Choosing a focus.....

Evening,

So, I started collecting in June and I can honestly say I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute. I have learnt a great deal, met some top people, and bought some lovely figures. My loose collection is slowly expanding, and once I sort the camera out I will post some pictures.

Next step- starting a focus. Listening to the podcasts, I have enjoyed hearing of forum member's focuses, for example Joe's 8D8 and Tim's Luke Jedi. I would be interested to hear:

What made you begin a focus, and why that figure?
What figure would you recommend I focus upon?

Thinking out loud, I would imagine focussing on a 12 back figure would be an error due to prices. I am primarily a loose collector, and whilst I accept there will be added costs for completing a focus, I cannot justify shifting £400+ for a Leia Organa right now. I prefer the Ponchobelt approach to carded collecting! Perhaps I should look to a more common figure; I really like Ackbar, but I'm not sure on the number of variants and whether this would make an interesting project. I can't help but like the Lukes Jedi and Bespin, but these guys are pricey enough without adding variant and carded prices to the premium. Maybe Walrusman deserves some love, a great figure and a favourite of mine. Bigger picture, the focus could run to oddball stuff, but this only applies to certain figures of course.

Appreciate your thoughts folks.

Jim.

I started a stormie focus just because he was my fave figure back in the days, might not be the most economic focus to go for, but it's the one I find coolest of them all,
also because of the epic scene when they boarded the Rebel Cruiser. 8)

There are plenty of different variants + coo variants to collect for the most figures, so a loose focus isn't a bad idea either

Hi Jim

Wally definitely deserves some love :mrgreen:

I focus on Wally as he was a favourite as a kid and my only surviving childhood figure. He is so seventies he make Huggie Bear look square. But his variations are a bitch and still up for argument.

Bossk is another figure I like and looking at your avatar I would have guessed he was your focus, really cool in Empire. Not a really common focus either. Cool figure and a unique weapon. Also nice to line him up with the other bounty hunters.

Ackbar sounds good too, I love the head sculpt and he has one of the most memorable lines in Jedi. you might be right about the lack of variation though.

Ultimately its your call though, you need a figure you want to go the extra mile for or the focus will have no momentum or direction.

Good luck

It's simple really. There's probably a formula

Something personal and evocative to you, and something that you could realistically collect these day

For me it was ESB backs. I started off with those in 1981/2 and I ended up collecting budget cards. One of the most enjoyable things in collecting I ever did.

How about Luke hoth, as said above it's personal.

The best focus collectors happen almost naturally, never feel you *have* to have a focus because others do, some people try it and hate it!

A lot of character focus guys will also tell you that the character almost chooses them (bit like with pets!) and it usually comes down to nostalgia and remembering moments with a particular figure as a child or thinking about which figures were your favourites.

Some people just say "hey I like the look of Greedo - lets do it!" and that can lead to a great collection too.

All I can really say is if you know deep down where you want to go then before long you will find yourself collecting it, if you don't then just take it slow - it will come in time and you'll soon find where you feel you "belong" in collecting and settle into the areas that interest you the most.

Yeah have a look at what you already have, you mite already have the start of a focus without realising. Perhaps not a figure focus but another focus like hoth or bounty hunter, something like that. :wink: Just a thought.

This is a really good read for you Jim (I've linked it before) http://astoundingartifacts.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/six-stages-of-collecting.html

Quite funny too

I myself have a luke Farmboy focus and it was like Joe said, he almost chose me. I started lose collecting and after the run was complete, I started, like most people do, looking for obvious variants like different colors.

Luke Farmboy has three brown hair variants, after hunting them down I shot a really different looking darker pants one and found out it was a Taiwan. Then I started checking his variants on Google Image search and saw Wolffs and Dublinjeffs collection. And wham bam I was in love with that fellow.

I never had a luke Farmboy Figure as a child, Ben Kenobi is my favorite movie character and I will stick to loose collecting just because he's a 12back and other carded examples are equally expensive.

But collecting loose can be done really. Still three figures to go, but they almost never show up like orange hair or are high cost figures like a double tip saber one. But I won't give up.

A focus naturally happens, yes. Hope you enjoy yours when you find one.
And share your collection here!

Hi Jim,

One thing to think about when starting a focus, don't let the uber rare one of a kind Peruvian moc that never comes up and costs as much as a house put you off a character. A focus is a very personal thing, and I have seen some great focus limelights without the mega rare cards. It's true that some characters are more expensive to start with such as luke fb, so you want to consider a character you will be able to get some of the Mocs with your budget, but generally every character has a card variation or two that will break the bank to get.

If you have the completionist gene, or any other kind of ocd tendency be very careful though as that could get expensive.

Finally, make sure you enjoy it. If you pick a character and then all of a sudden the square empire meccano card comes up for sale it would be great to have in the focus, but if you get a payment plan that cripples you financially then you will soon fall out of love with the focus and the hobby. The number of focus that seem to start and then run out of control with cost, and then get sold seems to be on the high side. Super rare variant cards are of great interest to focus collectors but if no one else has that focus they may not sell quickly.

Let us know what you choose, and then take your time and enjoy hunting the cards down and watching the focus grow.

Joe said:

This is a really good read for you Jim (I've linked it before) http://astoundingartifacts.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/six-stages-of-collecting.html

Quite funny too

Click to expand...

thats some link Joe :mrgreen: ....its damn right too :lol: , my advice go slow at the focus once you decide what that is mate , pick a character run that is achievable ! dont go down the road of picking one of the big character as thats BIG BUCKS !!, i would pick a lesser character and most important have fun :mrgreen:

Hey Jim, good to hear ur collection is coming along nicely 8) am looking forward to seeing some pics.
Yeh it's all about what u love and of course what ur budget is!

Unfortunately my focus does involve big bucks but in terms of volume it is a lot smaller than many focuses because I am a debut MOC collector :!: So u won't see massive runs of the same figure etc. Also I mainly focus on early vintage so it's SW and Empire but I do have some nice Jedi too :wink:

Why just focus on one figure? Find a nice couple of variants of AA, Luke Bes and a Walrus Man etc.
All the best with what ever focuses U choose

Some sound advice as usual guys.

JuniorChubb- I don't want to tread on your toes, but how many variants of Walrusman have you got, loose and carded?

Joe- enjoyed hearing your interview on the podcast and thanks for the article link.

I think picking a lesser character away from the first 12 and last 17 is key for me, in terms of budget and also coverage.

Interesting that some of you have picked up on my avatar and username with regards to making it personal. A Hoth focus would be nice, and yes Bossk is a bit of a beast but I wonder how many loose variants exist? I will no doubt side with a figure and character that I like whatever the end result.

Where can I best find a guide to figure variants? TIG? On here somewhere?

I like the idea of Ackbar....cheap, relatively common....I could have a herd of them with a large sign behind the display saying It's a trap........but as aforementioned I'm not sure he varies that much.

HothJim said:

JuniorChubb- I don't want to tread on your toes, but how many variants of Walrusman have you got, loose and carded?

Click to expand...

I think I have about 6 different variations or so and plenty more doubles, but Wally is a headache when it comes to variants. I can't remember them all of the top of my head but excluding COO variations there are 3 major visual variations, Pink Tusks, White Tusks and Bright Green head (Meccano I think). But pink and white tusks versions come with different COO's and then there are shiny limbs and dull limbs again for each COO if I remember correctly so the number of variants grows as these factors multiply with each other. Depends how far you want to take it and what you decide is a legitimate variant. The only one I am after is the bright green head variant.

I have ROTJ MOC, Empire reseal and Star Wars reseal, not sure what 'backs' are though as this does not concern me. For me the MOC's are pretty straight forward, one for each film as he was not available on Tri Logo. I would prefer Palitoys but due to the inflated price its not overly important. Foreign MOC's would be cool but I am not actively seeking these.

I have one baggie too, but again this is all I am after. I have one loose graded figure as it displays well with my other acrylic cased stuff.

So for me its major visual variations for my loose run, an MOC for each film release and a baggie. So everything is visually different at a glance.

I have a few modern pieces and oddball bits too, but its a sparse shelve at the moment.

Don't worry about stepping on my toes, Wally has flippers :wink: Just do your own thing, there is room for everyone, even if we all focused on VCJ's...

As for the Ackbar focus, for some reason I imagine a Rebel Tranport filled with Ackbars :shock:

I'm still trying to decide on a focus but I was thinking Bib or Squidhead because I have always loved their sculpts and they're relatively modest in terms of number of variants (...not including burgundy cloaks :roll: )

I'm doing a MIM MOC run while I think about it.

another squidhead focus would be awesome :mrgreen:

my squiddy focus link below mate

http://www.starwarsforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19847

I went with Greedo because he's my favourite character, also no-one else seemed to be doing him. Plus, nothing mega rare or expensive (so far).

Second choice for a focus would be Death Squad Commander, never seen a focus on him and I like the figure and cardback. And again nothing too expensive or unobtainable, and the name change keeps things interesting.

Whatever you decide, the main thing is to enjoy it, stick with it, and of course show it off when you feel you have enough to do so.

That. Is nice. :shock:

Has anyone done a Bib focus on the SWfUK forum?

Some good advice here. I find it interesting as to why people do focuses. As someone else stated there are different ways to focus. Most people choose one particular figure and get everything they can of it but others collect baggies, or ESB cards or Palitoy etc. I haven't got a focus at the moment, there's things I like more than others and I've found myself with a few Tie Fighter Pilots without even realising it. Could develop into a focus, it's one of my favourites. If £ was no object it would prob be Boba for me. As people have said a figure may pick you. I don't really want a focus to be honest, I like all of it too much!!

K, time for some research. Is there an online directory that deals with figure variants?

Edit- this is decent http://www.highasakoit.co.uk/starwars/deathsquad.php