Questions to Ask Before Buying Action Figures Online

Who is the figure for?
Is it for you? Awesome! Get yourself something great :) But skip to the next section; you don't need this info.

Is it for a child?

If you're buying an action figure for a child, ask the seller before you buy if they would recommend the figure for children. Here's why:
There are lots of great action figures for children, but many are not right for children at all. They may be fragile and will break within a matter of days if given to a child. DC Collectibles makes wonderful action figures for adult collectors, but they will quickly break in the hands of a child.
Others figures, like Minimates, are made of loads of tiny parts which may be a danger for very young children, or difficult to manipulate for small children.
Is it a gift for an adult?
Ebay's delivery estimates are often quite optimistic. If you need a figure to arrive by a certain date for a birthday or other special day, contact the seller to make sure they can deliver by that date.
Does the seller accept returns? You don't want to buy a figure for your friend only to find that he or she decided to buy it for themselves and you are now stuck with a duplicate.


Will you be displaying items in their packaging?
Many sellers understand that many collectors keep their items in the packaging and they want the packaging to be pristine as possible. Some sellers though, may not understand collectors and assume that the packaging is going to end up in the garbage. If it's not a seller you know and trust, assume that the seller does not understand the importance of the packaging! Tell the seller you will be keeping the item in the packaging and that you would appreciate their careful packing. Better safe than sorry.

Make sure that you can see every bit of the packaging in the photos. Some sellers, either because they are unscrupulous, or because they don't understand in box collectors, leave the piece of packaging that has the big crease out of their photos. If some of the packaging is not visible, assume the worst. Again, better safe than sorry.



Will you be displaying the figure out of its packaging?

Sellers who understand the importance of packaging often end up charging more for shipping because they are planning on shipping the item in a heavy box with plenty of bubble wrap. If you don't care about the packaging, let the seller know. Some sellers may be able to give you a bit of a discount if they ship the item with no packaging, or if they know they don't have to worry about the packaging getting dinged up in transit.

If the figure is one you're not familiar with, ask the seller how many points of articulation it has. Medicom has recently made some "action figures" with no moveable parts! Other figures have as few as one point of articulation. Other can have dozens. If being able to pose the figure is important to you, ask before you buy.




Is the figure being sold loose (without packaging)?
Does the figure have all the accessories that it originally came with? If not, chances are that the original owner did not take careful care of the figure. Other loose figures are stolen from factories in China or Hong Kong or are factory rejects. You can buy loose figures that are in wonderful condition. Why buy one that was played with by a child or stolen from, or rejected by a factory? Get one that was treated with TLC by an adult collector.

Ask the seller what condition the joints are in. You don't want to get a figure that has joints so loose you can't even make it stand.

Some sellers (myself included) sell action figures that are removed from the packaging, but never removed from the plastic tray in which it came. This gets you a new figure at a significant discount from buying one still in the packaging. Keep an eye out for figures that are loose, but still resting, or even better, strapped into the plastic tray in which they came.