..but as for the ebay thing - I have spent much of my lunch money for years there [mostly beatle stuff, but some DS] and it is always buyer beware - and only pay what ya think it is worth TO YOU!
Very well put Ringo. I can't speak for anyone else, but I know for me there have been times where I get caught up in the whole auction thing and have bid higher on an object then I would have paid for it had I been in the presense of the person selling it with real moola in my hand.
A seller or dealer will always try to get maximum value for any product [thus the auction], and the buyers that pay more than the going rates for any item do so at their own 'penalty'. I think both Brian and Bob'us are helping to cause buyers to become more educated and aware customers. Most collectors follow the rule 'collect it because ya love it', [not as an investment], but every collector needs to be aware of both the actual, personal value and the market value or going rate of an item.
Again, I agree with you whole heartedly Ringo. I think Brian making others aware that "in his opinion" a collectable or collectables are priced to high, is not out of bounds. I agree with him 110% that this particular sellers prices are way out of wack in the current DS collectables marketplace.
Having been involved in collecting/dealing Dark Shadows items for the past 12 years, and having had dealers tables at 7 of the 12 Dark Shadows Festivals I've attended, I have often been approached by fellow collectors/dealers and asked my opinion on prices for various collectables that they were considering purchasing/selling. It is very difficult to place a value on an item. There are so many variables that go in to arriving at what is a reasonable value for any item. Let me give you guys an example;
There was a time in the mid 1980s when a
photo copy of Ode to Angelique sheet music sold at a festival auction for over $100.00!! Needless to say, it was, at that time, a very scarce piece. Sometime in the mid 1990s on one of my extensive collectibles searches I discovered several copies of
original Ode to Angelique sheet music. I had no problem selling them for $90.00 per piece of sheet music. As a matter of fact, the die hard collectors were tripping over one another to obtain their copies. You may ask: How did I come to decide on a selling price of $90.00? Good question....... I took in to account the ludicrous price the photo copy had sold for at auction in the 80's. I also considered the time and effort I had put in to locating the sheet music,(Prior to the internet, I spent countless hours writing letters, making phone calls, and travelling to shows or antique stores in search of memorabilia) as well as the demand there was for it by avid collectors.
Eventually the demand for the Ode to Angelique sheet music diminished and I discounted the remaining pieces I had, much like a store would do with overstocked merchandise. Today, I have seen that same sheet music that I sold for $90.00 only 7-8 years ago sells on eBAY for $15.00-$20.00. The same can be said of the records. In the early to mid 90's some of the more obscure 45 rpm records (Ode to Angelique, I'm Bats About You, Josette's Music Box, The Barnabas Theme) sold for in upwards of $200.00-$275.00.....EACH!! Now, they go for about a fourth of that. In 1995 I traded a MINT Ode to Angelique 45 rpm record and $100.00 cash for my original Josette's Music Box with a reproduction lid. In today's marketplace that would not happen. A dealer would laugh at me if I approached him with this offer, but at that time it was an acceptable trade. The point I'm trying to make is that the marketplace for any collectables changes. It can go up or down, and as I mentioned above, several variables will weigh in which way it goes. Another good example is the 1996 reproduction MPI Josette's Music box. It initially sold for $40.00, and at one point MPI couldn't give the things away. I remember at the 1997 NY fest MPI had a SURPLUS of the music boxes and no one seemed to be buying them. In todays collectables market that same music box sells for a minimum of $100.00,(normally $150.00-$200.00 on eBAY) and one sold at this years festival auction for much more then that!! Why did the reproduction sell so poorly at first, and what caused it to have this sudden attraction with collectors? Here are a couple variables, that in my opinion had an effect on the demand for this item. The airing of Dark Shadows on the Sci Fi channel has attracted a whole new audience, both young and old, who had never seen Dark Shadows before. This is evident by the amount of new people attending festivals the past few years. This past weekend when Kathryn Leigh Scott asked those who were attending a festival for their first time to raise their hands, I believe 60-70% of those in attendance raised their hands. Many of those people are presently watching the series for the very first time. When the Barnabas/Josette storyline aired, I'm sure many of those "newbies" became interested in acquiring a Josette's Music Box. Much the same as the newbies a few years back when that particular story arc also aired. Since those of us who have been involved in fandom through the 80's & 90's had for the most part gobbled up all the original 1970 Josette Music Boxes,what does that leave for an alternative? That's right, the 1996 M.P.I. reproduction. The new fans of the series
demand and those 1996 M.P.I. music boxes ended up being the
supply 
In 1996 I was approached by the editors of the toy magazine "The Toy Shop", and asked to write an article pricing Dark Shadows memorabila. At the time I considered this an awesome responsibility, as The Toy Shop is a very popular magazine with dealers/collectors, and is distributed world wide. My words would be used as a guideline for many collectors in search of Dark Shadows memorabila. I did extensive research on the subject before writing the article and I believe I was (at least at that time)
in tune with the market for Dark Shadows collectables.
I wish I had the capabilities to scan and post the two page article with photos (it occupied the center of the magazine
) I wrote, but alas I don't. Perhaps I can send a copy to the Mysterious Benefactor and he/she/(it
) could scan it and put it on the board.
I'm not sure if the magazine is archived anywhere, but in the event it is, here is the issue number my article appeared in.
Issue # 136 Vol. 9 No. 23 dated Nov. 8th, 1996
Ok, somehow I went off subject a bit, but hopefully some of this information will help collectors in the future:)
