Last week I announced I’d be talking about companies getting information wrong on action figure packaging, and I thought I had three examples but it turns out two examples were me losing accessories and not the company leaving things out or advertising falsely. Companies need to get it right, and for the most part they do. So instead of wasting time with that, I’ll talk about buying used toys.

First I want to clarify that I’m not telling anyone how to get rich buying toys. Investing in comics and toys rarely gets people rich. I wasn’t able to find any statistics about how many vintage toy buyers make millions, but I’d venture to guess that the percentage of people who get rich off toys (not those who make a living flipping things on eBay, which is a full-time gig) is less than the percentage of people who win the lottery. I collect out of a place of love and nostalgia, and I’ll be trying to help people who do the same find and buy the best and cheapest used action figures.

The old-fashioned way, which I believe is more fun and gentler on the wallet if only because I have to carry whatever I buy, is flea markets, tag sales, and brick and mortar stores. I’ve only ever been to one brick and mortar store; Comicazi in Somerville, MA; that actually sells used figures, and I highly recommend checking it out. With a flea market or tag sale I recommend going in with a target set of figures/figure types or an afternoon. Having specific targets allows you to scan things quickly and move to the next booth or tag sale. Again, if you have the time, browsing can be fun and lead to discovering cool things.

All of that also holds true for shopping online, though that can be trickier. For one thing, figures that have been off the shelves of brick and mortar stores are still online. Amazon has X-Men’s Strong Guy from 1993 in the box for $9.99 (with shipping). I’m going to focus the rest of this article around him because I love him in all of Peter David’s X-Factor runs, which I highly recommend.

$9.99 is not a bad price. When we head over to eBay though, he’s going for a lot cheaper. I searched for “Strong Guy” and optimized the list to “Price + Shipping lowest first” and found him for $5.98 with shipping and handling, but here’s how I got mine.

With this set of figures, I got him for less than $30. (Neither eBay, Bank of America, PayPal, or I keep records for purchases made more than three years ago so I can’t confirm that number).

It averages to somewhere between $1 and $2 per figure. Always search for toy lots before you buy used figures individually. Even if you have a few in the lot already, you can turn around and sell them yourself and maybe end up turning a profit.

Editor’s Note: Action Figure Fury does not take responsibility if you damage your figures by using the below processes. Do it at your own risk.

The only thing between you and your used toy now is a little bit of maintenance. My Strong Guy, and the rest of the lot he came with, were a bit sticky. They were coming from Florida so I’m hoping it was the humidity.

The simple solution is to wash them gently under warm water with a dish sponge. If you don’t have a sponge, you can also use paper towel or anything else that isn’t going to damage the figure.

If a joint is stuck or out of line, which isn’t a problem with figures with as few points of articulation as the 90s X-Men, heat up a glass of water. It should be warm enough that you could put your fingers in it if you had to, but wouldn’t want to. Dip the offending joint into and leave it for thirty seconds or so, take it out and gently, gently, push it to the shape you want it to be or put it at the angle it should be. Let it cool off and dry in that position and it should be better.

Then enjoy your good as new action figures!

A Call to Action (Figures) is a weekly column published on Wednesdays, chronicling my rants and raves about all things action figure. Next week I’ll be talking about the Toys R Us in Times Square closing.

Did I get it right? Are there other things about buying used figures you’d like to know? Tips I missed? Let me know in the comments!