Saturday, July 4, 2020

The Zeros - Mark V

Once again, for your 4th of July boredom, I present the Zeros.  These are the least popular posts of the past year.  I see a bit of a theme this year.  And, seeing what's really popular kind of reinforces my theory.  Obscure releases and foreign figures seem to be waning a bit in popularity.  While simultaneously, stuff that's relatively common seems to get big traffic.  I suspect it's a function of the influx of new collectors who are drastically overpaying for the common stuff they remember from childhood.  They like stuff they're familiar with, but aren't yet going into the depths that Joe collecting offers.  We'll see how that trend holds up through the the rest of the year.

Without further ado, here are the least popular posts from the past 12 months:


Everyone loves Blowtorch.  Estrela figures from Brazil tend to be very popular.  Put them together and you get a dud of a profile that no one cared about.  I think this figure is cool.  But, he's also pretty much indistinguishable from the US release.  

Tocha, Estrela, Brazilian Blowtorch, 1984, Action Force, Panther, VAMP



A somewhat obscure and hard to find army builder who's repainted in a classic way?  Check.  A profile ignored?  Check.  Not sure why no one liked this write up.  But, it's overall engagement was very low.  Generally, classic Cobra army builders do well, regardless of the color scheme.  But, this high quality figure flew under the radar.

2002 Convention Crimson Viper



As unproduced figs go, this one is pretty lame.  The yellow gloves make no sense.  And, the 2004 figure of Steeler is generally unloved, too.  So, I get this guy's low numbers.

2004 Unproduced Comic Pack Steeler, Midnight Chinese



Neon 1990's figures have finally found their popularity in recent years.  The releases from this time have gotten harder to find, substantially more expensive and appear far more frequently in fan created content.  Despite that, this Eco Warriors BBQ figure was ignored.  Few people stopped by to read about him.  I guess not all brightly colored 1990's figs can be popular at the same time.

1992 Eco Warriors Barbecue, BBQ



Dreadnoks tend to be popular.  And, Buzzer is probably the best done of the crew.  But, this Funskool repaint didn't garner any attention at all.  In some ways, early Dreadnoks have become passe.  And, common Funskool figures don't get much love these days.  So, this profile amounted to a big dud.

Funskool Buzzer, 1985, Dreadnok

Looking ahead to the rest of 2020, I have a lot more in store.  

6 comments:

  1. For some reason, it makes me furious that there are new collectors on the scene. Some of the prices on common stuff is ridiculous. 50 dollars for a '85 Shipwreck.Are you kidding me?

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    1. Toxo-Zombie loose now goes for $30 or more sometimes at high as $45. A character never used in media who is pink and lime green.

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  2. I've given up trying to fill holes in collection for the moment because of exaggerated prices. $75 for loose Flint? $80 for Outback? $60 for Desert Scorpion and Big Ben? Really? I can understand high prices for a pristine, white Storm Shadow, but this? And dealers always claim figures are hard to find. As a kid in the 90s I remember Joes being everywhere in massive numbers. Hopefully prices will start to drop in late '20 into '21.

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  3. I try so hard but I just can't get into 1992 BBQ. Mind you I love his 1985 version.

    As for prices I see the 1990 and 1991 Joes really shooting up. Are they really that rare?

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    2. I don’t think they are that rare. I grew up on late 80’s and ‘90’s joes. It’s probably people in their mid to late 30’s finally getting to a point in their life to have disposable income.

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