Collecting Plastic Pistols??

[Erocksmash]

I would say I'm collecting plastic pistols, buuuuttttt. If I can get a slide at a certain price from here and a frame for a certain place over there, and a quick email for some cheap factory internals, and I can put an entire gun together for say under 3 beans, ill put it together and just stick it in the truck or the garage... can't beat that at today's new prices...

 

[gregintenn]

As long as people collect postage stamps, I see no reason why polymer firearms would be off limits to collect.


I always thought that a guy could have a giant warehouse of AR 15's and not have one of every brand/variation available.

 

[03hemi]

No, collecting plastic guns is fine though for some. Just know they will ALWAYS be worth a lot less than what you paid for them.

 

[PPS1980]

No, collecting plastic guns is fine though for some. Just know they will ALWAYS be worth a lot less than what you paid for them.

Simply not true. Next.

 

[Kanewpadle]

I collect what I like to shoot. Nothing more.

But if I had a crystal ball, now would be the perfect time to have a bunch of new and used plastic pistols to sell.

 

[white cloud]

I am an old guy (67). When I was young, one could purchase obsolete military rifles at very low prices. Have you priced a nice M1 Garand recently?

 

[Echo40]

Some folks collect stamps or postcards, other folks collect trading cards, some folks even collect bottle caps.

Folks collect all manner of things, I'm not about to question that folks collect polyer-framed pistols, nor do I think that there's anything strange about that either.

Fortunately, I overcame my biased against polymer-framed pistols a couple of years ago once I had shot my brother's Ruger LC9S, and now I own multiple polymer-framed pistols with another on the way as we speak. So you could say that I've got a little collection of my own going.

 

[BC38]

I don't buy guns as "investments", but I do shop around and with very few exceptions I make sure I pay less than market value for pretty much every one I buy.
That way I am pretty much certain to be able to get my money back and then some.

 

[ladder13]

No, collecting plastic guns is fine though for some. Just know they will ALWAYS be worth a lot less than what you paid for them.

Seen the price of polymer guns lately?

 

[BigBill]

Plastic pistols have a life span of 40 years yet there's no date of birth on the gun nor when it expires. As an investment does that worry you?
I think about those cheap foam filled shooting muffs. One day we'll pick them up to find the foam discentergraded? Will that happen to the plastic pistol crumbled up like an old piece of tupperware?

 

[Ingramite]

Well, I've always bought high.
Then sold low.
And always traded down.

What was that line in the movie The Graduate?
Something about plastics.....

This whole Collectable Plastic Pistols angle....it does have a nice wring to it. I might just have to diversify by liquidating some of my carbon paper holdings.

 

[reddog81]

Most guns aren't good investments, but there are some that buck that trend. For decades you could find milsurp junk for dirt cheap, then the surplus market dried up and now those guns are desirable. Those $100 SKS's are pushing $400 or more. The $250 Swiss K31 is now $500 or more. I think Glocks have cost about $500 for the last 30 years.

The key is to buy whatever is in low demand and cheap right now, but will be in high demand and low supply 10 to 20 years from now. I don't think many plastic guns will fit that description.

The problem is that the surplus market has dried up and nothing is very "cheap" today. The $200 Taurus will probably still be a $200 Taurus 10 years from now.

The high end market, $2,500+, could tank next year or it could take off and go even higher. Will gun buyers 10 or 20 years from now still be clamoring for the stuff Baby Boomers are willing to drop large amounts of money on?

 

[.357magger]

The fact that an item was previously cheaper doesn't mean it's a good investment.

A pack of smokes used to be $.25 too. Now they're near $7.00. Doesn't mean you should have invested in a cigarette collection.

A number of posts here seem to be saying that because something has increased in price, that alone makes it a good investment. It doesn't. Specifically when everything is also increasing in price.

An item is only valued as an investment if it significantly outpaces inflation. So far, plastic pistols haven't. As an example, most WW2 arms took over 40 years before any significant price changes above inflation took place.

Just my $.02. YMMV, but I'll stick with firearms as an enjoyable pursuit and much more stable items/areas as investments. Especially if I wanted to see a return during the normal human life span.

 

[uncleted327]

Even the "rarest" Tupperware will never be in the same category as a nice steel revolver or 1911. Keeping a Glock in new, unfired condition hoping it will be a collectable someday is like buying a can opener and keeping it in the box hoping it will rise in value. Even examples like the fish gill Gen 3s and RTF2s will at best garner new Glock prices to those looking for one.

 

[always_an_eagle]

I have a buddy who collects all things Glock. He has most if not all the models and variations within the models - no G18, though. He even manged to find both a G25 and a G28. With the exceptions of the G25, and G28, I believe most, if not all are NIB. He has the knives, tools and all sorts of promo stuff. To me, it is a pretty impressive collection!

I collected a bunch of military surplus firearms pre-2008. They were cheap and under $200. I collected them because I like(d) them. Now, I look at them as an investment.

Mosins (Russian) were $50, on sale 15-20 years ago. They were a dime a dozen. Even up until a few years ago, they could be had for ~$150. Now they seem to start at $400 and are going up. I think the most I paid for any milsurp was $350. Almost every single one of the milsurps I have is over $300, at least, looking at GB prices and stuff being sold on various websites.. Right now, I'm just sitting on them. I'll sell them, eventually...

How he get the Glock 25 and 28? Those are rarer in the US than a golden egg

 

[03hemi]

Seen the price of polymer guns lately?

Yes, but there's still no value in collecting plastic guns unless they're given to you almost free, then there some value.

 

[double-dipper]

"Combat Tupperware"

Now that's funny right there!!!!!

 

[Ματθιας]

How he get the Glock 25 and 28? Those are rarer in the US than a golden egg

This is what I remember: One of them, he answered a newspaper advert that was a typo - pure luck. I don't remember how he found the other one. One was a beater, with scuffs and lots of wear, the other was in OK condition - I don't remember which was which. This was 12-15 or so years ago.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

People collect all kinds of stupid items. Why not plastic guns?

 

[uncleted327]

Collecting is one thing, I'm all for people collecting what they like. However that's different than buying things and putting them away thinking they will be more valuable in the future. In that regard I don't see Tupperware ever rising in value over time beyond what you can buy the current version for. There may be a few outliers, but I can't think of any offhand. So I wouldn't deprive yourself the joy of shooting that rare Glock 19 with the $100 bill cerakote you've been holding onto.