COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: The Sudden Surge of Sin Cara

If you’ve ever wandered into the toy aisle at your local big box retailer to check out the wrestling figures, you’ve probably seen plenty of Sin Cara action figures hanging on the pegs. He’s been around for nearly a decade (sort of), he’s not on TV much and he has plenty of figures to choose from.

So what the heck is going on with sales of Sin Cara figures on the secondary market?

Several of Sin Cara’s action figures from Mattel – Basic, Elite and Battle Packs – are suddenly outselling many other figures. There’s no real rhyme or reason to the sales either; some are figures of the original Sin Cara, aka Mexico’s Mistico, while other are the current version of Sin Cara, complete with prominent right shoulder tattoo.

A quick search of completed listings on eBay during the last 90 days brought up hundreds Mattel Sin Cara action figures, ranging from $5 for a Basic to a staggering $180.95 for a Lucha Dragons Battle Packs 42.

The sudden popularity of the Lucha Dragons figures from Battle Packs 42 is stunning. It’s a two-pack of Sin Cara and Kalisto – complete with surfboard!? – that sat on shelves from 2016 on with a suggested retail prices of about $18. In some cities it was one of the last two-packs on the pegs as Kmart clearanced out figures and shut its doors. Over the last 90 days, sales have ranged from $29.99 for a loose pair to $180.95 for the two figures mint on card, with an average sale price of about $100.

Sin Cara has had six different Elite-style figures over the years, which usually ranged in price from $18 to $23, depending on the retailer. He debuted in Elite Series 15 in 2011, with another figure in Elite Series 18. The Series 15 figure has Sin Cara in his original light blue and gold ring gear with matching cape. The Series 18 figure has him in gold and white gear, with a mostly gold cape. Sin Cara was also part of the Best of Pay-Per-View 2012 series from Toys R Us; this figure had him in red gear with a white cape.

Those three Elite-style figures had the most completed listings over the last 90 days. All three sold for similar prices, ranging from $20 for a loose figure to $70 or $80 for one mint in package.

Sin Cara’s highest selling Basic Mattel WWE figure is from Series 28, which is odd for a number of reasons: it wasn’t his first action figure, and it depicts him in red and white gear, which wasn’t really an iconic look of Mistico or Sin Cara. Over the last 90 days, the Basic Series 28 figure sold from as low as $16 for a loose figure to as high as $65 for one mint on card.

Remember that Sin Cara-Hunico rivalry back in 2012? Mattel made a figure of the black-clad Hunico figure in Basic Series 18 that remains popular with collectors. Loose figures usually start around $15, and packaged figures sell in the $25-$35 range.

If you have any thoughts on the sudden surge of interest in Sin Cara action figures, join in the conversation on Twitter by tagging me @MMooreWriter.

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