WHAA?
Ok.. so..I'm a Star Wars fan.. since the age of about 5 when I saw Return Of The Jedi I've loved Star Wars in some shape or form.. be it the Ewok movies, the main movies, Droids cartoon, The Clone Wars Series, Rebels, even the Holiday Special was pretty cool to me, everywhere I could get Star Wars I tried to be there. I still remember waiting about half a day to download 12m/b's to watch The Phantom Menace trailer.. THAT.. was when my fandom went from playing with my brothers hand me down Star Wars Figures (3.75" of course) to getting my own.. Starting with Darth Maul.. so that's when buying the figures for me started.
I'm not one of those collectors which have to have everything, I've never had the money to get everything and to be honest I've not been interested in buying characters I can't connect with or even have some kind of love for. I just bought sporadically.
But this comes at a price, if you're not invested in a whole line, you end up with bits and bobs from each and it kind of makes the collection a little non-special. I don't really have much of a collection either, there are still lots of figures I would have liked but another problem is space.. I have nowhere (at the moment, I'm working on it) to display my collection..
My wife has recently started a collection of Beauty & The Beast merchandise, mainly display pieces and plush toys. But this got me thinking while looking at all the different type of items for this one film.. its also aesthetically pleasing to look at, as the colours are very similar to one another.. whilst looking at my own collection of different lines, different types of toy, different characters just looks a little messy..
Why does my wife Focus her collection?
She says mostly, and firstly as she loved Beauty and the Beast, she has done since childhood and it's always stuck with her. There's a few reasons she transfixed on B&TB: One, because of Disney there's just SO much out there, and we have neither the room or the money to purchase everything. This is not to say my wife has had to reign it in on a few occasions as she has bought a few items, but in the main she's done her best to just get B&TB..
My wife has advised that she does not just go down the ebay route, she is also connected via Facebook to a wealth of groups which deal with vintage and also newer Disney items. This is where for her, the fun really starts. Okay it's great searching e-mail for that vital piece and putting in that bid, watching and then grumbling if lost of getting extremely excited once won.. it's also ALOT of fun searching the boards and being the first person to raise their hand to purchase an item from someone. Ebay seems to have become too popular with some sellers and they tend to take the "Mickey" (pun intended) with the Disney items in terms of price, so in a lot of cases she can get a much better price from "Facebook Friends" who seem to appreciate a little bit more about giving their old items a new loving owner.
Because of the many boards and many people to purchase from, the thrill of the hunt also plays a big part for her.
So having a focal point for a collection seems to be the way to go. Taking into consideration Money and Space, I'm pretty sure for me it's the best way to go. I totally respect those Completists out there too though, a few of my old colleagues on the Toy Run podcast and Galaxy of Toys Network are Completists in one way or another...
This is not to say that people who collect EVERYTHING Star Wars don't have a great looking collection.. Steve Sansweet is another level of a collector (CHECK OUT RANCHO OBI-WAN!), but it proves that if you have a massive collection it looks beautiful!!
THE CONCLUSION..
For the small collection I have I think it notices more and there's no WOW! factor.. I want to be proud of my collection.. Of course I have the sentimental pieces that actually mean something and I love those and will never get rid of them, but I do feel there are quite a few pieces where I've just wanted them for the sake of wanting.. "oh! There's a new film! I need the Hero/Heroine!" Is usually my first thought.. I also buy for my son too, if he likes a character I get it..it goes in a bag of opened figures and then gets played with so I don't include those in my collection.
If you're going to do something, do it wholeheartedly.. especially when it's something you love. I will therefore soon be sorting out my Star Wars Collection and will be placing all neatly on ebay.. after which I will be concentrating ("All firepower") on collecting specifically the Emperors Royal Guard..
I spoke to my wife about this last night and she asked me..
The Emperors Royal Guard/ Imperial Guard
Why this red guy?
Basically, I'd always found them intriguing, I LOVED the Crimson Empire comics (which I've downloaded recently again from Amazon, SO CHEAP!) and I've chosen this Character as I like the mystery behind them, their awesome costume and it was in fact one of the first 3.75" figures that I played with as a child. It was a hand me down from my Brother, whether he liked it or not!
Once I've sold some of my Saga Legends figures on Ebay, I will be starting my journey..
For now, this is what I have.. :
I spoke to my wife about this last night and she asked me..
The Emperors Royal Guard/ Imperial Guard
Why this red guy?
Basically, I'd always found them intriguing, I LOVED the Crimson Empire comics (which I've downloaded recently again from Amazon, SO CHEAP!) and I've chosen this Character as I like the mystery behind them, their awesome costume and it was in fact one of the first 3.75" figures that I played with as a child. It was a hand me down from my Brother, whether he liked it or not!
Once I've sold some of my Saga Legends figures on Ebay, I will be starting my journey..
For now, this is what I have.. :
Well... IT'S A START!!!
