Why are we all tarnished so....

[poncho]

I'm a admin on a general toy collecting toy group on FB. last night in our admin chat they all think all vintage starwars collectors are elitist arrogant above everyone else and are all twats. I thought this was very unfair why do we have such reputation. I've never took vintage starwars seriously and have always collected for fun it's a hobbie end of..

Thoughts

[edd_jedi]

It is sometimes surprising to see how different other collecting scenes are. Earlier this week I got ripped to pieces in a video game Facebook group for asking if flipping was allowed, having seen something I had sold there listed on eBay for twice the price. flipping is discouraged here and banned in many FB groups, so I thought it was a reasonable question. But apparently I'm the idiot for thinking people should have a conscience.

I am also a member of a MASK group where people are always opening sealed items, using paint to 'restore' vehicles, printing repro stickers for their vehicles, etc.

My opinion is that it's because Star Wars collecting has been around longer, so is more 'mature'. Remember we used to put black marker pen on cardbacks in the 90s to 'fix' them? Some of these collectors of newer toys are still doing it now.

Call it elitest if they want, and sure some people are elitest, but in my opinion experienced is a more accurate word.

[TheJabbaWookie]

Each to there own I guess. I stick to the groups with similar principles to my own on FB. I used to be a member of Oola’s Booty but I found that even though it was part of the Jabba’s Groups the way people went about there business in there just wasn’t for me. It wasn’t that it was wrong it just didn’t conform to my principles of collecting and friendship. And I couldn’t be arsed to argue

[indianawars]

Just because I like to admire my AFA graded collection in the morning with some boiled dodo eggs, washed down with the tears of a unicorn does not make me an elitist! It's strange to me what is acceptable in other collecting circles. The WWF Hasbro collectors regularly tear open mocs in a ritual known as "letting them breathe".

I have to agree with Edd - Vintage Star Wars collecting genuinely has a more mature baseline compared to other groups.

[Ruby2511]

Just because I like to admire my AFA graded collection in the morning with some boiled dodo eggs, washed down with the tears of a unicorn does not make me an elitist!

Brilliant

[Palifan]

I'm a admin on a general toy collecting toy group on FB. last night in our admin chat they all think all vintage starwars collectors are elitist arrogant above everyone else and are all twats. I thought this was very unfair why do we have such reputation. I've never took vintage starwars seriously and have always collected for fun it's a hobbie end of..

Thoughts

They probably have a point for some SW collectors although you always find people like that in any group but maybe it's a little more common with SW.

Saying that though I can't remember ever seeing that happen on here which shows that there are good forums out there, it just depends on where you want to spend your time (life's too short for me though to get uptight about this sort of thing).

Out of interest which toy collecting group are you part of?

Ian

[Andyh1976]

I think perhaps it's a case of the shear volume of people involved in the star wars hobby throwing up loads of different personalities and opinions. There is a cohort of collectors who seem to revel in the value of items, rather than a genuine love for the films or the toys, and seem to love telling everyone how much they've spent. But judging by the continual rise in prices there is a huge group of us who are content to collect what we can afford for the nostalgia and love of the films. I don't really collect outside star wars so couldn't comment on if other collectors find us elitist but I would say that Facebook groups in particular do tend to end up with people typing before they think!

With regard to restoration, do we not all do this? Surely if you buy and original x-wing canopy to replace the one you lost as a child are you not restoring it to it's former glory? Most of us will have done this with some or all of our star wars toys. I think we are lucky as star wars collectors that there is so much of it out there and we are able to get original replacement parts. This is not elitist but sensible! and ultimately its better for the planet to reuse old plastics than create new repro ones if it can be avoided.

[Ruby2511]

I think perhaps it's a case of the shear volume of people involved in the star wars hobby throwing up loads of different personalities and opinions. There is a cohort of collectors who seem to revel in the value of items, rather than a genuine love for the films or the toys, and seem to love telling everyone how much they've spent. But judging by the continual rise in prices there is a huge group of us who are content to collect what we can afford for the nostalgia and love of the films. I don't really collect outside star wars so couldn't comment on if other collectors find us elitist but I would say that Facebook groups in particular do tend to end up with people typing before they think!

With regard to restoration, do we not all do this? Surely if you buy and original x-wing canopy to replace the one you lost as a child are you not restoring it to it's former glory? Most of us will have done this with some or all of our star wars toys. I think we are lucky as star wars collectors that there is so much of it out there and we are able to get original replacement parts. This is not elitist but sensible! and ultimately its better for the planet to reuse old plastics than create new repro ones if it can be avoided.

Cracking reply Andy, couldn't have put it better myself, I personally give a damn about monetary value of mine or others collections, I collect loose, played with good honest figures and ships that have a few scars and if parts are missing I save up and buy the original parts when they are available and a reasonable price!!

And collect for nostalgic reasons and because I friggin love Star Wars

To many keyboard warriors around FB that's why I keep well clear!!!

[Michael Sith]

Never been on FB not for me.

I think from a forum perspective there is longevity of core membership to a certain degree as it’s a community, I think those that vaunt the elitist theory about SW collecting maybe have not immersed themselves in it enough, don’t have the “heart” for it like someone who collects as a passion as it has a history to them personally.
Human nature is a fickle aspect to it and it takes all sorts, jibes and comments only are an issue if you take notice of them, their loss in my opinion.
I’d never have a go at a trainspotter ( it doesn’t float my boat) but I get the fact that it’s their passion, all power to anyone that has a passion and a drive for anything, don’t judge unless your prepared to be judged yourself.

[Clarkspie&chips]

Labelling an entire community as twats is a very bigoted attitude and a sign of immaturity in my opinion. Edd is dead right with his statement here and the recent retroblasting thread regarding repros.

[StarWarsFan]

Charming took offence to that statement!!!

[UKS]

I think SW collecting has evolved to quite a detailed level that doesn't exist in others. I am a part of WWF, Action Force, Visionaires, Centurions, Transformers, and none of them do things such as COO or detailed weapon differentiation. Most don't even touch packaging variations. As was said before, the age of the community and the size effects things like that. If you are just collecting a MOC run then who cares about those details... possibly it's because of the repro - but TF for instance has huge repro issues because Takara themselves remade TFs with their original surviving molds!

... also it could be a cost thing - until very recently the Hasbro WWF world was cheap as chips and so the let e breathe thing was fine - though even the big proponents of that are now MOC collecting stuff and will do so more as prices rise.

[edd_jedi]

What I do find interesting is how fast prices have climbed in other toy lines. It took decades for vintage Star Wars toys to reach the prices they are now with very gradual rises over 30 odd years. In fact some items are worth the same as they were 30 years ago, common boxed vehicles and mini rigs for example.

On the other hand, I am seeing He-Man, wrestling and MASK toys selling for serious amounts of money now, more than Star Wars in some cases, and they weren't just a few years ago. The same with video games, some of mine have gone up 10x in value in under 10 years.

[Michael Sith]

What I do find interesting is how fast prices have climbed in other toy lines. It took decades for vintage Star Wars toys to reach the prices they are now with very gradual rises over 30 odd years. In fact some items are worth the same as they were 30 years ago, common boxed vehicles and mini rigs for example.

On the other hand, I am seeing He-Man, wrestling and MASK toys selling for serious amounts of money now, more than Star Wars in some cases, and they weren't just a few years ago. The same with video games, some of mine have gone up 10x in value in under 10 years.

Yes this is something I’ve noticed as well, maybe that’s a contributory factor to the perception of some that SW vintage collectors are elitist because of the value of their collections.
The longevity of SW and of the collecting that was borne out of it and still is is therefore benchmarking to a certain degree, which in turn is pushing up other toy lines to where they are.

[pmsbull]

Its a common feeling among other people for one reason and one reason only -

The absolute terrible attitude some people on forums show towards people that are new , come asking advice , or ask a question that may have been asked a hundred times or more - but this is the first time THEY are asking so they don't know that !

I have lost count of the number of times I see people cop an attitude at someone and throw things like :

"Google is your friend" laugh emoji hahhahah etc , and other sarcastic shyte.

Also we have the reputation for being a bit analy retentive due to the obsession with variants and the correct weapon etc - which non SW people cannot possibly understand until they become dedicated SW collectors them self.

If we want to raise the reputation for SW collectors, we need to stop being so eletist in our attitude when we speak to novices - because admit it or not, like it or not - WE ARE ELETIST.