JediDefender.com Forums
Community => Watto's Junk Yard => Topic started by: Brian on December 15, 2003, 11:05 AM
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While watching a show on TLC that my wife and I enjoy (Clean Sweep, if any of you have ever heard of it...we tend to watch a lot of those home/home improvement shows on TLC)...we got to talking about what types of stuff they would clean out of our house. It really made me realize what a Star Wars packrat I am. We have tried to get in the mode of not keeping "crap" we don't need....old clothes, things we don't use, etc....we usually take it all to Goodwill. Anyways, I am a Star Wars opener (save for a few carded figures here and there), but I have kept all of the boxes to every figure, vehicle, beast, etc. that I have ever gotten. I'm not really sure why, but I just keep them. Also, I have kept things such as Star Wars calendars, which I get for Christmas every year. I have two older wall calendars, and last year I received a daily desk calendar, which for some reason I have kept every page to after tearing it off. I'm not sure why, again. I think that I will end up trashing this stuff (specifically the calendars), but do any of you have this same problem? I don't really know why I keep all of this stuff, I just do. And to be honest, we really don't have the room for it probably...or could fit things a little better if we didn't have it. I don't keep any of the plastic bubbles, etc., and I flatten all the other boxes, but it still adds up. I was just curious if any of you are like this as well?
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Funny, I've been spending a LOT of free time UN-packratting.
Back in the day, I used to keep all my Vintage backers for the proofs of purchase (you never knew!) as well as an archive of packaging (I'm a designer). On top of that I kept a lot of stuph purely as reference material when I needed to draw something from the Star Wars Universe. This was, of course, long before the advent of home video. I couldn't just pop in a VHS of the OT and freezeframe it. We had calendars and notebooks, "official" poster magazines and trading cards. Some of it qualifies as collectible, others not so much.
It became a bad habit, keeping all this processed paper around, not to mention a fire hazard. With the wonderful world wide web, keeping such a huge image file became redundant. Besides, there are plenty of archivists out there much better at it than I.
Lately I've taken to FINALLY putting all my loose figures into baggies and bins. The custom fodder gets taken off the card, while the Jedi Master Points get cut out and put in a safety deposit box at an undisclosed location in Europe. I took out two bags of blisters and backers just this weekend. It's a huge space saver.
The boxes I tend to keep. It's just easier to store vehicles and playsets in their respective packaging. Unlike the figures, they don't really get any more compact than that.
So yes, I'm a Star Wars packrat, desperately trying to reform his ways.
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Yes... A packrat, I am :D
I must keep all the open packages.... I must.
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I am a packrat and not with just SW- I save all the cards so I can remember what acessories go with what fig and so forth. I don't open much so all the carded figs take up to much space as it is. I save almost anything i can find calanders posters mags movies( even if I have 10 of the same one already) You never know when your going to need that stuff ;)
I do really need to clean out and have been slowly cleaning up the basement and sw room. I am also learning I don't need 1 of everything either. I guess my habits are changing so watch the classifeds for when I get the big list out ;D
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I used to keep the backing boards and flattened boxes because I also liked to see the evolution of the packaging. I was up to 2 boxes, each measuring about 33"x22"x10". A few years back, space constraints forced me to re-evaluate my "need" to have them. Having online references made it easier to let go. I still keep the bio/info cutouts, though.
Toy-wise, I got rid of most of the Action Fleet and micromachines playsets. The accompanying vehicles and figures I've kept, along with the 3-3/4" figures and ships and Playskool toys.
Calendars and the customizable card starter sets went bye-bye.
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Uh... No comment. :-[
Ok, I confess. Yes! I'm as packrat as they come, with Star Wars, and most everything else in my life too! I'm really terrible... I keep more useless crap around that I'll never need or use, that it fills two large storage units and one spare bedroom at this point! ::)
I don't think I've ever thrown anything Star Wars related away. I've kept every cardback, box, product catalogue, calendar, magazine, news paper article, etc., etc., etc...
I'm pretty good at keeping it all as organized and consolidated as possible, but it's still a TON of stuff that I'll probably never really look at again...
But I doubt I'm going to change any time soon, so I just have to learn to live with it (as does my wife!)... :P
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Yes! I am certianly a Star Wars packrat. The wife and I will be looking for house to move out of apartment into. I will have to get rid of some stuff like the magazines, misc stuff. I will probably cry when I do this. LOL!
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Yeah......I was being a packrat with my Star Wars stuff. But just recently I started throwing old boxes and packages away. They were taking up too much space.
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hmmm, looks like i'll be alone in saying no. as soon as my figures are opened, or the vehicles taken out of the box, the boxes are thrown away. i don't keep any of the empty boxes for anything, it all gets recycled or trashed. just don't see a point in keeping any of that junk.
same goes for anything else... if i buy a new tv, then yeah, i'll keep the box and the foam for a few weeks in case it has to be returned to the store, but after that it's trash.
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I have kept all of the boxes to every figure, vehicle, beast, etc. that I have ever gotten. I'm not really sure why, but I just keep them. Also, I have kept things such as Star Wars calendars, which I get for Christmas every year.
Dear god, I'm not the only one?! :-X
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I don't think that I'm a packrat where I save empty boxes or packages but while cleaning my parents garage the other week I got rid of stuff I didn't need that I save during Ep1 days. Mostly toothbrushes, toothpaste, stickers and other promo items. I usually throw away the magaizens that I get after a while. After cleaning the garage my mom mentioned that almost half the stuff in it was mine Halloween stuff, Star Wars, Simpsons, and other stuff so in that case I'm somewhat of a packrat.
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I used to be. After I converted from carded to loose collecting....I used to save EVERY opened box, every stupid background...and I have no idea why.
Finally, earlier this year...I cut off all the JMPs and recycled my cardboard. I remember posting a thread about this at RS long ago with this picture of all my cardboard going to the recylce bin at work.....where yours should go too. ;D
(http://www.keee.com/images/sw/Opened%20034.jpg)
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My name is Auriette, and I'm a packrat.
::Hi, Auriette::
Yep, I save everything! I have tons of stuff that's not Star Wars related, not part of any collection I have at all, but I can't bear to throw it out. Like Kids Meal toys based on things I've never even heard of. We are going to be moving to a house soon (*fingers crossed* - we close on Jan 23), and hopefully in the process of moving, I can get more organized. Great thing about the new house - 16'x23' Star Wars room (although I might have to share a portion of it with my husband's Robot Collection -- but that won't be entirely out of place).
Auriette
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Yes. My closet and room are filled with old Saga packages. And they're all hidden from view too. I'll have to go and clean them all out some day I guess.
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wow, I can't believe that I am not alone. A few months ago while my wife and son were visiting her parents I opened a bunch of things that were still in the packages, cut out 1500 jedi master points and sent them to mackanziesdad (chris hodgson) as I am in canada and the points were useless here because Hasbro sucks, now a lot of guys would be out looking for tail while their wife is gone, not me, my life is soo exciting that I decided to recycle a ton of star wars packaging, it took me 2 carloads with my vwjetta, which really has one of the biggest trunk spaces ever, the mafia should use vw jetta's and not caddys!
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What the hell is a packrat? I've never heard of that before. I assumed it had somthing to do with my fav rodents ???
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What the hell is a packrat? I've never heard of that before. I assumed it had somthing to do with my fav rodents ???
Rob, a "packrat" is basically someone who saves everything, and never throws anything away regardless of whether they really need it any longer. Not sure where that nickname really comes from, or whether it has to do with rats or not... You tell us - do your rats save up there stuff too? :P
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S.O.B.
How the hell did I click on the wrong thread?
(original post edited and moved by me)
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Yep, they keep all their packaging and boxes. They build stuff with it...not sure how you'd describe the results: rat sculptures I guess :)
Personally I just collect my Star Wars figures carded these days, so I suppose I must be a packrat too.
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Am I a Star Wars packrat? Unequivocally, the answer is "yes I am".
I cannot recall a recent time where I have ever knowingly thrown away an item with the Star Wars logo on it somewhere.
I'll put it this way: I still have the doubles and triples left over from that stupid Tri-Con Pog contest/game back in 1999.
Now, any rational person would have thrown away all of those retarded things, as soon as the contest ended, but not me. I kept the little game board, and not only all of the single Pogs I got, but all of the doubles, too.
So, if anyone needs #3/R2-D2, #19/Darth Sidious, #6/Sebulba, or #7/Anakin Skywalker (of which I've got two), let me know. 8)
The only things I've ever felt safe enough about to throw away were the plain cardboard inserts from some of the vehicle boxes, in order to flatten the boxes and "save space".
I suck.
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I just recently started throwing out the plastic bubbles from my cards. (But only if the don't have the Star Wars logo on them.) ::)
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When I first started, the cardbacks had filecards on them. I'd cut them out and throw everything else away.
Then they stopped doing filecards and I would throw everything out.
Then came Jedi Points. Since then, I have saved every one hoping for some cool mail away promotion that would actually make saving them worthwhile. Well, as we all know, that didn't happen. I'm stuck with a box of JPs that are absolutely worthless. And you know what? I still save them, hoping that someday they might be useful.
As for vehicle boxes, I saved almost every one, including all packing items (cardboard, bags, etc.). At the time, I was living in an apartment and knew I wouldn't be there forever and eventually I'd have a house. Keeping the boxes made for easier transport and storage.
I save all my Lego boxes as well, not including the bags. Most of them were put together, then I ran out of room. So I broke them down and put the pieces in ziploc baggies in their original boxes. That way, when the time comes, I know everything is where it should be.
Now since the Saga cards were each unique and numbered, I have saved all the cardbacks. Threw away the bubble and the inserts went into my box of Jedi Points, since the JPs were on the bottom of them and no longer on the cardback itself.
So what does the mundane reply mean? Probably that I'm somewhat anal retentive, but no where near what Matt and some of you others are.
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Doing a little basement cleaning the past couple of weeks I realized I have a whole rubbermaid container full of cardbacks and Simpsons cardback and boxes. I need to throw this crap out, unless someone wants them ???
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That's funny Scott, my wife and I were actually doing the same thing this past weekend. She has been on me about getting rid of some of the cardboard "crap", and I had a rubbermaid container full of them too. I did purge a little bit of stuff, but still have a long way to go. I don't know why I think I need to keep the cardbacks, I just do. I really need to just dump it and forget about it, but for some reason it is hard. I thought about getting rid of all (or most) of it...just keeping examples of each type of packaging I have, and then starting fresh and keep the OTC cardbacks coming later this year, since they are a little bit "spiffier". It really shouldn't be so difficult to throw away cardboard and the packaging, should it? :)
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Well, I guess we'll be doing some cleaning in the coming months as we are finally moving into a house. I have a feeling that a lot of stuff will get tossed so we start fresh in the new house. For example, I have about five years worth of Wizard back issues. Why the hell do I need to keep them? I also have Golf back issues that I'll probably toss. For some reason, I can't see myself tossing my Maxims, FHMs, Stuffs and Playboys (especially the Playboys).
When I move in and everything's displayed, do I toss away the boxes? I probably will, but these are the questions I'll be asking myself in the coming weeks.
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I feel like I walked into a support group meeting......and I belong!
I have boxes and boxes of empty star wars stuff in the attic. When i get figures, I either cut around the plastic with an X-acto blade, or cut in between the plastic and cardboard, slip the figure out, and leave the empty bubble intact on the card. Then I pack 'em in boxes! Why???????????'
I have some idea that they could be a future display project or some kind of art project. ??? Those bubbles are just so neat that I could make some kind of meta-comment by repacking them with some object, and then someone would say its art. ??? They would look cool if I ever wanted to arrange them in some pattern. ???
I have no good reason and will have to face facts at some point - they belong in a landfill!
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they belong in a landfill!
This belongs in a Museum
(http://www.indygear.com/props/images/coronado.jpg)
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Well, I took another small step towards getting rid of the "packrat" stuff in our house. We are packing things up, preparing for the move, and it was time to get rid of some more boxes. I didn't want to do it at first, but when I dug them out and looked at them, I asked myself why I'm actually keeping them...this was the first time I had looked at them since I put them in there. Anyways, my Episode I, POTJ, and most of my POTF2 cardbacks are now history. I saved things such as Force Files, Commtech Chips, and JMPs, but the rest of the stuff got ditched in the trash bin this morning. For now, the Saga, Unleashed, and Playskool cardbacks are being saved, but I might end up getting rid of those and only keeping the upcoming OTC backs since they are so spiff-tastic. In a way, it did feel kind of good to just pitch the stuff...a lot of room taken up for cardboard :). When my wife told me she thought we should get rid of that stuff, I asked her "what, we don't want to move boxes of boxes?". I was kidding, but it did make me realize how stupid that did sound :).
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Well, my wife is encouraging me to get rid of the last of the boxes, as we finish packing up for our move this weekend. Have all my vehicle boxes flattened in a pile together, and had always kept them in the closet in our office. But, now she thinks I should toss them so we don't have to move them. I see her point, and the logic in it, but for some reason I kind of want to keep them. I really don't know why though, and that's the worst part. I can't really justify a reason, except for "I want to". I don't think they're going to be worth anything, and wouldn't sell them even if they were. I don't particularly find the boxes fantastic looking in any way. Maybe it is the part of me that wishes my mom wouldn't have thrown out my vintage boxes that wants to keep them. I'm thinking if I end up getting rid of all of these, I'm going to keep the OTC cardbacks/boxes, to have something from my modern collecting time (and the best looking packaging that we've seen in the modern line). Seems so silly to worry about throwing out packaging, I don't have any problem trashing boxes from anything else we buy :P.
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Well, my wife is encouraging me to get rid of the last of the boxes, as we finish packing up for our move this weekend. Have all my vehicle boxes flattened in a pile together, and had always kept them in the closet in our office. But, now she thinks I should toss them so we don't have to move them. I see her point, and the logic in it, but for some reason I kind of want to keep them. I really don't know why though, and that's the worst part. I can't really justify a reason, except for "I want to". I don't think they're going to be worth anything, and wouldn't sell them even if they were. I don't particularly find the boxes fantastic looking in any way. Maybe it is the part of me that wishes my mom wouldn't have thrown out my vintage boxes that wants to keep them. I'm thinking if I end up getting rid of all of these, I'm going to keep the OTC cardbacks/boxes, to have something from my modern collecting time (and the best looking packaging that we've seen in the modern line). Seems so silly to worry about throwing out packaging, I don't have any problem trashing boxes from anything else we buy :P.
I know why it is a problem. Because it is part of your collection. I mean it is cool to look at all the cardbacks and boxes and go "WOW I HAVE A LOT OF STUFF!!!" I mean I am mostly a MOC collector, well now I am 50/50 cause I have just about as many loose as I do carded. I looked at my cardbacks the other day and I just thought they looked cool. Plus I have my MOC's on the wall, so having the cardbacks, I can look at the backs of them much easier. I think you should NOT!!!! throw them away. They are part of your collection, and you should just store them in the attic or something, but keep em, you might regret getting rid of it.
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Drudging up an older thread....has anyone been clearing out anything lately (toys, boxes, cardbacks, plastic, etc.)? I did some of the purging (listed earlier in this thread) prior to our move across state last year, but things are getting pretty packed again. Basically, the Mrs. likes me to keep all of my "Star Wars stuff" in our office/collection room, so underneath some shelves in a closet, I have two large rubbermaid totes. Both are pretty well full, and I'd estimate at least half of that space is taken up by cardbacks and the like. I also have the vehicle boxes flattened and placed behind one of the totes against the wall. I know I'll always want to keep some of the cardbacks, but its becoming increasingly obvious I need to clean some stuff out (as I look at an empty "Darth Tater" box sitting in the closet as well). I only keep cardbacks that are different from each other (character specific), and I don't keep duplicates. I'd like to continue to keep most of them, but I really don't like things to start to look "messy" or cluttered, and its going to head that way before too long. Even worse, my habit of keeping Star Wars cardbacks has seemed to transfer over to any other collectibles I buy. Has anyone else purged the cardboard mountain, or even some of your collectibles that you don't really "need"?
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Last winter I threw all of the cardboard away. Every single piece of it. I've been slowly whittling down everything that is deemed to be "crap" (my wife's term not mine) and that definitely fell within that range
The worst problem I have right now is I have two large Plano boxes chock full of weapons and accessories that I have no idea goes to what figures any more. Since Hasbro/Kenner was keen on equipping every figure with guns out the wazoo or little gadgets everywhere that really weren't in the movies I've just lumped everything together. It will take me months to try and sort all of that stuff out. Eventually I want to try and sell any "custom fodder" I have which is probably 200 loose figures I'd say...its going to suck :-[
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Here's the kicker for me, I collect both loose and carded and have not thrown any packages away since before '95. I'm just like mosnab as well in that I hate waste and unnessesary items taking up space, but SW is the exception to that rule. I know psycologically, it goes back to when I was 7 and tried to keep all of my original vintage packaging like the Deathstar playset and the MF, but my parents wouldn't have it and threw the boxes away.
Just yesterday I was re-arranging stuff in my garrage and found an area in the rafters to store the empty boxes (neatly packed in larger cardboard boxes,) but one of these days I think I'm going to get rid of it all.
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I know psycologically, it goes back to when I was 7 and tried to keep all of my original vintage packaging like the Deathstar playset and the MF, but my parents wouldn't have it and threw the boxes away.
I think that possibly might be the same with me. When I was a kid, I actually kept all my figure cardbacks in a shoebox, just to look at the backs of them with their big "checklists" and pics of all the other figures (I did the same with GI Joe). Somewhere through the years, those got thrown out by my parents as well, so that might be part of the attachment I have to keeping them.
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The worst problem I have right now is I have two large Plano boxes chock full of weapons and accessories that I have no idea goes to what figures any more.
If you want, you can borrow my copy of:
(http://cargobay.starwars.com/books/nonfiction/collecting/b_nf_col_0811822796.jpg)
That should help you with at least 95-98.
Or maybe we can have a MN Club "accessory matching" party? :P
As for my own "pack-rat" issues, I started chucking last year and I couldn't be happier. Sure, I've got a giant stack of RotS cardbacks, but as soon as the 2006 stuff comes out, I'll chuck them.
I don't keep any bubbles or any boxes anymore. I've never found a use for them. If I sell something loose, it sells just as well without the box I've found so I've just made it a point to chuck stuff ASAP.
On a related note, just an FYI but most city recycling programs will take the plastic bubbles. Just stick them in with which ever bin you put your plastic pop/milk bottles and you are good to go - a lot nicer than just throwing them away!
Jeff
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I'm in the process of recycling all my old boxes now. Once an item gets displayed, the box gets broken down and tied up for recycling. I don't need any of that **** anymore.
I do keep the cardbacks though.
And that book that Jeff posted needs a serious update. Hopefully one is coming soon.
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And that book that Jeff posted needs a serious update. Hopefully one is coming soon.
Mike, I forget the name of the book but a decent book was released somewhat recently which went from Vintage '78 up to the ROTS Preview cards. Cant remember the name. And if you try to look it up on Amazon good luck. There are thousands of SW books available.