Lead Market Report - December 2011

Happy New Year! I hope 2011 was a good year for you and your collections, and may 2012 bring you yet more miniature metal goodness. To kick off the new year, we'll finish off withe December, which proved to be fairly brisk all things considered.

CITADEL: Those cool C28 giants always seem to pop up over in the UK. One seller sold a nice assortment of the big uglies, arranged highest to lowest price: this one looks familiar - I'm pretty sure it was also found in the Tragedy of McDeath scenario pack ($35); this one has the cool 'Darth Maul' head ($26); this one has the eyepatch & nose ring (?) head ($22); your basic cyclops giant ($22); oversized goblin head with leather cap ($22); topknot head giant ($20); and finally giant with massive hammer and head trophies ($20).

There was another run of AD&D loose minis: an Owlbear ($10), three Orcs ($4, $5, $5), four drow ($5, $5, $5, $6), a hobgoblin ($6), and a lone kobold ($6).

A couple of Star Trek ships appeared on the scope: a pair of Birds of Prey that sold for $52, and that Klingon workhorse, the D-7 Battlecruiser that went for $38. It isn't Citadel, but I'll lump this Romulan Bright One ($30) in with the previous two, just because I can.

DARK HORSE: The TMNT blisters continue to see action in the $20 to $40+ range of late. These Triceratons sold for $40, while The Foot and Mousers sold for $20 and $21. I have to imagine the Mousers would have fetched more if they had not been missing Splinter and Shredder!

DRAGONTOOTH: This lot of assorted pieces from Ye Blind Cyclops Inn seems like a relative bargain at $27 - you'll see what I mean next month! How about not one but two dragons for less than $20 each? $17 for D76, and $15 for D79. Those are the kind of bargains that make me smile, and I wasn't even the buyer! For you big spenders, there was a sealed DE5 Winged Snake Demon for $57.

GAMES WORKSHOP: This lot of 9 Inquisitor models sold for $78, which seems about right considering individual models like this Artemis sold for $10.

GRENADIER: I'll start off Grenadier with a truly massive and rare model: Wizzards & Warriors Special #2, the Giant Griffin. I don't know what the going rate on lead is, but this worked out to $52/pound for this particular model (4.5 pounds that sold for $234). A very cool piece of Grenadier workmanship!

For Boxed Sets, let's look at a purchase of my own: the massive Goblin War Giant that I snapped up for a $50 BIN. I've been after this big fella for awhile now, so to find one that was complete, in box, and with paperwork for only $50 was a no-brainer for me. The Gold Line boxes continue to hold value, like this Tomb of Spells for $46 (yes, the Umber Hulk comes with both mandibles!) and this Dungeon Explorers for $30. It might be a Feathered Serpent Dragon in Shadowrun, but that's a Coutl if I've ever seen one! And for only $5.50, who cares what it's called?

$28 earned you a complete Frost Giant set from the Giants Club line (sans box and paperwork). I have to imagine those wee little antlers for the female frost giant get lost on a fairly regular basis. The Juggernaut went for $37, speaking of giant (sized) models. The LOTR sets, especially in shiny and complete-looking sets, still can go for good amounts of cash: Sauron's Dark Ones for $53. And for sets in the $20 or less range, there was this trio - a sealed Black Dragon II for $21 (nice), Elves Sinister for $18, and Women of Adventure for less than $17. The bargain set has to be this CL Gwydion the Wizard for just under $6.

Orcus usually commands around $10-$20, so to see one that went for only $3.33 was a bit of an oddity. Then again, he has been broken and repaired, so I'm guessing that had a lot to do with the low price. I REALLY like this fire giant model, but did not spend the $13 to acquire this particular piece.

Gamma World minis continue to hold their value. This lot sold for $104, right around $5 per figure. Even more affordable was this lot of 24 minis that went for $68, or a bit less than $3 per mini.

Lots - this substantial lot sold for $194, pretty good for 8 boxed sets that are complete or mostly complete. The Gamma World set surely drove the price up on this lot.

Perhaps the most unusual Grenadier item in December was this dragon pin with the Grenadier G that sold for a modest $15.50.

HEARTBREAKER: The Warzone boxed sets seem to be fairly rare, or at least uncommon. This set of Capitol Orca Battlesuits was less than $17, which seems like a good buy if you dig the Mutant Chronicles universe.

HERITAGE: The 75mm Lord of The Rings miniatures did a great job of capturing the look and feel of the 1978 animated movie by Ralph Bakshi. Did you know that Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) was the voice of Legolas? Neither did I until now. Anyhow, this trio of Aragorn, Legolas, and Galadriel sold for $31, so at $10 per figure, not a bad deal at all.

The Crypt of the Sorcerer is still high on people's must-have list, as this good-looking $90 example will attest to. And don't forget Star Trek - this 4 blister lot sold for $23 - I guess you only pull down the big bucks if you are selling the human personalities?

LEADING EDGE GAMES: "I'm Hudson. He's Hicks." Or was it the other way around? This box of heartbreakers and lifetakes sold for $40. "God I LOVE The Corps!"

MITHRIL: Mithril makes an appearance this month, thanks to a pair of blisters that sold for $52 each: M20 Hithaeglir, Orc Chief and M4 Mounted Riders of Rohan. Wonderful stuff from Ireland!

RAL PARTHA: Need to repair, upgrade, or customize your Mech? Not a problem if you won any or all of these parts packs: Heavy & Assault Mech Arms ($19), Light & Medium Mech Arms ($26), Missiles ($16), Shoulder Socket Weapons ($22), and Jumps Jets & Fins ($17). And another seller sold their Heavy & Assault Mech Arms for $26, some Light & Medium Mech Arms for $16, and Missiles for $25. Don't trust those cheap knockoff parts! Use only the best OEM Mech parts your credits can buy.

Blisters - We have an orange-carded Wolverine that sold for $26, a blue-carded Marauder II for $33, and a Warhammer IIC for $51. I'll never own a Warhammer at these prices!

Lots - From lowest to highest, we have this lot of 8 (including two Warhammers) for $76. A lot of 24 Mechs plus a bunch of smaller units sold for $161. This lot of 27 Mechs tallied $177.50, with this lot of 28 Mechs bringing in $177.85.

To end big (as in Museum Scale), there was my fav, the Atlas. $16 is what it took to bring home some big & stompy Mech goodness.

Box Sets - $16 seems like a decent buy for an almost-complete Red Dragon of Krynn (just needs the top of the head and lance). A complete Imperial Dragon sold for $58. Just give it a bath in Super Clean and you are ready to start over! For $7 less, you could have picked up this Imperial Dragon that was missing the instructions and certificate. You needed $81 to pick up The Great Red Dragon this time around. This nice-looking still-in-shrink copy of Dragon Mountain went for $52, while T'Char, the dragon of Flame & Fury sold for $41. The giant collector in me would have liked to have picked up this copy of Biilidum and The Ogre Marauders for $40, but I didn't pull the trigger. And Lord Soth turned up again, albeit incomplete. This Lord Soth's Charge (missing two riders) sold for $46.

AD&D blisters - The market seems to have softened a bit on the Peryton, as evidenced by this $36 example. The Council of Wyrms dragons, on the other hand, show no signs of slacking off. This Gold Dragon sold for $65. And Molydeus is still large and in charge, like this one for $57.

Lots - This lot of 1,000+ sold for $1,440 - I hope there was some good stuff in there! I would not have paid that much because there weren't enough pics to satisfy me. I need to know a little more if I were to drop that much coin on some lead. And if you needed a Roman army, you could have picked up this one for $190.

REAPER: DOOM Cyber Demon. $47. Fear him.

WEST END GAMES: I really wanted to snap up this lot, because $80 for 12 Star Wars boxed sets is such a crazy good bargain! That's less than $7 per box - congrats to whoever picked this lot up. You done good. The vehicle blisters continue to sell well for the most part, as evidenced by this Storm Skimmer for just under $24.

WIZARDS OF THE COAST: Here's a nice lot of Chainmail minis that sold for $81. I've been on the hunt for some of WOTC's other metal minis, but I'll probably pick up the Chainmail bug one of these days soon enough.

THUNDERBOLT MOUNTAIN: I don't know if figures are from the pirated Thunderbolt castings or the real deal from Manzakk, but I have them listed under TM because that is how they were listed on eBay. In any event, this half set cost $25.50.

TELL 'EM GARY SENT YA: Some more goodies from EGG's estate went up for sale and found new homes. Gary's Gen Con 11 "game worn" t-shirt? $184. A 1982 TSR Annual Report? $225. Need to send a hand-written memo? Do it in style, using Gary's own "From the desk of Gary Gygax" memo pad. 20 sheets set someone back $317. And if you want to party, it's gonna cost you: this lot of D&D party goods sold for $437!!! Don't spill your Mountain Dew on the tablecloth ;)