At what age does it drop off?

tobedesu

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My dad put all my toys in the loft through the mid -late 80's.
My interest in Star Wars remained, but only the original films.
I lived in Tokyo for years and it was there, because of the huge collectors market, that I began to have an interest in stuff from my childhood.
There is vintage stuff in many hobby shops in Tokyo and a lot of memories came flooding back.
SW, MUSCLE, Transformers, MOTU, Action Man, all sorts of stuff.
Revenge of the Sith was released and there was a huge campaign in Japan at that the and the promotions were incredible.
It was at thus point that I slowly got into collecting SW.

I came back to England in 2012 and fished stuff out of the loft...gradually.
The memories and nostalgia. It was great.
Of all my childhood toys, SW is the only thing I've begun collecting.
I don't want to complete a full run and i keep my own toys separate from new buys.
I've got a small focus on the main rebels, loose, but this has branched out to anything I like if its a bargain.
I don't know when it might end for me... I guess its my first wave as a collector, but it does take up quite a bit of my time and dedication of going to toy fairs, reading about vintage, and being on the forums.

I don't know what i might do with ally new purchases in the future.
But I can't see me selling off my childhood stuff.
Apart from the movies, there is a lot of memories attached.
My parents aren't around anymore. They bought me this stuff:
I have the Bossk that my dad tried to fix after stepping on him and breaking his head off.
All the figures with fabric accessories are in mint condition as I didn't play with them so much because my little dog used to like to snatch them and hold onto them, ERG and Squid Head his two favourites.
I've got the box full of weapons that my mum filled and banned me from playing with the weapons in case my dog or cat swallowed them.
All the cardbacks with circles on the back or names missing.
So many memories with these toys that they became more than just toys or collectibles.
Admittedly I'm very sentimental and it would be impossible for me to get rid of them.

I guess the huge amount of cash involved that a decision is made when getting to a certain age: pieces of plastic or a deposit on a house or a new hot hatch?
 

subzero

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That must have been amazing to come back home after all those years to unearth what's basically a time capsule of your childhood.

I think i'd be too emotional to even want to go up there and start looking at it all :cry: :cry:

Great read!
 

tobedesu

Jedi Knight
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Messages
445
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Japan
subzero said:
That must have been amazing to come back home after all those years to unearth what's basically a time capsule of your childhood.

I think i'd be too emotional to even want to go up there and start looking at it all :cry: :cry:

Great read!

Thanks mate.
Yeah, there's a lot of stuff, I post it now and again in the "Other Vintage Collections" thread.

I have to let some stuff go, but it's hard to.
Ideally I'd like to just keep SW stuff only.
I don't really have family heirlooms, or a watch that's been passed down for generations, nothing like that.
I just have photos and toys.

Collecting has two parts for me: preserving what I had from my childhood and buying more stuff.

I don't think age comes into it. I think its about necessity and sentiment.
 

subzero

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tobedesu said:
subzero said:
That must have been amazing to come back home after all those years to unearth what's basically a time capsule of your childhood.

I think i'd be too emotional to even want to go up there and start looking at it all :cry: :cry:

Great read!

Thanks mate.
Yeah, there's a lot of stuff, I post it now and again in the "Other Vintage Collections" thread.

I have to let some stuff go, but it's hard to.
Ideally I'd like to just keep SW stuff only.
I don't really have family heirlooms, or a watch that's been passed down for generations, nothing like that.
I just have photos and toys.

Collecting has two parts for me: preserving what I had from my childhood and buying more stuff.

I don't think age comes into it. I think its about necessity and sentiment.

Cool i'll have a browse in the other vintage, haven't been there yet.

I'm the same I like to preserve history and I love the pop culture of my time, kind of a way of holding onto the past I suppose.
 

Mini99

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Richard_H said:
I think Jez's dropped off when he hit 48. I'll have to check.
That has just filled my mind with some images that no one should have to experience... :(
I really think you should keep your private kinks to yourselves ... :wink:
 

Dannywhiteley

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May 6, 2015
Messages
556
I'm deeply nostalgic about the toys of my childhood (obviously including star wars) but also bmx bikes, 80's trainers and sportswear, the places we lived, the people I knew, and can spend hours searching ebay for items that even my brother who lived through it all with me couldnt care less about. I don't know what it is, or why, but as I get older my nostalgia sort of follows me about 25 - 30 years behind. As an example, I'm currently looking for 80's swatch watches I used to own or friends of mine owned.
 

Bonsai_Tree_Ent

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I feel there is cause for optimism. Star Wars is a bonafide phenomenon and I think there are strong and valid reasons to believe it will endure way beyond other examples. Britons toy soldiers were mentioned, and that is like comparing a puddle to the Pacific. The highest grossing movies of all time, huge pop culture consciousness, iconic and instantly recognisable characters, video games, books, toys, and every type of merchandise and tie-in you can imagine. The vintage toy line does not exist in isolation like the Britons toy solider line... it exists as 'part' of the global juggernaut that is Star Wars.

Providing that civilisation progresses without a dreadful apocalypse of some kind then we can look ahead and predict the future using reasoned guesswork.

Short term 5 years - We will have at least 3 new Star Wars movies in this time and a major theme park attraction. There is every reason to believe that more vintage collectors will continue to come out of the woodwork, probably more from that 35-45 age bracket, but hopefully some younger ones too.

Medium term 30 years - The bulk of the current collectors will now be aged 65 to 75 years old. My dad is this age, he's retired and he has never been more active in his hobby then he is now. Given that human life expectancy and better health during old age can also be expected to improve over the next 30 years then there is no reason why all of us lot and many more too cant still be enjoying the hobby more than ever in our retirement. In other words i'll see you boys at Celebration at 2047!

Long term 200 years - Not many cultural works can endure for 200 years, but 200 years past in 1817 Jane Austen's books and Beethoven's music were created. If you were to pick one movie from your lifetime that had the best odds of staying culturally relevant and still known of and discussed in the year 2217 then surely you'd have to pick Star Wars. Works that are 'popular' tend to endure better than those that are artistically elitist - look at Shakespeare. Star Wars also has the historical interest of proximity to the Moon landing, the interest of having many further films in the series (there could well be dozens of SW films 200 years hence), and also of being sci-fi. 200 years from now if scientific progress continues apace, then humans will be co-existing with droids as they do in SW and we hopefully will be a genuine space faring species, at least within our own solar system. In short, if I were a guy living in 2217 I know that I'd still love a Hildebrandt Star Wars poster or to have a vintage X-Wing on my office shelf!
 

Richard_H

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Gateshead UK
There are some things from my childhood that I have no interest in. Transformers, ZX Spectrum.... none at all.

Some things I had a mild interest in - I own 3 He-man loose figures and will probably get another 10 over the next x years.

Some things that I am, always will be and always have been passionate about - Star Wars, Guns n' Roses and LOTR especially The Silmarillion.

I have wondered if I'll be online in 10 years, going to cons etc or if by then would it have become a young man's game as the older people like Jez and Iain have sold on and moved off to their retirement communities. I guess only time will tell.
 

TheJabbaWookie

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Dannywhiteley said:
I'm deeply nostalgic about the toys of my childhood (obviously including star wars) but also bmx bikes, 80's trainers and sportswear...

I was at a car boot in Nottingham in 1997 and picked up a Fisher Price Jack-in-the-box and Record Player. Used to love listening to Camptown Races again and again when I was little and just had to have it. It was the only disk missing from the set. I picked it up on eBay just after my daughter was born and we often play it. The record player is a bit old and rickety now and the song plays so slowly but it still reminds me of the old days round my Nana and Grandad's in Rayleigh.
 

Mini99

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Bonsai_Tree_Ent said:
I feel there is cause for optimism. Star Wars is a bonafide phenomenon and I think there are strong and valid reasons to believe it will endure way beyond other examples. Britons toy soldiers were mentioned, and that is like comparing a puddle to the Pacific. The highest grossing movies of all time, huge pop culture consciousness, iconic and instantly recognisable characters, video games, books, toys, and every type of merchandise and tie-in you can imagine. The vintage toy line does not exist in isolation like the Britons toy solider line... it exists as 'part' of the global juggernaut that is Star Wars.

Providing that civilisation progresses without a dreadful apocalypse of some kind then we can look ahead and predict the future using reasoned guesswork.

Short term 5 years - We will have at least 3 new Star Wars movies in this time and a major theme park attraction. There is every reason to believe that more vintage collectors will continue to come out of the woodwork, probably more from that 35-45 age bracket, but hopefully some younger ones too.

Medium term 30 years - The bulk of the current collectors will now be aged 65 to 75 years old. My dad is this age, he's retired and he has never been more active in his hobby then he is now. Given that human life expectancy and better health during old age can also be expected to improve over the next 30 years then there is no reason why all of us lot and many more too cant still be enjoying the hobby more than ever in our retirement. In other words i'll see you boys at Celebration at 2047!

Long term 200 years - Not many cultural works can endure for 200 years, but 200 years past in 1817 Jane Austen's books and Beethoven's music were created. If you were to pick one movie from your lifetime that had the best odds of staying culturally relevant and still known of and discussed in the year 2217 then surely you'd have to pick Star Wars. Works that are 'popular' tend to endure better than those that are artistically elitist - look at Shakespeare. Star Wars also has the historical interest of proximity to the Moon landing, the interest of having many further films in the series (there could well be dozens of SW films 200 years hence), and also of being sci-fi. 200 years from now if scientific progress continues apace, then humans will be co-existing with droids as they do in SW and we hopefully will be a genuine space faring species, at least within our own solar system. In short, if I were a guy living in 2217 I know that I'd still love a Hildebrandt Star Wars poster or to have a vintage X-Wing on my office shelf!

This one of the most optimistic and up lifting post I have ever read.

Thanks!
 

subzero

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Joined
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Messages
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Mini99 said:
Bonsai_Tree_Ent said:
I feel there is cause for optimism. Star Wars is a bonafide phenomenon and I think there are strong and valid reasons to believe it will endure way beyond other examples. Britons toy soldiers were mentioned, and that is like comparing a puddle to the Pacific. The highest grossing movies of all time, huge pop culture consciousness, iconic and instantly recognisable characters, video games, books, toys, and every type of merchandise and tie-in you can imagine. The vintage toy line does not exist in isolation like the Britons toy solider line... it exists as 'part' of the global juggernaut that is Star Wars.

Providing that civilisation progresses without a dreadful apocalypse of some kind then we can look ahead and predict the future using reasoned guesswork.

Short term 5 years - We will have at least 3 new Star Wars movies in this time and a major theme park attraction. There is every reason to believe that more vintage collectors will continue to come out of the woodwork, probably more from that 35-45 age bracket, but hopefully some younger ones too.

Medium term 30 years - The bulk of the current collectors will now be aged 65 to 75 years old. My dad is this age, he's retired and he has never been more active in his hobby then he is now. Given that human life expectancy and better health during old age can also be expected to improve over the next 30 years then there is no reason why all of us lot and many more too cant still be enjoying the hobby more than ever in our retirement. In other words i'll see you boys at Celebration at 2047!

Long term 200 years - Not many cultural works can endure for 200 years, but 200 years past in 1817 Jane Austen's books and Beethoven's music were created. If you were to pick one movie from your lifetime that had the best odds of staying culturally relevant and still known of and discussed in the year 2217 then surely you'd have to pick Star Wars. Works that are 'popular' tend to endure better than those that are artistically elitist - look at Shakespeare. Star Wars also has the historical interest of proximity to the Moon landing, the interest of having many further films in the series (there could well be dozens of SW films 200 years hence), and also of being sci-fi. 200 years from now if scientific progress continues apace, then humans will be co-existing with droids as they do in SW and we hopefully will be a genuine space faring species, at least within our own solar system. In short, if I were a guy living in 2217 I know that I'd still love a Hildebrandt Star Wars poster or to have a vintage X-Wing on my office shelf!

This one of the most optimistic and up lifting post I have ever read.

Thanks!

Kind of puts it into perspective really, I really do believe the original Star Wars trilogy will still be known as some of the best films ever made even in another 100+ years, I do think it will be celebrated, not as much as today I don't think because it won't be supported by nostalgia, but it still will be celebrated and I think it will carry on attracting more new hardcore fans. 40 years later and with all the technology today in film making original Star Wars STILL holds up and is still relevant, 40 bloody years later that's almost half a century, so what's another 50 years or more?.. Even after 40 years nobody has managed to come up with a better & more exciting story or lore ( in my opinion ), nothing has come close to it and I think the next 40 years still might not see anything as good as Star Wars. I think for this reason it will carry on attracting new fans well into the future.
 

Darth Bobby

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subzero said:
Mini99 said:
Bonsai_Tree_Ent said:
I feel there is cause for optimism. Star Wars is a bonafide phenomenon and I think there are strong and valid reasons to believe it will endure way beyond other examples. Britons toy soldiers were mentioned, and that is like comparing a puddle to the Pacific. The highest grossing movies of all time, huge pop culture consciousness, iconic and instantly recognisable characters, video games, books, toys, and every type of merchandise and tie-in you can imagine. The vintage toy line does not exist in isolation like the Britons toy solider line... it exists as 'part' of the global juggernaut that is Star Wars.

Providing that civilisation progresses without a dreadful apocalypse of some kind then we can look ahead and predict the future using reasoned guesswork.

Short term 5 years - We will have at least 3 new Star Wars movies in this time and a major theme park attraction. There is every reason to believe that more vintage collectors will continue to come out of the woodwork, probably more from that 35-45 age bracket, but hopefully some younger ones too.

Medium term 30 years - The bulk of the current collectors will now be aged 65 to 75 years old. My dad is this age, he's retired and he has never been more active in his hobby then he is now. Given that human life expectancy and better health during old age can also be expected to improve over the next 30 years then there is no reason why all of us lot and many more too cant still be enjoying the hobby more than ever in our retirement. In other words i'll see you boys at Celebration at 2047!

Long term 200 years - Not many cultural works can endure for 200 years, but 200 years past in 1817 Jane Austen's books and Beethoven's music were created. If you were to pick one movie from your lifetime that had the best odds of staying culturally relevant and still known of and discussed in the year 2217 then surely you'd have to pick Star Wars. Works that are 'popular' tend to endure better than those that are artistically elitist - look at Shakespeare. Star Wars also has the historical interest of proximity to the Moon landing, the interest of having many further films in the series (there could well be dozens of SW films 200 years hence), and also of being sci-fi. 200 years from now if scientific progress continues apace, then humans will be co-existing with droids as they do in SW and we hopefully will be a genuine space faring species, at least within our own solar system. In short, if I were a guy living in 2217 I know that I'd still love a Hildebrandt Star Wars poster or to have a vintage X-Wing on my office shelf!

This one of the most optimistic and up lifting post I have ever read.

Thanks!

Kind of puts it into perspective really, I really do believe the original Star Wars trilogy will still be known as some of the best films ever made even in another 100+ years, I do think it will be celebrated, not as much as today I don't think because it won't be supported by nostalgia, but it still will be celebrated and I think it will carry on attracting more new hardcore fans. 40 years later and with all the technology today in film making original Star Wars STILL holds up and is still relevant, 40 bloody years later that's almost half a century, so what's another 50 years or more?.. Even after 40 years nobody has managed to come up with a better & more exciting story or lore ( in my opinion ), nothing has come close to it and I think the next 40 years still might not see anything as good as Star Wars. I think for this reason it will carry on attracting new fans well into the future.

There's no doubt Star Wars has a long way to run, and I'm sure the OT will live as long as Citizen Cane, the Godfather, the Beatles and the Stones. Which will be hundreds of years. I was more asking do you wake up at 60 and go, I don't need this stuff anymore?

Judging by the enthusiasm and intensity of some of the posts on this thread, I recon the answer is for some people the collecting nostalgia hit will never end. I'm sure some of the frenzied new buyers on Facebook and eBay, may fall by the wayside, but for many the vintage bug will continue into the grave. It's such a special thing.
 

theforceuk

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I'm not sure our generation will be the last to go mad over vintage. Star Wars is so big now, so many younger collectors are coming into the hobby. When they get to an age where they have desposable income and time they will buy what they want as well. You have to remember as well, mint vintage stuff is decreasing slowly and Star Wars is becoming more and more popular.

I guess when our generation is all but gone you may see a lot more vintage on the market.
 

subzero

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theforceuk said:
You have to remember as well, mint vintage stuff is decreasing slowly and Star Wars is becoming more and more popular.

That's true, even now already there's a huge demand for mint examples compared to how many examples are even in circulation. Throw up a 77 C-3PO or Death Star Droid card fresh with tight limbs and people go crazy over them, they're very common figures, but you just don't see mint loose examples that often and everyone wants them.

Even if all the common and not so common stuff in future ends up almost worthless, then I do believe there will be more than enough demand for their mint counterparts. Today the price difference from average condition to mint condition on many figures is large, as the years go on that difference would probably get much larger.
 
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