Disney Pixar Cars - Collecting Past and Present, and the Ebay Effect

I've been a "Collector" since I was a young kid. I collected Disney comic books, American coins, Snoopy "World's Greatest" statuettes, Star Wars figures, and Garfield stuff! I took a long hiatus while in college. I got back into collecting about 15 years ago when I started buying original animation cels. I have quite an incredible collection of Ren & Stimpy, Pinky and the Brain, and I even have an original Grinch! I got into Disney pin collecting about seven years ago, added some Disney Classics Collection pieces, a few Radko ornaments and Disney resin sculpts. Since Cars was released in 2006, I've been a fervent Cars die cast toys collector.

Up until 1998 collectors relied heavily on primary markets to add to their collections...They'd subscribe to their favorite comic books, order directly from the U.S. Mint for their coins, buy their Stars Wars figures, He-Man figures, Transformers etc. from retailers such as Toys R Us. Collectors bought from secondary markets such as mom and pop comic stores, coins shops, flea markets and collector/comic conventions, but these could often be over priced. Collectors of all ages have always traded to add to their collections. Be it kids trading baseball cards, or big kids trading Disney pins, there will always be trading.

In 1998 Ebay was formed and the world of collecting changed forever! Ebay became both a primary and secondary market for collectors. I've often joked that during the first few years Ebay existed, you could put dog poop on it and sell it for $100.00! People went nuts and selling stuff became easier than shootin' fish in a barrel! People were also nuts by over paying for stuff and acting like gold rush loons! Over the last few years Ebay has become so saturated with people selling, that in many cases things have become undervalued. Yet, we still see looney bidding when it comes to the latest and greatest!

The reality of markets is that speculation often rules when things are first offered to the public, or they are perceived as "Hot" and ripe for huge profits! We see this with the stock market when IPO's (Initial Public Offering) are often over bid, to the mental runaway prices (prices rose by 25% annually in some regions) paid for houses during the recent real estate insanity. The collecting of Cars is no different. As we are all aware, some may have thought paying $300.00 for the Motor Speedway of the South set in May of last year was a lot of money, but as we have all seen, the set has risen to a price of $1500.00 on the secondary market! A 500% increase!

The key to collecting is using a rational and sane approach. I look at a number of factors when determining what I'm willing to pay for something on Ebay or elsewhere.

1. I always look at the rarity of something. Is it a limited edition or an open edition? The lower the edition size, and the higher the demand, the higher the likelihood an item will become sought after and more valuable.
2. Is the item going to be hard to get? For instance, is it a Red Line Club exclusive that requires a membership? How about it being a Comic-Con exclusive that requires you to attend the convention and stand in line for hours?
3. Finally, is it an item that was pulled from circulation due to a manufacturing mistake, error, or problem? For example, Sarge and his lead paint issue.

These are the things I do. You may have other criteria that help you decide, but whatever approach you take, you have to use common sense.

Ebay and the Internet have made collecting easier by making items more accessible, cheaper and comparable. Ebay and e-commerce have been a very good thing for collectors. Think about it...you can buy something exclusive to the United States, Europe, Japan or anywhere in the world because of Ebay and the net! You simply do a search, click buy, pay, and in a week or two it is in your hands!! You couldn't do this until just 10 years ago. Pretty cool don't you think!

Coming Monday: Photos of...well, you'll have to wait to see!

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