The jump between collecting loose and Mocs

You dont see it coming and before you know it, your addicted to searching for carded figures. I have to ask myself..........How did this happen ??

One day happy collecting the last few figures for a complete loose run (which i still need 3 last 17 to finish the set) and then im sucked into moc collecting.


You guys that collect carded figures, how did you get into it ? straight in at the deep end, or did you start of like me on the loose buying ? Have to say that im loving the cheaper ROTJ mocs because you can pick a nice one up cheaper than some of the last 17 loose figures.

God knows where this is gonna end up, but im happy and staying in budget with some nice carded figures

When I started collecting it was the definition of scatter gun "ooh that looks cool" but after a while I bought a few MOC's, mainly cos I couldn't believe any had survived that long, and from there the completist in me insisted I finish the various runs.
Strange how I was able to leave my loose collection unfinished but felt compelled to finish the MOCs. I guess it's just whatever you get most satisfaction from.

It is definitely a slippery slope though.

weasel said:

When I started collecting it was the definition of scatter gun "ooh that looks cool" but after a while I bought a few MOC's, mainly cos I couldn't believe any had survived that long, and from there the completist in me insisted I finish the various runs.

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Couldn't agree more - this is exactly what happened to me

weasel said:

It is definitely a slippery slope though.

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So very true - watch out Tim

Exactly the same as Weasel and Iain! I started buying all sorts of mocs that looked cool, but eventually settled on ROTJ (and 20 backs!!!). The problem is, the first few are cheap and then they start getting more expensive, and then they start getting ridiculous :lol:
It is a long slippery slope.......but very enjoyable. :shock:

Hey Tim, collecting such things can be very addictive for some people (like myself) but you must be careful with money, time etc...

i began too buy anything i would see and tbh i would almost win any bid i wanted on ebay because money felt no issue at the time, but the problem i faced was where on earth do i put everything, my wife won`t let me have them on show, so they live under a bed in our spare room.

the thing is what i have learnt is this, set yourself a goal, i.e collect all the ROTJ cards or POTF don`t be how i began buying anything because it never seemed too stop and before i new it i had spent alot of money with no true direction in where i was going.

Anyway i have now decided too collect afa/ukg graded cards and that is how i will go now, i do have some cards in which i will keep, but those i intend on getting graded too, anyway mate hope these arn`t negative views from me, its great owning the things my parents could never afford too buy me and also brings back my youth, as i have said before also my daughter will get my collection in years too come to help buy herself a car or whatever she wishes too spend it on, dam i bet you are thinking does this dude ever stop waffleing on lol.

anyway mate take care and happy hunting

I managed to stick to my maximum of £100 per figure for about 10 years, so it can be done, and if you're patient it's very fun and rewarding. As you say you can spend that kind of money on loose figures. The hunt is my favourite part of collecting anything, feeling like you got a good deal. Any idiot with 10 grand burning a hole in their pocket could buy pretty much a complete set of MOCs from Brians Toys right now if they wanted to, but where's the fun in that!?

My advice is stick to your budget, whether that means one £200 figure a month or 10 £20 figures, both are fun to get. And don't impulse buy, there's a lot more to lose with MOCs (fakes, reseals etc)

Some sound advice there from Edd. Defo start with easier to find and relatively inexpensive carded figures. Standard kenner ROTJ carded figures are perfect because you can literally spend whatever you want from £10 for a beaten up Ree Yees MOC to £150+ for a much harder to find Star Wars character on a Jedi Card.

The majority of Jedi character on Jedi cards can be had in nice condition for around the £30-40 mark. Many for around £20. It doesnt have to be expensive. Stick to your limit. There will always be next month and the great thing about Jedi carded figures is that there are plenty out there. By picking up some inexpensive carded figures from reputable sources you can get a feel for the characteristics of a genuine MOC in terms of seals, cardstock, print quality etc. and all of that experience will be invaluable as you progress. 8)

If you are in any doubt then post pics on here or drop an experienced member a PM and Im sure anyone will be happy to help you out with identification/ valuation etc. Carded figs are great fun to collect but like everyone says, go in slow it is an addictive pass time. :wink:

Enjoy! 8)

Collecting cards is alot easier now. eBay, websites and forums means only funds is your problem.

When I moved onto cards there was no Internet. You were lucky to find them. There's been a mass of trans-Atlantic transactions since then, flooding the market. I had no choice in what MOC came along, and would grab one when it turned up. Was stuck to word of mouth, newspaper adds, specialist shops and conventions.

My first was an ROTJ Han trench covered with pen marks on the back. Blew my mind. Couldn't believe my luck. As a kid as well, my budget was pocket money so a card in any condition was a dream. (enter UGrade slander here about damaged cards).

So you got it could. To be honest I miss the hunt of pre-Internet days but my collection is 1000 times better, so there's pro's and con's.

My advice:

Start on ROTJ run?

Get a VC Jawa first?

Mate- get whatever makes you happy, there's tons of information to learn and you got the forum which reduces the chance of getting screwed.

Just enjoy it mate.

But don't bid on any Luke hoth's, I need one :wink:

Timbo, you and I are one and the same. I still have 3 loose to collect but these are at least £50+. Whilst I wait to pick these up at a reasonable price, I started picking up some moc's.
Believe me when I say, your budget will increase. The £20 cap you may use now will soon become 25, then 30 until you get into the realms these guys are talking about. Edd's £100 seems crazy to me, but i'm resigned to the fact that will soon be my reality

The biggest challenge is finding a woman who doesn't always give you **** for doing it :roll:

Good luck my friend................................................and welcome to hell :twisted:

Timbo, send me a PM if your gonna buy some ROTJ carded figures, I have a few that I may sell at a decent price. May feed your addiction for a while.

:wink:

Maulster79 said:

When I moved onto cards there was no Internet. You were lucky to find them. There's been a mass of trans-Atlantic transactions since then, flooding the market. I had no choice in what MOC came along, and would grab one when it turned up. Was stuck to word of mouth, newspaper adds, specialist shops and conventions.

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Same for me, ah those were the days You basically had to accept whatever you could find, in the 90s plenty of my figures had cracked bubbles, missing pops etc. It's such a luxury now having 10 of each figure on Ebay all the time. It took my literally years to find a Darth Vader back in the day! :lol:

Christmas 1996- parents bought me a 20 back walrus man.....An actual STAR WARS CARDED figure!!! And I freakin own it! I had a complete meltdown in front of the Christmas tree. Best surprise.

Brilliant times......

And Episode 1 around the corner.....theres no way it's going to dissapoint. :lol:

Pm sent Bram,

I just think it's interesting you start out just wanting to collect loose and then all of a sudden you want the carded figures too. Im happy just getting the cheaper ones at the moment, for me when the prices start getting into 3 figures thats when i start looking back at the cheaper ones.

Im getting a real buzz from finding nice carded figures for about 20 - 40 quid and there is aa good selection to choose from so i'll never get bored

I started collecting carded figures for nostalgic reasons.
I found a erg and klattu moc in my mums loft while looking through my old toys and thought 'omg I can remember buying these on the rack in the front of woolworths.' so I started buying all the ones I could remember having as a kid. It was quite cheap as they were all late Jedi cards.
However it doesn't end there....
You then start thinking 'I will get all the Jedi figures'
However it doesn't end there....
You then start thinking 'I will get all the esb and sw figures'
However it doesn't end there...
You then start thinking I will get them all on their original car backs (maybee excluding bobafett)
However it doesn't stop there.....
You the start looking for better condition card backs
However it STILL doesn't end there.....
You then start thinking 'i will buy AFA figures'
However it STILL doesn't end there.....
You then start looking at AFA numbers and see what the highest grade of figures there are and how many etc........



To sum it up in short. If you start down this slippery and (very) expensive route then your quest will NEVER end and you will NEVER be truly satisfied.

i love carded figures, but it does remind me of the discussion about bubbles eventually falling off lol, cant remember if it was RS or on here, i had some premium moc figures and it scared me to death that they would just drop off in 20 years time ect

I collect boxed vehicles though, but not minty ones. I see the aesthetics of a carded figure, but I collect loose only figures only.
But I do collect high quality CoCs, Customs on Cards:


This one's not carded yet, will have to buy clear tape first ...

plantman said:

i love carded figures, but it does remind me of the discussion about bubbles eventually falling off lol, cant remember if it was RS or on here, i had some premium moc figures and it scared me to death that they would just drop off in 20 years time ect

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I can vaguely remember a thread about that and I'm fairly sure that the result was inconclusive. It seems some suffer from yellowing and going brittle REALLY BADLY (potf seem worse) and some don't seem effected (trilogo don't seem that effected).
Know body seemed to know whether it was uv rays or cheap plastic or a combination of both.
I know AFA do uv resistant archival cases but I don't know how you. Could proove/diss proove that they work.

timbo72 said:

Pm sent Bram,

I just think it's interesting you start out just wanting to collect loose and then all of a sudden you want the carded figures too. Im happy just getting the cheaper ones at the moment, for me when the prices start getting into 3 figures thats when i start looking back at the cheaper ones.

Im getting a real buzz from finding nice carded figures for about 20 - 40 quid and there is aa good selection to choose from so i'll never get bored

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PM replied mate. In your price range buddy. :wink:

weasel said:

When I started collecting it was the definition of scatter gun "ooh that looks cool" but after a while I bought a few MOC's, mainly cos I couldn't believe any had survived that long, and from there the completist in me insisted I finish the various runs.
Strange how I was able to leave my loose collection unfinished but felt compelled to finish the MOCs. I guess it's just whatever you get most satisfaction from.

It is definitely a slippery slope though.

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I think Weasel nailed it here. Once you start collecting MOCs it becomes very addictive. I too ditched a loose figure run and never looked back. All the best with your search.

Grant. 8)

No one else find the post above that says "I collect high quality coc(k)s" amusing? Not one of you??? :lol:

I encourage the jump from loose to MOC - it's just a natural progression, loose figures are easy to find and relatively cheap and you learn the ins and outs of the hobby in the time it takes to complete your loose set, by which time you should feel reasonably comfortable venturing further.

No one should be worried about buying MOC if they started on loose, I think it's perfectly normal