To collect MOC/MIB or loose toys?

Many toy collectors I know, especially those who collect action figures, buy only Mint-On-Card (MOC)/Mint-In-Box (MIB) toys and keep them that way forever.  The reason being the toys are more valuable this way and will fetch better selling prices in future.  Someone once told me that the collectible toy market here in Singapore is also known as the ‘poor man’s stock market’.  Some collectors lament that such ‘investing’ mentality and actions deprive the true collectors of obtaining the toys at much fairer rates because of artificially inflated demand and prices. 

There are also collectors who keep their toys MOC/MIB because they like the look of the toys in their original packaging.  It is all right if the MOC/MIB collectors like the toyline.  Other collectors keep both the MOC/MIB and loose toys.  MOC/MIB toys take up much much more space in your home, especially the boxed vehicle sets and playsets.  On the whole the MOC/MIB toys are easier to stack but you must be careful not to dent them, if not ‘their value will drop’ and so on. 

I prefer to remove my toys from their packaging and ‘play’ with them.  I know their values will plunge but since they are toys, they are made to be played with instead of looking pretty in their packaging like museum pieces.  I do have some MOC/MIB toys, mostly because I also own their counterparts as loose pieces or because I am still unsure of keeping them in my collection, hence I did not release them from their ‘plastic prisons’ yet.  I firmly recommend collecting loose toys to fully enjoy this hobby.  You can also pose them for fun photos to post on your blog and website, especially if you are skilled in photography and Photoshop.  Loose toys also take up much lesser space in your home.

Whichever form you choose to keep your collectible toys in can determine the extent you get to enjoy your toy collecting hobby.  A combination of collecting both MOC/MIB and loose toys would be a great choice, that is, choosing the ‘middle way’!