PlaymoFriends
General => Collector's Corner => Topic started by: playmo1989 on June 19, 2010, 19:39:57
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hi everyone
you'll think it's boring that' am posting this theme again but i havent understand with what way the collector's book has came up with the rarity system
i remember someone has posted that the 5360 park fence has 6 ratings in the 3d edition perhaps that's the truth ... i don't know ......
should we deside the rarity of an item of how often it appears on ebay??
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Hello
Do they take into account rarity as a whole or is it more from the perspective of where one is from? I guess production #'s and years in circulation have something to do with it. For me in the US an item could be a lot more rare than for someone in Germany. Do items increase rarity as time goes by?
I too would like to know how this was figured out? good question ???
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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It's certainly a tricky business rating rarety. To rate accurately you would need to know:
1) how many of each set were produced, and how many sold
2) how many of those sold have been destroyed, discarded or damaged beyond repair
3) How many have been laid aside MISB by collectors
4) How many have been disassembled for customisation
I think the ratings are a guesstimate, based on the fact that early year production runs were m uch lower volume, and the older a set, the more chance it has been destroyed. Also, collectors were rare in the early days, and much more common now, so few modern sets will ever be considered rare.
On top of that, are we talking about rarety of MISB sets, sets in good but used condition, or sets that could be reassembled if their owners cared to? I almost never keep a set as a "set", I just add it to my stock for that theme.
Looking at sets coming up on eBay is certainly one way to rate rarety (i.e. how easy is it to acquire a set NOW?), but doesn't account for people who don't sell on eBay.
The ratings must be intended to apply globally, but as Ras says, there are sets that are much harder (and some that are much easier) to acquire in North America than in Germany.
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. Also, collectors were rare in the early days, and much more common now, so few modern sets will ever be considered rare.
i've haven't thought of that before!!
there are some new sets that can't be found easily on ebay although old sets the victorian for example every week you can see one or two of each do you think that sellers know what will sell and they try to find these old playmobil
Hello
Do items increase rarity as time goes by?
I too would like to know how this was figured out? good question ???
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
sure, the old sets that are not longer produced as time goes buy they won't stay all new some will be opened used and destroyed probably. martin said that the newer sets won't ever be rare because there are too many collectors :-\ :-\ i don't know about that might yes
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On top of that, are we talking about rarety of MISB sets, sets in good but used condition, or sets that could be reassembled if their owners cared to? ...
The Book says it's about original sets in their original packaging. To me, that means MIB, at least - probably MISB.
But that's just me ;)
Bogro
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The Book says it's about original sets in their original packaging. To me, that means MIB, at least - probably MISB.
But that's just me ;)
Bogro
To me it just means you need to have all the parts, instructions, and the box, open or sealed.
I wonder how many original 1974 sets are still MISB?
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Martin Milner's comments are, as usual, logical and well-considered.
I have been using the "Playmobil Collector" as a guide in deciding what I am willing to buy on eBay and how much I am willing to pay. Even so, it seems that I have encountered some items that are considered rare but yet somehow show up on eBay more often than their rarity should warrant. He brings up a valid point that eBay does not account for people who do not sell on eBay. That quantity is unknown and unknowable. :hmm:
So where does that leave us? Perhaps we will have to settle for "best guesstimate."
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With collectable things it's both a matter of availability and desirability. The park fence is a good example, there weren't to many produced and it is very much sought after. Therefor people look for these auctions and when they see them cheap enough will get them for their resell value. However sets that are as available but less desirable will hardly ever be seen on ebay as people know they are not going to get the price they would like to get for it.
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Besides ... there's allways the issue of trading on. A set might be bought by a trader -only to be put on again on Ebay hoping for some profit, being bought by a trader who passes it on again ...
In this scenario the set is seen three times on Ebay, while it is only 1 set.
and it might be the same set offered three or more times by the same trader as it doesn't reach the acquired minimum ...
I still don't see how on earth Ebay is a medium to see how rare a item is ...
It could tell us how desirable a set is; but even that might be region-related.
I remember the guinea-pigs being sold for premium prices in the States on Ebay (a year before they were released there) while in Europe they were going for normal prices (as they were already in most shops here) ...
You can only something about the rarity of set when you know productionnumbers, and preferably something about it's MIB survival rate ;D
But that's just my idea ...
Bogro
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I wonder how many original 1974 sets are still MISB?
i haven't seen any to say the truth on ebay thank god i don't like the 70's exept some sets such the ship the houses and some knight sets that i would want to have misb!!!!
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Besides ... there's allways the issue of trading on. A set might be bought by a trader -only to be put on again on Ebay hoping for some profit, being bought by a trader who passes it on again ...
In this scenario the set is seen three times on Ebay, while it is only 1 set.
and it might be the same set offered three or more times by the same trader as it doesn't reach the acquired minimum ...
true one set can be seen a lot of times with a different seller !!!!
before ebay how people were buying discontinioud old sets i think ebay exists for 10 years now if i'm not mistaken??
the numbers of production of each item are written somewhere ??
and why playmobil doesen't really care for his history?
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Checked the book about the rating system.
It says it rates only complete sets, with box. Doesn't say wether the box is opened or not.
About the ratings: it is only about rarity and explicitly not about collectors value or how much a set is wanted by the buyers or collectors.
How the rating is actually done is not explained. It is indeed rather vague. The specials for instance: specials from the same series, produced during the same year, sometimes have different ratings. Were the not produced in equal numbers? See for instance the first series with perfor-box. The vulture with bones, third in the series, is more rare than the others. Was it produced in lesser numbers?
Riddles riddles. Why don't we ask the writers?
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About the ratings: it is only about rarity and explicitly not about collectors value or how much a set is wanted by the buyers or collectors.
How the rating is actually done is not explained. It is indeed rather vague. The specials for instance: specials from the same series, produced during the same year, sometimes have different ratings. Were the not produced in equal numbers? See for instance the first series with perfor-box. The vulture with bones, third in the series, is more rare than the others. Was it produced in lesser numbers?
I imagine that all sets start with an initial production run, and then have follow-up runs depending on demand. If the initial run never sells out, why do a follow-up?
The Vulture was a very poor special. No human figure + easy availability of both vultures and bones in other sets = no real reason to buy this one.
Here's another thought. If it was a REALLY poor seller, unsold boxes may have been returned to Playmobil (or never sent out), and their contents either reused in other sets, or recycled for their plastic.
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Here's another thought. If it was a REALLY poor seller, unsold boxes may have been returned to Playmobil (or never sent out), and their contents either reused in other sets, or recycled for their plastic.
Hi
I do not think I like your "Another Thought". To imaging Playmobil taking perfectly good sets and dumping them in the grinder :0 no No NO, all Playmobil is in the hands of happy children playing out their imaginations. The kids are amassing huge collections for us to buy up when they are "too old" to play :P
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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I imagine that all sets start with an initial production run, and then have follow-up runs depending on demand. If the initial run never sells out, why do a follow-up?
The Vulture was a very poor special. No human figure + easy availability of both vultures and bones in other sets = no real reason to buy this one.
Here's another thought. If it was a REALLY poor seller, unsold boxes may have been returned to Playmobil (or never sent out), and their contents either reused in other sets, or recycled for their plastic.
That's why I took the perfo boxes as an example. After the first production run the boxes were changed. So, a hand full of sets in a limited period, one run. Already a difference. The least popular set is now the most rare. If it didn't sell at all, why did they issue it in a new box?
About recycling unsold boxes. Returning them to playmobil is very costly. Don't think it is economically very wise. Especially if you want to reuse the plastic. You'll have to sort out all the bits by color to reuse them or you can only make black plastic out of them.
More likely they will be dumped as special offers or something.
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The least popular set is now the most rare. If it didn't sell at all, why did they issue it in a new box?
this is not true in all the cases !!!!
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I didn´t say that. I said that about the first run of perfo box specials.
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I didn´t say that. I said that about the first run of perfo box specials.
oh sorry !!!! yes true