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Have any of you seen Brick and Mortar stores specializing in wargaming items as "Vintage" or "Collectible" merchandise?

Until this weekend, the only place I'd ever seen alot of older GW stuff fetching collector prices was online. Then I visited this place.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tyton-Games/288077041256567
It's a store that features used video games and new and used games workshop stuff. I'd stopped by because I'm a bargain hunter and heard they had used stuff. Turned out they had a ton of all in-blister stuff, mostly from the 90's. What shocked me was that it was all priced the same or more as current stuff. I realized that it was being presented as "Vintage" or "Collectible", not as "used". I've seen some collectible and rare items (priced accordingly) at FLGS's before, but I've never previousl seen a retail model where a retailer specializes in older gaming products specifically aimed at a Collector market.

Anyway, it's not my kind of store as I get my oop and used stuff from the bargain bin and refuse to pay collectors prices for miniatures. However, as as with any FLGS, I hope they make it. They've survived for 9 months, so they're either coasting or doing doing something right. My guess is that as well as having some great contacts for NIB condition miniatures they've been very shrewd in locating in the Western suburbs of Chicago where alot of folks who grew up with GW are now in their 30's and 40's and can afford to pay top dollar for fond memories.

Is this an anomaly or are we going to be seeing more of this as the post Rogue Trader generation moves up their career ladders?

One of my FLGS had a ton of old blisters from the 90s, early aughts, I used to like to rummage through them and find some gems.

However they kept the price on them the same as what they were when they went in the box - so they were generally pretty cheap.

I've found a few things in Antique stores in the last few years. I saw an unopened 1st edition Dungeons and Dragons box there once. Occasionally a figure or two but they are usually mixed in with older metal toy soldiers.
25 years old and older seems to be the threshold for antiques around here. Wargame items are like anything else, unopened items in mint condition will fetch the best prices.

I see lots of current stuff as well, per the pics on facebook.

I don't think they can survive on the OOP / Collectors market only. I would bet money that MTG keeps the lights on, and the vintage stuff is gravy.

 Phobos wrote:
I see lots of current stuff as well, per the pics on facebook.

I don't think they can survive on the OOP / Collectors market only. I would bet money that MTG keeps the lights on, and the vintage stuff is gravy.

You're probably right about that. It seems to be the case for most FLGS that MTG is the big income stream.

 Eilif wrote:
Turned out they had a ton of all in-blister stuff, mostly from the 90's. ... I realized that it was being presented as "Vintage" or "Collectible", not as "used".

If it is in-blister, then it is (almost) certainly not "used" and selling it as such wouldn't be correct. Whether or not that makes the miniatures worth a premium is an exercise for the shopper and their desire for the object in question.

To be honest, I'm not actually sure if I'd consider paying a premium for an old miniature if it was still in blister. I can't think of any old mini that I'd like to have that I wouldn't immediately pop out of the blister and paint, but there's something to be said for knowing that you're the first one to get your hands on the piece and not having to deal with any artifacts of prior painting and/or stripping. There's got to be something of a market for it, though, even if it's not enough to support a brick and mortar store.

It'd certainly be cool to check out the history, though. My FLGS has a couple of Rogue Trader-era blisters in a display case. They're too beat to really sell for any markup, but they're a cool little curiosity more than anything else.

There are a lot of counterfeit copies of some figures around. If it's really important you have the genuine article and/or you're going to pay a lot of money, buying in the blister is almost a sure way to buy safely.

Howard A Treesong wrote:There are a lot of counterfeit copies of some figures around. If it's really important you have the genuine article and/or you're going to pay a lot of money, buying in the blister is almost a sure way to buy safely.

Magc8Ball wrote:

 Eilif wrote:
Turned out they had a ton of all in-blister stuff, mostly from the 90's. ... I realized that it was being presented as "Vintage" or "Collectible", not as "used".

If it is in-blister, then it is (almost) certainly not "used" and selling it as such wouldn't be correct. Whether or not that makes the miniatures worth a premium is an exercise for the shopper and their desire for the object in question.

To be honest, I'm not actually sure if I'd consider paying a premium for an old miniature if it was still in blister. I can't think of any old mini that I'd like to have that I wouldn't immediately pop out of the blister and paint, but there's something to be said for knowing that you're the first one to get your hands on the piece and not having to deal with any artifacts of prior painting and/or stripping. There's got to be something of a market for it, though, even if it's not enough to support a brick and mortar store..

What you guys are saying about the "guaranteed" nature of bilsters is a good point. Metal is easy to counterfeit 'en masse. Much more difficult to do so with blisters.

I do disagree though about "used" in that if it's been sold before, it's not "new" even if the condition is NIB, but it's largely semantic. My real point is that I've bought alot of old blisters over the years, but always it was old stock, or leftovers from someone's collection, or clearance, etc. Their age was a detriment to their pricing. Until last weekend I'd never seen "old blisters" as a selling point, marketed and priced as collectibles in a physical store before.

if you use that definition for new, then it stops beeing new the moment game workshop sells a kit to a FLGS and you can't actually buy new product unless you order direct from GW or a GW store. NIB even means New in box afterall.

I saw some of the old rackham metals in a LGS last month.

 sing your life wrote:
I saw some of the old rackham metals in a LGS last month.

Were they just old stock that hadn't sold yet, or were they priced above retail as collectibles?

 Eilif wrote:

 sing your life wrote:
I saw some of the old rackham metals in a LGS last month.

Were they just old stock that hadn't sold yet, or were they priced above retail as collectibles?

Them prices were roughly the same as for warmachine metals IIRC, so I'm not sure.