[Acquisitions] Iron Man 2 Mighty Muggs: Iron Man Mark VI and War Machine

I've been collecting action figures for the past nine years and as much as I would love to say that I pretty much know how this industry runs, the truth is that there are still tons and tons of stuff that I have yet to figure out. Secondary market pricing is a case in point.

I missed out on these Iron Man 2 Mighty Muggs figures when they came out locally and even though I'm such an Iron Man die-hard, ridiculously high second market prices prevented me from pursuing these cuties on eBay. I'm not really sure how much these toys initially retailed for but I'm quite certain that they didn't cost more than a thousand bucks (23 USD) each. I was willing to pay a maximum of 1200 bucks (27 USD) for each figure but even up to now, eBay prices have consistently ranged from 2000 to 2500 bucks per fig and I was like, "WTF?!" Then, during one of my toy hunting sessions at SM Megamall, I stumbled upon these two. The figs were being sold as a set for a very reasonable price of 2200 bucks and the rest, as they say, is history. Still, I walked out of the store more confused than ever. Tell me, how do sellers really determine the price of a particular fig?

Both Muggs remain sealed up to this day due to their reputation of being notorious dust/dirt magnets but I think I'll set them loose eventually as they're just too cute to be kept MISB (mint in sealed box). The War Machine Mugg looks fantastic (gotta love those shoulder-mounted weapons) and I really like the paint apps on these figs, particularly the shadows. It's amazing to see how far the Mighty Muggs designs have come considering that the line started out with an ultra-simplistic approach, paint-wise. The absence of the silver parts on the Mark VI armor doesn't sit well with me but that's actually the only issue I have with these two. These figs are awesome and I'm glad that I didn't have to overspend to get them. 

These Marvel Mighty/Mini Muggs are quickly becoming my newest addiction and I already have my eyes fixed on the upcoming Avengers movie Mini Muggs set. It's really a bummer that the set doesn't seem to include a Black Widow fig but Marvel and Hasbro probably have other plans for the character. Just to avoid the hassles of secondary market shopping, I'll make sure to pre-order my Avengers Mini Muggs set this early.