Most people who know me I collect Star Wars “stuff.” Any time my mom or Pat Deckard or Cathy Martin see a Star Wars item at a garage sale, thrift store or antique mall, they immediately think of me. Today’s inside tip came from our friend Jacquie Gappa, who let me know that her ex-brother-in-law (I think I got that right) was selling off a big chunk of his Star Wars collection. She was right. I came home with this: As I began moving the items into my house I began mentally sorting them into different categories. I bought the… (read more)

You could say I’ve been collecting “Star Wars stuff” my entire life. Some of the oldest toys and action figures in my collection are the ones I got Christmas morning, 1978. Throughout the 80s I acquired a lot of stuff, and in the mid-90s when Star Wars was re-released in theaters and they began making new toys, I began collecting those as well. But it wasn’t until the late 90s that I began collecting vintage toys. Up until that point in time, other than a few things friends had gifted me, my collection of vintage toys consisted of the vintage… (read more)

There’s an unspoken rule around these here parts — you don’t shop for yourself right before your birthday. Actually it’s not an unspoken rule, it’s a spoken one. The only exceptions I make is when I’m buying things that nobody else in the world would ever buy me, and I’m guessing vintage Star Wars figures apply. When I got home from work today I found THESE in the mailbox! I would like to note that for some of these I got free shipping and on some of them I paid $6 shipping. They all arrived at the same time. Anyway.… (read more)

I spent a few minutes rooting around on eBay last night, looking up the remaining figures I need and what they are currently going for on eBay. Amanaman – $100 AT-ST Driver – $5 Barada – $50 EV-9D9 (Brown, Jabba Robot) – $100 Han Solo (In Carbonite Chamber) – $50 Imperial Dignitary – $50? Lando Calrissian (General’s Pilot) – $50 Luke Skywalker in Battle Poncho – $50 Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper Outfit – $75 Lumat Ewok, Light, Bow/Arrow – $25 Paploo Ewok, Dk. Brown, Lt. Headress – $20 Princess Leia Organa in Hoth Outfit – $5 Princess Leia Organa (In… (read more)

Even the best of us get duped from time to time. Recently while out toy shopping I ran across this TIE Fighter. I thought, mistakenly, that this was from Return of the Jedi. When it comes to Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back toys I’d call myself an expert, but there were a few late Return of the Jedi toys that I never owned. I know that later in the line they switched from white to gray plastic, so I assumed this was one of those. I was wrong. The key is in the ship’s “wings” (I always referred… (read more)

Stopped by another Vintage Stock today on a hunch and picked up three Star Wars figures I need for the collection, including this Bespin Princess Leia from The Empire Strikes Back. When Han and friends landed on Lando Calrissian’s Bespin (aka “Cloud City”) in the Empire Strikes Back, Leia was still wearing her snow white flight suit from Hoth. Shortly after her arrival she changed into this pink and maroon ensemble in preparation for dinner later that evening with Han, Chewie, Lando, the droids, and a few uninvited Imperial guests. By the time Han gets frozen in carbonite, Leia has… (read more)

Anyone who has ever worked toward completing a collection has probably mashed their teeth while paying money for something they didn’t want. Every Atari 2600 collector knows that Pac-Man and E.T. are universally panned, and yet they all own them. The challenge in collecting Star Wars figures is that especially toward the end of the run, Kenner really began scraping the bottom of the barrel. The original line of figures launched with a now famous 12 figures — one Luke, one Han, and so on. By the type Return of the Jedi wrapped, you had Luke in Hoth gear, Luke… (read more)