Minis value • Collecting Appraisal • The Acaeum

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Minis value
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brute
Prolific Collector
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:43 pm

Here's a local craigslist entry snip...Anyone hazard a guess to this collections value, or too hard to tell from the pics?

http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/tag/547053077.html

This is a set of 1/72nd-scale figures (each figure is one inch tall) that I assembled in the 1980s, packed up for a move to a place with no work/display space, and have dragged around with me, unopened, through two more moves.

There are over a hundred human characters, about 75 assorted elves, dwarves, orcs, vampires, ghosts, and skeletons, and the rest are animals, devils, or monsters. 265 are painted lead figures, 70 are painted plastic figures, and 110 are lead figures that have not yet been painted. The set comes packed in two wooden cases.

I hate to get rid of this, since I always intended to get back to it (maybe when I retire?), but I am moving again and it's just time to reduce the total size of my establishment. These are over 440 figures, most painted, all for only $100.

gyg
Verbose Collector

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Last Visit: Jul 17, 2026
Location: UK

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:02 am

Got to be worth a punt for $100. Pictures don't do the lot justice but I see lots of Grenadier adventurers there. The kind of lot to bulk out a collection, fill in the slots in box sets or to divide up and sell on (I suggest there is a profit there if you could be bothered) - Potentially there could be some gems in there, but generally speaking I would reckion to double my money.(and have 2 wooden boxes ro keep different stuff in :lol: )

You can never have too much of something you didn't need in the first place.

Deadlord
Grandstanding Collector

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Location: Cow Hampshire, US

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:16 am

I'd love to get it, but I can't drive to Winston-Salem. Wherever that is......

If you hit a Rowsdower, you get to keep it.

benjoshua
Long-Winded Collector
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:16 am

That's easily worth $100.00, but I can't tell you if you'd double your money unless I saw them up close. I'd ask about lead rot, breakage, etc... I'd also like to know the quality of the painting. It's a shame he won't ship.

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

brute
Prolific Collector
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:41 pm

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll go see them in person next week.

benjoshua
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:09 pm

I hope your visit goes well. If they are in descent shape, and have no broken pieces and no lead rot, you can probably get about 50 cents to $1.00 a figure if you sell them in lots of twenty figures or so. Monster figures can get twice to four times as much as character figures, especially vampires, manticores, pegasus, and things like that. Beholders and dragons can do even better.

Lead also sells better than Luminite, lead-free pewter or Raladium. It can difficult to tell the difference, but Luminite has an aluminum sheen to it and lead is a duller grey. Most lead production stopped around 1991 and sometimes there's a little date stamped/carved on the bottom that's helpful. That's not always reliable however because the date is usually when the figure was carved and may not be when it was cast.

Things carved by Julie Guthrie and Tom Meier will sell well, although there are other artists who did well. Ral Partha Series 11 minis are some of the best sellers if you actually find a really rare one.

You may know all this, but it may help. Good luck! :)

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

JohnGaunt
Sage Collector

Posts: 2332
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Location: Shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 7:28 pm

benjoshua wrote:I hope your visit goes well. If they are in descent shape, and have no broken pieces and no lead rot, you can probably get about 50 cents to $1.00 a figure if you sell them in lots of twenty figures or so. Monster figures can get twice to four times as much as character figures, especially vampires, manticores, pegasus, and things like that. Beholders and dragons can do even better.

(In case you didn't know, benjoshua sells lots of minis on eBay. I used to buy minis on eBay until 2007.)

In the unlikely event that you find some non-Ral Partha or non-Grenadier figures, put them in a different sorting pile. Heritage figures (marked Heritage or HM) will have square bases and look unrealistic but charming in an old-school way. Any large or heavy miniature is also worth putting aside.

I notice that some wings and other bits are part of the lot. Save the bits until they have been reunited with their appropriate figures . . . nothing worse than having an incomplete (unsellable or unpaintable) figure.

benjoshua
Long-Winded Collector
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Location: USA Georgia

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 11:26 pm

JohnGaunt wrote:

(In case you didn't know, benjoshua sells lots of minis on eBay. I used to buy minis on eBay until 2007.)

Oh yeah! And I collect them too! In fact, check out these minis I'm commissioning a professional painter to do for me right now!

http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=27389

I can't wait to see them face to face. :D :D :D

And I am selling some pretty cool minis this week on eBay. Check 'em out!

eBay listings

As you can see, some are doing quite well.

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

ElfGamer
Collector

Posts: 1
Joined: Feb 28, 2008
Last Visit: Feb 28, 2008

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:14 am

Im the one who bought them (must be, since the ad is nearly verbatim to the one I responded to). He did ship them and my husband says they were worth it, though not more and I think they were worth about half that, maybe up to $75.

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