-what's a true holy grail...

x-pack

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Its individual

Mine would be a nice loft find. Some lovely vintage toys that have been stashed away for 30 years and the owners want to sell them to me :D
 

Michael Sith

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As Knights of old we quest a Grail,
We may lack the armour and Chainmail,
But in what we seek our hearts are true,
Chances missed that we may rue,
But when we find our our hearts desire,
Does that quench, or stall our fire,
I think not, on we soldier with vigour anew,
As that particular Dragon we Slew,
We have as Don Quixote succinctly shows,
Lost our minds fighting imaginary foes,
We are but human, with all our fails,
And we have a purpose with a wind in our sails,
A beleaguered rabble, but happy are we,
Without Star Wars where would we be.......
 

Wreck-It Ralph

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edd_jedi said:
From a hobby point of view there are very few true holy grails. There are around 100 known Rocket Firing Fett prototypes, so that's certainly not a holy grail. I don't think any production piece could be called a grail.

On a personal level though it can be a lot looser - for me personally it's a trilogo Madine as I need one to complete my set. They are expensive but not super rare with 30-40 known examples. for a loose collector it might be a VCJ as they are so much more expensive than most other loose figures.

Does it matter how many of something exist if there are non for sale. Does quantity in existence determine Grail status or general accessibility?
 

Ross_Barr

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edd_jedi said:
I don't think any production piece could be called a grail.

People say this all the time, so don't fault you for it, but I just don't think it's true. There are many production items that exist in such small numbers now that would certainly qualify them as grails - DT Vader or Ben MOC, Glasslite Vlix MOC, Toltoys ESB VCJ MOC, orange hair Luke MOC, and probably several others.....
 

edd_jedi

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Yeah it's a fair point,I would say there needs to be less than five of something known in collections to be called a grail (I hate the phrase "in existence" because nobody can prove that)
 

Joe

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The term "holy grail" is very overused for what are almost always just personal grails. We've all been guilty of it, at one point many years ago I considered my grail a blue snag :lol:

A holy grail would in my opinion have to be something that's more important than any individual collection, something that's of immense importance to the hobby itself. A piece that's considered lost to history, the kit bashed rocket Fett prototype for example, a sculpt that's never been seen or any number of 2D related items that have never surfaced perhaps because they were destroyed 30 years ago.

Personal grails change all the time and are usually only out of reach due to lack of funds, because lets face it: if you've got money in this hobby, you can get pretty much anything you want (as far as production items go and in many cases prototypes too)
 

edd_jedi

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Yes that's a very good point Joe. I think that also means a grail is something that cannot be bought simply with money. If you can decide you want one today and buy it tomorrow, it's not a grail. You have to earn a grail, not buy it.
 

Wreck-It Ralph

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edd_jedi said:
Yes that's a very good point Joe. I think that also means a grail is something that cannot be bought simply with money. If you can decide you want one today and buy it tomorrow, it's not a grail. You have to earn a grail, not buy it.

Could you give an example of such an item.
 

edd_jedi

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Most prototypes fall in to that category, they almost never sell on eBay and are usually passed between collectors that know each other. Also the old school guys who have most of this stuff don't need the money so I think they tend to sell them to people who think deserve and will appreciate them rather than whoever is waving the biggest wad of cash.
 

Wreck-It Ralph

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Joe said:
Personal grails change all the time and are usually only out of reach due to lack of funds, because lets face it: if you've got money in this hobby, you can get pretty much anything you want (as far as production items go and in many cases prototypes too)

That's good to know, would you mind pointing me in the direction of a 30 Back Boba Fett for sale as I have the money waiting :D
 

Wreck-It Ralph

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edd_jedi said:
Most prototypes fall in to that category, they almost never sell on eBay and are usually passed between collectors that know each other. Also the old school guys who have most of this stuff don't need the money so I think they tend to sell them to people who think deserve and will appreciate them rather than whoever is waving the biggest wad of cash.

That's me ****ed then :lol: , thankfully I don't collect prototypes.
 

Pomse2001

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To me a holy grail is something you do not see for sale in years or maybe never. Items that is so hard to find that you will look for them for a very long time or items that is so expensive so you do not have the money to buy them or you have to save up for it for a very long time before you have the money to buy it.

Some of the holy grails for me that I am still looking for is

The Empire Strikes Back Read Along Book and Tape moc on Danish. I have only seen one for sale and I lost the auction more than 10 years ago :(

Danish Star Wars Fan club magazines, I got my first ones last year after looking for them in 16 years and I think I will never find them all.

But also DT vader and kenobi is Holy grails for me :D
 

tobedesu

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Pomse2001 said:
To me a holy grail is something you do not see for sale in years or maybe never. Items that is so hard to find that you will look for them for a very long time or items that is so expensive so you do not have the money to buy them or you have to save up for it for a very long time before you have the money to buy it.

I think that sums it up for me as well.
However, it doesn't always have to relate to expense.
I think its the search for a piece that exists but just near impossible to get hold of...even if one has the cash.

I don't have a grail piece as such; I'd like a carded Palitoy 12-back run of the main rebels. And a carded run of Leia's in all forms, but wouldn't call them grails.
Admittedly, I don't have the cash for all of that so they remain a dream rather than a grail.
 

SAVORY100

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I think its really tough to define and I wonder if just the terms Grail, Holy Grail, Personal Grail are all the same thing but both overused and used differently by everyone that uses them... This thread at least seems to support that there are a variety of possible uses and reasons why its used.

My 'Grail' example goes back to me spending a couple of year's looking to get a Model Trem Han. A bugger to find, even more so from a reputable source and no matter where you look it was never going to be a pocket change pick-up... for me and my budget for an individual piece it was pretty off the chart to be honest. I wanted it to have the original blaster and was willing to not have a box; they're ugly and I'd be unlikely to display it, so a lack of it for a lesser cost was an OK call for me. Still took a long time and a lot of looking...

Now is a Model Trem Han with a genuine gun a grail? To me it was, yes.
- It was uncommon to rare; not sure I've seen one on eBay ever, certainly not like some 'grail's', something you can, with a full wallet, pick-up every week.
- It was, quite frankly, expensive.
- It was not something I'd find without doing some leg work.

I imagine to some in the right circles it's nothing like a grail, some folk though have multiple pre-production 2D &/or 3D items because at one time for them, they were 'affordable' but to me any one of their many items might be a grail item.

None of the above takes away from the very basic fact that the term Grail is massively over used on items that can indeed be picked up week after week on eBay or similar.
 

Wreck-It Ralph

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Does a grail item only apply to something you have never owned?

What if you owned something, sold it and then years later decided you wanted it again but found it nearly impossible to buy, is it still a grail item?
 

theforceuk

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It's personal, mines a Kenner 21 back Boba Fett.

The way I look at it is if someone said to you, I'm going to sell you any vintage item for what you can afford but you can never sell it what would you choose?
 

Lom

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I think I almost certainly apply 'grail' status incorrectly since I have two; an achievable grail and an almost certainly unachievable grail.

As an AT-AT Driver focus collector I would LOVE a screen used AT-AT Driver helmet. There were only 2 - one is in a collection and the other was stolen and has disappeared. The chances of me owning either are astronomical not least of all because I doubt I could afford it!!!

And then there's a 30b Palitoy AT-AT Driver moc - in 2 years of hunting I know where 3 are but they're in fine collections already; I think I'll get one from somewhere someday and whilst I'd love it to be tomorrow, it could just as easily be another 2 years away!
 

Wreck-It Ralph

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theforceuk said:
It's personal, mines a Kenner 21 back Boba Fett.

The way I look at it is if someone said to you, I'm going to sell you any vintage item for what you can afford but you can never sell it what would you choose?

For me at this point in time it would either be either a Palitoy VCJ or a 30 Back Fett.

If at some future point you were to acquire a 21 Back Fett or I was to acquire a 30 Back Fett or Palitoy VCJ would we still class those items as Grails, is a Grail something you chase and not own?
 
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