Toy Hunters

I'm also in the boat of "these shows are cool but staged." At least it's not as bad as something like Storage Wars or Pawn Stars. Ugh. I personally use these shows to educate myself on anything I may see and would normally pass over.

I can sympathize with both sides of the argument. For someone that's collecting, it's crappy to see a rare or sought after figure dissected. On the flip side, I've seen quite a few customs that blow away what was released. Just a quick view of the galleries on this site proves that. I'd rather have a sick custom in my collection that a junky "official" figure any day. For those that customize, the satisfaction of creating something yourself is a pretty good feeling too.

Also, I've never been a fan of viewing collections as investments. I've collected and sold cards,comics,figures and videogames. It's as much about timing and luck as anything. I also think that sometimes people who collect forget to enjoy what they have. I used to have a videogame collection of over 4,000 games. It got to the point that I forgot about why I got into videogames in the first place. I've since trimmed it to under 1,000.

Its a cool show but Collection Intervention seems more legit and truthful. It was cool to see ppls extreme collection.

I was so excited for this show, then the first episode was so staged. It just doesn't feel very "OMG Look A Rare Figure".

Thanks.

Wednesday Nights, at either 9 or 10, I think. I could be wrong on the time.

When does this show come on?

100% agree with what you're saying. And yeah, at least he did mention the art of customizing. But, yes it was a disrespectful move and I think he should have handled the whole situation with much more care and respect. Oh and as for the price of a custom, the "value life" let's say, is limited. Like, selling a custom after having it after a while, usually doesn't sell well. But what mainly determines the price are four things. 1 obviously, the quality of work. How good is the paint, sculpt, you get the picture. 2 the size like any figure, the bigger, the more expensive, like any other figure. 3 the customizer. I a customizer is very famous for great quality, professional work, they can sell for much higher. 4 the most important one, is the character. A deadpool will sell for MUCH more than, well, an Aunt Beru figure. The characters popularity and coolness is what will determine the value.

Of course, I'm a collector, I'll admit that, and I am hoping to start customizing after moving into my new house. I can see how both sides of this issue on how the "Toy Hunter" treated the custom figures.

Now, as a customizer, I do think in a way, it is somewhat disrespectful with how he just "threw" it back into the bin. I am glad he acknowledged the field of customizing, which may show many people who haven't heard of customizing know about it, which would get them to look into it. However, as a collector, I myself do not know if custom action figures are collectable or not. I mean, I know a lot of customizers here sell their customs on eBay. However, unlike official figures produced by toy companies, it's hard for a value to be placed on them. For example, using one of the figures I spotted, a custom Aunt Beru (or at least I think it's Aunt Beru from what I saw), other than the price the guy paid a customizer to make (or the prices he paid for the figures, paint, sculpt, etc, if he was the one who made them), how much would it actually be in a collector's market? To me, it's hard to say as I've actually started recently getting into collecting stuff (more often, stuff from my timeframe, some possible older items, basically things I intend to keep for the rest of my life). To those who are more professional collectors, there may not actually be any value at all to it, where as it's easier to price an actual unaltered item like a Leia figure (loose or on the card) produced by Kenner. Not to mention, unless you're a die-hard Star Wars fan (like the gentleman whose collection the "Toy Hunter" was picking), who would want an Aunt Beru action figure? To die-hard collectors, seeing a customized figure isn't, "Dang! That's a nice figure!", it's "Dang! They ruined at least two perfectly good collectables/ruined the value of the original figure by modifying/painting a very valuable figure." Think of it like this, you know that rare/non-produced Boba Fett action figure with the rocket that can figure? Well, he found the prototype of it in the pilot episode (which can be found on YouTube). Let's say a customizer took that figure and decided to paint it, not knowing about its value or they do know the value, but believe it should be painted to match Boba Fett on screen because it looks terrible unpainted? That's a big no-no in the collecting community and could potentially drop the value. Even restoring an item, in some cases, is a big no-no because it drops the value even more than in the poor shape that its in. Basically, to them, customizing is in the same vein of "toy destroyed or damaged due to rough playing by a kid, who had no idea that the toy would become valuable/popular as a collectable later on in life."

I'm not saying I agree with how the "Toy Hunter" treated the figure, but I sort of get the mentality due to being able to see both sides. But, there is an upside: at least we know he acknowledges custom action figures and knows some about it. He could have very well not acknowledge it at all and they could have cut that whole bit out during editing.

I love this show! So glad to see a show about toys. Haven't seen that one though. And I do agree, it is a bit staged. I guess he means, about the collectors, that customizers dissect toys that many people collect and so a collector wouldn't appreciate it. Now, I'm a collector, and a customizer(as are many people on figurerealm) and I also love customs. Though his point, if he meant what I stated previously, is understandable, it isn't completely true. I'm sure some collectors feel that way, but not all of them. He should've shown more respect to customizers and customs though. I agree.

Pretty neat show but I just wish it didn't feel as staged.