Why does this happen? (The Funko Glitter Phenomenon)

[Motion-Paradox]

I've had fairly good luck with finding the glitter versions of Funko Ponies, only having had trouble getting the Earth Ponies in stores but I've noticed something odd about the way they're sold.


What usually happens is that when the set is first released the glitter versions don't sell for too much more than the regular versions, then in the time between the early Hot Topic release and the wide spread hobby shop release the price goes up very high; often over $100, then after the hobby shop release the price drops down to more or less what it was before and whether it was part of the early release or not makes no difference.


What I wonder is why does this happen that people suddenly start charging so much more after the Hot Topic release has been out for a while and, more importantly, why do people keep buying them for so much when we all know that the figures will be out in hobby shops in a few months and the ebay price will be half what's being charged now? I know that with some of the promo cards people buy the first few to show up on ebay even when it's much more expensive than later on because they don't know how many people will actually be willing to sell their's, but with the Funko Ponies we know the hobby shop release will happen, it happens with every set (especially ones with main characters) so why do so many people pay over $100 for a figure they'll be able to buy for half as much in just a few months? 

[HoustonCollector72]

They must think is the last one and no more chances to get it
And well for some the money is not an issue , I saw a Spitfire glitter sold for 660 and same buyer paid 330 for Bon bon
Glitter , so that person spent 1000 dllrs on 2 funkos !

Then the rest of the sellers want to sell theirs for that much and some will get them sold and others will have to reduce price.

And also you can never be sure if they really got paid ! So it all is deceiving ! When people base prices on sold items on ebay is not a good deal for the buyers at the end. And I can tell you, there is people with shill bidding accounts on ebay , so they just play you on that end too !

[hathorcat]

I am always a little curious on the selling price of the glitters as well.

Glitter Pony and Rainbow Dash were only made in a total of 1008; they were pretty readily available after [and even before] Comic Con last year. If you wanted one, you could get one and you did not need to pay more than their retail value. While 1008 sounds like a lot, if you consider the sheer number of bronies, Funko collectors and MLP collectors...thats really not a massive number. You would perhaps think they would have been very hard to get with that kind of quantity produced.

Then compare that with some of the prices that glitters of others go for. After initial release they always shoot through the roof and the prices are getting higher and higher with each release. After 6 months glitters start showing up in other stores and become easier to track down, the price drops back down but seldom to less than double the original retail value.

The high prices after release are pretty standard for collectibles like this. Its just to do with a combination of desirability, the want to be one of the people with one and of course the panic that they could become even more expensive or even harder to find as time passes.

[lovelyjoan]

This is why I've pretty much given up on collecting Glitter variants. I had about 4, but the sheer amount of money people wanted for the ones that I was missing...It just wasn't worth it to me. I can live with having one of each type. If I went chasing after every variant that they're going to release I think I'd go crazy(ier).

[DancingPhoenix]

And the only glitter one I want is Pinkie Pie
Oh well, maybe eventually I'm stumble across her!