Latest vintage acquisition

[Brian]

I finally had a chance to pick up a few more vintage figures since the modern line has slowed to a standstill around here recently.  I picked up three more minty loose figures from an ebay seller that I started buying from directly after I had good luck with him.  Anyways, no pics right now, but I picked up the following:

Loose Complete Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi (white hair)
Loose Complete Stormtrooper
Loose Complete Lando Calrissian (no teeth)

I had the grey haired Obi and Lando with teeth from my childhood, but they weren't in the best shape (missing accessories), so I was happy to add these two to the collection.  This is also my first vintage Stormtrooper, as shameful as that is to say .  A few more down, it sure is fun (and in many cases less stressful) picking up the vintage stuff.  Its pretty much always out there (unless you go for very rare stuff), so there isn't a timetable to pick things up.  Great scores (and pics) by everyone else here too, the stuff looks great.

[CorranHorn]

Congrats on the pickups mosnab.

I think you're partiallly right that buying vintage items can be less stressful than buying modern items. You don't have to worry about running to every store to find the latest hottest figure or concern yourself that an online shop will be out of stock of the figure(s) you want. You also don't have to deal with keeping yourself up to date on what is actually available and whether or not it's worth the effort.

On the other hand, with buying vintage you sometimes have to deal with whether or not the item you want is in your price range. Are you willing to wait until the item comes along again at a better price, or do you  want the item here and now. That in of itself can be stressful, if you can't find the item you want in the condition or for the price you're willing to settle with. I know it's bothered me over the years, but then again with vintage time is on our side.

[aka DaBigKahuna]

mosnab,

Glad your stoked on your new purchases, congrats.

Jason,

I could not agree more.  One thing I do not miss about collecting modern brick and mortar collectibles is driving around like a rabid zombie to Walmarts and Targets to get the latest hot item.

DBK 

Congrats on the pickups mosnab.

I think you're partiallly right that buying vintage items can be less stressful than buying modern items. You don't have to worry about running to every store to find the latest hottest figure or concern yourself that an online shop will be out of stock of the figure(s) you want. You also don't have to deal with keeping yourself up to date on what is actually available and whether or not it's worth the effort.

On the other hand, with buying vintage you sometimes have to deal with whether or not the item you want is in your price range. Are you willing to wait until the item comes along again at a better price, or do you  want the item here and now. That in of itself can be stressful, if you can't find the item you want in the condition or for the price you're willing to settle with. I know it's bothered me over the years, but then again with vintage time is on our side.

[Morgbug]

On the other hand, with buying vintage you sometimes have to deal with whether or not the item you want is in your price range. Are you willing to wait until the item comes along again at a better price, or do you  want the item here and now. That in of itself can be stressful, if you can't find the item you want in the condition or for the price you're willing to settle with. I know it's bothered me over the years, but then again with vintage time is on our side.

The biggest stress for me is that there is no local market, so ebay is the only place I get stuff pretty much.  And it's always a risk.  I want truly minty stuff (no paint loss, complete original accessories, etc.) and regardless of the description, it never shows up that way or seldom does.  I've received far better pieces in lots than in single auctions for "Near Mint" pieces.     The most frustrating was buying a complete Yoda with brown snake and proper cane only to have the seller send the wrong cane   And of course it was a "US only auction" so I got it sent to Jim but forgot to tell him about the cane.  He checked the figure, it was complete and very nice condition so it looked fine and I left feedback.  After Jim fired it up to me, I realized the error.  Seller had feedback already and was disinterested in fixing the problem since she'd already sent the cane out in another auction.  So I have not one, not two, but three Yoda's. Two brown snakes, one orange snake.  Two canes, both for the orange snake version   The third has no cane.  So the search continues but obviously I'm a little jaded. 

Anyway, long boring rant detracting from Brian's nice purchases.  Good job Brian, glad you're pleased. 

[DSJ™]

Thanks to Brent, I now have a very nice Canadian carded Ewoks King Gorneesh. 

[Morgbug]

No worries at all Dale.  I don't know if you remember, but a long while back (early 2004) I got a bunch of weapons and we couldn't figure out at the time what they were.  Turns out they were weapons from the Ewok series   I picked up a loose and nice Gorneesh without the weapon for $5.  No problem at all though as that was one of the weapons I had.  I think I have two more yet, maybe three, so I just bide my time looking for bargains

[DSJ™]

Nice stuff Brent, I can't remember off hand about that, must be the age in me.    I get closer to completing my Ewoks and Droids figures. 

[Morgbug]

I'm close on the Droids, only Sise, Kez and Kea Moll for them.  Naturally aside from Kez Iban, the prices are through the roof on most auctions.  They'll cool as soon as I get the figures   I may pick up another Fett and A-Wing pilot for ***** and giggles.

For Ewoks I only have the King Gorneesh.  But thus far it's much less hot than the Droids.  Smaller series too.

[Darth_Anton]

I just won an EV-9D9 (loose) from e-bay, $35 shipped. It does have a broken left arm from the shoulder, but at least I have one now.

Any tips on the best way to secure the arm?

Anyway, one more loose vinatge figure to go, Luke Stormtrooper, and one more proper weapon needed, A-wing/Imperial Gunner gun.

[CorranHorn]

I just won an EV-9D9 (loose) from e-bay, $35 shipped. It does have a broken left arm from the shoulder, but at least I have one now.

Any tips on the best way to secure the arm?

How bad is the break on the left arm? My childhood EV-9D9 lost his left arm years ago (strange isn't it how many people have problems with the left arm only?) and I eventually got a replacement from The Earth in 2000. The replacement though only had a "stub" at the joint, just enough that I could place the arm into the hole left on the figure and it would hold without falling off. Of course if you tried to move it, it would fall off.

If you're looking to get some motion out of the arm, you could try to customize it a bit. Depending on the damage to the arm, you could find a small piece of plastic, maybe a cut piece from a pen or straw that would fit in the arm hole, glue it to the arm and then slide the piece into the hole. If done right, it could be like a whole new joint.

[Darth_Anton]

Thanks. I was thinking about doing something like that, but received it yesterday and the arm stays in fairly well, even when moving it (knock on wood.) The arm was stubbed, just like yours, but is seems that the stub was mangled just enough to have it almost snap into place, but it still comes back out with almost no effort.

It's fine standing next to my POTF2 Ev-9d9 for now. The arm will definatley stay put for display purposes, but later on, I may try a more semi perminant solution.

You would think that with this beeing a common problem with the figure, that someone would have devised a method, or built a kit, that would fix the problem.

[Morgbug]

Today was a great day:



Lady Gorneesh came from an ebay auction that ended without bids, so I picked her up under the asking price.

Same goes for Sise Fromm there.  Auction ended with no bids, emailed the seller and voila.  Basically got him for going rate for a loose figure and shipped free.  Very happy to have him and the droids are now finished. 

That Kez Iban in there came via Bob/stormie on the board here, totally free of charge to help out my collection.  Thanks kind sir. 

But the best part is this little guy...



Yep, as best I can tell, he's completely authentic:

-cape is snug on arms and around back
-smooth on inside, textured on outside; sound and appearance are correct
-cape is flexible and older obviously than new material
-bottom of cape is 4 mm from bottom of feet, exactly how long it's supposed to be

Price was pretty good, IMHO.  Not sure what was the better deal for my vinty collection, this, or the $65 Yakface.

So I finished off my Droids figures today and also wrapped up the basic vintage set to completion.  Lots of variations left to get, but the important one is out of the way

[DSJ™]

Very nice Brent, good scores. 

The Vinyl Cape Jawa looks stunning.   

[evenflow]

The Jawa looks awesome, I can't bring myself to buy one becuase i am so afraid of getting a fake one.

[JesseVader08]

Auction ended with no bids, emailed the seller and voila.  Basically got him for going rate for a loose figure and shipped free. 

That was such a smart idea!  I'm seriously going to have to remember that in the future for eBay auctions that slip through without a bid.

Congrats on the VC Jawa - it looks to be in fantastic condition.