I went into the local shop in my town which is centered around collectibles - everything from toys, to war memorabilia, and antique furniture - essentially, it's a one-stop shop for anything that is hard to find, that some may want.
This is one of the figures I bought in his shop around this time last year. I have a lot of loose figures and ships from this Hasbro line, as it was out when I was a kid. As far as collecting the boxed figures from this line goes, I wouldn't, but since this was signed by the man himself, Peter Mayhew, I just had to pick it up.
It's a really cool place, and I enjoy going down and checking out his stock. It's the kind of place that you'd want to really take your time in because there could be some hidden gems tucked away behind some other items which would be easy to miss if you were giving the place a passing glance. However, when going in there, I like to have a reason, I.E, buying something, or looking for something in particular to ask about.
I had some time and we wanted to get the baby out for a walk so decided to pop in; recently on YouTube I've been watching some videos on people's Star Wars collections, and it has amped me up to get my own collection finished. With this newfound enthusiasm, I popped in and had a chat.
I spoke to the owner about finishing off my vintage collection of figures and arrived at the shop with a list of who I need which I prepared with the idea of going in and getting the ball rolling in mind.
This is what I used as a reference to work out the list of people I don't have, while I had all my figures laid out on the counter and it's another one bought from his shop.
Here is the list of all the names and along with the names there are numbers, which really helped to keep things organised especially since I was handing the list over to him. I did mention that I used the back of a Return of the Jedi figure, just so he can reference one of his own while going through the list.
The List
I divided them into four sections. (Jabbas) - which are anyone who belongs in the palace or the cantina, (Droids) - which are all the droids, (Imperials) - which are all the imperials, and (Rebels) - which are, you guessed it, all the rebels/ heroes.
(Jabbas)
4 - Nikto
71 - Hammerhead
72 - Greedo
73 - Walrus Man
77 - Bossk
(Droids)
38 - R2D2
39 - C3PO
(Imperials)
10 - AT-ST Driver
43 - Imperial Commander
56 - AT-AT Commander
63 - Star Destroyer Commander
(Rebels)
5 - Wicket W
8 - Han Solo (Trench Coat)
19 - Rebel Commander
24 - Lando Calrissian (Skiff Guard)
28 - Nien Nunb
33 - Cloud Car Pilot
35 - Yoda
40 - Luke Skywalker (Hoth)
41 - Bespin Security Guard
42 - Rebel Commander
46 - Bespin Security Guard
48 - Luke Skywalker (Bespin Fatigues)
49 - Princess Leia Organa (Bespin Gown)
50 - Lando Calrissian
51 - Han Solo (Bespin Outfit)
52 - Luke Skywalker
53 - Han Solo (Hoth)
57 - Princess Leia (Hoth)
60 - Luke Skywalker (X-Wing)
61 - Rebel Soldier
68 - Han Solo
69 - Princess Leia
Only 32 figures left to go, which means I own 45 of the original 77, however, there are plenty of variants out there, and then the final 17, so when I complete the original 77, the true collection isn't actually complete, but it will be nice to hit that milestone.
Here's the picture from the card of the Rancor Keeper, I always loved this, the way you can see all of them in one place and personally, I think the design for the Return of the Jedi figures really encouraged people to get collecting.
The main reason for organising them into categories was for the ease to tackle the last of the collection. I would like to buy full categories each time, but, since I need way more Rebels than any other ground, (22) in total, I figured the best thing to do would be to get a few Rebels with each batch of figures I purchase, because that way when the Rebels are all I have left to buy, there'll be less and it'll be a bit more manageable.
He had a look over the list and told me that he thinks he has most of them in his house, and said that it'll give him a reason to go through them all - which he has been meaning to do for a while.
After getting his email address off him I sent him over the list and I'm going to meet with him next week, hopefully, to pick up the first group. He asked if I want weapons and accessories, or just the figures, and I said either or, but weapons and accessories would be better. If some of them come without anything, I'll chip away at buying their gear at a later stage which isn't too much of a problem, because I have plenty of bits and pieces I need to collect for the figures I already own.
Weapons and Accessories
Having a complete figure, with their gun and any clothing pieces they came with can make them pretty expensive, especially considering the condition they're in.
For example, let's say a figure on its own is worth 20 Euros, well including the weapons and any other bits and pieces could increase that price to 60, or maybe even more. Weapons can sometimes double the value of the figure itself and even repo weapons can be pretty expensive in some cases because even they are sometimes hard to come by.
I have a bunch of them with their original pieces, but at one stage I was thinking of buying all repo stuff, just for the purpose of displaying them, but when I heard that getting them all was going to cost me a fair bit, I decided to just go all in and chip away at the original accessories and stuff, obviously, I'm going to complete the 77 first, but any I can get with their stuff now, will help me out in the future as far as I'm concerned.
For me, my main focus is the original Kenner figures, I think they have a lot of charm, I had a bunch of them as a kid and over the years I just started gathering more and more. I have 4 of them mint in their box and have the intention to get more as time goes on, but the loose figures are the main focus, and then after that, I want to get some of the things like the Rancor, Wampa, and a few more of the ships. I have doubles and triples of some figures, so think it would be cool to utilise some of those doubles, by sitting them in their respective ship for displaying.
If I were to complete a set of the current lines, I'd go for The Mandalorian, which I have a few figures of, and maybe Rogue One.
I have a Republic Gunship from when I was a kid - I've always loved that ship; the look of it, the sound, just everything about it - the one thing I've always wanted to do was get a few of the Gen-1 clones for it, but I never did, so I think that'll be a secondary goal of mine, just so I can have them in it for a display.
Hopefully I'll have an update within the next few days, to show off some of the new additions, and while I'm at it, I'll show some of my current collection.