[Guy Schlicter]

The reason why I bring this up is that my friend and I just had a talk and his view differs from mine. He and I grew up in the Golden Age of A.M.T. Star Trek kits and over the years we both have aquired a large collection of collectable models. Well now my friend feels with all these reissues it will kill the value of certain special collectable models. The Original Interplanetary U.F.O. he has he believes is no longer worth that much money. I told him about the Enterprise D repop next year and he says when it comes again that the original model will also be worth alot less. He and I are different, I loved these kits back when they were in their prime and I still build them and he doesn't. At this point I believe he considers them more of an investment and feels hes losing money with the reissiues. My friend Considered K-7 Space Station a nice collectable and when I told him it too was being reissued he said there goes its collectable value. I still enjoy these reissues of the classic A.M.T. Star Trek kits and I will continue to buy and build them. Even though my friend may not agree with me, I am greatful for having these models again. I don't look at their collector value. I love them and that's their value to me, Guy Schlicter.

 

[MadCap Romanian]

The value on original kits usually stays high. The old stuff doesn't have bar codes, that's how you tell originals from re-releases. Also, some re-issues contain changes, like the TOS Enterprise having the grid lines removed, for example. I think your friend has nothing to worry about.

 

[Bobj812]

I for one think it's great that old kits are getting a reissue. Missed opportunities (like the Moonbus for me), or the ability to get something from "before your time" will make a lot of people happy. The notion of "devaluing" the original kit is a pretty narrow-minded way of thinking, and is at worst selfish. If I still had all the kits I had as a kid, their value to me is in that I still have them and they are part of me, not in that they would be collectible. Still wish I had my Batmobile, Enterprise, Capt. America and a lot of the Planet of the Apes kits. Sure they were reissued, but I wish I had the ones I had -- not a re-pop or something from that era found on eBay. If I had them, I wouldn't worry what they were worth to anyone else. The fun was in building proudly displaying them, and sometimes playing with them.

 

[cozmo]

I have no sympathy for those who collect kits as an investment. They were made to be built and give enjoyment for those who build them. If their investment goes down because a kit has been reissued, that is the risk they took when they bought it for an investment.

 

[Zombie_61]

Prices on original kits might drop a bit on websites like eBay where most buyers are looking for a bargain, but I think hardcore collectors would still pay more for an original; the hard part is connecting with those collectors.

 

[MightyMax]

I have collected models for the last 30 years.
Worse way to ever invest money if that is the sole reason to collect! IMO, repops take away from the original's value if not its uniqueness. Just like the guy who has a porsche Boxter. That is special cause you don't see them much. If everyone bought one it would not be special let alone worth much less.

A friend of mine has a Moonbus. I don't but want one badly. Everytime I am at his house I admire that kit. When the repop comes out and I will buy one then I will no longer care he has an original and I can't ever afford one.
I collected and still do for the joy it brings me. I expect(ed) to lose money on every kit I bought when it comes time to sell. Some kits are worth more than I paid but. For every kit that has increased in value I can show you a dozen I can't hardly give away!

Max Bryant

 

[mach7]

I could not care less about a collectors kit value. In my opinion they artificially raise the value. They buy a kit, have no intention of building it, and keep it away from someone who will build it until that person pays a higher price!

It's all artificial.

I have many collector kits in my collection, and if I live long enough I will build them all, But to me a re-pop is just as good as the original. I just want to build a kit from my younger years.

 

[Richard Baker]

The concept of buying something to have while it increases in value is foreign to me- I buy what I want and build what I buy. I have seen medicore model kits such as the Trek K-7 Station sell mint in the box for hundreds in a convention dealers room, but those kits seel for that due to the 'collector' status. Repops of the same kit, even with no changes, should not affect the value of those. People who buy the old kits mint are looking for a piece of history to invest in, not a kit to just build.

.

 

[KUROK]

I have collected models for the last 30 years.
Worse way to ever invest money if that is the sole reason to collect! IMO, repops take away from the original's value if not its uniqueness. Just like the guy who has a porsche Boxter. That is special cause you don't see them much. If everyone bought one it would not be special let alone worth much less.

A friend of mine has a Moonbus. I don't but want one badly. Everytime I am at his house I admire that kit. When the repop comes out and I will buy one then I will no longer care he has an original and I can't ever afford one.
I collected and still do for the joy it brings me. I expect(ed) to lose money on every kit I bought when it comes time to sell. Some kits are worth more than I paid but. For every kit that has increased in value I can show you a dozen I can't hardly give away!

Max Bryant

Max, I couldn't have said it better myself....

Some of the most valuable Trek kits were the ones that were only released over 30 years ago like Spock/snakes and the Romulan. You can get a vintage bridge kit really cheap on ebay now. However 6-7 years ago I had to pay $50 for one. Same with the vintage shuttlecraft or the Klingon D-7. Those are cheap on ebay now versus several years ago. This could be because they were repoped a few times. Also could be that ebay enabled lots of guys to get one so the demand has trickled off over time.

I will treasure my vintage kits but have now realized that I will lose money on them. However, I enjoy having them so much that I can deal with that....

Vince

 

[Arronax]

You mean there are people who buy model kits but don't build them?

Next, you'll be telling me that there are builders who buy whole cases of a model kit for the spare parts or on the off-chance they'll live long enough to build 12 different variations of the same model.

Remember the two rules of investing in collectibles:

1. It's only worth what someone will pay you for it.
2. It's not worth anything unless you actually sell it.

Jim
(less than 5 unbuilt kits on the shelf and proud of it)

 

[Dr. Brad]

Next, you'll be telling me that there are builders who buy whole cases of a model kit for the spare parts or on the off-chance they'll live long enough to build 12 different variations of the same model

Laughed out lout when I read that - and I'm guilty of it. Maybe not a whole case, but I do have a few spares of some kits kicking around for a similar purpose! But what really gets me are the kits I bought on a whim that I'll likely never build, especially now that the reality of the limits of display space has whacked me upside the head!

 

[Richard Baker]

I do that with some kits- mostly ones that have conversion kits or lots of variant potential like the 1/1000 TOS Enterprise. Other kits I will buy two of- one to build pure and one to have some fun enhancing. MOst of the other kits in my stash are out of production or very rare- my biggest enemy right now is time- especially since I got a social life...

.

 

[razorwyre1]

i just read about how people "investing" in comics nearly killed the industry in the early 90s. the whole reason the old stuff is valuable is because it is rare. these days there are far more people collecting "mint in box" copies of genre stuff, so it will never accrue in value in the way things from the 60s and 70s did.
anyone who "invests" in current release model kits these days hasnt thought about why they become valuable, and honestly is a fool for doing so. would you put your money into any other type of investment without knowing how and why its expected to rise in value?
and yes, the value of the old kits will drop significantly once the reissue is out there. it will still be extremely valuable in relation to its original value, but nowhere near where it was when it was "unobtainable".

 

[spawndude]

I buy kits to build.

If I paid big bucks for a vintage kit I would feel guilty building it knowing I'm significantly reducing its value.

 

[MadCap Romanian]

@ Spawndude - this is why I like to find some in rummage sales and as glue-bombs.

 

[Magesblood]

if we all built every model that we buy, there wouldn't be any left for future generations to enjoy. If my daughter got into science fiction and by the grace of god, got into modeling with daddy, I'd want to present he with the kits I built as a young man while not having to pay an arm and a leg, movie concessions and a gallon of gas to buy one. Y'know?

I for one don't have a problem buying one and leaving the other for a rainy day or posterity. Maybe even making a buck or two on the bay twenty some years down the road.

And you can't tell me that if you had a time machine, you wouldn't go back and buy up all the Aurora Moonbusses and bring them to the present and make a mint.

 

[Iheartscifi]

I guess I would have more than a hundred kits that I have “collected” over more than 30 years (I really have no clue how many) but I consider myself an “accidental” collector. While I must admit I have more than one of certain kits, it was never my intention to profit from hanging on to them. I simply know for a fact that there is no guarantee if and when a kit will go off the market or if you will ever see it again. And to that point the idea of ‘mass’ repooping, well that’s a fairly new concept. Yes, yes I know, manufacturers have been recycling for years but not to the point where most of their catalogue items are decades old kits (no offense intended Round2 or Mobius)! I feel no sorrow for people who collected the ERTL ‘E’ Enterprise or those who horded the Polar Lights Jupiter 2. For those who were planning to fund their retirement from the sale of their Aurora Moon Bus, well, too bad.
ARRONAX is very right! The “value” of an item is very arbitrary and transient. While it may be said that one mans trash is another mans treasure, it could equally be said, one mans treasure is another mans trash!
I ‘might’ argue that I have “lost” money over the years, for example I have an AMT “smoothie” TMP Enterprise that I will never build and wont get much if I sold it (now). But I’m not crying in my beer! I celebrate the fact that there is now a brilliant kit that is so much better in so many ways. Hmm, yes, I must get one or two of those for my collection, LOL!
Edit: In case I might have given the wrong impression, I enjoy building and fully intend to build as many of my collection as I can.