Instant Michael Lau Collection on eBay
An eBay auction for a collection of 21 LA/NY Fat Gardeners by Michael Lau recently fetched ended (possibly unclaimed) at $3000 GBP, which is approximately $4,915.20 USD. Based on the US pricing, that’s about $238 per 6-inch figure. In the listing, the seller mentioned that it took 2 years to track down this collection. I think the Crylon figures look rad as a rainbow (each can comes with two figures, also). If you consider this set as a series of art multiples or one excellent “installation,” $5K becomes a very attractive price. I can’t help wondering if the seller had hoped for more… The buyer gets 21 LA/NY Fat figures + 14 (I think) Tattoo figures for just under $5K. Did he/she miss out on the thrill of the chase or just skip the hassle of the hunt? What do you think?
The buyer skipped the hassle of the hunt. Some things are fun tracking down, others not so much. I’ve never been into Lau pieces personally so I have no sense on how hard they are to find or how futile the hunt generally is. But if I saw someone selling a “lot” of Uamou figures on ebay I didn’t have but wanted I’d snap those up with the quickness because I know how hard a lot of those are to find outside of Japan. But I’m a bad judge. I started my collection buying vinyle en-mass from wherever I could get it until I built up a taste for specific pieces/artists.
Obviously someone willing to drop 5K is likely already familiar with Lau and wanted that instant gratification. More power to ’em.
I’m not a fan of the “thrill of the chase” personally. Life can be difficult and complex; I like toy-buying to be free of anxiety. I would easily snap up someone else’s lot of pre-collected figures if I had the right funds at the time. I’d probably feel gratitude toward the person who tracked them down, but I definitely wouldn’t feel like “ooh I missed out on this really fun headache”.
I was the seller of these. They went unsold as a set but I have made more money selling them individually.
I just got bored of the vinyl scene and decided to sell everything. This is about a 1/4 of my collection.