How long have you collected SW?

[JediMAC]

So how long have all of you been into collecting Star Wars "stuff"?

Me, I'm pretty much a "lifer".  Ever since that opening scroll of STAR WARS with John Williams majestic theme trumpeting, I knew I had to start snatching up anything and everything related to this Saga!

Going on the better part of 26 years now, with an obvious break during some of the downtime for SW in the late 80's.  I missed out on the Vintage Early Bird set, but was definitely snagging those original Kenner 12-backs the moment they first hit retail way back in 1978.  Actually my parents were the ones doing the actual buying, since I wasn't making too much money when I was 7 years old...    Continued on with the obsessive compulsive completist collecting through the ESB and ROTJ releases, right up to the release of the Vintage POTF wave, when we moved out of the country for several years and I was pretty much forced out of the hobby.  I returned back to the States for college in the late 80's, but still took another couple years off.

But then around 1990, when I discovered the existence of that coveted Vintage POTF line which I never even knew existed to that point, I hit the collectibles convention circuit pretty hard in an effort to track down the rest of these Vintage figures I was missing.  Fortunately the POTF prices weren't too bad in the early 90's.  I spent several years doing this, up until the initial Galoob offerings started to trickle out around 1993/94.  Jumped into that scene, which led right up to the release of the modern line in late '95, which I've obviously been collecting hardcore ever since!

So I guess since I got my first SW T-shirts and lunch box back in 1977, with the exception of a 5 year hiatus from 1985-89, I've been collecting SW non-stop.  So around 21 years of really solid collecting for me!    

How about you guys?  Who's a Star Wars collecting "lifer", who's a "Prequel Newbie", who's just been "off and on"...?  Let's all keep in mind that no matter how long (or briefly) we've been in this hobby, what's most important is just that we're in it and enjoying it right now.  Nobody's "better" than anybody else just because they've collected longer...    So with that in mind, what's your tale?

[Reconsgt]

Well I guess I have been a lifer, but I have taken a few long breaks

 I grew up with the OT. I saw Star Wars a couple of time when it came out and was hooked. My poor parents. Well I do remember getting the 12 backs and so forth because I would look at them for what seemed like hours agonizing over what one I would want next. I would also cut out the little squares and wish book ads to make my christmas and birthday lists.
 I stayed with SW up till 83 then switched into GI Joe. My brothers stayed with SW until the end of the line.

 I got back into SW toys in 1993-4. I got out of the service after some pretty bad injuries and thought about the little things more. I unpacked some boxes at my parents house and found my old toys. I started looking for some MISB items and found little. I really didn't know where to look at the time. Well then I went back into the military for another period of time. SW was kind of pushed in the background again.

 Then when EP1 came out I would take my youngest brother to the stores looking for the new figs and of course I had to get a few myself
 Then I was lucky enough to have some cash stashed away when I found the huge bargin sales at TRU and so forth and really built my collection up then. I have been sticking with it since. I have been evolving my collection on an ongoing basis. selling off newer items and going back to vintage. Although I will collect anything that relates to SW that catches my eye. Lately I have been looking for all the PB books and odd movies, interviews and soforth.

 But that just about sums it up

[Darth Kenobi]

I'm a "Prequel Newbie".  I started collecting when Ep1 figures came out.  I was only going to collect the Prequel stuff but once the KB/TRU clearnces hit I started buying POTF2 figures.  I started to get some vintage while I was on jury duty last year and had time to spend looking at attinque stores in the area.  

[BobaShek]

I started during Christmas of '95, when I got my first POTF2 figures. I haven't stopped since

[MisterPL]

My first figure was the Vintage Chewbacca. I saw him all alone on a peg at Fay's Drugs in February of 1978. Well if you have Chewie, you have to have Han. And they'll need someone to fight, so I had to get a Stormtrooper. Then a classmate gave me a bag of others for free (his dad "worked for the place where they painted them"   ). By the end of that summer I had all twelve and my collection was complete.

Until the following spring when I discovered X-wing Luke, R5-D4, Greedo, Hammerhead, and some Walrus Man guy. "They're making MORE?!" Wow, I had no idea!!!

...and I've been collecting every 3 3/4" figure ever since.

[Angry Ewok]

I was born in 84, so I never saw any of the original Star Wars movies in the theatres, however I collected them through my youth as an avid fan.

During the pre-POTF2 years, I was able to scrounge up a semi-massive collection of vintage figures, as that was all there was to play with...

When POTF2 came out, I bought all of the stuff... I still got my he-man luke w/ 12 foot lightsaber (you know, the steriod one). I remember when I first got the POTF2 stuff and saying to myself... God these are horrible, but they're better than nothing.

Anyway, I've now got over 80 vintage figures, and darn near every modern figure that I ever wanted (I'm in no way a compulsive completor). I'm definately a lifer.

[dustrho]

I always had Star Wars toys when I was a kid and never got rid of them, but I'd have to say I really didn't start "hardcore" collecting until EP1 toys came out.  After that I have been addicted since.

[max_one]

i also didn't get into collecting HARDCORE until the release of the ep1 line, have always had my vintage figs or what was left of them in the attic.

[BigDumbWookiee]

I was born in 78, and my parents took me with my older brother to see Empire in 80, although I really dont remember any of it. I remember bits of Jedi in 83 though.

I was brought up on Star Wars toys, I've had them all my life. Some were lost during the great garage sales of the late 80s, but I managed to hold onto some. I became a serious hardcore collector when POTF2 started up, and have been going strong ever since!

[chuckles]

Well I have been a fan of SW ever since I was 5 and first saw it at the movies. Unfortunately I got into the collecting of SW way late in the game. I've been collected SW Lego since the line began but didn't start with the Hasbro toys until last January. I can thank Target and their after xmas clearance sales for that.    I picked up a POTJ Vader, Han Solo and X-Wing Luke all for less than 2 bucks each and that's all it took. I've been collecting full bore ever since and have no plans on slowing down.

[Morgbug]

Fan forever, but just old enough that having toys wasn't cool when they came out.  Now is just payback for quasi-childhood denial.  

I saw ANH 7 times in the theater in its original release and have been a fan ever since.  Didn't own a single toy until 1995 with the release of POTF2.  What started innocently enough in grad school, bought myself a Vader, my supervisor an OB1 and my office partner a Leia (hey-she's a girl).  Thought it would be easy enough to keep up, only 8 or so available.  Whoops.  Kept up pretty well, but being Canuckian, it's been tough.

POTF2 dried up just as RH vader came up.  Grrr.

EU never available in Canada, able to scrape together most from fan club.  Grrr.

Commtech was bleak.  My WM had them in only once and never found R2, Stormie at retail.  Grrr.

Flashback was ok, but we seemed to miss Anakin in the stores, limited supply.  Grrr.

Ep I was great.  For a while.  Canadian stores stopped carrying at Christmas 99 and so after the second R2 fig, nada.  Grrr.

POTJ was cool and got me back into collecting.  Whoops, last two waves of POTJ never made it to Canada.  Grrr.

Saga pretty cool.  Lots of choice, many figs.  Canada drops the ball at Palpatine (Palps and Puhr locally, nada beyond that though pilot wave reported, nothing in between)  Grrrr.

Many Kudos to all the people I have traded with that have kept me sane and in the hobby.  Canada, the Star Wars wasteland.

[Jango Fettish]

I was about 4 when I got my ESB Milly Falcon, of course, my parents just got me what was hot at the time.

When I was 5, ROTJ came out, so I got alot of those figures, but I actually saw that movie.

I feel into sports from ages 6-18, so I was basically just collecting sports cards and such.

My SW collecting days actually started right around the time of TPM. I mean, I have been an actual fan of SW for a while now, I just never thought to collect the memorabilia.

Now, between 1999 and 2003, I have had ALOT of memorabilia, comparable to Adam's collection. However, hard times took their toll on my 300 + figure collection, as well as the tons and tons of other toys I collected.

So, now I am back to the basics. I have streamlined my colletion a few times and really only own the bare essentials like the HTF Episode 1 figs, the best POTJ figs, figures of the essential/favorite OT characters, and alot of the newer Saga figures, as I see appropriate.

I have alot of non-figure memorabilia, such as vinyl banners, and alot of display pieces. I like POP.  

Now, my Jango Fett collection is a whole 'nother thread altogether. I have everything jango imaginable and it seems likely I will be closing the door on that chapter in my SW collecting within the next year, mainly due to lack of product.  

Oh well, I love collecting, and I am anxious to see where it will take me in the future.

[aliasjcb]

I had a ton of stuffwhen I was younger, when the movies were actually out (wishing I still had a lot of the stuff). Well one of my friends went off to college and got addicted to buying figures, so wehn Episode 1 came out I went on a toy run with him. I thought "That Darth Maul figure looks neat. I guess buying one won't hurt anything" . That set off a buying frenzy that has lasted until today.

John

[Zuckuss44]

Ah, the story of my beginning......

As a child of the late 80s, I was very much into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Of course, as the completist I am, I loved trying to get every one. Then, my friend, who loved Turtles almost as much as I do, told me about some movie that he just loved. The year was 1996. There was a teacher at my school(mind you, I'm still in fifth grade at the time) who gave out prizes to the children who did extra credit for her. She'd have "Trenchak Days" or something like that, and give us Trenchak dollars to buy stuff she'd gotten at yard sales. Now, there were some, oh how do you say, "vintage" figures from this movie that my friend had seen. I thought they were cool-looking, and would go well with my other action figures, who now also included several GI Joes and Batman figures. Little did I know that it would spark a revolution.

I had R5-D4, Gamorrean Guard, and C-3PO Removable Limbs, which I had gotten over the past five years sometime. Since I didn't mind getting them as my prize, I started collecting more. I got the Royal Guard(for which my mother made a new robe, since he didn't have one, and yes, he still wears it rather than the true vintage robe), a Hammerhead, and a wonderful little Yoda, who happened to come with everything but a snake. I was still missing a Darth Vader, my favorite character. By this time, I had seen the re-releases, and was thoroughly collecting. I entered the comic book store world, also known as the scalper market. I'm now very good friends with the owner of the store where I bought my first figure, a mint, though loose Squidhead. Over the years, I've amassed over fifty figures or so. I'm biding my time, since the store's still there, and all the figures I can collect have been there since I started there(except the eight Ewoks, who barely ever show up). I also finally managed to buy some TMNT figures I had never gotten, including my holy grail, Wingnut. So, I have Star Wars to thank for that.

Soon, I managed to start out into the retail market, buying all the SOTE figures except Prince Xizor, who I still haven't bothered to try to get, and various early figures. Now, as a loose collector, I opened all my figures. After a guy at the comic book store I go to told me Ben Kenobi was worth $30 on orange card, the dollars rolled before me. I started a small carded collection, which only has grown to a peak of six figures at one time, though I've had about twenty different figures. I now have two thirds of the POTF2 set, having missed all EU figures(except for SOTE), and pretty much all of the last eight waves. Then Episode 1 came. Small set, which I've nearly completed. I consider it greater than most people appreciate it for. Then POTJ came and went. I didn't get as many figures, as other things bought my money. Now Saga has come. I have the first half of the set, and for some reason, have essentially stopped with Lott Dod and Teemto Pagalies. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I'll rise again. Hopefully soon.

Glad I could share this with you. I've enjoyed reading all of your stories.

[Scott]

1978 or 1979 I believe even before I saw SW on the Big Screen...which I don't think I was able to do until the SE's

Anyway some of my friends had SW swag and I'd play along as any 3 or 4 year old would.  On the way home from the doctor after getting a shot my mom brought me to Target and I got to pick any figure or toy I wanted.  I chose a Han Solo, I can't figure out when that was though.  It had to have been '79.  ESB came out soon after and I was really gung ho into it by then plus we had moved and most of my new buddies were also heavily into Star Wars.  My love dried up around 1983 though because I only have 2 ROTJ figures from my youth, 2 Jedi Lukes.  I had moved on to He-Man and GI Joe for the most part.  Which is strange that I moved from a more sophistacted thing to a more kiddy friendly world which was cartoon dominated.  I do remember part of the switch had to do with size (He-Man) and articulation (Hasbro) for the money it was hard to pass up

Come 1995 and my girlfriends brother at the time who was big time into Vintage showed me this magazine called the Insider which had pictures of New Figures.  Since my girlfriend worked at Target I swung by the toy section and rest is history!