In this installment of Purist Ramblings, I'd like to toy around the idea that too many colorways and/or variants of a certain keshi figure or set can result in a decrease in value, and if there is any sort of merit to that.Before I get into the thick of it, I want to say a lot of these topics root into how and why you returned into toy collecting as an adult. I believe this central point might decide what side of the argument you may fall on, if after all, we can even agree there is actually an argument.
For me, in not just keshi but many other toy lines, I collect them now as an adult because I have a tremendous amount more freedom and budget to do so. Now, maybe aside from the most rarest of finds, I can own every childhood toy I never had. I can collect those set that were pictured on the back of the action figure card. It's all just a matter of cost.
Cost as a kid is very different for an adult, and for many obvious reason. Where some common actions figures barely find themselves double digits on auction websites, as a younger one, these toys were worth birthdays, Christmases, lemon-aide stands, and/or being a brutal little brat in the toy aisle. Most adult toy collectors have vivid memories of the toys they had as a child, and playing with their small collection far beyond the brink of boredom. Some of us remember being so bored with the same few figures, we tore them apart and reassembled them as new characters.
As an adult, cost relies on a few different things like materials, age, size, condition, and rarity, but overall, things are much easier to obtain, in no small part with the creation of the internet. Now, with some clicks and some paypal credit, you can get many if not all the toys you never were able to get, but now that you have it all, what is it worth to you? Is it okay if it's not as much as you thought or if you find it decreases?
This is the part of the discussion that may split the collectors, asking them how and why they found themselves getting back into toy collecting, but I suggest the proposed value we invest back into these toys are different than the value we have instilled in our heads from childhood memories. I haven't said it all that often, maybe just a few times, but I've gone on record and saying I'm a 'quantity' keshi collector, if there really is such a term. I feel this way because instinctively, maybe from as far back as childhood, I would rather have two or three commons than one rare figure, if given the choice. In a hypothetical situation at a hypothetical playground, I certainly would be the kid that trades that super rare away for that handful of figures I didn't already have. For me, rarity is a fun thing, but nothing I chase. I just want that super large collection, because I grew up with no more than ten or so.
In the current scene, you'll see toy releases, especially of the independent sort, come with various colors and batch quantities. This will create an arguably real or artificial economy for certain toys in the same line than others. For example, a small batch of glow in the dark weasel figures may find more value between toy collectors than the flesh tone that found a release of a much greater quantity. You'll also see the same happen to the first release of a figure more than it's future releases, but over the course of many different colorways and variants, those glow in the darks may not be that desired, considering the mold of that particular weasel has been used so many times. On a toy maker's level, it's best to use a mold to the very furthest extent you can, because out of all the pricey parts of production, the mold is the most expensive.
So, another train track question, should a toy maker continue to reuse his or her mold, effectively decreasing the stock collectability with every variant and colorway? There certainly is a fine line somewhere in there, but there hardly is a perfect number. I'm not sure we can suggest toy maker's to risk future releases to maintain collectability, because after all, they only have value to us because we easily couldn't pay for them in the past.
If you couldn't guess already, I enjoy as many colorway, variants, and anything else I can get my hand on, only because I couldn't get my hand on many in the past. The money I spend on keshi figures now isn't an investment to turn around for profit later. It's a pile of money to burn in the backyard, satisfying an urge to enjoy a mass of figures, and while I know I do own some really rare figures, they are only as valuable as my nostalgia allows them to be.
