New to Star Wars Collecting

craig51

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Nov 22, 2015
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Hello all,

For a while I have been collecting toys. Started with the playmates Star Trek TNG toys, then Kenners Jurrassic Park toys , all the original ones including the black card figures and now, it's time to do Star Wars.

The day Disney released their new Star Wars 7 toys, I got one of each and they are now sitting nicely in my room. I even managed to get the Lego sets from a local toy store in Edinburgh.

But, I really want the vintage stuff.

I want the figures and vechiles all carded/boxed.

My main worries are the cost of these, and not knowing the markets at all. A quick look on eBay throws up original stuff, but then also NEW vintage stuff whatever that is.

So, is there a noob guide here I can read. I want to start with the figures then vechiles. I just want to make sure I end up with original, first date release stuff and not something else.

Cheers,

Craig.
 

sith-smith

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There are a number of good guides that are worth buying for sure.

On this site there is a wealth of information on all things vintage. And of course there are a lot of highly reliable people who sell items on here that will ensure everything you get is authentic.

My advice is start slowly and learn as you go. Maybe start with a few MOC figures and learn from this the things to look out for and avoid.

Start with some ROTJ carded figures as these are usually the cheapest and easiest to find.

You may want to consider whether to get all the ESB and SW characters on debut, film related cards or on any card you can find. As a general rule of thumb the earlier the card the more expensive it is.

The most available are released by Kenner. There is the UK version on Palitoy but these are considerably more tough and expensive.

There is a lot to learn but that is part of the fun. Ask as many question as you want and someone on here will know the answer and can put you in the right direction.
 

Robstyley

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Hello Craig, welcome! I would advise you to definitely do some research before you start buying anything. There are many sources of information on Vintage Star Wars figures (released between 1977 and 1985). Prob best to familiarise yourself with all the figures and what accessories they came with. It's also good to learn about what cards they first came out on and then you will know what you're looking at. Check this out, has some basic information about each figure:

http://www.rebelscum.com/VINfigures.asp

There is a lot of reproduction accessories and reproduction carded figures for sale all over the place these days, mainly on ebay! Forums and some Facebook groups are good places to buy because you're more likely to find genuine items from people/collectors who know what's what and you'll probably get better prices too. Ebay is ok.. once you know what to look out for. As tempted as you are to go and start buying everything straight away just take your time, see what things are selling for and again, do some research. Good luck with it, it's a great hobby. Also have a look in the showcase section, there's some great collections and you'll be able to see some stuff you've prob not seen before or for a long time!
 

Ian_C

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My apologies if SWFUK has their own checklist, as I'd rather use that if available, but here is a solid checklist of every basic figure released in the vintage line, complete with multiple pics of the figures and accessories included with each one.

http://www.rebelscum.com/VINfigures.asp

Be careful of Vader, Luke Tatooine, Chewbacca, original Han Solo, and Boba Fett, as all five have been reissued in various forms since 1995. The first four mentioned were re-released in a 4 pack in 1996, and are very close to the originals. The Fett was a mailaway promo a couple of years ago, and should be an easy tell as it will have a firing rocket which was canceled in the vintage run before production (a true vintage rocket firing Fett is going to be WAYYYYY above most people's budgets ;) ).

If buying loose, hell, even carded, you need to also be aware of reproduction accessories and cards. That will take some education on your part, but until you learn the ropes, ask here and people will gladly help authenticate for you.

Ian

**EDIT - Looks like Rob beat me on most of my points....**
 

craig51

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Nov 22, 2015
Messages
34
Thanks all, what a reply from you all.

That's my bedtime reading then!

I have for a long time wanted to collect Star Wars, but as said already it looks like a minefield and want to be sure if I do part with cash its for the real, genuine article.

In the world of Star Wars toys, what is the holy grail in terms of movie?
 

theforceuk

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Good luck with your collecting and look forward to seeing your collection grow. :)

Welcome to Swf.uk as well. :D
 

craig51

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Nov 22, 2015
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Well, did some reading and I have some initial questions.

Firstly, Kenner or Palitoy. People on here have said palitoy are more desirable as they were the UK license holder, and as such they are harder to find and cost more. But a quick look on ebay shows some quite cheap stuff compared to Kenner. The most expensive palitoy Luke figure on ebay is approx £300, the same Kenner is £1800, so a massive difference. Why?

Out of the 3 movies (lets forget the newer ones!), which one is the most collectible if money was no issue. I assume the Star Wars figures would be or is there not really a difference.

A lot of people are trying to "get rid" of their graded, cased figures for non cased but MOC figures. Why? Surely a graded, in a case figure is better?

Again, I am noob so please don't take any offence to my questions above.

And lastly, I read about the scandal re the cards and bubbles being bought when the factory closed down and loose figures being put in and then sold for years afterwards. How on earth do i avoid these bad boys?
 

lejackal

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craig51 said:
The most expensive palitoy Luke figure on ebay is approx £300, the same Kenner is £1800, so a massive difference. Why


You'd need to post links or at least share the pictures to get a decent answer to this one.

With the other questions it should be about what you want/like/have a connection with, not what is most desirable to someone else.

And as for the Toy Toni debacle I posted a link to Mr Palitoys website, you can get alot of information there. I know there's also a list of affected figures on here somewhere.
 

sith-smith

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craig51 said:
Well, did some reading and I have some initial questions.

Firstly, Kenner or Palitoy. People on here have said palitoy are more desirable as they were the UK license holder, and as such they are harder to find and cost more. But a quick look on ebay shows some quite cheap stuff compared to Kenner. The most expensive palitoy Luke figure on ebay is approx £300, the same Kenner is £1800, so a massive difference. Why?

Out of the 3 movies (lets forget the newer ones!), which one is the most collectible if money was no issue. I assume the Star Wars figures would be or is there not really a difference.

A lot of people are trying to "get rid" of their graded, cased figures for non cased but MOC figures. Why? Surely a graded, in a case figure is better?

Again, I am noob so please don't take any offence to my questions above.

And lastly, I read about the scandal re the cards and bubbles being bought when the factory closed down and loose figures being put in and then sold for years afterwards. How on earth do i avoid these bad boys?



I can pretty much guarantee that a Palitoy 12 back Luke would go for more than a Kenner 12 back. If the opposite happens then it's probably an anomaly or there's something majorly wrong with the card. You will need to post links for us to be able to verify it.

Palitoy is higher because there are fewer in comparison to Kenner and Palitoy is incredibly popular at the moment hence there is major demand for what items there are.

There is a lot of dislike for graded figures. In some cases it has been shown that they have graded lots of figures that are not authentic including lots of the newly discovered recarded ones. Some people have fallen out of love with the idea that someone else has dictated to them the quality of their figures. There are threads about the issues with graded figures. Some love them, some don't.

There is a thread somewhere on here of the cards that are most likely to be part of the recard scandal. Probably your best bet is to go to this site... http://www.freewebs.com/mrpalitoy/

There's a list, explanation and a whole load of pictures illustrating the issue.
 

Robstyley

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The Luke story sounds dubious to me. What cardbacks are they on? Was it the same Luke? It makes a huge difference. As Gary said the earlier the card the more valuable. A Luke Farmboy on a Palitoy Jedi card could feasably be £300 and on a Kenner Star Wars card could be £1800? Post a link.
 

theforceuk

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The thing is at the moment you have some sellers just asking silly money for some items. One seller is asking $23000 australian for a Darth Vader Kenner 12 back. If your new coming into the hobby right now it is probably hard to get your head around everything, crazy time. :roll:

Also as far as MOC's go if you buy Kenner graded, then I find it hard to believe it's fake as I've not come across one yet. Same for any Palitoy with the Palitoy logo on the front of card.
 

edd_jedi

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There's some good advice above but it's very important to remember that there are many exceptions to general rules. For example, yes Star Wars characters on Star Wars cards are generally worth more than Star Wars characters on later cards, however the original Leia is much harder to find and more valuable on a Jedi card than she is on a Star Wars or Empire card. And General Madine is only worth about £25 on a normal Jedi card, but about 10 grand on a trilogo Jedi card! Basically you just need to do your research on each and every character, as there is no 'one size fits all' rule.

One thing you may like to consider collecting is what's called trilogo cards, they used to be shunned because they are from the end of the line in the mid 80s but are becoming popular with collectors now because the bubbles do not go yellow, and also there are about 85 characters available on the same cardback, which obviously looks great on display. They can be cheaper than Kenner/Palitoy cards, but again there are many exceptions.
 

edd_jedi

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theforceuk said:
Also as far as MOC's go if you buy Kenner graded, then I find it hard to believe it's fake as I've not come across one yet. Same for any Palitoy with the Palitoy logo on the front of card.

There was a graded Kenner MOC posted on Rebel Scum that had an entire corner of the card replaced. It wasn't even replaced with the correct cardback, only the front matched! So yes they have graded 'fake' Kenner MOCs too.
 

theforceuk

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edd_jedi said:
theforceuk said:
Also as far as MOC's go if you buy Kenner graded, then I find it hard to believe it's fake as I've not come across one yet. Same for any Palitoy with the Palitoy logo on the front of card.

There was a graded Kenner MOC posted on Rebel Scum that had an entire corner of the card replaced. It wasn't even replaced with the correct cardback, only the front matched! So yes they have graded 'fake' Kenner MOCs too.

Yeah but it was still factory sealed so to say they grade Kenner MOC fakes is not really true IMO, if it's the one I think your talking about it was more the fact that it was graded 80 than anything else. If your new to the hobby graded items can be a big help as can this forum. If you don't no what your buying and you buy 100 graded items and 100 ungraded items which 100 are going to have the fakes in? The only MOC's they have graded which were not factory sealed are TT's which are all origional components and the only reason anyone new they were not factory sealed was by chance and then later investigating brought the situation to light.
 

craig51

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Cant beleive how much traffic my post got. Certainly seems a very active forum. Thanks all for ALL the input.

I have been thinking a lot about this. First off, i like to have complete collections. So, I have narrowed it down to a 12 back run. Which movie i dont know yet, but probally Star Wars (palitoy) OR the ESB/ROTJ (kenner). A lot of peole seem to like the ROTJ.

OI am going to dig around here a bit more first. Then I need to think graded or not graded!
 

edd_jedi

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Good choice - I think you should try and do the first 12 on Empire cards. Star Wars 12 backs are very expensive at the moment, and Han and Leia are incredibly hard to find (and expensive) on Jedi cards.
 

craig51

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So you would say try and go for the ESB 12 back cards? Certainly they appeal to me a lot.

I may actually avoid the ROTJ due to the whole card issue. Got burnt with a fake star trek prop many years ago so i do a lot of homework nowadays. Seems prudtn for me to avoid ROTJ stuff.

As a ball park, do you think £15k would get me all 12 (ESB 12 backs) ? (assuming they were all available at approx 80-85 grade, but not graded)
 

edd_jedi

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Yes definitely, with patience you should be able to do it for probably 2 or 3k (5k if graded.) 15k would probably get you a set of Star Wars 12 backs, but to put it in perspective I put together a set for 1.5k in 2011, that's how much prices have gone through the roof for SW 12 backs!
 

maxf

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£15k would get you a set of Palitoy 12 backs if you aren't super condition focussed (75-80 grades). You'd get a set of Kenner 12 bks for a lot less, IMO.
 
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