# What is the market for those outrageously expensive "diorama" figures? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 18, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033 "2013-04-18T14:05:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/1 "2013-04-18T14:05:50Z")
You’ve probably seem these in a gaming shop, or in ads on entertainment websites. They are basically statues, unmovable, of one or more characters from popular fiction like Star Trek or Aliens etc. Posed together on a base, with a price tag of a jaw dropping hundreds of USD. They are nice and finely detailed, but the price is so high I’m at a loss for what the market is. Ok they are called collectibles, does this mean there is a market of people who collect only these? ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/2 "2013-04-18T14:17:26Z")
My friend who has bought some of them has lots and lots of collectible genre stuff like that. Kaiju figurines, superheroes, Warhammer models, etc. He’s never actually resold some of them, but I don’t think the intent is to collect as an investment (unlike, say, the Franklin Mint stuff is _supposed_ to be). It’s collectibles for collectors. I have to admit, though, his Mjolnir (Thor’s hammer) is pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/3 "2013-04-18T15:16:42Z")
From the title I thought you were talking about literal diorama figures - the kind you find in hobby shops or craft stores, and are used for school projects or by scale modelers (like model train hobbyists who buy tons of little HO-scale people). There are also miniatures that peole enjoy painting and collecting - historical military figures or monsters or wizards and dragons. But it sounds like you mean licensed characters? I guess I haven’t seen those but it sounds like the market would be small, I agree. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/4 "2013-04-18T15:27:58Z")
Collectibles. \ ***Stuart:** Okay, if you’re gonna question the importance of an actor’s signature on a plastic helmet from a movie based on a comic book, then all of our lives have no meaning! \* ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/5 "2013-04-18T15:52:03Z")
I’m talking about these kinda things, I’ve seen them for various movies and stuff and this one is for Star Wars, the site has lots of them. > **[Sideshow - Pop Culture Collectible Figures, Art Prints, Jewelry](https://www.sideshow.com/?page_id=4489&sku=200044)** > > Collectible figures, statues, art prints, jewelry, replicas, apparel and more from the greatest purveyor of pop culture in the known universe - Sideshow. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/6 "2013-04-18T16:32:08Z")
The market is “fanboys with more money than sense.” ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/7 "2013-04-18T16:35:23Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The market is “fanboys with more money than sense.” I figured some people might buy a favorite character or scene etc, but no one is going to be buying tons of these. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/8 "2013-04-18T16:38:30Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I figured some people might buy a favorite character or scene etc, but no one is going to be buying tons of these. I think the thing is most people wouldn’t buy any of these. But the people that do buy them, buy a lot of them. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/9 "2013-04-18T17:06:28Z")
I know people who have a few of these. they aren’t particularly rich, this is just where they choose to spend their money. Some people have iPhones, they have these figures. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/10 "2013-04-18T17:38:47Z")
It’s art. Is the question why do people what to own an art object? There are whole lines of figurines that are not sci fi related. I never hear anyone ask why grandma spends so much for a Hummel or a Lladro. Those things have some mind blowing prices. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/11 "2013-04-18T17:44:35Z")
Yeah, just enthusiasts. My husband buys pretty much anything Dark Shadows-related, plus a few comic book things - he drools over the really expensive stuff but usually doesn’t buy it. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/12 "2013-04-18T18:02:24Z")
I never understood the statues. You can’t play with them. If I want a figure of a favortie character of mine I want it moveable so I can play with them or at least pose them in different postions. Playing Happy Sexy Fun Time with Mario and Supergirl is no fun unless you can move the limbs around. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/13 "2013-04-18T19:41:42Z")
Just thought I’d add I really meant no offense in my OP, I don’t think people that buy these are subhuman scum or anything. I was just honestly curious, mostly about the price. I mean I’ve had scifi action figure on my desk like every average Joe 😉 I think it was the amount of these I’ve seen and the collectible label. I’d honestly be afraid to display one for fear it would get broken. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/14 "2013-04-18T20:05:06Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > I never understood the statues. You can’t play with them. If I want a figure of a favortie character of mine I want it moveable so I can play with them or at least pose them in different postions. Playing Happy Sexy Fun Time with Mario and Supergirl is no fun unless you can move the limbs around. … wonder how long it will take my husband to notice all of his “dolls” have been reposed? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/15 "2013-04-18T20:21:12Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I figured some people might buy a favorite character or scene etc, but no one is going to be buying tons of these. I am. Or rather, I have. I have a large collection (40-50, I forget the exact total) of Sideshow Weta polystone **Lord of the Rings** statues, which were all purchased between 2003-2005. Some of which have cost me around $300, with most being $125 for the full figures or $60 for the busts. When the market was hot for these things however, certain rare ones often sold on eBay for up to $2,000. I’ve resold a couple for $600 or so. Most I bought just because they are really cool looking art pieces and I wanted to have a large display of LOTR figures. (A couple \*were \*purchased as investments.) Really the only answer is they looked cool and at the time I had the extra money. I also bought 5 replica LOTR swords. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/16 "2013-04-18T20:24:57Z")
A lot of this high-end stuff is produced in small, numbered batches. They’re designed as collectibles. When you buy one, you’re basically gambling that this particular item will become valuable enough over time to justify the cost. Also they look really neat. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/17 "2013-04-18T20:30:39Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I also bought 5 replica LOTR swords. Yeah, but those are _useful_. Zombies and [Jehovah’s Witnesses](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=4600087&postcount=31), ya know. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/18 "2013-04-18T20:59:04Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > A lot of this high-end stuff is produced in small, numbered batches. They’re designed as collectibles. When you buy one, you’re basically gambling that this particular item will become valuable enough over time to justify the cost. > > Also they look really neat. Nobody is buying these things thinking they might go up in value. Or rather, maybe there are, but those people are mistaken. Anything sold as a collectable isn’t a collectable. It’s only things that weren’t sold as collectables, but then people decided to collect them, that are collectables. In order for an item to increase in price you have to have more people who want one than there are items. So for these faux-collectables, there does not exist a large number of people who want one, if only they could find one for sale, and then when one does go on sale these collectors bid up the price. Instead anyone who wants a statue of Shaak Ti dueling General Grievous already has one. If today a new person decides they want such a statue they don’t have to find some collector who loves these statues willing to sell theirs, instead they go to the website and order it for list price. Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying that nobody who regularly buys these things is thinking they’re buying something that will increase in value. They’re buying it because they want it, not because they’re hoping to resell it someday. I mean, maybe they could resell some of the pieces. But they’re only worth what someone else is willing to pay for them, and outside of a very limited circle of fanboys nobody is going to want one, and those fanboys have plenty of other expensive figures they could buy. So Shaak Ti vs General Grievous might turn out to be valuable if and only if lots of fanboys absolutely positively want that particular one, and the manufacturer doesn’t have any more in stock, and they won’t be satisfied with Anakin vs Asajj, they HAVE to have Shaak Ti vs General Grievous. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/19 "2013-04-18T21:14:58Z")
I follow a couple of toy review blogs. The writer of one of them also reviews things like that a lot - statues or marginally articulated figures (he just reviewed a Judge Dredd statue that has interchangeable weapons). I figure the audience overlaps a lot with the people who display their stuff unopened. People buy it because it looks cool, no different than any other art. I’ve thought about buying some of the Ame-Comi statues, but I still don’t have my other stuff out so I’m putting it off. I generally buy toys, but if the statue is dynamic enough (so not just the busts) I start drooling. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033/20 "2013-04-18T22:13:41Z")
…Because people like art? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-market-for-those-outrageously-expensive-diorama-figures/656033.md?page=2)