I have to admit I was pretty excited a few months back when I heard that McFarlane was going to add limited edition autographed figures to the mix. Then I started to think how that would actually be executed. You see the thing about cards is that everyone has the same opportunity to pull an amazing autographed card. With these figures every stock boy and warehouse worker has the advantage of looking through the shipments before they hit the shelves. This is the eBay generation and everyone knows the value of stuff like this.
I think the breakdown for these figures is the packaging. Do you think Sidney Crosby autographed cards would hit the shelves if you could see through the packaging? Hell no!! If you are going to put autographed collectibles into the market, you better figure out a way to make it “fair” for everyone.
I understand why McFarlane decided to add autographs to the mix, but who really benefited from this? The autographed variations were the same price as the base models (around $15-20), so its not like McFarlane cleaned up. I was lucky enough to scoop up a Silver Version (white jersey #53/1000), but I had to pay more than the standard cost for it and it was in a collectible store which leads me to believe that these variant models only went to select stores.
Two things that they need to do to really appeal to collectors. Make these only available online through the McFarlane website (even at higher price) or change the packaging so you can’t see if it is an autographed version or not. Without these changes the only ones you are appealing to is some sixteen year old kid who stocks shelves and is looking to make some extra money on eBay.
Has anyone out there seen any autographed versions in the stores?
The only ones I have seen in the stores have been the regular one. There is no way you would be able to stumble across an autographed version in a big box store.
this is a bit dissappointing, i have a fair few mcfarlane figures, a few autographed by todd himself, being that he is always in his store next to the yotes arena. And was also excited when the presser came out for these, but youre right, there needs to be some kind of mystery, but at the same time, you wouldnt want to buy more than one of each figure.
Its a tricky one for sure because I agree with you. I would not want to have multiple figures, but I also know for a fact before release that I will have to buy one from eBay at an inflated price because no one is going to put these things on the shelf.
Maybe do some kind of online redemption or something. Perhaps they put a code on the base and you enter in the code on a website to see if you won an autographed version. I would be glad to pay the $15 (plus shipping) to get an autographed version. At least then it would be fair across the board.