Check this bad boy out.

Weird right? Add to that the shear size of this green monster and you get the full effect. At 14″ tall and a whopping 19″ wide he is truly a beast of awesome proportions. I would have loved to have one of these as a kid.

Made with a hard plastic body with vinyl legs and bendy rubbery tentacles this piece seems like it could be the ultimate foe for pretty much any action figure line. Right now I want to give it to some kids and watch them battle him with a bunch of GI Joes and Star Wars Jedis. The possibilities are endless as Green here would always win.

This toy is actually from a goofy line of toys made by Hasbro in 1986 called the Inhumanoids. As with many of the other toy lines at the time it also had an accompanying animated series (it only lasted 13 episodes so it can’t have been that great).

The face is very Lovecraftian and definitely reminds me of his legendary Cthulhu character.

One of the unique features of the Inhumanoids was their light up facial features, this guy, who goes by the name of Tendril is no exception.

The feature is very low tech but cool none the less. The top of the head has a clear window set in to it, when angled properly light can be directed through it giving rise to the trademark glow feature. For the purpose of demonstration you can see that I pulled out my trusty flashlight, pretty cool if you ask me.

Tendril is a tough figure to find and is probably one of the only figures in this line that could be described as “sought after”. The light up tentacles are almost always snapped in half and the one above is no exception although one did survive (quite a rarity). Even with the broken parts I have seen this guy sell for over $75. I scored mine for $10… suh-weet.

He reminds me a great deal of another toy that came out in 1979 from Mattel. Close? You tell me.

Time now to check out an old TV commercial for the Inhumanoids toys including Tendril here.

Stay tuned for more cool toys, see you soon.

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I saw this piece online ages ago and I have no idea why I wanted one… I just knew that I did. Yes, I am weird like that.

Check this out.

From the epic seventies sci-fi smash, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, we have the Helmet & Starfighter with Official Pin playset.

Made by HG Toys in 1979 you can see that this set still has it’s original $9.96 price tag from TRU. Finding the box with this toy was important for me (like it’s any easier finding it without though!) as the painted artwork is right up my alley, that kid looks positively delighted.

Very little can be said about this piece that does not repeatedly use the word awesome. This is soooooo awesome!

The helmet is made from a soft white plastic with red decals attached.

The red comm system parts are also made of the same soft plastic and clip on the sides.

Clearly made for play purposes as this helmet, awesome though it is, is clearly no good for anything other than dress up. Any thought of using it for any kind of head protection would be crazy and lead to near instant skull fractures and/or brain damage.

I can’t decide which of my goofy looking helmets I like the best. I’m guessing that it would be pretty hard to beat this one though.

The instruction sheet is very basic but it is a cool extra piece in the box so I’ll take it thank you.

The starfighter is 10″ long and made of a hard, mirror chromed, plastic with a pair of rainbow colored stickers. It is a single solid piece and not much of anything to play with.

Another version of this set exists with this Twiki communicator, as I already have this piece I wanted the different one.

The official button is kinda lame but what the hey.

As I said before this set is pretty tough to find and you may have noticed that the box on mine is not in the best of shape. Even still expect to pay at least $100 for one of these bad boys, as usual I paid noticeably less

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The Nostradamus of toys? Perhaps not, I just sayin’.

This is a piece I picked up a little while ago at a flea market, I was rooting around in a big bucket of nick-knacks and a caught a glimpse of something. “Twenty five cents” was the response I got from the stall holder when I inquired as to the price of this treasure (OK, that is definitely an exaggeration but it makes for a good dramatic build up).

Anyway check this out.

It’s a weird chewed up package with a little doll tucked away all safe and sound on the inside.

The back of the card shows a production date of 1971 (see, now you know why you had to learn those in school) and it was made by the Uneeda Doll Co. which is pronounced “you-need-a”… clever! I particularly like how it instructs you to not discard the package as it was designed as a “storage chest”, HA!

Because the package is beat, an understatement for sure, I decided to pop out the staples down the right hand side. Once the little figurine inside was free I was able to enjoy it in its full creepy glory. Don’t believe me?

The defense rests your honor.

This could only ever had been made in the seventies. Hippies were done with the Summer of Love and now had the kids to prove it. So what better way to entertain your beloved munchkin than with a doll with a flesh colored smiley face head. Very bizarre indeed.

The back of the head confirms the date of manufacture and that it is part of the Happy Pee Wee line of dolls (marked as HaPee Wee). As a kid if I got one of these I would not be very happy at all.

I managed to find a picture of a more complete package for you, this one is also beat… apparently people did not feel the love for these guys and never thought to protect them these forty years.

Notice the dress is the same design but a different color combination. I can only guess there are more, I mean you can’t have the seventies with out some lime green or purple… I should know, I was there!

Each figure stands a diminutive 3.5″ tall, very pocket sized indeed. As a toy they don’t really do much except look “cute” (??). Neither the arms nor legs can be moved, the only option available is to turn the head a full 360 degrees, very Exorcist… I love it.

I think I got a deal for a quarter, my guess is these can be had, assuming you could find one, for about five bucks a pop.

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It doesn’t matter if they are generic mechanical forms or even representations of well known characters I adore them all.

People have been fascinated by all kinds of automata for centuries now… yes I said centuries. For me it is the idea that tucked away inside this small toy is a complex set of cogs, gears, linkages and springs all working together to bring something that is lifeless to life, if only for a while. For the most part they only require priming with the turn of an inconspicuous key and away they go. Awesome.

The robots I am drawn to fall in to three basic categories: 1) Old school, fifties style atomic age figures that look like boxy people with riveted gray metal panels and an abundance of flashing lights. These are classic. 2) Next we have ultra modern robots, these are almost the polar opposite of the ones I just described in the first category. Often they are sleek works of art made from computer styled plastic and embedded LED lighting, very futuristic. 3) Finally we get to the character robots, these are some of my favorites. These are clearly modeled on a well known character from a movie or TV show and tend to be fairly basic in their operation. The big selling point is that they look just like [fill in the blank]. Even though these types of robots are not the most expensive, that crown is held by the Japanese originals from the fifties that can price in the range of tens of thousands of dollars, these tend to be the most expensive at the time of original release. Clearly designed for the adult collector market these bad boys are frequently $100 plus right out of the gate… an expensive indulgence for sure.

For your viewing pleasure today I have one of these movie themed robots. I got him a few months ago but truth be told I have been looking for him for years now. Forever the frugal collector I was willing to wait until I could get one for just the right price.

Check this out.

It’s Robocop as a robot… frikkin’ sweet!

Made in 1992 by the renowned Japanese manufacturer Billiken. This is a very common style for these character type of robots and if you look around you will find a number of different ones, I myself have a couple of dozen. Each time the body is basically the same with just a different lithographed design to distinguish them from each other. The head is cast from a vinyl material and is unique to each version.

This material is much more forgiving than metal and as a result a far greater amount of detail is available. The illusion is now complete. In some instances the hands are also made from this vinyl material, just not in this case.

The mechanism in this guy is fairly basic and he walks forward and swings his arms. This gives rise to a pretty lumbering gait which is largely due to him tipping from side to side as his center of gravity shifts. A simple but effective solution.

The box you see here is pretty typical for this type of toy with a plain cardboard lower portion and a brightly printed top. As you can see, our friend here was released to coincide with the third installment from the Robocop franchise.

Expect to pay $100-150 for this guy. Not cheap at all, particularly given that he stands just 8.5″ tall. The wow factor for me makes him worth it though. If you are willing to bide your time you may luck out and find a deal, this one cost me $50 and that included shipping. Score!

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Today I have a little something I picked up a month or so ago while I was shopping in another comicbook store in the central part of the state. I tend to go there about once a month as it is kind of on my way back from a weekly meeting I have to go to. Over the years I have managed to score a bunch of cool stuff there and I think you will agree the piece I have for you today maintains the level of quality you have become accustomed to.

I never have anything particular that I am looking for there but always enter with an open mind. Check this out.

What we have here is a Dracula water bottle, well I say water bottle, I guess you can put whatever beverage in it you want… hmmmm!

Made out of a durable plastic material this piece is a pretty decent size with the figure standing about 9.5″ tall with a total height of 12″. I’m quite sure that you could easily fit a pint of your favorite blood type inside.

Licensed by Universal Studios this was released in 1998. As you can see the original $9 price tag is still attached. I would estimate today it would sell for about $15.

I don’t doubt that other bottles of this type were made, now I need to track down some of the others.

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Ever since we opened in the year 2000 we have stocked all of the classic lines, Star Wars, GI Joe, superhero toys, and of course Transformers. This last brand has always posed a bit of a problem for me, not because I don’t think that they are cool, far from it. It is actually a factor of when and where I grew up. By the time Transformers hit the airwaves it was the mid 1980s and given that I grew up in the UK it was a few years later before the toys found their way on to the shelves of the local toy stores. By that time I was a young man just starting my time at university. Needless to say I had heard of them, but the first time I ever actually handled a Transformer myself I was well in to my mid twenties.

One thing I can say for sure… I can barely transform one of these things even if my life depended on it. So many moving parts and cleverly engineered interlocking pieces that twist and turn together in unison. Each line seems to have its very own mechanical vocabulary which allows the user to carefully negotiate the toy from form A, a robot, in to form B, more often than not an object that is much more common place like a car, plane, animal, etc.

It’s like anything, if you start at an early age you get a feel for something quite quickly, you wait too long and everything seems exponentially more difficult. Transformers definitely fall in to that category for me.

Recently I was at a little toy show I like to go to and as I was browsing one particular dealer’s table I saw something that just had to come home with me. Believe it or not it was a transformer of sorts. It was so cool that I decided that no matter how difficult it proved to be to operate I was going to figure it out. Luckily for me the task ended up being pretty simple. YAY!

So what was it that caught my exactly? Well check this out.

A pair of Coke cans? Well almost. The one on the left is in fact 140 calories worth of America’s favorite carbonated beverage, the one on the right has a secret identity.

At 4.75″ tall, you flip the ring pull back and well pull it.

BINGO!… as if by magic things start to automatically spring to life.

Legs extend and before you know it you have the beginnings of a robot. AWESOME!

The finished product stands an impressive 7.5″ tall.

Aside from rotating and flexing the arms this little guy does not have much in the way of posability, like anyone cares though.

Made in Japan in I’m guessing the eighties. It was used as a promotional item for the Coca Cola company and is not any kind of official Transformer, it is just a transforming robot. A subtle difference I know but a difference none the less.

Originally this piece came boxed along with a protective cardboard sleeve for the can.

Unfortunately mine came au naturale as it were without the package but for the $20 I paid I still got a killer deal. Expect to pay $50-75 for a loose example and obviously more with the box. Be sure to check that the ring pull is not broken, this is frequently snapped and is actually key to the operation for the toy.

A Cherry Coke version was also made and I hear that this is the more common version of the two.

Other Coke related robots have been produced over the years, more recently this vending machine masterpiece was released (along with some others in the same series). I have also seen R2D2 styled soda can robots, they are all so cool and I want them all.

I put together this little clip to show you how the transformation process takes place. Even with my sausage like fingers I was able to complete the process there and back again in about one minute, not bad eh?

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I have accumulated tons of these knock offs over the years, some are quite good and definitely push the boundaries of bravado when you see how blatant they are. Others… well let’s just say that some blow me away when I think that some one green lighted their production and was willing to foot the bill.

Today I have a couple I picked up recently. First up, this gem.

From practically the center of the bootleg universe, this Mexican figure stands an impressive 11″ tall. How poor do kids have to be to think that this is an awesome Darth Vader? I love it but I have a problem and I know it.

Made from a soft blow molded plastic this is about as lame of a bootleg as you will ever see. This type of manufacturing process gives rise to a very lightweight piece with very coarse detail and very little articulation. Low budget is an understatement here.

The arms rotate at the shoulders and the head can turn. The lightsaber is made from what seems like the insulation coating from electrical wire and is, to say the least, a little on the flaccid side. His cape is cut from thin plastic sheeting that resembles the kind used in disposable tablecloths, the rough hand cut edge is a nice touch.

This close to the top of the pyramid of how awesome bootlegs can truly get, I love this guy. There are so many other figures of this type covering practically any character you can imagine, I have my work cut out for me.

Next up is something a little different.

This one is more of a knock off as opposed to a straight up bootleg, clearly not Darth Vader at all, that being said he seems to have many similar, though not identical, attributes that make the dark lord so recognizable. The robes, breathing gear, all black attire, a masked face, a lightsaber type weapon, etc., etc.

Standing 8″ tall the production value on this piece is a lot higher than the first one I showed you. He is made in a similar blow molded fashion although this piece uses probably twice as much plastic and is much sturdier.

Because it is not technically a bootleg the manufacturer is able to label the product with their details. Made by Skor-Mor based in Clinton, MA. Believe it or not Massachusetts used to be quite the hub of the toy industry, in fact Hasbro, arguably the world’s most dominant toy producer is still headquartered not too far away in Rhode Island.

This piece is actually a coin bank and there is a raised ridge on the back that says simply “cut here”.

These two figures are a lot of fun and make a great addition to any Star Wars collection. Expect to pay $10-20 a piece for these guys which is well worth it if you ask me.

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As I have mentioned before I live in the metro Boston area and luckily for me there seems to be a pretty large population of toy collectors around here. Within a fifty mile radius I can find literally dozens of hot spots where I can locate the coolest toys and related collectibles imaginable. Case in point, 90% of the items featured on this blog were purchased not too far from where I am sitting right now. Urban living can have its advantages.

My hunting grounds include comic book stores, hobby shops, flea markets, tag sales, goodwill, etc. The list goes on. One other venue that presents itself is the good old toy show, over the course of the year we get literally dozens in this area. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining at all. Even though they draw hundreds of like minded collectors we typically are all looking for different things and rarely do I see someone walking off with something under their arm that I wanted to buy.

Recently at one such show I made a great little purchase, a collection of three bendy figures. They were not anything that I was specifically looking for but when I saw them they certainly caught my eye, and sometimes that is reason enough. I inquired as to the price and was told that $30 was the going rate. Truth be told I balked and was all set to put them down, then I remembered something… I had seen these before. A number of months before at the very same show I had noticed this same set of figures. I decided to let the seller know, “I can’t believe you still have these, they are so cool”. His response was simple and quite expected, “why don’t you take them off my hands then?” As I shuffled the figures in my hands I explained that at the right price I would be glad to, “fifteen bucks and I will take them right now”, I said after a few moments. The dealer contemplated the fact that he had in fact been lugging these around for a while, something all dealers have done at one time or another, the offer of cash right now was enough to change his mind. “Sold!” he said. Money changed hands and the set came home with me. Score another one in my favor 

Remembering what inventory a dealer has had for a while can provide a surprising amount of leverage, I use it all the time. In a field where prices are very subjective, strategically calling a dealer out can often work to your advantage. Clearly you need to apply this strategy carefully and you shouldn’t try to shame a dealer in to budging on their asking price. Push too hard and the seller my go strongly in the other direction and remember you next time they see you. A lack of finesse can have a retailer thinking, well if I have had it this long what’s wrong with holding it for a bit longer? Be bold but polite, interested but not pushy, it is a ballet of words for sure but it can if used correctly be a way to save a bunch of money.

So what did I manage to score for myself this time around? Check these out.

At a nudge over 5″ tall this is a cool rubber robot of the very bendy kind.

Inside the figure is a wire armature. If you look carefully on the left of the picture above you can see it just poking out in the wrist area. This is not uncommon for this type of figure so if you are looking to buy one check them carefully. Also look to see that none of the wires are broken, these are usually characterized by floppy limbs or body parts that won’t hold their position once posed (Evel Knievel figures frequently exhibit this type of damage).

A look at the underside shows that this little guy was made in 1977 by Imperial, a company well known for making inexpensive toys of generic characters popular because of their similarity to mainstream properties. Some of their most popular creations include cool lookalikes of such characters as Godzilla and King Kong. They are not technically bootlegs or knock offs, but they are not necessarily a million miles away either.

These first two of these robots have a striking similarity to some of the Zeroids put out by Ideal in the sixties.

For me these designs are great and the bright colors just the cherry on top.

The production value on the figures is pretty low and you can see several spots where the paint has been applied imprecisely, again that is part of the charm for me. Don’t be surprised that over time the paint has rubbed off in a number of areas… this often happened shortly after the initial purchase some 35 years ago.

This figure reminds me a great deal of a Stormtrooper from Star Wars… except this one has been made bright green.

At $5 each I think they were a bargain, my guess is that $10-15 a piece is more than likely the right price given their vintage and scarcity at this point.

The lesson learned here? Who dares often wins! Good luck.

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I have seen some of the classics: Akira, Totoro, Vampire Hunter D and Princess Monoke. I loved Ghost in the Shell. In fact I liked them all… so why haven’t I seen more? Beats the heck out of me. The one notable exception was the series Battle of the Planets as it was known in the UK, as a kid I adored that show and watched it every opportunity I had. I realize that it was just a butchered version of the Japanese original, Gatchaman, but whatever, there were only three channels to pick from on TV so beggars could not be choosers if you know what I mean.

The manga part I understand a bit more as I not a big reader of comics, so…

Putting aside what I just said in the opening paragraphs I will say this, I can recognize a classic when I see one and give it the reverence it justly deserves. One titan in the anime world that is a fan favorite and deserves mucho respect is a little show by the name of Star Blazers. Created in the mid to late seventies it is in actual fact another cut and paste job of the Japanese series, Space Battleship Yamato.

Many people I know have very fond memories of this show from their childhood. Unfortunately for me I have never seen it… perhaps it is time that I finally took the plunge and set about rectifying that situation. Maybe someday.

Because I have never actually watched the show I have not found myself on the hunt for any of the related toys or merchandise. This may be a good thing because the majority of pieces were made for the Japanese market and carry a decidedly hefty price tag.

Recently one toy came by my shop and it instantly grabbed my attention. The fact that it was very rare and super cool to boot made things even more exciting. Even though it is not something I have very much to say about I could not miss the opportunity to at least do a detailed show and tell. I’m sure you collectors out there will thank me even without me including much in the way of accompanying facts.

Imported from Japan, here is the bridge playset from the ship the Yamato.

At about 12″ wide this set is scaled to work with an equally rare set of 3.75″ action figures.

Drooling yet?

The main action involves the three captain’s chairs that can rotate in place and then slide forward and backward in their own dedicated tracks.

The chairs can even tilt back… talk about luxury.

Each of the crew consoles has a series of controls and levers to add to the fun of playing with this toy.

The back of the bridge shows the battery compartments. This set is apparently built to light up and make sounds. Nice!

Looking underneath you can see the slots for the chairs to slide on. Also you can see the rotating base of the bubble display. When turned it causes the picture of the ship inside to cleverly appear and disappear like magic.

The set includes two double sided cards that slide in the top of the set to alternate the images displayed on the viewscreens.

The artwork on the box is pretty cool too.

As you can see this package is by no means perfect but it is still a treat to see.

If any of you have skills in reading and translating Japanese I would love to know what all this says.

The side of the box shows us the action figures that were made to accompany this set. My guess is that somewhere on there it says, “figures sold separately”. I don’t know anyone who has heard of them let alone seen them in person so I have no idea if the five shown in the picture were made (hey, maybe there were even more).

Just to keep everything safe and sound there were a couple of card insets o prevent the valuable contents from getting crushed.

In terms of value… I have no clue. My guess, expensive. The fans for this show can be quite hardcore and a rare gem like this, particularly when you see how awesome it is, would certainly get their juices flowing and their wallets opening. Based on its rarity alone I would predict it would have to be at least $150-200, I could of course be drastically off.

In hindsight it does make me wonder why the Star Wars playsets being made at the same time as this one were so much less cool than this one. Hmmm.

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All kidding aside one of things that for better or worse is almost central to this hobby is the old question of how much something is worth. For collectors like me it is a necessary evil to this passtime that I try to keep at arm’s length out on the periphery, for other collectors it is front and center and the driving force behind their passion. In a way I can see both perspectives, many collectors do trade items amongst each other but most of us tend to shell out cold hard cash when we acquire our latest gem. The advent of eBay has made this even worse now that everyone sees themselves as a dealer with each one moving stuff in to the market place and seeing their wares as nothing more that a series of dollar bills. A quandry for sure, we now have far greater access to awesome collectibles that in the past seemed oh so unobtainable paired with an increased mentality that it is all about the Benjamins. Urgh!

In the spirit of full disclosure, as well as a mega fan and collector of toys I am also a dealer. By that I mean I own a store, employ people and pay taxes… that kind of dealer. Not the Johnny-Poke-Around-The-Attic-And-Sell-Three-Things-A-Month-On-Ebay type of “dealer”, no folks,  I am the real deal. My shop is open seven days a week year round and I carry an inventory that at this point most range in the order of hundreds of thousands items. It is a great business but it is hard work and I love it.

On any given day I will be confronted with the question of something’s value. I could have a collection that needs processing or just someone off the street looking to sell something, either way a value needs to be determined. All I can say is this, to come up with a credible and realistic number takes years of experience and even after two decades of doing this I still get it wrong sometimes and learn new things everyday.

I decided to share some basic guidelines on how to value an item. Be warned this will be frustratingly vague and more than likely unsatifying, but at least it will represent the real truth of the task and perhaps send you one step closer on your own personal journey for enlightenment.

To determine a value on a piece you have to place it in it’s proper context.

First things first, what type of value are you looking for? Is this for insurance purposes in case your item gets lost, damaged or stolen? Is the price for sale to another collector? How about to a shop?… the list goes on. Believe it or not everyone of these circumstances would yield a different number for the exact same item. I decided the best way to represent the range of prices was to put them on a scale going from lowest to highest (I will maintain that format through out).

Variable A - Are you buying or selling?

Here there is no real scale but it does make a difference. Think about it, when you sell something you want to get the maximum amount possible. When you buy something you have to answer a question that is unique to you… how much am I willing to pay? Three collectors could be offered the exact same item for $20, one might see it as a rip off, the next an amazing deal while the third see it as just about right. Confusing to say the least.

For those of you selling things:

Variable B - Where are you selling it?

lowest -  yard sale/flea market, as a collection to a retail store, setting up at a collector show, selling it directly to another collector - highest

The selling context is everything. You go to a fancy restaurant and they serve you a scoop of ice cream in a bowl you expect to pay more than if you get it from a food truck. I’m not trying to be elitest it’s just that that is how things work. Also remember, if you sell it to a retailer you are now selling it wholesale as the seller will now have to resell your items and make a profit.

I deliberately did not list eBay or online as this can vary wildly based on timing and your particular skill… oh yeah, and luck!

Variable C - When do you need to sell it by?

lowest -  yesterday, ASAP, soon, at some point, whenever - highest

The quicker you need money the more likely it is that you will get less. For buyers the opposite is true, the more patient you are the more likely you are to get a really great deal.

Variable D - How much work are you willing to do?

 lowest -  none, minimal, some, a decent amount, whatever it takes - highest

Time is money, or at least that is what the old addage tells us. What that means here is that within reason the more effort you are willing to put in the greater the rewards will be on the other side. Of course at a certain point time is money again so think carefully how much time you want to devote to this task. In my opinion somewhere above the mid point is optimal so that you get the greatest bang for the buck.

Those are the four key variables and for those of you who remember back to basic algebra… well let’s just say that more than one variable is kind of a bad thing. Oh my!

The two typical scenarios I see all the time give wildly different outcomes but may be equally satisfactory in the long run.

Best way financially - Put in the time required to clean up your items, know what you’re selling and learn what’s needed so you can best talk to any potential buyer, be patient and find the collector who actually wants to own this piece in their own collection. The downside is that it will take a lot more effort and is never actually guarantee that a sale will be ever made but you might have some fun along the way.

Best way if you are busy or need results now - Go to a shop with what you have exactly as you found it. A repuatble shop, such as mine, will take the time to point out the strengths and weaknesses of what you have and will make an offer according to what they can pay. Don’t be shy to counter offer and in the end if you can’t make a deal it’s no biggie just shake hands and walk away with your items. This method may yield less money than you had hoped for but all you had to do was drive to the store with your boxes and then leave with your payment - simple as it gets.

A final scenario to consider:

Best way if you don’t really care and are willing to take a gamble - Toss it up on eBay and see what happens. Don’t forget the buyers on eBay can be very demanding and depending on how many items you list this could tie up your time a great deal. Then you have to package everything up and cart it off to the post office. Finally eBay will take about 20% of the final purchase price and that includes from the shipping costs as well - p.s. don’t overcharge on the shipping as you can be given low ratings for that which could lead to suspension… wait, hold on a sec! (20% is higher than the costs stated by eBay, but once you add in the fees for unsuccessful auctions it generally nets out to that).

So how do I come up with a price to sell something in my store at? Experience and knowledge of the type of customers who frequent my shop. We price things a little on the low side as we like to turn items over rapidly (there are always new collections coming in daily and only so much room to put them). If it is an item we don’t see very often we refer to eBay and see what the average selling price is including shipping.

If we are buying things again it boils down to experience and the availability of the items in question. I will pay more for desirable pieces that are tougher for me to get, I will also up the ante a bit if I know I have a customer for it right away. Again I refer to eBay if it is an item that I know is interesting but not something I would ever stock in the shop. In that case I find the lowest selling price and base my offer on that (if a piece typically sells for $100 but one went for $50 I have to assume that if I listed one it could go for that too). Ultimately I can only offer 20-30% of what I think I can sell something for. Real businesses like mine have real overheads that are higher than you would ever imagine and run way in to the six digit range for just one year. We need to sell literally thousands of dollars of merch a week just to break even.

Perhaps take that in to account next time you casually ask how much something is worth.