Blind bag questions

Even as long as I've been here, I wasn't sure where to put this as we don't have a merch section. *hint hint*

A search revealed most of the merch/collectible threads in this forum or general, so I put it here. Move it if you feel the need I suppose.




Anyway I have a couple blind bag questions. I know I got into the game late, but I'm interested in acquiring some. Specifically, Wave 1, although I have my eye on a full set of wave 5 on eBay, although I bet in a couple days that will go up to around $70 ~bleh~


Seeing as how I have not been able to find Wave 2 (euro only) at all, and the #23 Glitter version of Twilight Sparkle (the pink, euro only one) is equally impossible to find, I've been trying to get my hands on 9 Wave 1 blind bag ponies, obviously the mane 6 and the 3 special edition glitters.


**However, I've only been able to find them for sale online as *opened.* Even Toy Wiz only sells individual blind bags as opened. My question: If they're opened, are they worth anything? Will they be worth anything?

They would be cool to have either way, but somehow I just can't bring myself to buy collectibles if they've been opened, knowing that collectibles are usually worthless once opened. Are the blind bags somehow different in this regard, or am I right in thinking that once the package has been broken, they're not worth bupkiss?


I found a thread by some mlp collectors (the ones who also collect the older gen pony stuff) who were complaining that people opened blind bags in the store, calling them "blind bag destroyers." Is it that they want to be the ones who get to open them, or are they not supposed to be opened, ever?


**Also, I found a set of US Wave 2 for sale, the Toys 'R' Us 12 set exclusive, but even though the blind bag wiki has them listed, they don't actually come in foil bags, and other sites for blind bags don't list them, or the rainbow collection, as being blind bags. They're the same as the blind bags, they're 2 inch PVC figures, but do they count?




It sucks that I *could* have bought full sets in the store, had I been looking since I first got into this, but better late than never I suppose. Anyway if anyone has a line on where to find wave 1 blind bags unopened, let me know. eBay and Amazon have been next to useless and I can't read Chinese so Taobao's out.

Actually, I found them on Toy Wiz, but I don't really want to pay 5 bucks a pop with a 1:4 chance of even getting one of the Mane 6, not even counting the 3 glitters. Man...collecting kinda sucks.

 

Wow, that is supremely generous of you, thank you. (and if you have any of the euro-only wave 2 ponies, I am sooo jelly.)

As it happens, I can still get Wave 1 and 3 blind bags individually (still in the package) for $5 and $9 USD respectively, straight from an online store. (Why the wave 3 are more expensive, I have no idea) However the box sets are unavailable, and I have no way of purchasing only the ones with the codes I want, so it'd be random, and by the time I got all the ones I wanted (there's 9) I'd prolly have spent more than just buying a whole box.


Currently there is a listing on eBay for a whole set of 24 unopened Wave 5 blind bags, priced at .99 cents, so I'm going to see if I can get that at a reasonable bidding price. Although I doubt it, they usually go up to around $70 by the time they're sold. That auction ends in two days, so if that doesn't pan out, then I could definitely use your help. I believe there's 8 that I would like from that set.

Once again, thank you so much for your offer, I just might have to take you up on that. I'll see how the auction pans out first though.




**I just read someone's tumblr post that said they found 2 untouched Wave 1 blind bag boxes in a Walgreens, and the post was recent. Makes sense, since people don't usually look for toys in Walgreens (it's a pharmacy.)

So tomorrow I'm gonna go hit up all the Walgreens, CVS and Rite-Aids I can on my way home from work, see if I can dig up some hidden treasure. Wish me luck.

 

***Important Update***

After the last 5 hours of searching every Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens, CVS and Rite-Aid in three different towns, I found a box of Wave 4 blind bags. The set that is all glittery with the three metallic special editions. I managed to get 9/10 that I wanted, the tenth (Lulamoon, which later became Trixie Lulamoon) was missing.

However, there were 23 in that box, Lulamoon being the only one missing. And all the others had different numbers. So...if I went back and bought the rest of that box and somehow managed to aquire Lulamoon, then I'd have a complete set of Wave 4 blind bags.


Do you guys think that if I have the chance to get a full set, I should get them? Or do you think only the mane 6 and the special editions are going to be sought after? All the others are just recolors, but something tells me it'd be a good idea to get a full set if possible, usually collectors like it when you have the full set.


What do you guys think?




***Edit: I've been poking around on the My Little Pony Trading Post site, which is full of people who collect and trade MLP merch, even the older gen stuff, and after asking the same question, I was told that 1) opening the blind bags is unlikely to depreciate the value and 2) the blind bags that are more likely to be rare and therefore more likely to be highly sought after are the ones that were only released once, and because of that reason, the Mane 6 (which were released in each wave) are more likely to have a lesser value than others.

I was looking at it more from the viewpoint of popularity of the ponies, and I should have been looking at it more from a viewpoint of scarcity. Seems my whole strategy was backwards.

 

I did see that Walgreens had some MLP stuff, but no blind bags. At least the ones I checked didn't.

And you're lucky, so far the only Wave I've seen in stores is wave 4, the glitter/metal ones. I got the mane 6 and the metals from that wave, plus Twilight Velvet (Twilight Sparkle's mom, it's the only one-off from that set).

**EDIT: Actually, Twilight Velvet came out in Wave 6 also, she's one of the chase pieces with a 3-D cutie mark. So I'll have to get her again lol.



The rest I'll prolly have to find online.

 

Wave 5, correct. And the 3 Princesses from that Wave are looking like they're going to be pretty sought after figures.

Trixie and Lyra are also in that wave, as well as Golden Delicious (an apple family member).


Here are some other helpful links for blind bag info.

http://mlpg4merch.tumblr.com/post/24157634436/g4-blind-bag-master-post (This one is formatted for smartphones, so you can check the codes right on your phone)

http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/G4_Blind_Bag_Ponies

 

Mine is the first thread in new merch section.

 

I used this site a lot, very helpful.

http://mlpg4merch.tumblr.com/post/24157634436/g4-blind-bag-master-post

Strawberry reef is also pretty useful, they also have a blind bag wiki page that includes the exclusive store sets that the others don't, but the exclusive store sets aren't technically blind bags. Since they don't come in a bag, you can see them.