JediDefender.com Forums
Collectibles => Past Hasbro 3.75" Lines => Original Trilogy Collection => Topic started by: JediMAC on July 9, 2004, 03:42 PM
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So here's another question (which may have already been asked), are (carded) people going to keep them in their plastic clamshells, which have all the OTC stuff attached to them, or are folks going to pop them out and just display the "vintage-esque" carded figure by itself? Are the "loose" collectors contemplating grabbing a carded set too?
I'm leaning toward going with the whole clamshell packaging myself, just 'cause it's technically more "complete" that way, and still looks pretty sharp...
Speaking of which, how are people's clam-shells looking? Initial reports seemed to be saying that the clam-shell was pretty thin and thus was being scrunched straight from the cases...
Jeff, not sure if you caught Jared's post a couple pages back (now in a different thread after the split here), from when he found 'em all at K-mart a couple days ago:
Well, these have shown up at retail. The ones I found all had squished clamshells. You'd think for premium packaging and price Hasbro could have packed them more carefully. The cards inside survived fine, but I'm thinking my carded ones have to stay inside the clamshell because of the OTC silver banner thats incorporated into the front of the shell. How very frustrating...
I got Jared's leftovers, and they were pretty much dinged up too, and in a couple spots, downright smashed. Haven't found any other examples to compare them to yet. Hopefully this won't be the case across the board though... :-\
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Yeah, I saw Jared's post and a few others around the net, which all seemed to say the clamshells were squished (those are the "initial reports" I was referring).
I was just wondering if anyone else (like B or anyone else who found them) had better clam-shells. I'd like to think they aren't all scrunched... :(
And, count me in on the "displaying-in-the-clamshell" crowd. I'll buy a set to keep clam-shelled, and then a second set to open, but that's it.
I do have a friend who is buying a THIRD set, which he plans to display un-clamshelled along side his Vinty 12-backs, but he is crazy. ;)
Jeff
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My clamshell was in pretty good shape too...but it came from Amazon, so maybe that made some sort of a difference.
I've been struggling with how to display this line too. Aside from a handful of figures over the year, I have opened everything I've gotten, but for some reason it is really tough to open this one up. I'd really like to get two sets, one to open, and one to leave carded and displayed. They just look nice that way...and I like the little bit of added protection that the clamshell gives too. What is everyone else doing with this line....1 to leave carded...1 to open...2 to have one of each...or 3, 4, or 5 of them? ;)
I have to say again, those vintage cards sure are purdy. Can't wait to find some OTC waves as well (especially Dagobah). Making me feel all nostalgia-ey :)
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Yeah, I saw Jared's post and a few others around the net, which all seemed to say the clamshells were squished (those are the "initial reports" I was referring).
Whoops, glanced right past that part... :P
Funny, but your "wacky" friend there is doing something that I've been somewhat contemplating myself... A third set - only carded without the clamshell. But yeah, that would mean I'm even more of a freak than I already am, and that's somewhat disconcerting, so I'm trying to avoid that thought at all costs... :-\
Hell, if these were coming in at standard figure prices in the $5 range, I'd probably be getting 4 or 5 of each, like usual... (carded, loose, diorama, custom fodder...) :-[ And that's not even counting the army building ones. ::)
Hopefully Hasbro wisely recards these 12 figures into the standard OTC line (or other future line) at some point, so we can get a few extras of them for quite a bit cheaper later on down the road...
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I was going to start a new topic for this, but since this is the VOTC thread, I'll put it here. I was just curious what many of you are doing for this line. Are you buying one set, to open....are you buying two sets (one open, one carded), are you not even buying all of them? What is your plan of action. I ask because I'm not sure what to do. I definitely want a complete set, and I'm usually an opener through and through, but after receiving Han via Amazon last week, I'm having troubles prying him open. Ideally, I'd like to have two sets, to be able to leave one carded...but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to talk the Mrs. into that. Which, I guess, I can understand. At $10 a figure, it isn't exactly a cheap endeavor to get more than one set. I guess I was just wondering what you are doing, how many you are buying, and if you could only buy one set...would you leave them carded or loose? It has nothing to do with future value, I'd never sell these, I guess I just think about leaving them carded since they look so spiffy. But I want to break that Han out to check it out closer so bad :P. Might have to at least get two of him (and Chewie).
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I'm buying one to keep open and one to keep carded
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I was going to start a new topic for this, but since this is the VOTC thread, I'll put it here. I was just curious what many of you are doing for this line. Are you buying one set, to open....are you buying two sets (one open, one carded), are you not even buying all of them? What is your plan of action.
This has been a problem in need of great pondering from me lately. My plan is basically 1 set to open, 1 set to keep carded minus the clamshell, and a single carded with clamshell.
I've discovered that I hate the plastic clamshells. They're ugly to me because of the excess plastic at the top, above the card, and the tape on all sides looks tacky. What bugs me most is that the silver OTC logo is built into the clamshell, and therefore if the cards (which are beautiful on their own) are taken out, it’s not technically mint. So, I'm figuring I'll only keep one in the clamshell for posterity.
I think it’s the most economical way for me to go and still accommodate my completist neurosis.
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I was going to start a new topic for this, but since this is the VOTC thread, I'll put it here.
Ah, what the hell, for variety's sake, I went ahead and took your suggestion here Bri, and split these posts off from the main VOTC thread, starting with where I originally pondered this same question.
Personally, I'm going to start with just a clamshelled and loose set of each, and wait and see if I can find some kind of better deal somehow to possibly snag a third set to pull outta the clamshell, and display just the carded portion of the figure...
So 3 sets (from all 3 movies) would only run me about $400. Yeah, that's not too bad... :-\
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One set carded, one set opened.
I would consider a third set, but for my display area, it would require punching the cards, which is not something I'm willing to do. Plus the $10 isn't all that conducive to yet another set.
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I'm buying one to keep open and one to keep carded
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My cases are so screwed up right now that I'll have 4 Luke's and 3 Han's!! I guess I'll be doing a little bit of all three (since I only will be getting one Lando and one Leia).
I have yet to actually have one in my hand so it's hard for me to say if I will keep the clam shell on. I have a feeling if I end up with two of each, they'll be loose and carded w/o the shell.
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So far I have no idea what I am going to do. I was thinking of getting the odd carded figures that are eye candy to me but other than that, this may be the end of my modern collecting days. :-\
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I'm a carded collector save for anything that has to do with the Cantina or Jabba's Palace dioramas that I keep adding openers to.
My plan for VOTC is simple. Buy one set of everything and discard the clam shell. :o My reasoning is this. I couldn't care less about the clam shell save for the fact it will maintain the integrity of the card back and bubble during shipping and retail display. I want to display the figures carded, but since they are not punched I can't just hang them by the peg. Instead, I'm going to put them in Star Cases for hanging display because there is NO WAY I'm going to let the stock clam shell hide that oh so nostalgic Kenner logo. :D
I'll pick up extras of figures like Han for opening because you just can't pass that up incredible sculpt.
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Thanks for the new topic Matt ;). I am usually a loose collector, and definitely want a set of these to open....but I'd like to have another one to keep carded as well. My wife isn't to keen on the idea of buying 2 each of these $10 figures, and I can kind of understand that too, so I'm not sure what is going to happen. I received a Han via Amazon.com last week, and have just been admiring him through the plastic so far. Obi and Leia are now on their way as well, and I'm awfully tempted to open them up. Part of me wants to leave them carded "just in case" Hasbro re-releases these later on, cheaper. Of course, that will probably be awhile if ever. I think I will at least pick up a few extras to keep carded if I can't do the whole line (Han, Chewie, Vader....oh heck, all of them would be nice :P).
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My plan is to order cases from etailers. Since they come with duplicates, I will open one figure, then keep the duplicates carded (or in the clamshell, whatever it is).
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At the moment, I plan on only buying (and opening) 3 VOTC figs: Han, Vader & Fett. I might pick up an extra Fett to keep carded.
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If you open your fig's, keep the clamshells. Seems they fit the vintage ROTJ & POTF cards.
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One set loose...maybe an extra Vader, Han, Fett, or Stormtrooper for customs.
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Right now I'm only planning on buying Yoda to keep carded, and maybe Chewie and the Stormtrooper to open. We'll see.
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I finally resigned myself to opening some of these. Basically, I'll have three categories of what I'm doing with the VOTC figures.
OPENERS
These are just too good to keep in the bubble. The poseability, softgoods and overall detail demand that these figures need some space to breathe. Besides, I need to retire my Cantina Han's!
MOMC
I had given up on being a MOMC collector with the advent of the SAGA/EPISODE II line. However, the VOTC line is packaged SO WELL that I have to keep a set in pristine condition, and these won't be leaving their clamshells anytime soon.
AUTOGRAPH FODDER
This is more of a personal slant on my collection, but where applicable, I like to get the actors to sign the figures. I already got Carrie Fisher to sign a Princess Leia courtesy of a great friend of mine who attended Comic Con. It's too bad that she will probably be THE ONLY actor from the ANH wave that will sign something, since Mark Hammil doesn't sign merchandise, Harrison Ford is among the Holy Grail of Star Wars actors, and Alec Guiness can't sign anything since unfortunately he's pushing up the daisies!
I'm more hopeful that I can get everyone in the ESB and most of the ROTJ waves to sign those figures. But seriously, who do you get to sign a Stormtrooper?!
Be those things as they may, all of the autographed figures are going to have to come out of the clamshells to get signed. At that point, I'll be sealing those right back up.
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First Impression of The Empire Strikes Back Clamshell:
It feels flimsyer, less sturdy than the ANH figs.
More to come!
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My 4 SW figures are staying clamshelled, but I wil review the situation when the ESB figures start turning up. I don't know if I can keep Vader, Lando and Yoda carded so I will probably double-up on these three. We'll see though...
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You'd be remiss to keep Vader on the card, trust me.
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Well, after seeing the rest of these at Comic Con, I think I'm gonna have to be getting at least 3 of each, for sure. I'm gonna need at least a couple openers - one for the regular figure display, and another "utility" one to use in various dioramas and such.
Still haven't decided if I'm going to go for a fourth set though, to keep on just the regular cardback (without the clamshell). Ugh, that's not a pleasant thought if I fall all the way down to those depths and need FOUR of each... :-[
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Matt are you saying the fourth set would be displayed without a star case? Wow, interesting approach. Anything I keep carded has a home in a star case. Period. I'm kind of wondering about a star case big enough to protect the VOTC outer case ::) I do plan on keeping one set carded and having a loose set as well.
I really have to go check what I ordered at BBTS now that I've started picking these up at retail. ::)
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Being the frugal (read: cheap) person I am, I'm just buying one of each. The thing that I struggled with before actually buying any of the VOTC (I only have Ben, Han, and Leia as it stands right now) was that I really liked the packaging, but I also really wanted to see the figures loose. They were too nice to keep carded, but too nice to destroy the packaging.
What I ended up doing was carefully slicing between the four pieces of tape holding the clamshell halves together. I then removed the actual carded figure from the clamshell and then slowly removed the tape and residue from the clamshell. I used an Exacto knife to slice along the top, right, and bottom of the figure bubble; thankfully the coffin blister does not have the little tabs that sit under the bubble lip like regular carded figures have since POTF2. The bubble side that hasn't been cut acts as a hinge and allows you to easily remove the coffin the figure is in. The best part is that once you're through, you can just slide the coffin back into the bubble, close it, and replace it in the clamshell. The clamshell is so close to the bubble that it keeps it from flying open, and unless you're right on top of it, you don't even notice that it was ever opened in the first place. And plus you can get rid of that awful "CHOKING HAZARD" sticker affixed to the inside of the bubble that blocks most of the upper left side of the card.
So yeah, I will (hopefully) have a set of the 12 loose, but still carded and shelled to hang on the wall of my SW room. Being the cheap bastard I am, this enables me to have my cake and eat it too. :)
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Well now that I have them, there staying in there clam shells of doom. I'm only going to stick with 1 set. They sure do look purdy! 8)
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i think 3 of each is a little too absurd for me. i'm keeping my carded set in the clamshells and my loose set... loose. that's it. end of story.
of course, with the cards/bubbles/clamshells from my loose set (as well as a few other people who have offered to send me their garbage unwanted packaging) i'm going to making a few of my own votc that hasbro decided not to do.
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So far, I'm a total opener.
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I'm thinking of going the open-only route. These are just too expensive to buy two sets of. Since I only have one each of Han, Leia, and Ben, it's pretty easy to just go this way.