One of my favorite sections in my shop consists of cast aways. Forgotten playmates and memories that have been sold off for pennies on the dollar for something new. I’m talking about our loose action figure bins!!!
These suckas are filled (most of the time) with several thousand action figures from various toys lines that span through the past several decades. Some of these were actual toys that have scars and wounds from hard fought battles led by creative kids...while others were trophies or “collectibles” that carefully sat on a shelf or in a case for most of their early lives.
These are the bins where toys go to be reborn. To find a new home before the cycle repeats once again. In all honesty, we have tons of different types of customers that rummage through these bins. We get parents that just want a “cheap toy” for their screaming kid, or the creative customizer who’s going to transform that figure into something new by resculpting and maybe hacking off a head or legs. There’s the sensible collector that is just going to open the figure anyway and saves a large chunk of change by already buying used. There’s also the guy trying to relive his childhood and is rebuying all those old loose GI Joes that his mom threw out when he went off to college. Whatever the reason is...and there are plenty...tons of folks love rummaging through the loose figure bins as it’s basically a treasure hunt.
Being busy with a million things as of late, the bins were a bit on the depleted side. We have 3 large bins that each house about a thousand or so loose figures. It can be a challenge to keep these restocked as people are constantly yanking toys from them and restocking is a fairly time consuming task....but it was due for a nice restock as you can see...one entire bin was empty.
So I spent the past several days yanking out the massive stockpile of loose figures we’ve accumulated from storage, so I can start the fun. The sad part is this stuff is so scattered. We try to match up a figure with its weapons and accessories if possible, but sometimes it’s super time consuming and just not possible. We have about five thousand various figures that span all the different toy lines in these bins and others just like it.
- Marvel Legends
- DC Direct
- DC Universe Classics
- Marvel Select
- Transformers
- Star Wars
- GI Joe
- WWE
- Spawn
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Masters of the Universe
These are just a small sampling of what’s in here. There’s tons more of random lines. Things like Flinstones, Gargoyles, Horror figs, MASK, Power Rangers, and as seen in the thumbnail photo above...Jurassic Park. Funny thing is some of those Jurassic Park figs fetch bank. Even loose!!! While I was sorting through one day, some dude got a raging boner over the JP figs and bought a few before I even priced em. One was a fairly large T-Rex that averages between 75-85 loose. I gave him that and another fig for $65 clams. He was happy as was I as that thing was huge. Saves room in the bin for other toys.
That brings me to an interesting observation though. We have the bins with priced figures and they do well, but for the few days when I’m restocking...people can’t seem to help themselves as they have to go through the unsorted and unpriced stuff. I think they feel like they are seeing behind the curtain a bit and are hoping to score that insane deal on a rare treasure. I’m fine with it but it’s just a weird thing that always happens. Sometimes they won’t even go through the priced stuff at all. Only the unpriced...hoping for that deal.
Anyway, sone of these figures are pretty cheap. Things in the $3-$5 dollar range. Then there is the next step up in the $11-$15 range. Lots of the Marvel and DC figs end up in this category. But then there are the gems. Old rare figures, ones that came in boxed sets, build a figures and all that nonsense. In this search I found a few in the $40-$75 range. I came across a couple of lower tiered build a figures like the ML Mojo and DCUC Metamorpho...but people eat those up.
All in all, I probably added around 500 figures which was needed. They each have to be bagged, researched, priced, and taped up so it takes a bit of time. But I’m happy with this small restock. I could have packed the bins more but with Black Friday coming up mere days from now...time is a luxury I’m not afforded so this temporary restock will have to suffice.
So...wanna come rummage and see what treasures you can find? Black Friday is just a few days away and these mofo’s will all be 50% off that weekend so I hope to move a nice chunk then! Wish us luck!!!
Blewitt