Author Topic: How Deep will I Sink?  (Read 2594 times)

Offline ezehogan

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How Deep will I Sink?
« on: June 29, 2003, 02:16 AM »
When I started collecting modern figures, I decided all I wanted were a few of the main characters.  Soon I wanted one of every figure, but no beasts or vehicles.  Then I wanted beasts and vehicles, but only OT stuff.  Then I decided to pick up a few PT figures.  Finally, I decided to get it all.

Now I have entered the vintage realm.  I got the first 12 as a gift and thought I'd stop there.  Not so.  I've found myself browsing eBay now for vintage figures.

It looks like history is repeating itself.  Anyway, my question is, has anything like this happened to any of you?  How many of you decided only to get figures/certain figures and stopped at that?  How many moved on to other things once completing the original goals?

At this point, my goal is still "just the figures", with no interest in vehicles, playsets, mini rigs, or expensive variatons.  I fear that this won't last.  How many of you have had similar situations arrise?
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Offline JediMAC

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Re: How Deep will I Sink?
« Reply #1 on: June 29, 2003, 03:00 AM »
I think that's what happens to a lot of collectors EZ.  They start out with a small focus area, but it winds up branching out - sometimes right away, and sometimes once they've accomplished their original (smaller) collecting goals.  I think this is a pretty frequent occurence in the Star Wars realm especially...  Lots of people seem to turn into avid completists, whether that's what they originally intended to do or not...

As for the vintage line, I think that most of the figures can be had for pretty cheap if you're going loose.  The last subline of POTF figures will definitely get a little more pricey though, since they're much tougher to come by.  But you can probably knock off the first 80 or so figures with not too much damage to the wallet.  Best bet might be to find some vintage figure lots on eBay, where you can find a nice chunk of them all at once.  Just be patient, and you should be able to work some pretty good deals on them.

As for the other vintage items, like the ships, playsets and such...  Since almost ALL of the vintage ships have been rehashed in the modern line, with much better paint jobs and other things, I'd probably just get those.  The vintage ships can still be pretty pricey if they come with their original box and in good shape.  Go modern there, I'd suggest.

But the playsets are a whole different ballgame.  Some of those vintage playsets were pretty cool, and none of them were ever released in the modern era.  The Death Star obviously tops that list - greatest playset ever.  I'd probably go ahead and polish off the figures first and then see how you feel about the vintage genre, and then maybe look into expanding into the playsets and such.  They can definitely be a little more on the pricey side though...

I actually kept all my vintage toys from my childhood (all in MINT condition too), so I started off in pretty good shape when I delved back into the vintage collecting.  Had to tackle picking up the entire POTF line though, of which I'm only missing the illustrious Yak Face now.  Pricey bunch those last 16 or 17 were!  I also started picking up some of the vehicles and playsets I missed as a kid - again pretty pricey.  But then when the modern line came out back in '95, I put most of my vintage collecting on hold for the most part - especially since all the ships were getting redone even nicer in the modern line.  I'd still like to go back and pick up the last few remaining vintage items I'm missing, but just haven't really wanted to shell out the cash for them yet.  Some day soon though hopefully...

Good luck with your collection though EZ!  Keep us posted on the various directions your vintage collecting takes you!

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Re: How Deep will I Sink?
« Reply #2 on: June 29, 2003, 09:16 AM »
I just started last week and I was just going to get a few that I really liked. But now I find I have to get them all. In a little over 7 days I’ve picked up (or restored from my childhood) 17 vintage figures. I’ve also bought a display cabinet and have a set of stands coming in the mail. I am addicted to eBay but have managed to resist some fairly good BIN prices and waited until I can get a few figures from the same seller to keep costs down. That’s not to say that I’m not searching through the eBay listings at every given opportunity.

I am going to be strong and limit myself to the figures; otherwise it’s going to get out of hand. I still need money for the modern line, so I’m determined to keep my will power up, even though it has failed (like EZ’s) in the past with the modern stuff when I set myself similar limits.

Offline DSJ™

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Re: How Deep will I Sink?
« Reply #3 on: June 29, 2003, 10:57 AM »
Ah yes. The world of collecting. As Matt mentioned, I agree that it happens to a lot of collectors.
When I started out, I was getting the new stuff that came out back in 95. Guess it rekindled my childhood. Then I started with getting the vintage figures piece by piece. The odd time I was picking up vehicles & playsets. All loose for the time being. Then I became obsessived with getting more & more stuff. Almost like a rush winning auctions after auctions. I would get the item that I wanted then pay the seller & then I would just sit here & say to myself, whats next.

Over time as the collection grew, I had completed most of my goals. A complete loose figure collection was the highlight.  8)

Then after sometime, it came to upgrading the stuff. Picking up figures carded & items complete with the packaging. The craving hits again.

I am happy with what I have collected over the years. Though I do not have a focus, I look at getting the odd variation, foreign items & the odd proof & prototypes.

The drive & the beginning is very compulsive but will slow down in time. You just has to set yourself up as to what you want & how much to spent.  

Just don't become to much of a  Star Wars-aholic. Don't spend money on something you want & put yourself into debt.
The most common problem is finding out how to pay the bills at home when you just spent a load of $$$$ on a figure. That & figuring out how to tell the other half what you got.  ;D

Collecting is an addiction.

Offline dustrho

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Re: How Deep will I Sink?
« Reply #4 on: June 29, 2003, 12:17 PM »
Collecting is an addiction.

Ain't THAT the truth!

I started my main collecting when Episode 1 came out.  I bought one over every figure, but wasn't able to find a lot of them from the last wave.  I originally thought I was only going to get the figures I liked the most, but I bought everything I could find.  First it was the figures, and then I bought a couple of the vehicles.  By the time I wanted all of the vehicles the EP1 toy line was removed from all shelves.  :(

Then there was quite a dryspell for while.  AOTC came out, and that's when I started buying anything AOTC-related that I could  I'm still that way right now.  I've always been more of a carded collector, but I've been thinking about going the "loose" route.  Why the change?  Well, I can't find Saga figures anywhere in stores right now, so I order all my stuff through Kebco Toys & other online stores.  I haven't gotten anything in true MOMC shape from these reatilers, and since that is the case I have just been opening these up.  They look so much better opened and displayed rather than sitting on their cards.  I won't open up the more valuable carded figures like Ephant Mon, but I think I'm going to start opening these up for display.

eBay walked into my life about a year ago and I started buying just about anything Star Wars related on there.  I spent lots of money, which the wife didn't like at all.  But she was willing to let me buy a few things from time-to-time which was great.

As far as vintage is concerned I still have a lot of my vintage toys from childhood, but unfortuantely I don't have everything that I used to.  So, at least I have some of those still.   :)  eBay helped me get a lot of those missing figures back and my collection just started growing like a weed.

Collecting is most definitely an addiction.  I try to stay away from eBay if possible, because it's a disease.  A very fun disease to have, but it can be costly.  So, start off slow.  Buy the things you want, enjoy them as much as possible, and when you find something else you want to add to your collection try the Trading/Classifeds section here or hop on eBay.

dustrho

Offline Reconsgt

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Re: How Deep will I Sink?
« Reply #5 on: June 29, 2003, 10:57 PM »
Well I stared back into collecting a few years ago because I wanted to get some of the toys I had as a kid. I figured that would be easy, a few figs and a landspeeder. Those were teh first one I remember getting. I only was after those few. Well years later and more money than I wish to tally, here I am. With a room devoted only to those few toys ;)

 I did pick up the ones I wanted, but then I remembered how much time I spent looking at card backs trying to decide which figs I wanted to spend my allowance on. So I had to have them carded. At that time any carded condition was fine. Soon I was after anything vintage. Records, prints, prototypes, almost anything SW related. MISB items are still my weak spot.


 Collecting is an addiction. But like Matt said. some of those playsets were just cool. Some are pricey.

  I never really thought to much on where the collection and hobby was taking me I just went along for the ride. I really enjoy the memories of those childhood days long gone but I also enjoy the other people in the hobby. To me that makes it much more enjoyable.
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Offline ezehogan

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Re: How Deep will I Sink?
« Reply #6 on: June 29, 2003, 11:23 PM »
I really think you're all pretty lucky having had the privledge of picking these figures out as a kid though.  I wasn't born until 84, so by the time I was into Star Wars figures (87 or so), there weren't many around for me to pick.

As a kid, the only vintage figs I had were Bespin Luke, Sandperson, Nien Numb, Royal Guard, and one of the figures from the Ewoks line.

They all ended up being sold in an auction in the early 90's.   :'(

Anyway, do any of you ever get a little upset when you realize your days of playing with these toys are becoming more and more distant?

I've noticed that, when introduced to childhood toys, the fond memories are sometimes cancelled out by the longing of wishing those days weren't over.  Its sometimes a little saddening to see how fast time goes by.
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Offline dustrho

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Re: How Deep will I Sink?
« Reply #7 on: June 29, 2003, 11:35 PM »
I've noticed that, when introduced to childhood toys, the fond memories are sometimes cancelled out by the longing of wishing those days weren't over.  Its sometimes a little saddening to see how fast time goes by.

At the age of 30, you try not to think about how fast time goes by.   ;)
dustrho

Offline Morgbug

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Re: How Deep will I Sink?
« Reply #8 on: June 29, 2003, 11:46 PM »
At the age of 30, you try not to think about how fast time goes by.   ;)

Ahem ::)

Being, um, well, older, I actually missed out the first time around.  I was 13 when the first movie came out.  Now, I don't pretend to know what your friends were doing around 13 but mine were playing sports and about 2 years away from starting to drink (yes, that's true).  As such (and throw girls into the mix) collecting toys wasn't that cool.  By 1983 I was 19 and buying a car, drinking legally and spending that money on girls.  Yep, I looked at the toys, wanted them desperately at 13, much less so at 19.  

I started innocuously enough in 95 with POTF2 just for fun.  I think there were all of about 8 figs released.  No problem right?  And I was doing fine until about 2 or 3 years ago when I logged onto snowtroopers.ca.  I met a guy and got some stuff I was missing for a pretty good price.  Unfortunately he invited me in to see his setup.  Well, that did it.  I had to have the ships, catch up on the figs and get the beasts.  I still need POTF2 playsets ::)  Now I've progressed to army builders and started in on vintage.  Fortunately with vintage I've had little luck winning auctions, but eventually I will.  I say loose only, but how long will that last :P  Up until the loose mint complete is done.  Then maybe a playset, maybe a beast or two, some of those cool little vehicles they no longer make.  

BTW, I'm starting a toy addicts anonymous board.  $5 entry fee for lifetime membership.   ;) ;D
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