Getting Into Collecting Action Figures?

sirchrissypoo

I've always had different action figures growing up as a child, with some of my first being Batman and The Joker from The Animated Series.

However, I want to start a real collection of action figures. I'm not planning on keeping them in the box, as I do want to be able to pose and play with said figures. My question is as follows:

What's the cheapest/easiest way to start a figure collection? I know certain characters I want figures of, and I know some general areas, but I don't follow new releases or what figures are in what specific lines. If I don't mind buying used figures, is eBay a good enough place to start, or are the kind of action figures you get from there usually low quality and not worth it?

Brainleech

Goodwill, Yardsales and the dreaded Flea Market are good places for figures that are used
Ebay is good if you are after a certain figure or hard to find ones

sirchrissypoo

You know, for some reason Goodwill hadn't even occurred to me. I usually just think of them as places to get used clothes and furniture, but I guess they do have a section for toys and what not. Are they worth going out of the way to just to find action figures or should I just wait until I'm in the area for other reasons?

Brainleech

I don't know as some have a section for toys others do not there seems to be no reason why they do or do not

Spawnbroker

Craigslist might be a good bet also, not really sure. I know that Comic con always has a bunch of collectible action figure vendors, you might want to check that out next time you're near one. They're usually ridiculously marked up by people who sell them on ebay after the conventions.

MushroomStick

In my experience, comic conventions usually have pretty inflated prices for action figures lately.

Garage sales and the like can be gold mines if you're not looking for mint condition, carded figures.

Ebay can be good, but you have to set a few ground rules and stick to them. Decide in advance what a figure or lot of figures is worth to you and then be prepared to lose the auction if it gets bid up higher than that. Don't bid on anything before you check the sellers shipping terms - even if you win an auction for a penny, its gonna suck if the shipping is $texas. Alternatively, sometimes you can come out ahead by bidding a little higher on multiple auctions from a seller that combines shipping.

sirchrissypoo

Thanks for the help guys. I've now got a few places to start my search.