How long will I have to wait until G4 merch is worth something?

[Saphraira]

Echoing pretty much what everyone else has said... Probably not. Unless you've got some of the comic-con exclusives or something that's already fairly pricy or harder to find I doubt most pony merch will be worth all that much. Especially when G4's popularity wears off. FIM isn't just popular with older fans, plenty of little girls love the cartoon, too. Guess what's gonna happen when they "outgrow" their old pony toys in the next few years? They're probably going to flood the secondary market. Not all girls are packrats like I am and kept most of their favorite toy collections they had as a kid. >_>;

Eagerly awaiting this day tbh.

[Aquatic Neon]

I would say there's no real answer, its very hard to say what will be worth something and what won't. I think that many kids that played with G4, might turn into collectors and want specific things, therefore those items will go up. What I'm almost positive on is that the mane 6 brushies/ blind bags will be worth next to nothing because they are overally mass produced. Specific releases like the original FS Applejack will still be worth something as long as they don't re-release the same one. The blind bags I can see prices rising easily since that already is happening some of the UK wave only were going for $25+ each! I think SDCC exclusives, and other limited release ponies and comics will definitely be worth something eventually as well as characters that were only made once and possibly store exclusives like brushie Minty and Starswirl. The funko glitters/exclusives will definitely be worth something down the road, especially when they stop carrying/ making certain characters. Basically though to round it all off is we still don't know, it all depends on people in the future.

[Moar Pony]

I tend to think differently. I don't necessarily think the G4 bubble will pop any time soon, I wish I had bought more a few years ago because now I can't find it with out spending tons. Especially the 2011 stuff. I kinda think Bronies are here to stay, and the more it grows the more people will be looking for the ponies that came out before they converted. Hasbro has big plans for FIM so if I was going to put a time line on it, I say 3 years.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

MLP is not an investment hobby.  It's too speculative and the G4 things that are valuable were things made in short supply and that the typical public did not have access to (like Taobao releases). If you don't already have these particular items in your collection you likely aren't going to buy them at inflated prices in order to attempt to make your money back.

 The few G4 collectible valuable items are limited quantity and they never sold at the "toy" price to acquire the value of a "collectible".  G1s were $5 toys back in the day...  of course they became collectible as their value rose.  But a $14 pony today?  No, there are millions of each unit that hit stores and everyone would like to make a profit...  

And buying anything non-official like Shapeways and expecting it to sell later because it's MLP?  No, sadly not.  Those sorts of things are only going to be bought by someone who adores them because they adore them- not someone completing a collection, not the average collector.  They aren't official products so people aren't going to be looking for them. 

I think if you were going to sink over 1000 pounds into a collectible, MLP was a bad idea...  Lego might have been a better choice - it retains its value and appreciates quickly! 

[Empress Celestia]

MLP is not an investment hobby.  It's too speculative and the G4 things that are valuable were things made in short supply and that the typical public did not have access to (like Taobao releases). If you don't already have these particular items in your collection you likely aren't going to buy them at inflated prices in order to attempt to make your money back.

 The few G4 collectible valuable items are limited quantity and they never sold at the "toy" price to acquire the value of a "collectible".  G1s were $5 toys back in the day...  of course they became collectible as their value rose.  But a $14 pony today?  No, there are millions of each unit that hit stores and everyone would like to make a profit...  

And buying anything non-official like Shapeways and expecting it to sell later because it's MLP?  No, sadly not.  Those sorts of things are only going to be bought by someone who adores them because they adore them- not someone completing a collection, not the average collector.  They aren't official products so people aren't going to be looking for them. 

I think if you were going to sink over 1000 pounds into a collectible, MLP was a bad idea...  Lego might have been a better choice - it retains its value and appreciates quickly! 

Hang on, Shapeways is official. Well, officially licensed, but they're not fakies!

[Vertefae]

They may be licensed, but they're not made by Hasbro. In the long run that's going to make a difference.

[thekozmicpig]

You won't - the market is hyperinflated because EVERYONE is buying pony merchandise that is interested in it.

G1 was lucrative because no one knew 20 years down the line the same kids who played with it would be buying them.  Also there were plenty of variants across countries and Mail Orders to be considered rare.

Yes this.

Toys that tend to be worth something are things that no one would ever think people would want 20 years from now, so no one bothered to keep them in good shape, making them worth something today.

If you truly want to make money on toys, you need to risk it. You must buy something no one is collecting (which is close to impossible, because everything is being collected by someone for the exact same reason), and hope it pays off.

At the end of the day, collect what you like. I may not ever recoup my cost on stuff, but as long as it brings me happiness, it is not a waste.

[goddessofpeep]

It's highly unlikely that you'll make any money on your collection.  Breaking even is probably the best you can hope for.  Even that could be a stretch depending on what you bought and how much you paid for it.

The big problem with the brony movement is that not only is it absolutely huge, but it's also tied to FIM alone.  Once the show is killed off (as it will be eventually), at least some percentage of the FIM fans are going to leave the community. Even if it's a small percentage, we're still talking some serious numbers. They'll also be looking to unload their stuff, and since they're all adults, there's going to be a glut of MIB/mint items hitting the market.  It happened to a lesser extent with the G3s.  A lot of those ponies ended up in collector hands, so when a collector leaves the community, there's a huge pile of the things available for current collectors to purchase.

Also, without a show to bring in new fans, the market is going to drop.  Right now the market is HUGE, and that size is creating a situation where everybody and their brother is trying to cash in while it lasts.  That means that manufacturers are producing incredible amounts of stuff to meet the demand.  Because of this, all the stuff coming out now is coming out in large numbers.  As soon as the market starts to shrink, there will be too much stuff available and not enough buyers.

I'd say the items that have the best chance of holding value would be the ones that are the least interesting to your average FIM fan, but are of interest to long time MLP collectors, or items that were seriously hard to find when new. 

[Katika]

MLP is not an investment hobby. 

This is true, across all generations.  Even G1s, which are arguably the most expensive generation as a whole since they're old and fewer of them remain each year, go through price fluctuations.  Honestly, the only way to make money with G4 ponies right now is to sell them while they're still a hot commodity, but it doesn't sound like you're interested in parting with them yet (and I totally understand that ).  As others mentioned, the crash at the end of the G3 line can be proof of how it works.  I recently purchased a few very, very exclusive G3s that had been pushing the $1k value in the line's prime for a mere fraction of what they had gone for when they were new and I'm not even sure if what I paid was actually a good deal or not, given how crazy prices can change.