by Sal Rodriguez
I need to hit-up some yard sales and flea markets because I’m broke right now. Really, even a $20 figure from Toys R Us is too much. I don’t know how Hot Toys collectors do it. They must be rich. I consider myself a low-end collector. Aside from a few 18” figures, the bulk of them are $10-$50. Most Hot Toys are $200-$400. That’s rich to me.
PayPal offered me a $500 credit line. I accepted before they changed their mind. I have six months to pay. If I can manage it, I’ll pay-back the loan without accruing any interest. I call it a loan. They loaned me money to keep buying figures. Otherwise, I was soon to experience an action figure famine, unlike any I’ve ever seen, with no end in sight. My avenues for income have just completely sucked lately.
Yard sales and flea markets have been good to me when I’ve given them the chance. Unfortunately they’re both for early birds. And being a night owl, I’m not an early riser. But on occasion, if I’m passing one, I’ll usually stop. And I’ve gotten great stuff. Often, the sellers are desperate to sell. Perhaps I’ve taken unfair advantage. Let the buyer beware? Let the seller also beware.
A 13” rotocast Hulk movie figure, that I’ve seen close on eBay for $50, I paid $3. A 12” Nosferatu figure, I’ve seen close at $75, I paid $5. A 7” Freddy vs Jason set, with flaming diorama, I paid $8. I’ve seen it sell for $60. A Bride of Chucky box set, complete with Tiffany, I paid $4. I’ve seen it sell for $100. (Moments after buying the Nosferatu figure the woman’s husband chastised her for selling it at such a meager price.)
Here’s where the Catholic guilt sets-in. Maybe I’m being punished for the times I knowingly got a better deal than was warranted. I mean getting a figure for a price far, far below market value. Preying on the ignorance of the seller. Knowing full-well that in that moment I was expert, and they were clueless. I notice my stride back to my car is hurried in those instances. As though I’m assuming a light bulb will go off in their heads and they’ll yell, “Wait a second!”
Or maybe one thing has nothing has to do with the other. Maybe there’s no punishment. Maybe I just don’t make enough money to collect figures. Maybe I need to be saving instead of buying “little plastic things”, as my friend Kathleen says. After all, I’m just an average guy, with an above average interest in figures, but with below average earnings. I haven’t gone to my mailbox in two weeks because I know my utility bill is in there. And they don’t take PayPal.
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