davidd's A Doll A Day 2018

[davidd]

January 22: Ever After High Poppy O'Hair

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What th' whaaaaat?!? I was randomly looking around on eBay last night and I discovered that Poppy O'Hair figures are selling... selling... on eBay for between $90 and $100, often with additional shipping!

So of course this is the Ever After High Dragon Games figure of which I have only one! I have, like, three or four Darlings still in their boxes, two Ravens, and one each of Holly and Teenage Queen. They are all practically worthless. Darling is still available new through Amazon for less than she used to cost in the stores, with free shipping. Teenage Evil Queen, who was supposedly some kind of "special edition," is only $12 right now on Amazon.

I originally bought several Darlings because I liked her armor the best. I was planning to repurpose the armor to create a medieval Monster High army. I wasn't planning on buying any other figures, but occasionally I would run across them at a good price when I had money in my pocket (which is probably one of the reasons I don't have money in my pocket anymore).

The O'Hair sisters armor and outfits didn't particularly appeal to me, so I only bought one of each of them. I guess I should have known that the one that actually included a miniature dragon might have potential resale value.

I stopped trying to buy dolls and toys for "investment purposes" a long time ago, after getting seriously burned by stupid Star Wars figure mania. In theory, I only buy dolls and toys that I want to have fun with and take photos of. Trying to buy for resale adds a lot of stress and takes a lot of the fun out of the hobby. And the pieces I try to buy for possible resale rarely increase in value.

I find it frustrating when certain items suddenly appreciate in value, especially if they are items which I've opened, altered, or already parted with. And even more especially when items that were once common and ineensive suddenly increase five-fold in value... and I failed to stock up when I had the chance!

I don't know, perhaps the surge in Poppy prices was a fluke. Several have sold recently on eBay for ~$100 prices; now several are listed for less than that and they haven't sold. Since I am not particularly attached to this doll, I'm going to post her up on eBay and see if I can cash in on the current craze.

Of course, if I manage to sell her for one-hundred, in a month she'll be selling for two-hundred! Or three-hundred! But if I hold on to her, the price will crash back to the fifteen or twenty bucks she's probably worth.

If she sells, I'll be very annoyed with myself for not having ten more stashed away!

Do any of you have this dilemma? To Sell, or Not to Sell? To Keep, or Not to Keep? To DeBox, or Keep Mint in Box? Have you ever run across a doll or toy you purchased, opened, and played with or... horrors!... modified or damaged, and then discovered that the price had uneectedly and astonishingly escalated?