Good Memories - A history of collecting: 1995 and beyond

[Tycho]

It was while collecting Star Trek figures that I learned my favorite, my good memories, everything was returning with Star Wars!

Luke, (yes) Leia, R2, and Obi-Wan were my first. R2 was so good I couldn't believe it, and I was so happy to have figures, I thought the new likenesses (versus vintage) were completely dead-on and awesome. I even sold myself on Leia's serious look as being cool.

I couldn't wait for the vehicles, but I think it took me a while to locate the Falcon (which I wanted most), and it was hard finding the Stormtroopers.

Once I did, I found multiples, so I bought them, thinking if I changed my mind I'd return them. Then my dream of doing dioramas like I was a kid started.

For 3 years I didn't stop buying every stormtrooper, and I picked up 3 more AT-ST's to do what I wanted to make for the Battle of Endor.

C-3PO was still allusive, and I was told by other collectors that I was lucky to have Leia.

Once I got my Falcon, I made a shrine to it. My original hero figures are still on board. I bought these to open from the outset!

Oh, and prior to getting the Falcon, I remember leaving my new stuff in my truck until nightfall, then sneaking it into my college dorm in the wee hours of the morning (so none of the girls could see what I was doing). Once I got the Falcon, I had to display all that I had, and as it was a small collection, I was still 'considered cool.' Then my girlfriend found probably 25 stormtroopers hidden in my underwear drawer....

[Tycho]

I finally got C-3PO. And I really liked this shiny first figure.

Then Boba Fett came out! I'd loved the sculpt and warmed up to the bounty hunter since my trauma as an 8 year old (he captured my hero, you know... - and to this day I still have a fear of carbonite freezing rooms).

Well, of course I rushed up and got my Boba Fett from a dealer (traded for an extra Leia and C-3PO, and I opened my half-circle Fett on the spot!)

Luke (my head shrunk) X-wing and Lando were fun too. Lando was the first and last new figure I bought from a dealer though. I learned how the game was played (an undisclosed sum of cash later) and soon found myself outside Walmart at God-knows-what-hour in the mornings.

Then my long-time wish came true: all I had to do was eat Fruit Loops and a Han Solo Stormtrooper figure would become real!

You don't know how sick I became of that cereal. Anyway, under a few aliases, I have a few Solos now...

But I knew then, this would be no ordinary collection. Now my dreams for Wedge, Tarkin, and more would one day become true.

Luke Dagobah was my next big surprise, as an extreme first reason to continue collecting was figures they never made before.

I remember thinking Han Hoth was innovative, in that they did a surprising 'off-screen' take on him, but was concerned about a resculpt even before they'd been heard of.

Shadows of the Empire was very cool to me. I think it should have gone further with the toy line, but the movie products were coming for the special editions. Luke was the best figure by far, as Leia Boussh wasn't initially released with the others.

I was late to an Economics mid-term when I found Leia, Luke Jedi, and Han Carbonite. I even took them with me to the exam in my gym bag, so that when I was done, I could find a quiet place on campus and play with those. I wasn't exactly unobserved, and that's how I met one of my best friends I collect with. He saw me on campus playing with those figures, and said he recognized me as that 'a --hole' that cut him off the other morning when Toys R Us opened!

We've been trading ever since then, but help each other out by going to different stores!

[Tycho]

When the Han Hoth on TaunTaun was first unvelied in pictures, I knew I was growing up to 12" and fast, if you'll pardon the expression.

I turned down Vader, as he was still awful, and don't have him, even to this day (nor would I want him, either...wait til the 14", huh?)

But I got Luke Bespin and Lando first, then found Tusken Raiders. K-mart still provided me with Han and Luke, but for a few years, I'd go without Obi-Wan.

Meanwhile, the Greedo-DeathStar Gunner through Tusken and Momaw Nadon wave of 8 figures proved to be one of my best memories in collecting. Darn was that wave cool. And the Sandtrooper easily became one of my favorite figures.

The T-16 was fun because they never made it before, and Vader's TIE was a vast improvement.

I'm pretty sure when I got the 12" Han Hoth on TaunTaun, and Chewie's first Collector's Edition (with the flapped box), that made my year.

It's a tough call, as I remember the 21-B Hoth wave being the last surprise (before I was online and regularly informed by SirStevesGuide all the time) so that was a lot of fun, going to Walmart and not knowing what was coming, but finding Bossk that morning.

Slave Leia, Tarkin, and Wedge (in a carrying case) all came out that year - and they were had to forget too.

The Dewback rocked! I don't know. 1997 seems to be at first glance, the very best year!

[Tycho]

A 14" Removeable Helmet Talking Darth Vader is to this day my favorite piece in the Action Collection (closely followed by the best piece, the BikerScout!)

Expanded Universe figures didn't look perfect (save for Luke and Leia being very cool), but they were a dream come true and far better than Shadows of the Empire, in terms of hope for the line's continuing and the extent of its reach and scope.

Vader with Removeable Helmet for the Freeze Frame wave came out and I think still challenges any Power of the Jedi for a most-wanted, best executed sculpt!

Ishi Tibb and Lak Sivrak, our first Ewoks and Biggs started those always wanted figures coming. And Luke Bespin had the first removeable hand! Leia Ewok Princess would later be a peg-warmer, but I loved her from the start, as another Never-Made-Before.

The Bantha was another dream come true. Uncle Owen finally saw production, though he's far from perfect.

But the line coughed on resculpts and the Flashback wave disappointed save for Vader and Palpatine (in my opinion).

The Leia Collection's Bespin pack gave us a nice Princess in my opinion, too. But I like cloth. Though not on Han and Luke! (save for Jedi robes?)

[bigbarada]

I too was engrossed in Star Trek figures when I got the news of Star Wars figures making a return. I haunted stores for months before I finally saw the figures anywhere. Initial disappointment eventually led to obsession. I had never been a completist before but I found myself collecting for two because my brother was stationed in Saudi Arabia and couldn't get any of the figures.

My first figures were Luke, Ben, Artoo, Han and Chewie. My first vehicles were the AT-ST and TIE Fighter.

[bigbarada]

This was probably one of the most hectic years of my life, my brother was almost killed when Kobar Towers was bombed in June and I shipped off to Bosnia in October.

I had no place to store my collection so I decided to return the favor from 1980. I boxed EVERYTHING up and donated it to the Santa's Workshop toy drive. I hope it made some kids happy.

Of course, I just ended up buying everything again when I got back to the states in May 1997. I had completely missed the release of the Special Editions except for ROTJ. To this day I have never seen ANH or ESB on the big screen.

[bigbarada]

As I mentioned, upon returning from Bosnia, Star Wars fever hit once again and most of the money I made being overseas went into rebuilding my collection. My brother was now in Germany and had been buying stuff from the German stores, so everything I now bought was for me and me alone. I think finding the A-Wing and AT-AT were the highlights of my collecting this year.

[bigbarada]

Star Wars colecting kind of cooled off for me this year, I think I was a little tired of all the searching and scalpers. Removable Helmet Vader was the only figure I actually looked for and I happened to stumble upon a ton of Han TaunTauns, Death Star Troopers and Ree-Yees's at the Army PX by Christmas time. I had no idea these would become the rarest of the rare and only bought one Han TaunTaun, one DST and passed on Ree-Yees so I could buy the new likeness Leia.

I think Legend of Zelda for the N64 eclipsed my excitement for Star Wars enough that I didn't even know the trailer had been released until Christmas.

[Beast]

1995, the year of the return of Star Wars.
I originally had collected as much as a could as a kid, but had sadly moved on to other toys around a year after ROTJ opened.

I was insanely happy upon hearing of their return, and watched the stores like a hawk for them to finally arrive. My very first figure was "Obi-Wan Kenobi", he had fallen behind a shelf at Kay Bee Toy Store, and was all that was left out of their shipments.

I later acquired the others, though I had a hard time finding a Leia and a C-3PO...as everyone did. I picked up one of each of the vehicles, except for the AT-ST, which I bought on clerance in '96.

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[Tycho]

I hope when all the prequels come out, they will do some kind of 12 hour movie marathon (on the big screen) and you will get to see them.

You're a good man for donating your toys, and I hope that it sets an example for me and others too, this Christmas. For anyone who hasn't read BigBarada's 1980 post (I believe it is) this is how Star Wars captures a kids heart at Christmas!