Hey, Look - A Collector's Diatribe!

Welcome to Celestial Diatribe(TM). Please keep all quips and opinions inside the mouth, and ensure all thoughts are assessed and inventoried before complaining!

Play with your toys, read your books, carry your love of your collections on your sleeve; just take care of them, and someday, they may take care of you.

Let's Begin
There's 2 general camps that we tend hear about within the toy-space on our end:

• Collect and display in package only.

• Collect and display out of package, perhaps keep some in; and keep the box.

But, there's a 3rd option, and it's the one Celestial Drift is all about.

• Buy to enjoy, But, protect to collect. If you have a bit of extra capital, let's say One to Rock and One to Stock!

Get your monies worth now, exercising care and love to keep it ship-shape, and worry about dollar recoup later when the joy rolls away.

It's our version we're here to stand-by. Things are made for your enjoyment and awe - not meant to be locked, losing the ability to explore and imagine; to view the details both big and small - to open the doors, and strike the poses. There's a time factor that will tell you when there's potential worth and extra care should be taken. Don't fear playing with your toys, or at the least unboxing and letting it all hang out!

The last decade or so, has had a large uptick in F.O.M.O. (Fear Of Missing Out) markets. When a new and exciting toy, comic...etc, is advertised - there's a buying frenzy that hits - but it's largely flippers (buyers of items with the intent if selling at higher-price points within the immediate future), not sentimental or play-driven buyers, scooping up available supply - thus creating a price-squeeze, causing base-target buyers to pay 100's of percent higher, thinking this may be their only shot. The only other shot they have, is if this intense cycle, does enter a cooling off period ,where if you're capable of waiting it out; once flippers have sold their supply at the artificial high, and moving stock greatly slows - prices then drop - often times lower than retail value. But again, that's if you're lucky.

But, nonetheless, it's an intense, expensive cycle. The most pain we see, are people whose memories and joy are being taken away - left with an inability to locate and or afford stock they were interested in. Socials light up with angst and sadness, as "I only wanted one to play with; to have one of my own!". And that wave of social outcry pains us, because we don't see toys/art/comics..etc as $$$ from the drop - that's something that comes with time, naturally, because of consumer and societal sentiment, NOT superficial supply shock.

Another example - buying a new comic, only to ship it off to have a random, opinionated stranger take their best crack at telling you what "grade" your comic is, and then locking it away. This means the time and money and love that writers/inkers/drawers/tracers/letterers/product designers gets vaulted away; nothing more than a cover (might as well be a poster at that point). One believes there's a market because of names/stories attached, but instead, are creating a false scarcity and reducing supply to those who want to enjoy it. Now, having people spend upwards of 75 dollars for a comic that may never reach 4.95 for the remainder of your life-time.

Ultimately, markets take years to work out, and, if something does stand the test of time, and you manage to come across something that fancies a quick spend - then sure, protect it at all costs.

So, I guess, this diatribe can boil down to - just because there's hype now, doesn't make a collectible a collectible. Nor does naming it a collectible make it so, any more than you sitting in your garage makes you car. Years and generational shifts will decide your price, not 2 weeks - the most you have at this point - is scarcity, which alone, does not create a true market.

Thus, here we are - to point 3 - the camp we fall into regarding collecting:

We will do whatever we can to maintain and locate stock of high-demand items that suffer fake markets due to immediate/and local supply-shock, and provide them at fair price-points that allow us to continue what we do, that allow us to get goods and services into the hands of those who truly wish to enjoy what an item means, what it took to make it, and what it may mean down the road. We might not always be in the middle of the hype, but sometimes, being last, is being the best.

Post Credit Scene
Things you can do to maintain value in your items:

• Use picture frames to keep comics displayed/protected. Easy to remove and cheap as chips to afford, and comics can be removed and read!

• Die-casts have size-specific cases, plentifully available, with or without lights and UV protection. Same for Vinyl toys.

• Records can be stored in picture and poster frames.

• Dust often, and keep items on the high-ground.

• Display out of box, but keep the box packed away. Open box may be less than never opened, but, can be more than if no packaging exists.