Toys to Retirement Weekly Wrap-Up #25

Crazy week?

Hello friends,

As I mentioned in previous articles, this is the time of year where stuff slows down for me the most. Sales are still good, I’m up over last year when looking at both of my main platforms, but definitely am starting to run low on my heavy hitters. Should see a small boost for Easter and tax returns, but overall am expecting numbers to start drooping down as we approach the end of the month. With that being said, this year has definitely been different in terms of sales. I don’t recall Walmart ever having as many sales as they have this early in the year, and perhaps the economic uncertainty will lead to more stores doing large discounts. Either way, full steam ahead as we enter into what is shaping up to be a turbulent Q2.

April 2025 LEGO Update

A couple days ago I posted my monthly update for LEGO. Pretty crazy to see how well so many sets from 2024 are performing. It genuinely may turn out to be the best year of LEGO investing ever. I don’t know. I haven’t been around long enough to claim that. But it’s the best I’ve seen in terms of how quickly stuff is reaching 100%+ ROI.

On top of that, I called out a couple sets my eyes are on for the future. One of which coincidentally has just gone on sale today and is already retired! I snagged another 20.

You can check the full update here:

April 2025 LEGO Update

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Tariffs and Toys

A common topic these days, and one that we’re finally starting to feel the effects of. Did you notice the large price increase on the new Spidey fig that released this week?

$29.99 for a figure that would have been $24.99 a few weeks ago. Maybe this is Hasbro just charging a “Spider-Man tax” and conveniently disguising it as a tariff problem — who knows?

I’m not really sure how this all plays out. But I have some speculations. My hope is that people ‘tap out’ of collecting for a bit in anticipation for rising costs of everyday essentials. In turn, we should see declining sales for the toys released this year, forcing a pendulum swing from manufacturers AKA less production of everything released this year. If everything this year becomes short-printed, we could see some great performances on the 2025 releases in the next year.

At the end of the day, parents won’t let their children down during Christmas. Which is why I intentionally go into every purchase with the expectation that I won’t be selling it until the upcoming Q4. It’s a way to protect myself from worst case scenarios.

I’ll be ordering less than I normally would this year so that I can have a lot more cash on hand during Q4, but I’m definitely not changing the main strategy — invest in cool toys and let father time to the heavy lifting.

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Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 Trailer

Is this movie going to suck like the first one? Probably. Will the cult following still go out and see it and spend a ton of money on merch? Absolutely.

The time to start stocking up on merch was as early as last summer, as Funko is slated to pass on the FNAF license to Jazwares this year. It still remains to be seen if Funko will be producing some FNAF or not, but Jazwares will now hold the master license and intends to produce ‘character figures of varying scales, world-setting playsets, plush, pet toys, one-of-a-kind collector’s items and more’.

So if you were paying attention to this announcement from last year, you may have been stocking up on several of the FNAF sales on Funko.

I’m sure there will still be some opportunities to stock up, and/or perhaps the upcoming Jazwares line will be an under-produced sleeper hit.

Whatever happens, I encourage you to look up the previous FNAF movie release date as well as the latest game release and take a peek at what seems to happen to FNAF merch during that time…

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New Superman Sneak-Peek

It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I like to think I have a pretty good instinct about box office and merch performance. This movie is going to do numbers. The timing couldn’t be more perfect, in a time where a lot of the world is feeling hopeless, the world needs a hopeful Superman movie.

We get a taste of Gunn’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy-esque’ humor many have come to love, and of course a loveable side-kick to boot.

That, combined with McFarlane losing the DC license, means the merch for this movie could be under-produced. On the flip side, they may know they have only one chance to print the merch so they may manufacture a metric crap-ton. Your guess is as good as mine, but I am feeling more confident in the merch for this movie by the day. Not ‘buy 1,000 units’ level of confidence, but enough to toss some money at it.

If you’re into it, leaks and rumors are starting to pour out on the plot of this movie along with a rumored cameo. Just remember, they’re rumors, not confirmed.

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Live-Action Tangled…

Canceled. Most likely in response to the recent Snow White live-action adaptation becoming one of the worst rated movies on IMDB of all time. Will Disney wrap up these live action remakes? Probably not. But they definitely are feeling the pressure and want to go back to the drawing board. Bummer, because Rapunzel has always been one of my best selling Disney characters. Hopefully they cook up something worthwhile in the future for her.

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A morbid data point…

For those who haven’t heard, actor Val Kilmer sadly passed away this week. As morbid as it is, we do need to pay attention to what happens when tragedies like this occur. Anyone know which superhero he portrayed on the big screen?

That’s right, Batman. And who just happened to get a figure released last year?

Kilmer’s Batman.

Check out the data by looking up the ASIN here: B0D3FNNCZD

You would have seen a similar occurrence with Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther) a five years ago. Bray Wyatt (The Fiend) two years ago.

Not saying to go out and buy action figures of famous actors who are old or sick, but it is something to note in case you have any of these in storage.

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Beyond the Spider-Verse Release Date

June 4, 2027. Nothing else needs to be said. Prepare accordingly and watch my video I released a couple weeks ago here:

[VIDEO LESSON] My Biggest Financial Loss Ever?

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Alright friends, going to wrap it up there. Stay on your toes, don’t let up off the gas. If anything is true when it comes to arbitrage and ecommerce, it’s that there is a lot of money to be made during chaotic times. This could end up being a really strong year for toy investments, so stay vigilant.

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