sleeves issued by the mint, and it tarnished only because the seam on one of the corners of the plastic sleeve cracked and that whole corner turned black. Which goes to show you that while allowing comics and toys to 'breathe" is seen as a good thing if you believe it helps release off-gassing and bad chemicals that would otherwise be trapped in an air-tight seal, it can be a detriment to certain metals.

Edited February 4, 2019 by comicwiz

[followtheleader]

Not the greatest pic. 

Just got this bad boy.  Glad to have it in my collection. 

Figure and card art are one of my favs. 

Patrick

[Cat]

14 hours ago, F For Fake said:

Any fans of old school DC Direct figures around here? I have a great fondness for the early figures, in the days before DC Universe Classic gave us definitive action figure versions of these characters. You only got so many waves per year, there was no telling what they were going to be, and God help ya with the scale issues. But, at the time, it was all we had! 

When DCUC came (and went) it killed a lot of the market value on the DC Direct figures, because, well, the DCUC figures blew them out of the water, for the most part. But I still think the DC Direct figures have a lot of charm, and there are some instances where I prefer them over their DCUC counterparts, simply because the relative lack of articulation makes for a "cleaner" looking sculpt.

Anyways, picked these up at HPB this weekend for less than $10 each. Back in the day these were worth some $$$, but no longer, which is cool, because now I can buy them all back dirt cheap! Packaging is a little rough on most of these, so I'm going to go ahead and open them up, and try to complete the Golden Age Justice Society set on the cheap.

I have nothing but love for those early DCD's. That Hourman figure is what introduced me to the JSA, a love affair I'm extremely happy with. It also nudged me back into superhero comics after a brief hiatus, as I wanted to learn more about the character. Today Rex is one of my all time favourite comic characters, and other members of the Justice Society are close behind him. 

That's a fantastic lot of figures. I'm extremely jelly! 

[F For Fake]

10 hours ago, Mecha_Fantastic said:

I have nothing but love for those early DCD's. That Hourman figure is what introduced me to the JSA, a love affair I'm extremely happy with. It also nudged me back into superhero comics after a brief hiatus, as I wanted to learn more about the character. Today Rex is one of my all time favourite comic characters, and other members of the Justice Society are close behind him. 

That's a fantastic lot of figures. I'm extremely jelly! 

That's a nice story, Hourman is great! The DCD figures were a lot of fun to collect over the years. I know for a long time on the DC Direct forums, fans kept complaining about scale and sculpts and character selection, but I was just overjoyed to finally have figures of characters that I assumed would never happen. Although DC Universe Classics was more consistent with scale, and "bland vanilla poses" and superior articulation, I still think there's a lot of great stuff in the DC Direct line. When I can get them this cheap, i sorta HAVE to get 'em!

[Buzzetta]

17 hours ago, comicwiz said:

I think it's part of our human nature, particularly our fight/flee response, that determines how much we want to be invested in the nitty-gritty details. I think it's mostly reactionary, meaning someone notices their toy degrade or get funky during their ownership, and they begin to research the why, and how to make sure it never happens again. The community is typified by two mindsets - the first is the type who just wants to enjoy their toys without concern for degradation and when that day comes, they'll offload it on to someone else. The second is the type that becomes invested in their hobby for the long haul and begins to make more informed choices on what to buy and how to store it. I feel it doesn't matter as much how long we've been collecting, but rather, what our first experience is that allows us to dig deeper. Mine happened with a 12 Back I owned where I noticed some frosting on the figures legs which wasn't there when I purchased it. That single incident had a cascading effect on understanding what happens to plastic in less than ideal storage conditions. It also opened my eyes to rogue reconditioning techniques which made me a smarter, more informed buyer of vintage items. The owner of the Star Wars toys that hit Heritage last summer had purchased nearly everything less than a year prior on Hakes, and I was told by one of the dealers that he was selling them because he'd started to become unnerved about storing them in a hot climate (I believe he lived in California). You'd think that someone that goes and buys a quarter of a million dollars in toys would be able to maintain a temp controlled environment for his toys, but some people panic over the slightest thing, and he took a major hit on resale. And the kicker is that the guy was a comic collector and got into toys later on, and chose Heritage as the venue because he'd already had a relationship with them from purchasing comics for his collection. With this person being a clear exception to the rule, I find that most people who have the background in comics understand how to properly store their collection.

 

My storage techniques for the Joe collection I have been rebuilding has been the clamshells inside each of these bins.  Each bin fits around 100 figures. They are stacked in closets with basically nothing on display.  I have one original Snake Eyes in the cabinet because... well Snake Eyes... I also have a Hydrofoil up top on the book case and that is about all I have of GI Joe set up in the house. 

With that said... I am on borderline panic mode, not from what I am doing but from what I am seeing happening around me.

Having purchased around 182 figures in the last few months I have noticed a more disturbing trend than I thought existed for GI Joes.  After joining several Facebook groups and doing many deals there and on eBay, I noticed the following. 

• GI Joe figures are even more brittle than I imagined now that we are almost 35 years removed from the golden years 1984-1986.
• Many collectors know this as they remark things like "I realize that one day I am going to have nothing but a tray of little plastic kibble" or something like that. 
• There are some dealers that are so reluctant to change o-rings themselves that they send you an o ring for the buyer to do it themselves. 
• Every figure that I have seen shows o-ring degradation so again, good luck with the MOC
• I have watched a live claim sale auction where the figure broke as the guy was showing it.    
• I have seen quite a few facebook posts with figures suffering damage just from moving them as people are then looking for replacement parts

So the issue then becomes that if I have spent what I have spent... what am I holding onto here?  If simply moving the figures can cause a crotch to or t ring to break then that is a real issue if I want to hold onto these things for 20 years or so. I am also seeing some of the repro guys cast some VERY convincing repros that are almost too close and they are only getting better. On top of that, I have mistakenly bought a Funskool version of a figure where once contacting the seller upon realizing that something didn't "feel" right with the plastic, he said that I was right and said, keep it and issued a refund. 

I don't know if some action figures are really viable to keep and preserve. 

Thankfully the Star Wars figures are not as bad as what I am seeing here. 

[comicwiz]

8 minutes ago, Buzzetta said:

My storage techniques for the Joe collection I have been rebuilding has been the clamshells inside each of these bins.  Each bin fits around 100 figures. They are stacked in closets with basically nothing on display.  I have one original Snake Eyes in the cabinet because... well Snake Eyes... I also have a Hydrofoil up top on the book case and that is about all I have of GI Joe set up in the house. 

With that said... I am on borderline panic mode, not from what I am doing but from what I am seeing happening around me.

Having purchased around 182 figures in the last few months I have noticed a more disturbing trend than I thought existed for GI Joes.  After joining several Facebook groups and doing many deals there and on eBay, I noticed the following. 

• GI Joe figures are even more brittle than I imagined now that we are almost 35 years removed from the golden years 1984-1986.
• Many collectors know this as they remark things like "I realize that one day I am going to have nothing but a tray of little plastic kibble" or something like that. 
• There are some dealers that are so reluctant to change o-rings themselves that they send you an o ring for the buyer to do it themselves. 
• Every figure that I have seen shows o-ring degradation so again, good luck with the MOC
• I have watched a live claim sale auction where the figure broke as the guy was showing it.    
• I have seen quite a few facebook posts with figures suffering damage just from moving them as people are then looking for replacement parts

So the issue then becomes that if I have spent what I have spent... what am I holding onto here?  If simply moving the figures can cause a crotch to or t ring to break then that is a real issue if I want to hold onto these things for 20 years or so. I am also seeing some of the repro guys cast some VERY convincing repros that are almost too close and they are only getting better. On top of that, I have mistakenly bought a Funskool version of a figure where once contacting the seller upon realizing that something didn't "feel" right with the plastic, he said that I was right and said, keep it and issued a refund. 

I don't know if some action figures are really viable to keep and preserve. 

Thankfully the Star Wars figures are not as bad as what I am seeing here. 

Sorry to hear you are going through this. I tend to not talk about other toy lines because I don't want to come across being too judgemental. This is supposed to be nostaligia and buying back memories after all. In 2010, I made one of my largest loose figure collection purchases. The guy was getting out of Star Wars to focus on GI Joe. At that time, I had already read and seen everything I needed to decide I wouldn't be collecting this toy line. Funny enough, I saw him reappear in FB groups again aabout a year ago, now he's sold off his GI Joe and trying to return to Star Wars collecting for pretty much exactly the reasons you state. Having bought out his entire collection and knowing what I paid, I did some quick math and if he wanted to buy that same collection today in roughly the same condition, he'd be paying 5 times what I paid for it in the current market, and the market going on over a year and half now is on a downward trend. In 2016/17, the math would have looked more like 6 times what I paid for it 9 years ago.

Edited February 5, 2019 by comicwiz

[F For Fake]

I love collecting Joes due to nostalgia for my childhood which was filled with G I Joe. I love the figures and vehicles, they're great, and I've been enjoying picking them up as I run across pieces that I like. But I would never drop a ton of money into them, or ever view them as an investment, because they're not built to last. None of this stuff is, really. So I'd never put more into it than I'd be willing to lose if it all turned to dust the next day. For me, the hunt is a lot more fun than owning it, but I do enjoy looking at the cases and seeing the stuff all set. I'm hopeful that they'll last until my retirement, but I'm not counting on it.