[Crazyfigures]

Last year I asked myself something, DAM toys was bringing out the figure Russian VDV Airborne PKP machine gunner. once this figure was sold loose on various websites worldwide the PKP Machine gun was gone. Today some eBay sellers are aware for this 'rare' 1/6 item and push the price up for collectors, which is totally not fun(expressed light) for customizers in this hobby. This was also done with with the AK-47's from DAM toys. I would like to know how customizers look to this issue. I am also aware the quest for looking that single item on ebay can be fun, but thats not the point here.All the best Crazy figures

 

[pukingdog]

You've nailed the issue down properly, Crazyfigures. Figures move pretty fast these days, and moreso, loose parts (aggravated by smaller production runs?). After more than a decade of waiting for Russians in such detail, enthusiasts went after the figures and spare parts. In the hobby overall, weapons and certain equipment go quickly anyway. The most recent Pecheneg I saw offered was about $45 before shipping.

Alternatively, PKMs have been done in both resin and metal, by member fullmetal. Some members early on, scratch built PKMs.

At least one outfit, Commanche, has made an AKM, but it is less than perfect. AKMs in particular are highly sought after, but in general, the AK family is now mostly available in cheaper versions in places like ebay. Some of those are relatively inexpensive, others suffer from the overall rise in pricing.

 

[pukingdog]

I hold some hope that DAM will release another figure to take advantage of their Pecheneg molds, or perhaps a modified model PKM. They've released their SOPMOD II rifles, boxed individually, along the line of E&S' groundbreaking line, why not do the same with Russian weapons?

 

[Spettscollector]

I second the sentiment above. It seemed, for a time, that we were bound for consistent Russian figure releases starting in 2014. The rug really seems to have been pulled out from collectors, as almost nothing new has been scheduled for production since the middle of 2015, with the notable exception of Dam!'s forthcoming Natalia paratrooper. This dearth of new stock, I'm sure, led to collectors snatching up everything available, with some purchasing absurd numbers of figures. This has given us a bottleneck in terms of buying loose material, with collectors fearful of selling their increasingly rare hordes of items, and the few that remain skyrocketing in value.

 

[AdamC]

The best strategy is to always buy weapons when a figure is first released. Weapons always go first, and everything else last, if at all. With the Russian figures this was complicated by the fact that many of the parts were not wanted other than the uniform and weapons, or were released with previous figures, leading most sellers to charge more for the weapons. As PD notes, hopefully DAM will release more standalone weapon sets in the future as they have a huge catalog of molds to draw upon. As for the lack of announcements, sales of Russian figures had slowed with latter releases. I'm sure the Syrian conflict will provide subject matter for future releases, as more modern Russian subject matter is relatively untouched.

 

[cdn_rhino]

If you can budget it in, get it when the figure is released. That gives you about a 6 month window. After that the prices climb, as the weapons and/or fancy bits become more rare.

But you can set a watch list on Ebay, and wait for the item to pop up eventually on Ebay, or other places and forums, after the big rush. That does happen now and then too, and sometimes you even get lucky because fewer people are actively looking for them.

 

[Chelseaboy]

I bought all the Russians boxed barring the black uniform figures & I'm passing on the pretty lady paratrooper, I didn't bother with any loose parts but I did notice how fast parts disappeared, I'm currently awaiting Dam to announce a general release Brit wearing the desert uniform they included with the exclusive.....two general release Brits so far....one exclusive....I expected more but so far zilch....yeah, I think I can live without Russian Barbie para......but where are the Brits Dam ?

 

[Johkaz]

I have three of the recent DAM Russians boxed here, and i like the look of the paratrooper kit on the new Natalia figure.
But after looking around at the prices of loose DAM parts, instead of trying to get just the parachute and some parts loose. I decided it would better to get the Natalia figure boxed instead. As that way i have all of the pieces i wanted, and any that i did not want such as the figure i could try to part out loose.

 

[lurpdog101]

the one I saw, believe was from fullmetal being sold by Davinator was over $1000!

 

[Scimitar]

You've nailed the issue down properly, Crazyfigures. Figures move pretty fast these days, and moreso, loose parts (aggravated by smaller production runs?). After more than a decade of waiting for Russians in such detail, enthusiasts went after the figures and spare parts. In the hobby overall, weapons and certain equipment go quickly anyway. The most recent Pecheneg I saw offered was about $45 before shipping.

Alternatively, PKMs have been done in both resin and metal, by member fullmetal. Some members early on, scratch built PKMs.

At least one outfit, Commanche, has made an AKM, but it is less than perfect. AKMs in particular are highly sought after, but in general, the AK family is now mostly available in cheaper versions in places like ebay. Some of those are relatively inexpensive, others suffer from the overall rise in pricing.

Mike, don't forget the PKM (not to mention the RPK) done by Marcelo. He doesn't currently have the PKM (though he does have the RPK) listed on eBay but for anyone looking for a good PKM, it wouldn't hurt to contact him to enquire about buying one if he has any castings still in stock. You can find him on eBay here:

mudhens66 on eBay

Or you can see some images of the PKM and find his email address at the end of this thread:

[Warpaint Studios] PKM Kit (now released!)

 

[Davinator65]

the one I saw, believe was from fullmetal being sold by Davinator was over $1000!

The one you are referring to is hand made. It took him over 130 to build this thing. Pics do no justice to Jon's work. You have to see it up close and personal. Ask pukingdog. He owns some of his weapons. I am sure he will verify the beauty of the guns.

 

[pukingdog]

I didn't mention the PKM by Marcelo, because I thought this has not been offered for some years. The RPD (short ver.) and RPK are still around, but that may be because of their draw for Vietnam and other earlier conflicts.

I am reminded by Dave's post that I am far behind on posting fullmetal's PKM, as I had intended. I need to do that, it is an amazing creation, as are all of the things Jon makes.

 

[Scimitar]

I haven't seen Marcelo's PKM on eBay for awhile but they were first offered just a little over two years ago. Still, if anyone is looking for one, it wouldn't hurt to contact Marcelo. I keep a watch on his offerings and I've noticed that his RPK and RPD models are frequently not listed on eBay for several months at a time. It could be that he's simply run out of stock and hasn't had the time or the motivation to cast more.