Vintage Star Wars collecting where are we at ?

So this forum is a little oasis and a friendly place for SW collectors of all ilks

We all have our own perceptions and collecting preferences that change over time, vintage, modern, mixed.

The new films that have been produced have entreated differing views and opinions.

But for me the core value of vintage collecting is collecting items fro 30 plus years ago that make me smile and give me a sense of satisfaction and a warm feeling that I have items from the past that I can display for my benefit that I can smile at, research, source new items, go off on collecting tangents and put together an eclectic collection that I am happy with and can look at and smile at daily.

What is the driver now for collectors, is it collecting as their juices are flowing from the new films, or is it collecting because you have done. It for many years and the OT had such an effect on you ( probably subtle and unnoticed but there all the same )

I have a number of reasons for collecting, but the main reason is the " better times, simpler times" ethos

What are others opinions on this , why do you collect.?
Do you collect just SW vintage
Vintage and modern
Other vintage

What floats your boat?

Apologies if you think this is a pointless subject, but it intrigues me as I know what I love and why I collect but would be interested to know what drives others ?

Personally SW for me is an iconic and pivotal part of my life ( sounds serious I know, but it is) I spend a lot of time online on the forum and on eBay looking for and sourcing items for my collection, I collect with my son, so that's another level to why I do it

As said, it intruiges me as to what drives collectors today and I would be intersted to hear opinions

Apoplogies again if this seems a pointless post but I would like to hear some opinions

Nice topic Michael

The thing that got me back into collecting was my son, he bought me a vintage scout walker back in Christmas 2017 and my collection started from their.

I had an impressive array of vehicles and figures back in the 80's which were given away by my mother !!

Loose figures and ships etc are my preference, I probably won't do Mocs as I like the fact you can feel the figures and make little displays or scenes and swap things around. I enjoy the OT and will stick with vintage as it gives me a warm glow and takes me back to good times. Also were preserving a bit of history. We have a Grandson on the way and I hope to get him into SW at an early age.

My Son went with collecting Transformers G1 and modern so all hope is lost on him :lol:

I spend time nearly every day admiring my collection and adding to it when I can.

I like the ROTJ figures and ships the most as that was the first SW film I saw and I was hooked from then on.

Hopefully pick up some bargains in the future and carry on looking on ebay every chance I get

Happy collecting

Great topic Michael, I feel I will get deep posting in this thread. I'll keep it brief for now. It's funny I was only thinking today how the desire to collect vintage seems to be getting stronger as I get older. I think back to the 80's and vintage Star Wars is such a strong tangible link to my childhood when life was so simple. :lol:

I only collect vintage now, have dabbled in modern down the years but I just think I enjoy buying the vintage stuff so much why spend money on modern. My focus in recent years has been MOCs which has become the corner stone of my collection. I'm lucky enough to still have my childhood stuff which I'm trying to get displayed around the house some how.

I have a son who loves Star Wars, he's 7 and still can't get his head around not opening the sealed stuff! :lol:

Great stuff, I have a2 year old grandson who we have got hooked on SW he is watching the films, and saying the names of the characters and he is called Luke! So all good there!
We have a duty to pass on the gene :lol:

Good luck with your collecting mate, if I can ever help you out just ask as that's what this forum and collecting is all about

Happy hunting

Michael Sith said:

Great stuff, I have a2 year old grandson who we have got hooked on SW he is watching the films, and saying the names of the characters and he is called Luke! So all good there!
We have a duty to pass on the gene :lol:

Good luck with your collecting mate, if I can ever help you out just ask as that's what this forum and collecting is all about

Happy hunting

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Cheers Michael, I plan on passing on the gene to baby Lewis. Tried to persuade my Daughter to go with Luke but she put her foot down.

At least I got my way with naming our dog "Chewie"

If I need any help I will shout out

Mine was hearing about the Beeses toy store find and going mental on Vectis! I had a full loose collection from the mid nineties, boxed away somewhere, but that story got me collecting MOC.

This is a great thread, not pointless at all!

I collect for the nostalgia, as it brings back so many fond memories of childhood playing with these toys. This love extends to the packaging too; I see the packaging as art and just as tied up with my childhood memories as the toys themselves. Just like most people here, I used to get a huge buzz going into toyshops and seeing everything displayed. To be honest I probably got more of a buzz out of that than I did playing with them!! I was one of those kids who kept most of his ships in the original boxes, and enjoyed putting everything back in the box and being able to look at it!! :lol: :lol:

Post-childhood I first got into collecting in around '93 when I saw some figures at a comic mart. I bought a few and bought my first MOC the year after. I was collecting on-and-off, trawling car boot sales, comic marts, 'Model & Collectors Mart' and latterly ebay. This included the diversion of collecting POTF2/TPM, but then all collecting was dropped when I got married in 2002 and had 'grown-up' stuff to worry about . I've been firmly back 'in' since 2014.

As for Star Wars collecting & fandom it's purely the vintage toy line for me, with a few exceptions of vintage non toys which I had as a kid (ESB Vymura wallpaper, Salter transfers, Panini Jedi sticker book). I'm not into collecting any other aspects/products of Star Wars at all, other than the films themselves. I've never read any of the books, I'm not interested in the various TV shows (though I suspect that'll change soon!). It's clearly all about the nostalgia.

Somewhat weirdly, I see the toys as slightly detached from the films too. Don't get me wrong, I love those films, but I can go for a relatively long period of time without watching them, but I need to have some of my toys displayed. I can't really explain it, other than thinking the toys are more a part of my childhood than the films, due to the films not being readily available till they were broadcast on TV. Anyone else feel like this, or is it just me?! :?

peekaygee73 said:

This is a great thread, not pointless at all!

Somewhat weirdly, I see the toys as slightly detached from the films too. Don't get me wrong, I love those films, but I can go for a relatively long period of time without watching them, but I need to have some of my toys displayed. I can't really explain it, other than thinking the toys are more a part of my childhood than the films, due to the films not being readily available till they were broadcast on TV. Anyone else feel like this, or is it just me?! :?

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No its not just you :lol:

I can go months without watching the films, it's always been the toys themselves that were a big part of my childhood and now as an adult I can appreciate them over again

Great thread michael :wink:

Well I still collect the same things except that I have sold most of my 90 stuff after I have not touched it in nearly 10 years.

I still collect the same vintage items. But I must admit it is not the same as it was 5 years ago or 18 years ago and also not as funny as it was. But only because the market has changed. Prices has gone up so much so now it is very difficult for me as a collector to find childhood lots, I loved to buy a lot and look in it to see what I could find of variants that I did not have or knew about. I must admit I liked that a lot more than just buying one or two figures that I know that I am missing on ebay. I don't think lot's like that will come back here in denmark for me, the few lot's that still come for sale get sold so fast so I do not get them and the price is much higher than I will pay.
But I still have the good memories about coming home with a little box or sometimes a moving box full of star wars. The best days was when I maybe found 2 lot's every month for some time.

2019 have been my worst star wars year since I started to collect, I have nearly not got any new items for my collection only a few items.

But my focus is still the same vintage boxes, moc, cardbacks, lose figures, vehicles, potf coins, comics, commercial items, fan club items, puzzels, games and just what I can find with danish price stickers on boxes, moc and cardbacks.

Ruby2511 said:

peekaygee73 said:

This is a great thread, not pointless at all!

Somewhat weirdly, I see the toys as slightly detached from the films too. Don't get me wrong, I love those films, but I can go for a relatively long period of time without watching them, but I need to have some of my toys displayed. I can't really explain it, other than thinking the toys are more a part of my childhood than the films, due to the films not being readily available till they were broadcast on TV. Anyone else feel like this, or is it just me?! :?

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No its not just you :lol:

I can go months without watching the films, it's always been the toys themselves that were a big part of my childhood and now as an adult I can appreciate them over again

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Cheers, I feel a bit better now! :lol:

I am a collector (or hoarder as my wife would call me) by nature. I have always collected things as long as I can remember, vintage Star Wars is one thing but I also collect video games and consoles, MASK figures/toys, vinyl, trainers. It is all simply due to nostalgia, even the vinyl records I collect are mostly from my childhood. I could probably fill a museum with all of the 70s, 80s and 90s 'stuff' I have squirreled away, I only have a fraction of it on display, just don't have the space.

The thrill of the hunt has always been the main driver for me, I enjoy that more than owning the items. When I was younger I was quicker to move things on again once I'd found them, now I rarely sell anything except upgrades. The new films have had zero impact on my collecting habits, I hve no interest in collecting the new toys and I was collecting vitnage long before even the prequels came out.

I do go through peaks and troughs, after the burglary I went a good few years without buying much, but always come back to it eventually.

Great thread. I've often asked myself why do I collect? I think the answer is it's ingrained in me from when I was a kid. The whole process of saving the money going up to Newcastle searching, finding and picking a figure was such a thrill. The fact that I was so young I think it became part of who I am.
Also the fact that the stuff was so well designed and produced, the vintage Star Wars stuff still looks as cool today. There's no denying that it's all about nostalgia and I've had so much fun completing my loose run as an adult.
Looking to the future I hope to continue plodding on, picking up the odd MOC and ship I am missing.
The fact that Star Wars is everywhere probably influences me, but to be honest I'm not that into the new stuff, for me it's all about the original old stuff. The stuff with history and a back story. I love looking at a vintage MOC wondering where it's been for 40 years. I can't logically explain why I collect, all I can say is it makes me really happy.

Great topic. I like to collect for nostalgia. My wife likes to plan for the future, I just look back fondly at the past. For example the music I listen to reflects my favourite period, namely the 90s, and specifically grunge. Similarly, the toys I collect reflect the early to mid 80s and my fondest memories of playing with them as a kid. I loved the movies but my greatest memories were of playing with the toys.

I don't remember the packaging that much (which is surprising considering I'm a graphic designer), but I definitely remember the figures and for a long time I was only interested in collecting loose. I started collecting again in 1997, trawling the car boots in Nottingham whilst at uni. It was a slow burn which encompassed the transition online through the rise to power of eBay and I completed a loose run minus the last 17 by the time I packed my collection away when I moved in with my ex in 2006. We lived in a one bedroom flat in Stoke Newington and save for my figures, my falcon and my Rancor I sold the rest.

I picked up the bug again in 2016 and completed my loose run including last 17 in September 2017. Until 2006 I had been collecting in a bubble, blissfully unaware of the wider Star Wars Community, but this time round I found the SWFUK forum and later Facebook. The discovery of like minded people brought greater meaning to collecting and gave me a home from home.

Today, I have started to fine tune my collection and finally decided on a direction for it. Of the original trilogy by far my favourite is Star Wars. I was born in 1976 and too young to watch it at the movies. In fact I didn't see any of them at the cinema, my mum preferring to take me and my sister to see Care Bares The Movie and Return to Oz. My first viewing of Star Wars was in October 1982 when it came out on ITV. After that I clearly remember being excited to go to the new giant Tesco that had opened in Colchester and being in awe as I gazed at aisles upon aisles. Mum and Dad told me to choose which toy I wanted for Christmas and I selected Darth Vader's Tie Fighter.

When I reflect back on the movies now as an adult collector I can see my love for that movie having an enormous influence on my collection. My favourite figures by far are the first SW wave and it has influenced by decision to go after the first 21 on SW card backs. I love the race track design and the way the logo pops on those cards and vehicle boxes. I'm also attracted to items such as the First 12 Action Figure Display Stand, and the history of the earliest pieces such as the Early Bird Mailer Kit and Certificate package. The former, probably out of my price bracket, but a definite grail piece for me.

My favourite scene is the Mos Eisley Cantina and that has also fuelled my love of the Cantina Aliens so I'll be looking to build on that part of my collection too. My goals for 2020 and going forward will be to continue with the 20/21 back run; pick up some of my childhood pieces on SW packaging such as X-Wing, Imperial Troop Transport and of course the Darth Vader Tie Fighter; And perhaps add the Early Bird Certificate Package after missing out on an absolute steal at the last Vectis Auction. My goals are certainly not cheap, so I'll be adding 3-4 pieces per year and am certainly in it for the long haul.

I loved the original trilogy as a kid, I was born in 70 so just the right age for them. I have fantastic memories of buying, collecting and playing with the toys, and having other items including Letraset, Helix, Deeko, Fascal stickers, Topps trading cards, Vymura wallpaper, FKS and Panini stickers, Marvel comics, Sphere and Futura books, etc etc. My collecting is driven largely by nostalgia for the items I had as a kid, or what I saw in the shops, or what friends had. From that has grown a love of all British vintage collectibles, and I'm keen to collect as many lines as possible within that very wide focus.

I watch the new movies, but there isn't the same deeply ingrained passion for them as for the original trilogy. I have minimal interest in modern collectibles. The only non-vintage area of collecting that I enjoy is cast & crew items, which I look for from all eras, and all countries.

Great thread, I'm enjoying reading others' responses.

I think most of the reply's here cover what I was going to say, it was my childhood,, apart from action man , micronauts and bmx'ing, luckily I still have my childhood collection, (played with condition) and didn't sell it off in the early 90's like my action man collection which I soooo regret now as I had all the 60's stuff from my uncle also.
Picked up a few more things years ago before prices went mad, but its not about the sw items I didn't have as a kid, its about admiring the items I did, its a funny thing, don't think the love for the line will ever go for me. I have been distracted over the years kids family etc... My collections not worth a lot , battered boxes etc from my childhood and I've never spent any serious money on vintage, just boot-sale finds. I have never been interested in MOC, MIB as its not what I had as a kid, just get fun from looking at what I have and remembering being 8-12 again

I dont know how to answer this one really - Ive been collecting as an adult for far more of my life than I played with the toys, so some of my nostalgia comes from adult collecting and being able to buy things Id only seen pictures of before. Of course I do get twinges of nostalgia from my childhood, but it's fleeting and difficult to pin down.

I collect today because I like how the stuff looks on display - I'm definitely more about curating a collection than just amassing one - but mostly, I collect because it's my thing I do. I've sold up twice in 25 years, both times for good reason and I did something useful with the money, but I always get dragged back in.

The issue I have now is that the stuff is worth so much bloody money - both to buy, so most things I need involve a big decision, but also to own - so you have to worry about insurance, water leaks, bubbles going yellow, selling and putting the money towards another hobby (or the mortgage) etc. I'll keep on trucking though.

Great thread, lots of good replies, for me I'm a child of the seventies, my father took me to see the first movie when I was little, still remember the feeling of awe watching the movie on the big screen
I collect both modern and vintage but vintage is my first love, I have a small collection of figures vehicles and a handful of MOC
My collection is great therapy for me, I'm disabled,plus various mental health problems, so now collecting on a small budget, but I do still get great enjoyment from it, have a loose figure run but I'm missing some of the last seventeen, which I doubt I'll ever complete with prices the way they are, but I'm happy with what I have, I often just sit in my room on my recliner and take it all in, its a great hobby, and I enjoy it immensely.
I also collect modern to, which is easier on the wallet, I don't have to have everything, i'm sticking to OT only buying for now, its a good sideline to have.

grinchy said:

Great thread, lots of good replies, for me I'm a child of the seventies, my father took me to see the first movie when I was little, still remember the feeling of awe watching the movie on the big screen
I collect both modern and vintage but vintage is my first love, I have a small collection of figures vehicles and a handful of MOC
My collection is great therapy for me, I'm disabled,plus various mental health problems, so now collecting on a small budget, but I do still get great enjoyment from it, have a loose figure run but I'm missing some of the last seventeen, which I doubt I'll ever complete with prices the way they are, but I'm happy with what I have, I often just sit in my room on my recliner and take it all in, its a great hobby, and I enjoy it immensely.
I also collect modern to, which is easier on the wallet, I don't have to have everything, i'm sticking to OT only buying for now, its a good sideline to have.

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I agree Grinchy that sitting back and taking in your collection is great therapy, I too have struggled for some time and still do with my mental health and without sounding cheesy, can categorically say that if it wasn't for this forum and speaking with like minded people and also looking forward to finding the next bargain, and watching my collection grow (and others ), i dread to think about where I would be now???

Glad its not just me who takes therapy from his collection, its been a rocky road for me these past few years, but star wars has gotten me through some dark times
Glad to chat if needed mate, good to have backup through the rough patches, send me a pm