Rarity Thread
As someone that has a lot to learn about Super Powers collecting, something that might be helpful is a resource for the rarity of a particular figure or cardback. Like it would be great to have a list of each figure in order of rarity, or at least perhaps divided up into rarity groups. For instance, for Batman, having the card backs listed or grouped by how scarce they are. Maybe even with just a scale from 1-5 to show which ones are most common, and which are very difficult to find. Not necessarily related to value, but for folks that may wan to complete a run of a certain character, it would be helpful to know which ones they shouldn't pass up when they come across them!
This is a great topic that I could use some ideas on. One thing I considered doing was a 10-point system on both rarity and value. The reason I'd do both is because sometimes rarity means value but not always. A Canadian Figure Offer Hawkman is extremely rare compared to a Canadian Poster Offer Hawkman, but would it sell for more? Probably not, so for rarity I'd rank them different but for value I'd rank them the same. And instead of using dollar amounts for value, also do a point based system to keep it arbitrary, and as the line increases in value as a whole, the rating system would still be accurate that way.
The question is how? One thing I considered was next to each cardback variation description put stars for both. So in the example above (Canadian Hawkman) I'd put (for sake of example) on Poster Offer for rarity put 2 stars, and Figure Offer put 6 stars. Then for value put 2 stars on both. That kind of thing. Then we run into each variation being debatable on both values, and trying to scale it. Scale being, for a US Cyborg on the same scale would mean 6 stars for rarity and 6 stars for value. (then some of the lili ledy and gulliver etc would get the 10 star ratings). I suppose with enough people giving input this could work. Thoughts?
That sounds like a great idea! It doesn't need to be super specific, and of course there will always be debate, but a good starting point would be awesome! I'm all for a rating system for simplicity. It reminds me of the Star Wars POTF Coins being divided into Categories I-V with V being the most rare like prototypes.
Thanks Rasoul!
Someone want to take a crack at this? I'm thinking if a handful of people each pick a handful of figures, we'll get it done quickly. I've been too slammed at work lately to start on this.
I'm thinking it'll be hard to keep everything consistent if we have different opinions going into different characters, but having guidelines will help and at least will give us a good start for tweaking the numbers in the future if needed.
For rarity, we can base this on ebay search and 90 day history, but people that follow every auction should be able to guess well enough, especially focus collectors that follow one character more than others. What will make this tough is we're ranking each cardback variation. So where Flash is VERY common as a figure in general, the 12-back Fan Club Offer is very easy to find ("1 star") and the 23-back Fan Club Offer is extremely difficult to find ("7 stars"). And if you're hunting the US "Figure Offer" Flash, it's not anywhere near as rare as the 23-Back but it's certainly more rare than the Fan Club Offer (so "3 stars").
Rarity
1 star: Very readily available, several to choose from as a buyer. 12-back FCO Flash comes to mind.
2 stars: Readily available. Some on ebay current (enough where checking 90 day history not necessary).
3 stars: Sometimes available, but not many to choose from. A handful on ebay current but you may have to check ebay 90-day history to see real numbers. Some "Superman Cape Offer" cardbacks fit into this category.
4 stars: Not readily available but certainly obtainable. 10-20 on ebay/history. Several 3rd series would follow this (Tyr, Canadian Orion) as well as several US Batman.
5 stars: Pops up every few weeks. 5-10 on ebay/history. (At the time of this posting, there are 2 cyborgs for sale on ebay, and 6 in the history, so Cyborg would get 5 stars.)
6 stars: Pops up every few months. 1-5 on ebay/history. (At the time of this posting, Riddler has 2 in history and 1 currently listed, would get 6 stars. another example, US Shazam has 3 in history and none listed, would also get 6 stars.)
7 stars: Pops up about once a year, whether private party or ebay. While hard to find, is still obtainable, although best bet to find one is private party. Lili Ledy Wonder Woman and Gulliver's Captain Rayo comes to mind. Canadian Mr Freeze and Canadian (large card) Batman as well.
8 stars: Pops up every few years, obtainable however certainly not readily available for a buyer. Gulliver Green Lantern and 33-back Superman comes to mind. As well as many other foreign items, some Estrela, GMJ Spain, Nibo Penguin, etc.
9 stars: Has been for sale in the past 10 years, whether private party or ebay, and is one of just a handful that has been spotted in other collections. Several foreign items, Lili Ledy Lex Luthor, Aquaman, etc come to mind. Many Estrela and GMJ Spain fit in here too.
10 stars: Has never been seen for sale publicly, except maybe the one time you saw it to know it exists. I've seen a photograph of a MOC Estrela Black Batman on a blog site, but I don't know anyone that owns this item, something like this fits into this category. Another example would be Estrela Penguin, or GMJ Spain Flash or Hawkman, or the Italian trilinguals, where only one has been spotted in collections to know they exist, but another example hasn't surfaced.
I'm out of time but I'll get a criteria list together for "Values" later. Until then, anyone have feedback on the initial rarity scale?
