McFarlane figures have a future?

BenDMitchell

BenDMitchell

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I have been collecting cards for awhile now and just am getting into McFarlane figures. What do you think about the future of the figures? Do you think they will ever become collectible like cards are now?
 
They've actually lost steam. People used to fall over themselves and pay big bucks for variants. Now, not so much. McFarlane has stepped up the variant process by numbering them and offering signed pieces, but that hasn't made a huge difference as the autos are super limited and the numbered pieces are as little as 500 to as much as 3000.

I still buy them, but I open them to display. Can't see the benefit of leaving them in the package any more.
 
3 letters. SLU

Kenner Starting Line Ups were WAY bigger than McFarlanes ever have been. Back in the mid ninties there were huge national conventions just for SLUs. Of course, baseball, basketball and football were the main attraction. Hockey came along later. Kenner produced this line from 1988 - 2001 (~ 13 years) They had the rare chase pieces. Collectors were customizing the figures. Pieces were frequently selling > $100 each on the secondary market. There were web sites and newsgroups (remember those?!?!!) devoted to these "toys". Sound familiar? But then McFarlanes came along and SLUs have become forgotten. McFarlanes will suffer a similar fate.

I was a BIG collector of the hockey SLUs. I'm only missing 9 pieces from having the complete Canadian run, and copies of the American only issues. Of course, I have the convention and club only pieces as well.

For any die hard SLU lover, here is the place to be if you were a true collector:
SLU Oasis
Now, that's a trip down memory lane in terms of where the hobby was -- and the early days of this crazy internet fad.

If you're thinking "What the heck are these SLUs, and what do they have to do with the McFarlane figures??". Don't worry. You will see a similar thread in ten years reminiscing about the glory days of McFarlane figures.

History will repeat itself.....:devil::devil::devil:
 
I think the biggest thing with Mcfarlanes downfall is that they keep repeating the same players over and over and over. Do we really need 6 Crosbys, 12 Gretzkys and so on. They quit doing the veteran players, which are usually the best looking figures made.
 
They also kept screwing around with the packaging to save money and for a while were using molded plastic parts instead of the traditional clay or whatever it is. Collectors made a huge stink over the corners they were cutting and they started bringing them back to the original quality. They still use the same players and sculpts way too much though.
 
I have over 500 mcfarlane hockey figures and almost every one ever made. Collectors have been saying for the last 3-4 years that they wouldn't last but they still seem to be hanging on. As for value the good figs are still worth, and sell for good money. There is alot of things that could be improved and mcfarlane has attempted different things but still looking for the right recipe. If you are just starting you have alot of collecting you could do that would be enjoyable.
 
They do still make some cool figures but it is beyond repetitive some of the player choices they continually fall back on for every release. There's 700+ players in the NHL, and obviously you don't have to do all of them, but how many Crosby figures are there already?

I was also really disappointed that they cancelled the Centennial 2-packs after just the first two releases. I was really looking forward to the Price/Roy in my Xmas 2009 list.
 
some of them are pretty nice

but as mention before you can tell a difference between the quality between years

also repeating some players over and over again, when they should add other players as well
 
RGM81 said:
They do still make some cool figures but it is beyond repetitive some of the player choices they continually fall back on for every release. There's 700+ players in the NHL, and obviously you don't have to do all of them, but how many Crosby figures are there already?

I was also really disappointed that they cancelled the Centennial 2-packs after just the first two releases. I was really looking forward to the Price/Roy in my Xmas 2009 list.
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I think they missed out on that train.

I was really surprised to see the Jacques Plante. I love it, but am currently making my own package for him.

Also, Spawn boards are shut down now. You would think that if they can't afford a simple forum that things aren't going well.
 
I think they are a downward slope. They were so huge a few years ago but not anymore. My walmart used to get like 30 cases of every NHL series and last time I checked, I think it was something like 12 cases, maybe less.

The spawn boards DID shut down but they say it was to promote on the newer types of social media like Facebok and Twitter so I don't know if money was the issue. Some members opened up their own message board that has over 1100 users, spawnboards.com
 
gratzi said:
I think they are a downward slope. They were so huge a few years ago but not anymore. My walmart used to get like 30 cases of every NHL series and last time I checked, I think it was something like 12 cases, maybe less.

The spawn boards DID shut down but they say it was to promote on the newer types of social media like Facebok and Twitter so I don't know if money was the issue. Some members opened up their own message board that has over 1100 users, spawnboards.com
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Don't quote me , but i heard that Wal Mart wont be carrying McFarlanes anymore. I work at one, and we haven't got any in some time.
 
joesakic19xx said:
Don't quote me , but i heard that Wal Mart wont be carrying McFarlanes anymore. I work at one, and we haven't got any in some time.
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I'll have to look into that. I work at one too but I haven't care to look in the system lately to see if they have shown up.
 
It's also to the point where hobby shops can order specific figures instead of whatever gets packed into a case. This way, the shops aren't stuck with the peg warmers. I doubt McFarlane is in any kind of financial trouble, but they need to figure out a way to get interest back.
 
I think they're cool decorations on a desk but not much more. The $5 clearance figurines are perfect for a casual collector of them like myself. :)
 
gratzi said:
I think they are a downward slope. They were so huge a few years ago but not anymore. My walmart used to get like 30 cases of every NHL series and last time I checked, I think it was something like 12 cases, maybe less.

The spawn boards DID shut down but they say it was to promote on the newer types of social media like Facebok and Twitter so I don't know if money was the issue. Some members opened up their own message board that has over 1100 users, spawnboards.com
Click to expand...

Facebook and Twitter being free to use as opposed to the cost of maintaining a message board. Plus there was a lot of people giving the company a hard time over various issues and they were probably tired of moderating an unruly crowd. They have a bit more control over what they want to discuss and promote now.
 
PenaltyMan said:
I think they're cool decorations on a desk but not much more. The $5 clearance figurines are perfect for a casual collector of them like myself. :)
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I agree with this. I'm even happy to pick up loose figs for $2-$5 since I open them up anyway when I buy them new.
 
I like to buy them, I have most of the leafs ones and I have all of the Ovechkin's except for the limited edition all star jersey version. Of course I have them all in the package still which my fiance just doesn't get, I always tell her , just in case I want to sell them at some point.
 
gratzi said:
I'll have to look into that. I work at one too but I haven't care to look in the system lately to see if they have shown up.
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I haven't seen one at any of the Wal-Marts here in the Halifax area since the last set that had Price in it.
 

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