vinylmaddness.com Updates

[william newell]

[Vinylmaddness]

[Andrew Nguyen]

[gojira138]

[Vinylmaddness]

[Vinylmaddness]

[Rice]

[Bio_Goji_89]

[Vinylmaddness]

[Rice]

[pocketmego]

[Bio_Goji_89]

Jean's input is really worth paying attention to (and will be,) so if you have questions about this stuff, he's a man to ask (Vinylmaddness' mailing list/forum is a great place to talk about toys if you haven't looked at it already).

As far as re-attaching tags, you would of course have to be extremely careful. Two tag holes in one toy = a whole lot of hypothetical uncool, but in the event of some sort of "emergency," I suppose it is capable of being done well if done with the utmost in care and precision. I can't fathom taking tags in and out more than once on a given figure; I've only ever pulled tags & holders out of new toys if I wanted to display them loose and use their tag holders to re-attach the tags of older toys, and it's always been something I've planned in advance and tried to make the best attempt to do it without causing any wear to the figure, and I think I've been successful in that regard.

On that note - this is to Jean - what do you think about using new tag holders that are the same model (mold, shape, size, etc.) as Bandai has used throughout their history to attach a tag, even if it's on an old toy? Say, if I were to get an older figure with a loose tag but the tag was loose and I wanted to re-attach the tag in order to display it, would it be reasonable to just use a new tag holder off of a new toy that I'm displaying loose? I've done it in the past to attach old loose tags to their figures about...four times on some of my Heisei-era Bandai kaiju, but what are your feelings about it?

I think Rich once mentioned the old tag holder on his '92 Mothra Larva became so frail that it broke, and I've seen old Bandai's sold with broken tag holders or with none at all. I can't think of any alternatives other than just leaving it loose, which isn't always the preferred method, or fishing around for old, yellow, worn out tag holders, which doesn't seem very reasonable.

Tim

[Vinylmaddness]

[Vinylmaddness]

[Bio_Goji_89]

I think the work, care, and time needed to store tags away from figures is outweighed by the benefits of keeping them on the figures. Unless you have some extended interests in caring for your tags (such as living in hurricane alley) it would make better sense to leave them attached to the toys.

As far as boxes, they aren't like tags in that they were designed by Bandai for the sole purpose of carrying multi-piece deluxe figures from toy shelves to the original buyers' home. They're main reason for being is for transporting their toys around when they were new, not serving as collectibles.

Because they are typically much larger and often ungainly compared to tags, boxes for toys will typically be much harder to find in perfect shape, because they are carrying the weight of the toys inside and do sit on shelves instead of being suspended by tag holders where they will accumulate some wear.

Ultimately, when it comes to the condition of boxes, if the toy's in great shape and the box looks like something you'd personally be happy with even if there is some wear, you should go with it instead of waiting long periods of time for a mint condition box to pop up, which may never happen. Always make your decisions based on what you're comfortable with.

Both of the boxes for my original issue '91 Godzilla's (the first of which will be sold sometime early this summer...plugplugplugplug) have more wear than I would accept with most any other toy's box, but realistically, I didn't expect to see them again anytime soon, especially because the second one I bought had a near mint condition figure that was simply beautiful, so I bought them even if the boxes weren't exactly 'mint.'

By all means, try to get boxes and such for your toys if they came with them, but if the box is large and was used to carry the toy on toy shelves over the past fifteen years, you will more than likely have to put up with a little more wear on it than you might necessarily want to. But hey, it's the figures that really count anyway.

Tim

[Rice]

[quote=pocketmego]Hey Rice are you from Louisiana as well? [/quote]

Yup, I'm from lower St. Bernard parish. Sorry to hear about your collection, bro. : /

Thanks for all the answers, guys! I think I'll keep the tags on my figures, since I'm weird for having things "like new." Acceptions will be made with older stuff, if I get the chance to pick any of it up. As for boxes and bags, I'll likely remove my stuff (but with care) unless it's a super limited edition or something.

Since I'm a teenager still, I'm trying to set myself some ground rules for collecting since my funds are super limited. Right now I'm thinking about just trying to get a little of everything, and sticking mainly to showa Godzilla stuff, as that was my favorite era.

[william newell]

On the topic of tags...I've seen some people put plastic Baseball card sleeves over the tags attached to the figure. Does this work all right over time, or does the plastic sleeve put to much weight on the tag holder and cause it to break? Just something I've always been curious about...

[Vinylmaddness]

[Baltan II]

[Bio_Goji_89]

[Vinylmaddness]

[Vinylmaddness]

[Rice]

[Bio_Goji_89]

Thanks, Jean.

I can remember so many years ago when I first found the Vinylmaddness website and thinking that I'd probably never see any of those toys because they just seemed so rare and expensive to a thirteen year old.

I can honestly say that it and Clubtokyo's reference pages are the reasons I wanted to work to get those figures, because they all just seemed so cool (and still do.) Lots of great memories for which I can't thank Mike and Jean enough.

Rice, when it comes to your toys, you just gotta do what makes you happy, and only you know what that is. By all means, listen to what other collectors have to say, but only use it as a primer to consider what you want for yourself.

Older toys are experiencing lower prices for any number of reasons, which spells a great time for younger guys like us to pick up on them. What's really going to be fun is in six or so years when you're older and have a little more money to spend is that new Godzilla movies will hopefully be coming out again, which would mean new toy lines from Bandai and the like. It was really exciting the past five years when I started making money working to see all these new toys coming out with each new Godzilla movie.

Tim

[Legion]