Value on an original set of carded unopened 6 Contructicons

BoboDub

Folks, I'm going to list on adverts / ebay (not sure which yet) a set of 6 unopened green contructicons I have had since a kid. I just have no idea what kind of price I should be looking for as I'm not really a transformers fan, I just have a lot of stuff from when I was kid, so if those wof you with more knowledge could give me an indication please let me know as I have had these for years and I don't want to undervalue them. Thanks for any help!

Motley Crue

I think that after getting the right price you should put them on adverts so that some of us here can take a look at them

BoboDub

I supppose it would help you put a value on them if showed pics! Here's some uploaded. If you would need to see them to have a proper idea let me know - the flash has reflected off a few of the pics unfortunately :mad:

Motley Crue

I'll be honest, I like these a lot, but I'm wondering the kind of price. I have had a look at Ebay for a general guide and I can't seem to find anything like this. Depending on the look and feel, and general popularity, of the particular figure - unboxed generation one robots tend to go for between 3 and 5 pound sterling

Being carded, all together, and having the retro feel and being original issues certainly helps - maybe 7 pound on average per figure, looking at 40 to 50 sterling for the entire set.

That's my opinion, maybe someone else here will disagree

BoboDub

Had a look on ebay there and this was the only similar example I could find (sold for 600 pounds) - I know that was in america and ebay but I wanted to advertise it local on adverts to save the hassle of postage etc. If the local value is a lot less than this thent there's probably no point listing it on adverts?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400137391335&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Galvasean

Motley Crue wrote: »

I'll be honest, I like these a lot, but I'm wondering the kind of price. I have had a look at Ebay for a general guide and I can't seem to find anything like this. Depending on the look and feel, and general popularity, of the particular figure - unboxed generation one robots tend to go for between 3 and 5 pound sterling

Being carded, all together, and having the retro feel and being original issues certainly helps - maybe 7 pound on average per figure, looking at 40 to 50 sterling for the entire set.

That's my opinion, maybe someone else here will disagree

With the best respect, I think you are miles off. A full set of G1 Constructicons MOSC (Mint On Sealed Card) is definately worth a few hundred euro.

ChopShop

BoboDub wrote: »

Had a look on ebay there and this was the only similar example I could find (sold for 600 pounds) - I know that was in america and ebay but I wanted to advertise it local on adverts to save the hassle of postage etc. If the local value is a lot less than this thent there's probably no point listing it on adverts?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400137391335&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Short Answer: I think they're worth at least $300... which isn't actually that high, at $50 each... maybe $350, or with a bit of luck $400.

Longer Answer:

Beyond that is possible, but it will require a bit of luck and some work.

Did that listing actually sell?

They're definitely valuable.

Now the one potential downside is that these were made for the Chinese market... see the sticker in the top right corner... . it seems to be generally agreed that these were licensed by Hasbro, as opposed to the unlicensed reproductions that have come out of China in the last few years.

However the fact that these were made for the Chinese market is going to be bit of a demerit in the eyes of some... but some early G1 toys have gotten so expensive for perfect, north american, sealed examples, that people are probably going to be plenty happy with something like this.
..and TBH, the packages are a little beat up... so these would be viewed as mint sealed examples, rather than completely mint examples.

If you list these on Adverts you're more than likely to get nothing but tyre-kickers, people who don't understand their value. As the first Gestalt, they will very definitely be sought after.....

Devastator is pretty iconic.

...but if you want to get their full value, you'll have to come to terms with the hassle of shipping them out of the country, probably out of Europe, and most collectors just go through eBay these days.

Unfortunaltey, An Post's international shipping rates are quite prohibitve... and a potential buyer is likely to bawk at them,... so you may have to subsidise the shipping cost in some way.


So in short: Yeah, they're valuable. Yes there's demand for them, but to get their value will require going a little out of your way.


...and absolutely don't break up the set.

Part of the problem with completing Devastator separately, on cards is that Hook is much harder to find unopened than the rest.

You part out Hook, you make the rest a lot less attractive to a potential buyer.

A bit of an incoherent ramble... but i haven't had my morning coffee yet.

If you want to pick my brain, please feel free to PM me.

GerHankey

I'll give you a tenner for the lot of em...

Seriously though, 50 quid is definitely selling yourself short, and there are plenty of collectors this side of the pond who would pay for them. I'd imagine (though I could be wrong) that something like that would be even rarer in the UK/Ireland than in the US? And you do know that the buyer usually has to cover the cost of shipping on ebay etc. dont you?

Though if you dont want the hassle, my offer still stands. I'll even push the boat out to 15...

padimus2

Just to say, I was at AA last week and a set on MOSC Stunticons with Motormaster in box didn't sell at STG£100.

Just for a comparison, Realistically the constructicons are worth a little more as there's 6 of them and they're well known to those outside the fandom. I'd definitely put them on ebay starting at €150 and see what happens, even if the shipping costs a bit you would probably get a nice sum for them.

Having said that, the more expensive G1 stuff didn't really seem to sell at AA though, one guy had to sell a complete Scorponok in box for £150! He was originally looking for £250.

ChopShop

I might have suggested that the 'unlicensed' reproduction affected the Stunticons value... was it the 1986/87 packaging? Or the (original) Classics packaging?

But...

Scorpy generally holds it's value pretty well ... and 150 GBP seems like a fair price to me (?).

Perhaps it's a combination of people holding on to their money, and maybe the fact that the average AA attendee isn't as interested in the older, high ticket items compared to Botcon attendees (?)

I think a starting bid of 150 might scare people off... put a reserve on it, but if people ask, be straight with them about what it is. Being secretive about such things tends to get people's backs up.

BoboDub

Thanks for your help folks. To be honest it seems to be a mixed bag.

To answer your question wernstrom, they did sell for that price on ebay. So ebay looks like it might be the winner, even though I'd rather sell them locally.

I have no idea how transformers destined for the chinese market ended up in Dublin - all I know is I personally bought these with saved up pocket money from the Toymaster in Dun Laoghaire Shopping Centre. My father is american and he got me the 6 pack version (I still have cuttings from the box, instrucitons, and opened constructicons for them) a year earlier when he mad ehis annual christmas journey home - as this was the one and only time I ever saw constructicons for sale in Ireland as a kid, and as I already had an opened set, I kept these closed. The gas thing was they had a rake of optimus primes and megatrons, but I couldn't ocnvinmce my mum to give me an advance on my pocket money to buy some of them too (I think they were around a tenner each, which I guess was a lot in the mid 80s).

Going through my old collection, I do have a few "foreign" transformers I bought in Ireland - I have a spanish / italian (maybe even mexican?) prowl (I'm assuming so anyway, as the doors say "polizia" or "policia") which, believe it or not, I bought in McGuires newsagents in Mount Meerrion (!!!), and I remember when I got thundercracker (also in Toymaster in Dun Laoghaire, which btw was the only shop I ever remember seeing Fortress Maximus in) it had foreign writing on the box, but I couldn't say what language.

Actually I'm surprised there isn't a thread dedicated to buying transformers in weird places in Ireland - I got the Grandstand Omegatron (still have it but unboxed) from the Apollo 1 store on George's St in town (now oxfam?) and they had load of them for years, and I got sky lynx and trypticon in the Apollo 1 in Dun Laoghaire / Blackrock (can't place it exactly but one of the lads a few classes below in me in primary school's parents ran it!) when they weren't generally available in ireland.

Anyway - these constructicons deffo aren't fakes, and they've not been in anyone else's hands. I'd say some wholesaler bypassed local distribution rules and bought them in from the far east coz it was cheaper than sourcing local?

I really don't want the hassle of selling abroad and, to be honest, I'd really rather they went to someone in Ireland (they travelled a circuitous route to be here and have lived here for 20+ years, so it'd be sad to see them go!). I'm not going to list on adverts for now as by the sounds of things I might just end up getting d1cked around with something so valuable, and I'm not in a rush to sell them, but if there is a genuine collector / fan out there prepared to give a decent price, or you know someone who might be interested, please feel free to get in contact with me.

Thanks for your help guys.

P.S. After 20+ years and several house moves, finally getting around to digging all this stuff out, I have unfortunately discovered one of my 2 boxes of transformers is missing! It must have been misplaced on one of my moves, but as I never actually took them out to look at them since I was a kid, I never realised it So I'm in the annoying position of having, for example, my box cut outs form the swoop my dad brought me home for christmas (again not available in Ireland so it was cool) and the instruciton manual with it, but no feckin swoop as it was in the other box!!! Ditto for a lot of other tfs. At least I kept the constructicons safe....

ChopShop

The toys ending up in Dublin isn't that unusual....

(queue Harp music) ... or skip to second last paragraph for more useful content.

I know the Mexican market Constructicons (made in Mexico, slightly lower quality) were available quite easily here around the second half of 1989.. was only time i ever saw them here.

I've also heard that the Chinese market Constructicons were available at Woolworths. IIRC the Toymaster in DL Shopping Center, Pied Piper as it was called, was either part of the Banba group at the time (it's definitely the Banba now) or had ties with the Banba, more so than other fellow Toymaster shops... and the Banba was also an indepedent importer/wholesaler.

They used to have all sorts of relative oddities that i never saw elsewhere like Superion and Menasor giftsets and the USS Flagg...and a French Diaclone Sunstreaker... French Diaclones are apparently rare, esp Sunstreaker it seems, but at the time i just thought 'oooh cheap Sunstreaker'.... as most of the 'good' Autobot cars were an urban myth.

I digress a little, as an importer in their own right or with links to an importer such as the Banba,, the idea of that Toymaster having access to such toys is quite plausible.

...that Prowl sounds like it might be the Mexican version, made by IGA, under license, in Mexico. Quality was a little off...... but there's one or two color variation on it, and at one point they were quite sought after. Now, i'm not sure.

Mexican TFs seemed to be everywhere around summer - autumn 1988. There was also the infamous lead scare, where someone decided the paint in them contained toxic levels of lead, beyond acceptable safety standards, endangering the health of kids, and generating a newspaper article or two.

Hasbro responded by putting "Genuine Transfomer product" stickers on TF packaging (really)..... and reissuing
some of the Autobot cars in that gold packaging.


Trypticon and Skylynx.... Trypticon was released in Italy and the Netherlands, and Skylynx in the Netherlands... Actually now that i remember, one store in the UK apparently had Trypticon (and the Flagg) as exclusives... although i can't remember which one..... and the store is defunct now anyway it seems..


Fortress Maximus was a prize in a coloring in competition...i entered... didn't win... was gutted. Hamleys supposedly had it for sale, but it seems Hasbro UK decided to ditch remaining stock.


.......ugh, there i go again, on one of my nostalgic rants.


If there are any hardcore collectors out there willing to give you what they'r worth, i think you may find them on transformers ireland online, or at least there might be someone there able to point you in the right direction.

You could maybe trying giving Jason a shout over there, he might know someone (?)




And eBay wise, timing is pretty important, if you're aiming for an auction style listing, a sunday night is usually a good time to end.

Motley Crue

I was obviously way off, and didn't do it to get you to sell me the transformers at a lower price, I am as surprised as you probably are to find out these toys are worth so much. I would take people's advice here, and hold onto them for now, and sell them perhaps as a solid group on EBay.

I don't know where you are based in Ireland but there used to be - should still be there - a comic book and figurines store near the Button Factory in Dublin....almost right next to it, and there was another one on Crow Street about 2 minutes walk from the first. These both deal in all comics, sci fi art and of course collectable figures.

One of the guys at the first shop even ran a stall at an Irish Transformers convention I attended some years back - and that might be a great place to get a buyer. Maybe even approach this guy in the comic store, and see if he can offer you some advice, or where to find a buyer. Perhaps he will even want them for his own collection. He probably posts here tbh. Good Luck!

ChopShop

Motley Crue wrote: »

One of the guys at the first shop even ran a stall at an Irish Transformers convention I attended some years back - and that might be a great place to get a buyer. Maybe even approach this guy in the comic store, and see if he can offer you some advice, or where to find a buyer. Perhaps he will even want them for his own collection. He probably posts here tbh. Good Luck!

You might mean Jason, in which case you can get him at Transformer Ireland Online.

monkeyfudge

I know the only time I got the Constructicons was probably around 88/89 alright.

The shop that is now Carrolls by O'Connell bridge had them real cheap and I remember picking them all up even though I was sort of growing out of toys at that point.

Great thread by the way.

I know I had got Trypitcon one xmas as a kid. Think it came from the Apollo store alright.

BoboDub

Don't worry Mr Crue, I didn't think you were fleecing me

If anyone knows Jason can they give him a heads up, before (as looks like the best alternative option) I go on ebay? I could register and sign up to TF online but I'd have to repost everything again and I'm a little lazy to do that

I did pop into the shop you're talking about and I had a good chap with a decent lad Christy - he put me in touch with another lad about my star wars stuff. If anyoen is going by I'd recommend them to drop in and have a chat.

Christy himself said he could take them off me for resale but I would probably be better going directly to the internet - hence coming on the forum - he said he couldn't give me a price as the state of the economy here means there is no obvious fixed one but to ask around and see which way the wind was blowing.

Did anyone else ever have the experience of half their collection going "missing" and not realise it until years later btw???

padimus2

Christy is actually Jason's dad and Jason is now semi retired from doing the wheeling and dealing thing so he may not be in a position to take them off you. He actually said a while back that he wasn't taking anymore second hand transformers stuff given how much of it he had. There was a spate of people raiding their attics for stuff to sell and he had to turn a lot of them away.

The best way to contact him to see if he's interested would be via Transformers Ireland Online where he's an admin.

Your best bet to sell them would probably be to advertise it on adverts.ie and let people know you're open to offers if you want to keep them local.

Good luck!

BoboDub

sure maybe that's what I'll do and then list them on ebay after a few days if there's no local biters! Thanks for your help guys. If any of you fancy getting a genuine set of constructicons without the hassle or worry of postage and being able to examine them personally first feel free to bail in with an offer when it's up on adverts

sexitoni

BoboDub wrote: »

sure maybe that's what I'll do and then list them on ebay after a few days if there's no local biters! Thanks for your help guys. If any of you fancy getting a genuine set of constructicons without the hassle or worry of postage and being able to examine them personally first feel free to bail in with an offer when it's up on adverts

What's your problem with posting abroad?

You know the buyer on eBay is supposed to pay the shipping costs, yeah, and that buyers understand that?

Unless you're lucky with your timing, a US buyer is by far your best bet. You are not going to find an Irish buyer that will give you fair value.

Registered post for a small box with those 6 packages well protected is only going to be 10 euro if it's under 0.5 Kg and 15 euro if it's under 1 Kg to anywhere in the world. It's no more hassle posting it to California than Carlow except you fill in a small green customs sticker.

You should get 180 - 200 dollars for these once you explain the Chinese marks and how you bought them, kept them etc.

BoboDub

worried about paypal chargebacks and stuff getting damaged in transit or the person sending them back having messed with them. Cash in hand giving over the stuff is much much easier and reliable!!!

BoboDub

Folks, just to let you knwo #i finally got around to putting an ad up on Adverts (not for the constructicons though). I will be taking photos etc. today and will stick them up on the advert.

Jayd0g

I had a Powermaster Optimus Prime as a kid. It went into storage with relations when the family was moving house. The Prime and a full set of constructicons along with a few other toys were wrapped in black bags.

They got thrown out by the relations by accident at some point, so I can sympathize with the OP!