This auction is interesting for a variety of reasons – the least of which might be the auction itself. This auction is interesting because it is paired with several other auctions from the same seller, kyraholb.
Five of the auctions from this seller feature a Class A figure. However, the value assigned to those five figures differ by as much as 100%. The difference between a Class C Orange #153 and Class A #151 is only ten dollars – a mere 25%.
Additionally, a repeatedly listed Purple #152 figure has remained unsold for several weeks with a starting bid of $49.95.
The entire grouping of auctions can be seen below, along with their starting bids:
Collectors often argue about prices. And most often the arguments become heated when “price versus value” is argued as the same topic. The question posed to collectors is:
Are these auctions listed at their “price” or their “value?”
The next auction, M.U.S.C.L.E. MEN VINTAGE 1980’S ASSORTED FIGURES LOT, is a rather unassuming lot of M.U.S.C.L.E. figures – or is it?
The last auction, 154 M.U.S.C.L.E. Muscle Men Figures 9 different colors, simply appears to be a nice lot of figures at a (currently) decent price.
The seller, lwpcollectibles, has a fair amount of negative transactions since 1997. This may cause some buyers worry, but on the plus side there do not appear to any negative transactions since 2009. Of course, on the negative side someone could assume this means the seller is due for a bad transaction.
This auction will sell for $86.50.
Follow-Up: Auction Watch #68 may be the best example in the utterly unpredictable nature of Class A M.U.S.C.L.E. figures. Out of the five auctions featuring total collections of singular figures, which included Class A figures, not a single auction sold. It is unfortunate that all of the auctions were not started at the lowest auction price of $49.99. It would have served as a much better baseline and given a better sense in the valuation of specific Class A figures. The only conclusion that can be drawn from these auctions is that they were all over priced.
Figure #1
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Figure #149
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Figure #151
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Figure #152
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Figure #154
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It appears that the same seller may have also overpriced nearly all of his auctions. His $39.99 Orange #153 also did not sell. It was the singular bid on the custom #153, which sold for $24.99, that insured that at least one featured auction sold.
Orange #153
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Custom #153
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The “unassuming” lot did not receive any comments, which probably suggests collector quickly figured out that there wasn’t much there. The lot sold for $11.50.
’Unassuming’ Lot
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The final lot of figures sold for $96, which was $9.50 more than the predicted price of $86.50.
Final Auction Lot
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