The Adventures of Pat Pat Rocket & the Collectors Market

This is the Little Einsteins Pat Pat Rocket.
And it is a perfect example of how quickly a collectible market can change.

Pat Pat Rocket from Disney's Little Einsteins

As I write this it is the end of September 2013, I picked up the Pat Pat Rocket about a month ago. The day I bought it, I didn't know what it was? I thought it was a good toy I could sell in one of my Antique Mall booths, or put on eBay. I even thought it was neat enough that I might just add it to my personal collection. There was even some consideration put into repainting it as the Captain Cosmos Cruiser.

How would it look with Lighting Bolts and a Gun???

As with all the toys and collectibles I deal with, I put in the research. A toy is a lot harder to sell when you don't know what it is. With the manufacturing information printed on it's underbelly it didn't take long to find out what it was, and what it was going for. It did however prove to be an interesting example of what results the correct search terms could yield. In this case, in late August of 2013 The search "Little Einsteins Spaceship" yielded about 30 completed auctions that ended between $10 and $40. While the search "Little Einsteins Pat Pat Rocket" found about 150 listings, and brought the price up to the $30 to $150 range. And THAT was just for the loose ship with nothing else. If you wanted it complete with the 4 figures, you could pay up to $250.

That was a month ago . . . Times have changed.

Today, the same search finds over 1000 completed listings. Now they are not all for the same toy of course. The ship was made as a few different toys, and even appeared as a hat and a backpack. Never-the-less, a good portion of those 1000 plus listings were indeed this version of the Pat Pat Rocket in various degrees of completeness and condition. Considerably more than the 150 or so I was finding just one month ago.

So what happened? Why the change? Why did the market peak and flood in so short a time. For that matter why did it happen 4 years after the cartoon's original run ended?

One factor may have been a DVD release in June of 2013, the first in 3 years for the series. But what effect did it have on the market? Did seeing the DVD prompt parents to dig it out of their garage as something they simply wanted gone? Or was it the other way around? Did the DVD spark new interest and kids started screaming for toys again? Was it simply a coincidental rise in interest? Is it just the natural ebb and flow of the collectors market based on the age of the properties fans?

 

Could this have done it?
 

My gut tells me it was the DVD release. The DVD hit the market. That sparked interest from the kids. Parents set out to fill that demand. What little product was on the market suddenly shot up in value. Other Parents with older kids saw the prices skyrocket, and put their old toys up for sale. The market saturated. Demand fell back to normal levels. That seem's like the most likely explanation.

But is it the only explanation? Could age be a factor in toddler toys the same way it is in the action figure market? Though on a far more condensed scale? Could a 9 year old feel nostalgia for toys he played with at 4 the way a 27 year old yearns for the toys of his early teens? That doesn't seem likely, but that doesn't eliminate age as a factor does it? The other end of the age factor is that point when we discard the toys of our youth. Most toy collectors focus on the toys they had from about 12 to 16 years old. Somewhere in the 18 to 22 range we often purge those trappings of childhood, only to find we miss them by our late twenties. Perhaps that same cycle applies to a 4 year old? By age 8 they have moved on to more advanced toys, and those toddler toys are relegated to the next garage sale. Does that mean the 8 year old would want those toys back at 10? I don't think so, but the parents might? And that wave to purging would provide the opportunity for younger parents to buy those slightly out of date toys for their children. 

Hmmmm . . .
The cool Rocket Ship, or another Teddy Bear?
 

I suppose the idea I'm trying to get across is that there is always a point somewhere between the initial popularity of a toy, and it's nostalgic popularity years later where people are selling it, but no one is there to buy it. With most toy lines the nostalgia usually kicks in around 15 to 20 years after the original release, then begins to dwindled around 25 to 30 years. Which means that those first 10 years after a toy line ends, there's probably not going to be a lot of interest in it. But, as I mentioned above, the scale for toddler toys may be quite a bit shorter, simply because the parent's are more directly involved in the decision. Obviously the child influences a toy purchase at 4 years old, but how often do parent's simply buy the toy they like themselves, or the toy they thought they would like at that age. If that were not the case then the number of little girls that own a baseball glove would be far smaller. 

So what's the lesson we should take from this? The way I see it, there are 2 major lessons here. First, the collectible market is a volatile place. Factors that go into the value of an item can be wildly unpredictable, or remarkably steady. Recognizing those factors can be the key to success. Second, and more importantly, in today market one can no longer assume the research you've done in the past, is still valid. Doing 1 day of research is like looking into 1 window of a house and seeing a kitchen, and then assuming that every room of the house is a kitchen. Who know's? Maybe it IS a house full of kitchens, but that's unlikely. The point is that we only look once, we can't know if the market we see today is a steady one, or if it's currently trending up or down.

Sometimes information is only good for a few days. Other times you can rely on it for years to come.

"It's OK"

No it's Not OK. It just isn't.

At the dawn of the 2012 presidential election, we have a choice. Not much of a choice, but a choice none-the-less. We've arrived at the choice through apathy, lethargy, and misinformation. Many people simply want to ignore the issues and hope they go away. Everything will work out for itself in the end. It's not MY problem . . . right?

I was just out shopping today. Among other things, I needed some spray paint. A teenager was in the paint aisle, shaking a can. Not an uncommon sight. I've shaken plenty of paint can's in the store myself. You need to make sure the little ball is free, it can't mix if the ball is stuck. You're probably planning to use the can right away, that's why your buying it after all. So, not an uncommon sight at all.

While I'm there, he pops off the cap, and sprays the shelf.

I lost it. There was nothing OK about that. There wasn't even any shame in the act, no attempt to hide it, he did it right there in front of me.

He thought, "this is OK. I'm not doing anything wrong. There are other spots of spray paint all over the shelves. I'm not the only one doing it. I just want to make sure the color is the color it's suppose to be. I don't want to take responsibility for bringing home the wrong color paint, so I'll just deface this shelf." Doesn't matter what went through his head, the fact is, he thought it was OK.

I reacted without even a thought. I was speaking without preamble. The words came out completely un-composed . . . "DUDE! Do you really need the check the color? It's RIGHT there on the cap. That's NOT what the shelf is for." He was clearly shocked. No one had ever said anything like that to him in public before, certainly not a stranger, and probably not even his parents. He gave me a weak giggle, and said quietly ". . . what is it to you?" I was already walking past him, pissed off, and said "Because I used to work at places like this, and I had to put up with that shit all the time," and just kept walking.

I don't know what kind of effect I had on him, or even if I had any at all, but he had an effect on me. He pushed me just that little bit, at just the right moment. I didn't want any confrontation. I wasn't out to get the kid in trouble, but it WAS NOT OK.

If this happened in 1950, the kid would have spent an hour in the managers office, his parents would have been called in, and he probably would have been made to clean up the mess. Instead none of that happened, nor would it. Tomorrow he will tell his friends "Some old guy yelled at me for spraying paint in the store. Lame," and for him, that will be the end of it. But maybe, just maybe, next time he does it, there won't be a next time? Maybe he will think back to that moment realize it does effect other people . . . Maybe?
This is the problem with our country now. Our values, have gone soft. So few are willing to stand up, and say, "THIS IS WRONG." Even when they do, the message is lost, or ignored.

This tiny little act so clearly galvanized my frustrations. Everyone seem's to think "it's OK." Everyone seem's to think that it's someone else's problem. Take that little spot of spray paint on 1 little shelf in a store aisle? What's wrong with that? There were already plenty of other spots there, that kid was just 1 more step in the process, he wasn't the beginning or the end. Just 1 little bit of erosion. Just 1 more chip in the veneer. That first spray made so many months ago, or possibly even just days ago, made it OK for the second spray. And the next 1 was just that much easier, and the next and the next, and so on. At some point, and I do speak from experience here, there's going to be more than just some unsightly spots on a few selves in the paint aisle. At some point someone is going to be very unlucky, and they will have the nozzle pop off, and the can will spray paint everywhere. I KNOW, I've had to be the guy dealing with it, more than once did I find such a can. But even if that never happens, eventually the store will have to replace or at the very least repaint those shelves. That means that some manager had to decide, this has gone far enough, this needs to be replaced. Some employee has to take the time to deal with it. And the shelves will have to be dealt with. Again, from experience, more often than not, they are just thrown away.

Bottom line, ALL of THAT costs money, time and materials, and that makes prices go up.

But it's OK, because it's not YOUR problem is it?

It Begins

Thu, 14th October, 2010

 

. . And so I shall blog. This might be deleted before our "grand opening" but I have to start somewhere, so I'll start here. At this stage our site is just barely under construction. I know what I need it to do in the end, but really have no clue how to get it there. Web sites just are not in my skill set. Once it is there we still have the problem of driving traffic to the site. How exactly do we get the word out about "Captain Cosmos Collectibles." There seems to be this myth that merely having a web-site will bring you success. Well I can certainly attest to the falsehood of that idea. No a web-site alone will not bring success. Nor will advertising, or the right product, or the ever so helpful location, location, location. All those things help, but don't do much good without the others.

The Internet almost negates the need for location. Now our store is right there in your home, or on the train, in your office, or even in your car. Though I beg you, please don't shop with us while your driving, that's not a good idea. We have what at one time would have been a fantastic location. We're downtown. Before the urban landscape changed with mall's, and Big Box stores, and bypasses, downtown was were the action was. There are photo's of regular days for downtown Winchester spanning decades, everyone of them shows a crowd of thousands. Every parking spot full, every shop teaming with customers, the sidewalks overflowing with life. Those days are gone. At least they are gone in small town America. Larger cities might not feel the same impact, Lexington, Kentucky, our closest, and largest neighbor has a thriving downtown. Perhaps not as thriving as it was in the 1950's, but business is good there. Here in downtown Winchester, Kentucky, just a half hours drive from downtown Lexington, things are more of a struggle. Businesses here worry about being open next month. Businesses here have to choose between the phone bill, or new stock.

Why?

Why has the traditional downtown been so thoroughly forgotten? Downtown's offer things that the Big Box stores just can't. First on that list is the personal touch. Most downtown businesses are family owned, and operated. They will get to know you over time. They will get to know what you need. Can the same be said at the Big Box where the check out girl rings up 2000 faces in a shift? Just yesterday I was talking with the owner of another business just down the street. Downtown Winchester recently did a promotion involving international flags, so a lot of businesses were suddenly in need of a flag pole. Well she got her's right across the street at the downtown hardware store, Bridges and Lane. Did it cost a little more than the Big Box stores? Yes, but the Big Box store's would never have installed it for free, or taken the time to make sure it worked for her. That's the sort of thing you get downtown.