opinion poll...

[Aquaman]

Ok, so here is my question.... I saw on Ebay that someone is selling a Neca 300 shield. This is one of the non battle damaged ones. In the description he says it is valued at $4000.00! (yeah I know!) I always say an educated consumer protects your money. Any way, he says in the description that he decided the paint job wasn't that accurate so he went ahead and had the shield "professionally repainted" to what he thought was more "screen accurate'. Because of that repainting, he says he will let it go for $1500.00.

OK, so my question is this... when u "tinker" with props made for consumers such as MR, Neca and others, what do u think it does to the value of that prop if u were to try and resell on the open market. Do u think it reduces the "collectablity" or not? Why?

 

[defstartrooper]

Yeah i'd say it reduces it, because collectors collect this stuff because it's official and comes with a nice COA and a shiny numbered plaque, accuracy doesn't come into it.
Hell even taking it out the box devalues it to these people, just about every for sale ad you see for this stuff stipulates it's never been displayed or it's only been out the box to inspect the contents, stuff like that.
So yeah i would say repainting it is an issue to a lot of people.

 

[Funky]

Ahhh, yes. The old "To improve or not to improve" question. This one pops up often when the original Hellboy Samaritan came out. "The piece is awesome, the paintjob sucks! If i repaint it, will it loose value?" Lots of differing opinions on this one. I think it ultimately comes down to a personal choice. So long as you know what the 'deal' is, you can make an educated decision.
Here's the long and short. Yes, if you repaint it, it will no longer be a factory collectible, even if you have improved it. The (insert collectible company name here) uber collector will never touch it. He buys with the thought in the back of his head that he is making an investment and wants an item untouched and untampered with. Nothing wrong with that.
The other guy that wants a very displayable piece considers the investment side secondary. He would rather have a more accurate, pretty piece. Now will it hurt or improve it's value? To the uber collector, it's worthless. To everyone else, it's pretty desireable.

 

[Aquaman]

ok cool. I also love the overstated "value" i see on many auctions!