hard to find 21st century question (1 Viewer)

[redsoldiercollector]

Hey guys,
I have a question. Sometimes at shows, dealers will have some of the 21st stuff marked high saying "hard to find" I also see that on Ebay at times. I was wondering if they make more collectible harder to find peices like the Hot wheels diecast and other collectible toys. if so, how do you know or find out which is collectble or not?

 

[PanzerIII]

What I do is, I judge myself if it is "hard to find" "rare" ect. or not. I have seen on so many Auction site's, not only Ebay, that these expression is used in order to get some good money for whatever they are selling. I always decide before I start bidding, what is my limited, and I do never go above that. (maybe that is why I very selldom wins?).

 

[theBaron]

"Caveat emptor", just as true now as it was to the Romans.

That's a great question, redsoldiercollector, and in my opinion, it's up to each of us to educate ourselves as best we can, precisely because there are sellers who will use that label, whether they know it to be accurate or not.

An unscrupulous seller will mark an item, whether it's 21st Century Toys, Britains, Hot Wheels, Griswold cast iron or any other collectible, as "rare", "hard to find", etc, even if he knows it's not so. An ignorant seller will do the same thing, because he doesn't know any better.

As collectors, we have to know what we're looking for, what we collect, and I think you'll find a lot of the guys here, and elsewhere in the field, do know quite a lot, or know where to look it up. And this forum is part of the unofficial, informal network of collectors, and collector-dealers, so if there is a question, it's easy enough now to throw it out there for discussion.

I really do think that much of what we see on eBay is sold by people who sell by volume, and sell a lot of different things, so that they may know a little bit about a lot of things, but also have a lot of gaps in their knowledge. And many don't take offense, if you send them information about what they're selling, and are polite about it.

I frequent flea markets, too, and I find the same phenomenon. Many people selling things there sell lots, that they pick up at auctions, or estate or yard sales, and they're just trying to turn it over for a profit.

Upshot is, if you collect, and you don't want to get taken, it pays to invest time and treasure in educating yourself about what you want to collect.

OK, off the soapbox now, prost!
Brad

 

[theBaron]

Now, as to 21st Century Toys, "hard to find" may be accurate, you'll find a couple of threads here, on the topic of "What's Happening Now With 21st Century Toys?", and there are almost as many answers as the number of people who respond.

We've established that TFCT keeps posting info to their website, about coming items, but we've all noted that their products have been withdrawn from stores like WalMart over the past 18 to 24 months. And it has been posted that there have been stories about problems with production in China and "laying off workers", though I do not recall that anyone has noted whether layoffs are occurring in the factories in China where the toys are made, or here in the West, among the sales and admin staff.

So, there's still a lot of confusion about their status.

Prost!
Brad

 

[thebritfarmer]

I think sometimes people just put the word RARE as THEY may have never seen one before so therefore it must be. The other thing is they may have heard of the name "Britians" for example and automatically assume the piece could be either rare or valuable, which is just not the case.

 

[theBaron]

That drives me nuts when searching on eBay, when a seller puts "Britains" in the title, but the figures aren't even close. Same for any other manufacturer. I know that the seller is trying to flag his item for people who are searching, but it means, as a buyer, I often have a lot more things to wade through, than I otherwise would.

Another one that I like is the label "old". "It's old" and therefore, more valuable. "Well, not really, Charlie, for those homecasts you're selling there," I'd love to be able to tell the seller. "Those may be as old as the 30's, or they may be made yesterday, from the same molds." Or someone selling figures cast at home by a collector, from Prins August molds. "These are rare, I've never seen them before" and therefore, more expensive. Well, I have a bucket full of those castings, Chief, and they're only worth the meltdown value of tin and lead".

Again, education, we need to know what we're looking at, it pays to do your research.

 

[thebritfarmer]

That drives me nuts when searching on eBay, when a seller puts "Britains" in the title, but the figures aren't even close. Same for any other manufacturer. I know that the seller is trying to flag his item for people who are searching, but it means, as a buyer, I often have a lot more things to wade through, than I otherwise would.

Another one that I like is the label "old". "It's old" and therefore, more valuable. "Well, not really, Charlie, for those homecasts you're selling there," I'd love to be able to tell the seller. "Those may be as old as the 30's, or they may be made yesterday, from the same molds." Or someone selling figures cast at home by a collector, from Prins August molds. "These are rare, I've never seen them before" and therefore, more expensive. Well, I have a bucket full of those castings, Chief, and they're only worth the meltdown value of tin and lead".

Again, education, we need to know what we're looking at, it pays to do your research.

Isn't that the truth, drives me crazy and is also misleading if someone new is looking at eBay and wants to get into collecting figures. I have seen some "Britains" items go for crazy money and they aren't even Britains !!!!

 

[Fullyautomatic]

First off you may want to search this site if you don't already have it as a favourite.( http://www.warbird-photos.com/gpxd/ )There is presently a topic under the 1/18 forum I believe of some of the rarest of the rare that were produced and that are sought after by collector's today. With the way the economy is prices have fluctuated up and down in the after market sales but some of the items are still fetching some great prices.
There has already been discussion on this forum regarding the future of 21st Century.Saying that, it's funny how some say the product has been pulled from Wal-Mart's and such.I've seen the opposite here in the East.Wal-Mart and Target are carrying items and now TRU has also stocked there shelves. A few years ago TRU pulled the plug on 21st Century because of the flak they received for promoting toys with Nazi/German insignia's on them. My TRU store here in Asheville and the one I visited on the weekend in Wilmington had quite a selection of various 21st Century and FOV products on the shelf.Most of the 21st Century stuff was all German. There was even a rare 1/18 Sabre jet there. That leads to another interesting point. The distribution of product across the US is never the same.West coast might receive one type of paint scheme while the East a totally different.Hence sometimes the rarity of an item. The 1/32 Double Nuthin P-51D, according to the other forum is a perfect example.How rare,well I saw them here in my Target. Quality issues are better but still one must store inspect for glue smudges or decal imperfections when buying.But than again what do you expect for the money you pay for a pretty good representation of history.They were initially made for kids to be played with as toys to, so keep that in mind.
I have pretty much everything from the S1 and S2 WWII series Germans and Americans(missing the first series 1/18 p-51).I give up collecting this line in 2002 when I found K&C so it all sits in storage awaiting a new home.I think maybe 10% has been displayed and all have there original boxes.I have never taken the planes out of the box but have seen a few and they are pretty neat display pieces.Yes that's a small plug for an entire collection sale if anyone is interested.
Rarest of the rare you ask.According to a good source on the other forum P-51 Tendor Terror(I think a Toy show special) is like the holy grail.I think some of the modern day jets fetch the big bucks along with some of the helicopters. Here is a list from picklehaube( forum member on groundpounder's)
1/18 scale
Spinach Me 109 $350-$$150
Haleanka P-38 $300 - $150
Samantha P. P-38 $250-$150
Pappy Boington Corsair $250 - $125
White Me-109 $250-$125
Invasion Spit $250-$125
The lowest price paid were the 104s. But they are the newest.

Armor
Early panthers Top money paid in the $200 range
Panzer IV yellow/green stripes $175-$125
Tiger $125-$80
Sherman first S1 $95-$70
My favourite's are the first two Panthers,especially the ambush paint scheme one.Okay I've made this post alot longer than I originally planned...hope it helps

 

[theBaron]

I saw the last TFCT items in WalMart here in the Lehigh Valley earlier this year; that was the last of the 1/18th aircraft. The armor models were gone before that. I haven't stopped in the toy section since the end of August, but I will tonight, to see.

I scouted Target, and saw only Forces of Valor armor and figure sets, in 1/32, which were, by the way, very well down and an excellent value for the price ($10 for a set of four or five figures and a diorama base, for example).

WalMart's distribution of the 1/18th aircraft was always spotty, I thought. We seemed to have only P-51s, Me-109s and P-47s, and sometimes, the P-40s. I never saw the F6F or F4U, when they were still in distribution, nor the TBF. Same goes for the 1/32 scale planes, of any makers. They did have a good selection of 1/32 armor, though.

Prost!
Brad

 

[theBaron]

I should add that I'm talking about the WalMarts in my little slice of PA, that is, Bethlehem, Quakertown and Harleysville.

 

[redsoldiercollector]

Thanks guys. I am seeing a lot in the stores around Athens Georgia. Although, I have noticed not as much as there use to be, especially in the way of armor. Truth is, if they sell, I do not see Walmart or anyone pulling too much that sells. You see some at the shows that the dealer says "rare paint scheme" or you will not see this one in Walmart. Thought I would ask the experts on here though. I appreciate the information. My collection is somewhat scattered. I have all scales and all types of vehicles. Lately, I have been buying the axis and allies miniatures. They are really neat to collect.

 

[theBaron]

I just checked their website:

http://www.21stcenturytoys.com/

The .88 is featured prominently on the gateway page, and if you follow the News link to their announcements, there is the notice about it, dated 6. November. But you have to go back to June of this year, to find the next most recent item (it was about the 1/32 Spitfire).

Maybe John G. can call their president for us and find out what is really happening with TFCT

Prosit!
Brad