Are you a "closet" Star Wars fan or collector?

[Infamy Of Crete]

I'm just a poser...
Nah, I'm out about it... I have a couple of SW items at my desk at work, and it's prominent in my apartment...
Wore my ROTS shirt today and Aidan is wearing his Vader/Emperor/Grevious shirt today... we went to the movies- saw Madagascar- hehehehe... but it's really cool- the lightsabers on his shirt glow in the dark... I haven't seen adult t-shirts for SW that glow in the dark
I asked him today why he hasn't asked me to go see SW, he told me he wanted to see it, but that SW was weird... yeah, I'm going to have to talk to his dad about this...

Yes you are nothing but a poser and just remember who outted you.

[Taminar]

Nope, I don't try to hide that I'm a nut job for SW.  One of the guys I work with bribed offered to buy me dinner the other night for doing a project for him, and I said, okay, I want a Burger King kids meal.  He's like, "Are you sure, I was going to get you a good meal." And I said, I want a Star Wars toy. He ended up buying me about a dozen toys and then was really all bummed out when I admitted that I already had them all (but I told him I could trade them for other stuff....). 

Now, I don't know that any of them really grasp how massive my collection is; if I ever get my SW room fixed up, maybe I can talk 'em into doing a story on it (I work at a TV station) and then they'll understand completely.  I had to go straight to work after the premiere of Ep3, and I wore my costume. <G>

So, nope, I make no secret or apologies for my obsession. 

Auriette

[speedermike]

My familly knows all about my SW collecting disease, but my in-laws are somewhat clueless.  In our new house, I have very little display room, so there's only a few shelves of stuff in my office/studio.  The thing is, they couldn't tell Darth Vader from Darth Maul.  They few times they've commented on the stuff I say "Oh..I've had it since I was a kid."

My wife totally supports my collecting, and encourages me to find ways  to display more of it, but, in a way, I am nervous about her family seeing walls of stuff.  They're great in-laws, and I couldn't be luckier, but they are very "sensible" and an adult collecting toys might rub them the wrong way.

[Brian]

I just got to thinking about this more lately, particularly in relation to what I display.  I'm not a "closet" collector, all of our close friends and family know that I collect Star Wars, although I don't really discuss it with them (outside of my wife and here on the forums) just because I don't think its really something they are interested in.  So far, I've been able to display quite a bit of what I have collected, but its honestly getting to the point where things are a bit crowded.  I'm someone who likes a "clean look" and not a fan of things getting over-cluttered.  At the same time, I can admit that things are starting to get to that point now.  Also, we were recently going to have someone stop by our house (one of our friend's new girlfriend/fiancee actually) who we didn't know previously - and it got me to thinking about this topic again.  I'm not ashamed of my collection, but I can see the difference between a couple of display cases with figures - "Oh, he's a Star Wars fan", and an entire room stuffed with collectibles "whoa, he's a nerd".  Outside of the Star Wars stuff, I collect a little of Marvel (and to a lesser extent, DC) stuff as well, so that is currently on display too (along with a handful of LOTR figures).  Anyways - long story short - are you conscious of what you display in your home, how much of it, etc.?  Do you see a difference between what might look like an "interest" and an "obsession"?  My wife often says I should step out of myself (collector mindset) and look at things, and seeing it that way, things do seem a little crazy - to a non-collector.  Again, I'm not ashamed of anything, I'm just curious about how some of you feel about this topic now - as well as what you display (if anything).

[Brian]

Kind of touching on my last reply in this thread....I recently picked up another bookcase to display some things on, and I have to admit our office is getting a little fuller.  I'm curious how much of your collection you display?  Do you try to display all that you can, or just have a shelf or two with some things on it.  Like I mentioned earlier, I can see how friends/family members could see a difference when walking into a room in your house and seeing a shelf of VOTC/VTSC figures (or something like that) and saying "oh, you like Star Wars", or walking in seeing several cases, bookshelfs, desktops, etc. filled with figures, ships, beasts and everything else from other lines you might collect and being "yikes, you like Star Wars" (or insert other interests here).  Do you keep your display toned down intentionally, or is it totally dependent on what type of space you have to work with?

I know I've toyed with packing some things away to have a less overwhelming feeling in our office, its just tough to pack stuff up that I've bought - it sort of seems like a waste in some ways.  I might eventually move that way though, depending on space needs (especially with the little one now).  I can say, the question I get asked most often when people see my collection is "what is worth the most?" or "how much is this worth?".  Back to the original question a bit - I'm not a "closet collector", but I don't necessarily advertise it to everyone.  Our family and close friends know though, most definitely.

[David]

Collecting for me is 'my other life.' Only my family (and the petsitter) knows. However, I have no way of hiding it, so anyone that happens to wander into my room would know. 

[Matt]

Only my hairdresser knows for sure.

[Reid]

Most people know I love SW, as I occasionally wear shirts, talk about, etc, but only some of my close friends know of my collection.

[john todd]

i pretty much never tell anyone about my collection.  family and friends know, but i intentionally don't go into details.  i only have my vintage carded stuff displayed, so it doesn't look too over the top, and if you don't tell people what the cost they usually just think its kinda neat and kitschy.

[evenflow]

I am oretty open about it. All my friends know, my girlfriend buys stuff for me, my family knows and thinks i am crazy, even the people at work know. I have stuff all over my desk. I dont hide it.

[Morgbug]

Still out in the open for anyone that cares to look. 

Nothing displayed at work anymore though, they seem less tolerant these days so I took it all down. 

The new neighbourhood is kind of shocked at the volume of stuff and all the construction/service workers have been pretty cool about it.  But like John, no one really has a clue how much money I've spent on all that crap.