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I sold my 96' MIJ Jazzmaster with Novak pickups and mastery bridge for $850 like 4 or 5 years ago. Miss that guitar. I've been seeing people listing MIJ Fender stuff for over a grand. Some guy has a 96' MIJ Jag-stang for $1300. Is the seller crazy/listing high hoping for an offer that is close to what they want or are these things really selling for that price?

Unless its an 80s JV (or more recently the later E-series are fetching more) then its often people just having somewhat unrealistic expectations.
The thing is most MIJ Fenders are worth jack shit in Japan but only a small portion of models are exported so the prices outside tend to reflect availability/exclusivity more than actual value.
If anything maybe people are realising that most new USA fenders are a complete and utter ripoff and charging similar prices for MIJ stuff that's of similar or better quality.
Fender Japan has had a change in manufacturing contract earlier this year because the joint venture between Fender and the Japanese companies that were operating Fender Japan was ended, so I would expect to see various changes soon.

I need to go to Japan one day, if only for the cheap Fender and Roland gear.

The neck on my CIJ Jaguar bass is a thing of beauty.

backwardsvoyager wrote:Fender Japan has had a change in manufacturing contract earlier this year because the joint venture between Fender and the Japanese companies that were operating Fender Japan was ended, so I would expect to see various changes soon.

Have a feel those changes will suck though.

backwardsvoyager wrote:The thing is most MIJ Fenders are worth jack shit in Japan

I'm not sure of what your definition of "jack shit" is but while Fender Japan instruments are relatively reasonably priced here, they're not ultra-cheap either...

oscillateur wrote:

backwardsvoyager wrote:The thing is most MIJ Fenders are worth jack shit in Japan

I'm not sure of what your definition of "jack shit" is but while Fender Japan instruments are relatively reasonably priced here, they're not ultra-cheap either...

well that was a dumb way of putting it but i'm speaking relative to what they cost outside of Japan.
they aren't in the budget bracket by any means but overall their quality is good enough to make them a pretty good deal over there.
like over here a basic Japanese Fender is like ~$1500 new (no variety and scarce stock) and often close to $1000 used. the exact same thing in Japan will cost less than $1000 new and often barely more than $500 used.
i've noticed all the new ones i've played in Australian shops have always been worse quality than those i played in Japanese shops or that had been imported personally. it's weird.
anyway anyone wanting a MIJ Fender should probably just keep an eye on the Ishibashi U-Box website because even with $150 shipping it's a better deal most of the time and they're almost always in better condition than stated and set up nicely.

I love my MIJ mid-90s Jag but the frets are getting worn so I don't play it as much.
Maybe approaching 20 years old makes them more collectable?

In the UK I haven't seen any selling for wild prices. They've stayed pretty consistent I think, I'm seeing 80s and 90s MIJ going for similar amounts to what I paid for my mid 80s jag 5 or 6 years ago.

Actual selling prices (search sold on the bay) have dropped over what they were selling for before the Squier and new production Fender offset invasion of a few years back)

And justifiably so - the MIJ stuff is acceptable, but there's some myth about its greatness that has always escaped me (and I own a MIJ '69RI Mustang that was domestic market - the only thing that it is truly superior to the Squier Mustang on is...the lack of skunk stripe)

Can't argue that they're overrated from what I've tried. I like my guitar, but I've played squiers that were nearly as good. At the time though it was way cheaper than a fender jaguar and squier didn't have the line now, plus it came with aftermarket pickups to replace the BAD japanese ones.