Short Supply Leads to Increased Demand For Some TNA Figures

http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/The_Specialists_34/article_54200.shtml

By Michael Moore, PWTorch collectibles specialist

In A Sentence: Figures of Beer Money and the Motor City Machine Guns are among the most popular – and difficult to find – TNA action figures from Jakks-Pacific.

Even though the TNA action figures by Jakks-Pacific haven’t exactly been flying off the shelves, the shortage of certain figures has driven up their popularity – and their value.

The first Jakks TNA Deluxe Impact figures debuted in the summer of 2010, approximately six months after the last WWE figures from Jakks were released. An initial buzz had collectors scooping up the first modern era figures of wrestlers like Sting, Suicide, and A.J. Styles. But once that buzz wore off and those figures were gone, toys of wrestlers like Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle sat on shelves so long that retailers eventually were forced to sell them at heavily discounted prices. Many Target stores, for example, were selling these figures for 75 percent off their original suggested retail price of $9.99 months after their initial release.

There was even less interest in the second wave of figures. In fact, go into your local Kmart now, and you’ll probably find figures of Eric Young, Amazing Red, and Hernandez still sitting on the shelf.
Because of the tepid response to the first two waves of figures, many retailers never carried another series. Most hardcore collectors could only find their favorites at Toys R Us; that meant that many collectors and kids in smaller markets missed out on toys of some of their favorite wrestlers. Some wrestling sites also offered these figures, but the prices were considerably higher, not to mention the added cost of shipping and handling.

Because so few large retailers carried the TNA figures beyond the first two Deluxe Impact series, collectors are still searching for them; in many cases, the supply has all but dried up.

Figures from the second series of Cross the Line 2-Packs have become especially hot over the last few months. Loose figures of Beer Money and the Motor City Machine Guns rarely surface, and when they do, each team has been selling for around $35-40. That’s quite a jump, considering just a year ago Toys R Us sold the figures new for $17.99.

Figures of the Guns and Beer Money still in the original packaging almost never surface on eBay. Collectors who want those are turning to wrestling and toy sites that are charging as much as $59.99 per team.

The Velvet Sky figure from Deluxe Impact Series 3 also is a popular figure, usually selling in $20-25 range. Earlier this year, Sky herself was selling many of these figures through her own personal eBay account.

Fans clamored for years for a modern style Sting figure, but Jakks-Pacific never included him in the company’s Classic WWE Superstars line, likely because of his affiliation with TNA. When the first Sting figure was released as part of the Deluxe Impact Series 1 line, collectors were scooping them up for around $30. Since then, however, Jakks has produced several different Sting figures, so the demand has dropped.

Of the first series, Suicide seems to be the most popular with collectors, selling in the $20-25 range. For obvious reasons, Suicide’s name was never included on any of the packaging; where most wrestlers’ names appear on the front of the package, Suicide’s figure only has the black logo shown on the front of his outfit.

Collectors have also been very fond of many of the Internet-exclusive figures sold by ringsidecollectibles.com. Earlier this year, the site offered a special Jeff Hardy with glow-in-the-dark face paint for $26.99. Many collectors snatched those up, and they’re now listed as being on back-order at ringsidecollectibles.com. Many have found their way onto eBay, however, and are selling in the $40 range.

Ringsidecollectibles.com also offered a Sting and Hulk Hogan two-pack from their altercation on Impact in March 2010, when Sting appeared to be the heel and Hogan the babyface. Sting comes with a purple robe and baseball bat, and Hogan’s figure features a bloodied face and chest. Ringside Collectibles is still selling these for $26.99 for the package, but some are also selling on eBay for around $15 per figure.

One series of figures worth keeping an eye on is the Jakks TNA Impact line, commonly called “Ruthless Impact” by collectors because the toys resemble the style of the WWE Ruthless Aggression line of figures from Jakks. Released shortly after the first wave of Deluxe Impact figures, these figures more closely resemble the basic WWE figures that Jakks had produced for several years. While some collectors prefer the deluxe style of figure, many others don’t like the extra points of articulation in the stomach and legs, and were excited that TNA released a wave of basic figures.

The basic Jakks TNA Impact figures were sold at Walgreens at a price of three for $13.98; this remains the only line of basic action figures to date, although the legends figures that were sporadically included with the Deluxe Impact series also featured a more basic design. The lone series of basic Jakks TNA Impact figures included Sting, Jay Lethal, Abyss, Kevin Nash, Suicide, and Kurt Angle.

The basic Sting figure was selling as high as $50 when the line was first released last summer, but then quickly cooled off. Since then, however, these figures have started to vanish from the secondary market, so it’s very possible that the value could go up considerably if Jakks doesn’t produce any more in this style. Most of the figures can be found now in the $8-12 range.

Production of the Deluxe Impact line seemingly came to a screeching halt earlier this year and rumors have swirled about the future of the figures. While no new lines of figures have been released in several months, Jakks continues to produce exclusive figures for ringsidecollectibles.com. The site recently announced the upcoming release of a Twist of Hate two-pack, featuring Matt and Jeff Hardy as they briefly appeared together as heels in Immortal in early 2011.
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