Although, i’ve developed a certain level of expertise over the last 6-7 years of closely watching the Thundercats market i don’t know and i was wondering which line is more expensive to purchase and harder to find by a collector? Both have a huge number of fans worldwide,Thundercats or Motu, especially if we are talking about AFA pieces, which one is more valuable, for instance comparing a Lion-o AFA 85 to He-Man AFA 85? I don’t know for how many years the MOTU line was produced and to how many Series each figure was released, maybe someone more adept could enlighten us further on the rarity factor
Originally posted on the ThunderCats forums and moved here to the heman.org Masters of the Universe forum.
I am by no means an expert in this area but on he-man.org there was a link to an ebay auction for a MOC vintage Mer-Man that was not AFA graded and that sold for over $700. I don’t know what the TC 8 backs go for but if a Mer-Man sells at that price without AFA rating my guess would be that MOTU figures would be more expensive. I would actually be interested in hearing more on this topic. There’s also one guy on he-man.org that posts weekly reports on all MOTU ebay auctions and average prices so if I can just find that thread I can post it here so it will be easier to compare. I’m sure Mannyscollectibles or somebody knows a lot about TC figure prices.
Any resources would be very helpful to make a comparison. I’ve seen Thundercats figures go for $500-$600, of course in perfect condition, and they weren’t AFA, i think one MOC Bengali waS the last one, if my memory serves me correctly.
I’m a fan and collector of both AFA carded sets and it’s apples and oranges. The He-Man carded set is 3 times as big as Thundercats in addition to being more popular both at the time of release and now, and there are at least a dozen key pieces to the MOTU set whereas the Thundercats line is basically series 3. The 8 Back MOTU are much more valuable than 8 Back Thundercats because comparatively fewer examples remain in good condition (trust me, I’m still trying to get them all without selling a kidney!), and it’s also worth noting that the He-Man figures are several years older than Thundercats. It took me months to get 175 out of an AFA 80 Slythe 8 back. Beast Man is basically his equivalent character and I would give 500 for a similarly graded 8 back of him without much thought.
I’m not saying by any standard that I think the MOTU line is better. I feel the Thundercats had better detail and likeness and I also like the packaging and scale better. I am glad I have my Thundercats set now because time should show that these figures were the best thing made in the 80’s and there really aren’t a lot of good examples of certain pieces floating around. Whether it takes a movie, a series, or some other epiphany if new fans come in down the line there won’t be enough quality figures to go around and the prices should sky-rocket.
I am a bit surprised about the condition you mentioned and that it’s harder to find a MOTU 8-back in great shape, out of my best recollection, whenever i look through the internet i see many high graded MOTU with amazing sub grades Figure:90 and Blister:90 which is very difficult to find these at the AFA Thunderecats. Especially, due to some unexplained reasons, the Figure subgrade:90 is as scarce as hen’s teeth!
Also, i don’t know usually how much it costs for a famous MOTU AFA figure but there are many Thundercats AFA, not necessarily Lion-o, right now at e-bay which are sold for a couple of thousands.
The selling price fluctuates and depends on the seller, i remember a case some months ago where a Bengali AFA graded 80 or 85 was sold for around $700-$800 USD and another one with the same grades for $1500.
You can see these kind of paradox very often.
The 8-backs are by far the hardest to find and it’s been a long time since i last saw a Lion-o orange or red hair belonging to Series 1. The LL and Thunderwings are an exception and a rare categoy on their own
I found the website I talked about! I don’t know how uptodate it is since their last posts on he-man.org where in June and when looking through some of the MOTU figures the latest reports where from Mar-Apr. It also had reports for some of the new Thundercats figures. Check it out: http://www.eauctionrewards.com/reports/
The He-Man carded set is 3 times as big as Thundercats in addition to being more popular both at the time of release and now, and there are at least a dozen key pieces to the MOTU set whereas the Thundercats line is basically series 3. The 8 Back MOTU are much more valuable than 8 Back Thundercats because comparatively fewer examples remain in good condition (trust me, I’m still trying to get them all without selling a kidney!), and it’s also worth noting that the He-Man figures are several years older than Thundercats. It took me months to get 175 out of an AFA 80 Slythe 8 back. Beast Man is basically his equivalent character and I would give 500 for a similarly graded 8 back of him without much thought. Any resources would be very helpful to make a comparison. I’ve seen Thundercats figures go for $500-$600, of course in perfect condition, and they weren’t AFA, i think one MOC Bengali waS the last one, if my memory serves me correctly.
Did you just post a mesh of Lordore and Robimus’s quote together as a post?
…ok, well anyways,
As someone who keeps track of both lines (not a collector of either yet as I just don’t have the $$$. Whatever extra I have goes into the MOTUC line) I do have to disagree that Thundercats will come out as the best line of the 80s. G.I. Joe figs probably bring the most in of any 80s property just from my samplings on eBay over the years. I can’t ever see Thundercats figures being any higher than 4th of the big 4 80s properties. I remember about 2 months or so ago someone trying to sell a He-Man/Jet Sled gift set for $20k. I don’t know if he got it or not as I had watched it but I just checked my watch list for the first time in a while and the auction is gone. Apparently that is the holy grail of MOTU collecting as the guy said there’s only 3 known to exist. I don’t think you’ll find anything in Thundercats fetch anywhere close to that much. I’ll vouch for Robimus based on my own findings that when you match up figure for figure, MOTU comes out ahead in the $$$ department.
However, I just don’t ever see Thundercats passing Transformers, G.I. Joe, and MOTU and being the #1 80s toy line ever. Looking at Thundercats compared to Transformers and MOTU, its really not close to either of those lines in terms of the innovation (Transformers was absolutely the single most innovative line of the decade). Plus, while I’m not a huge Joe guy, I get the sense based on my research that the Real American Hero line has the combination of the largest fanbase trying to collect the fewest gradable carded figures out there to make it the biggest cash cow line. GI Joe and Transformers both have their own cons for crying out loud. Thundercats isn’t anywhere close to that.
I could be wrong, and WB relaunching the series and possibly a movie may grow the fanbase considerably. I certainly hope so as its been a long time coming for good things to happen to Thundercats.
I always thought the vintage Star Wars line by Kenner was at the top of the game. I didn’t know G.I Joe were so close to transformers as a fans favorite toyline.
I’m searching through e-bay right now for the most expensive AFA MOTU as compared to AFA Thundercats. You guys certainly know better since you are collecting both for years, and i don’t mean to be disrespectful but after a quick look, all in all, they seem to me pretty equal as far as the price being sold is concerned.
I’ve posted a few links just for reference, check it out:
Also could someone Please riddle me this because it’s bugging me for years: WHY the MOTU are graded so often with sub grades:90 whereas Thundercats hardly reach one, even for the encased Figure and even though they were released later!!!
A few nitpicking details as to why I don’t consider that as part of the argument
Star Wars is a movie property, not a television show. That automatically disqualifies it from the discussion.
I consider the Star Wars Kenner line to be a 70s toy line since that is when it originated. Therefore this also disqualifies it from the discussion.
Now those aside, you’re absolutely right that the Star Wars Kenner line is probably the single most valuable and sought after collectible line out there for the same reasons I stated about G.I. Joe, except that the Star Wars fan base probably outnumbers the fanbases of MOTU, Thundercats, and Transformers combined (just a guess but it wouldn’t surprise me). But strictly going by 80s action toons tied to a toyline, I’m pretty confident G.I. Joe has the largest fanbase.
As for your other question, your guess is as good as mine. I could speculate but I really don’t know for sure. Good question.
I would like to clarify that I never claimed Thundercats would surpass all 80’s toy lines in sale prices and notoriety, only that I think they will show higher appreciation in future years over what they are selling for now compared to other lines because the supply simply isn’t there. 24 Mint on Card Thundercat auctions on ebay right now vs at least 100 vintage MOTU, and untold vintage Joes and Transformers. (I would consider Star Wars in it’s own category as a half 70’s/half 80’s line, they pretty much invented the wheel market wise of course) I think the other lines have already hit the top of the bubble relatively speaking and there isn’t much chance of doubling or tripling your money on a high end figure even with due inflation. I think there is some upside yet in MOTU but not on the level of Thundercats (including Tigersharks in this genre which have already proved scarce.) I can envision a time when 8 back and series 3 AFA 80+ Thundercats sell for 1000+ dollars, not 200-300. And yes I know some people are asking this level of price for them now but no one I know of is buying there. Highest I have ever paid was 500 for a clear 80 Ben-Gali.
Popularity-wise I have GI Joe, Transformers, MOTU, then Thundercats.
However for my personal favorites you can flip the list.
