Well, there are many ways to get the pieces you want. Ebay is probably the most popular place people go to search for vintage items. Amazon is also a great place to check. People tend to think of Amazon as being new and current products, but they also have a number of sellers featuring collectible or vintage products. Oft times the price and product guarantee is better than can be found on Ebay.
Still, if you're serious about collecting, there are many, many other sites available. A few of which are: Bonanzle, Atomic Mall, Ecrater and IOffer. Many times these lesser known sites will offer the same item at a discounted price. Another wonderful avenue for collectors is Craigslist. Craigslist defaults to search within your local area but it is easy to go to the menu and choose another city to search on. Major metropolitan areas such as San Francisco, New York or Chicago often offer more choices than the smaller, rural areas. Plus, many people are more than willing to ship - all you have to do is ask. An example of this would be if we looked at the Lego Harry Potter Dumbledore's Office set. Amazon has it for $105 and up, Ebay it's ranging from $70-100 and the Sacramento Craigslist has it still in the sealed box for $50. Even with shipping you'll still be cheaper than either of the big guys.
Still another option to check is online auctions other than Ebay. These are usually live auctions that offer internet bidding in real time. A popular site for this is Proxibid. Pricing can be competitive or much cheaper than at the common sites, it all depends on who's there at any given time and how popular the item is.
Finally, you can also consider collecting a set in pieces. An incomplete set will go for far, far cheaper than a new in the box set. Buying a mostly complete set and then locating the couple pieces that are missing is often an ideal way for the budget conscious to collect. An example of this would be Ebay auctions closing last week for the vintage Fisher Price Little People Sesame Street Set. The set that was complete with the box went for $239.99. Another set that had the box but was missing Big Bird closed at $107.50 or less than half of the complete set. Big Bird is an easy item to find and sells for around $6.00. So had you bought the 2nd set and a Big Bird you would have spent $113.50 to complete the set saving yourself $126.49. Plus, you would have had the fun of "hunting" for the pieces you need. Searching to complete sets is the modern day equivalent of a treasure hunt - there's the excitement of the hunt and the thrill of victory when you are the winning bidder.
A final consideration for the collector is to join groups that collect the same things you do. Both modern day toys and vintage ones have groups available. Besides the pleasure of online conversation with people that have like interest, groups often offer sale days to their members as well as wish lists. Furthermore, many members are willing to discount their prices to members of the group.
So, whether you choose to buy complete sets or by the piece there are lots of different choice and lots of ways to do it without breaking the bank.
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