30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Monday, May 4, 2015

The Power of the Force

A long time ago, in a neighborhood not that far away...

I busted open my first pack of trading cards containing the likes of Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia... rather than Tony Gwynn, Thurman Munson, or Steve Carlton.  These days I focus more on the latter... as 99% of my posts are sports card related.

But the people who really know me... know that I'm also a huge fan of the Star Wars franchise.

Over the years I've written posts about my Star Wars sketch cards, action figures, and even my favorite characters.  And since today we're celebrating Star Wars Day, I figured I'd share a few of my recent Star Wars purchases.

Let's kick things off with a set I've wanted since I was six years old...


Unfortunately... I'm still missing the stickers.  But considering that I waited over thirty-five years to pick up this set, I think I'm patient enough to wait for a reasonable price on the stickers.

Next up are a few action figure purchases...


Back in the late 70's and early 80's... Star Wars action figures were always at the top of my birthday and Christmas wish list.  I remember looking through the giant Sears and JC Penny catalogs and circling the guys I still needed.

I don't really have the space to collect action figures anymore, but I made an exception when I discovered Hasbro's Black Series figures.  As you can see the packaging is almost as beautiful as the figures themselves.  I'm still looking to add the 6" R2-D2 and Yoda figures to my shelf.

And you can't collect action figures without collecting a vehicle or two...


Last month, I found this Amazon exclusive Slave I at a Toys R' Us outlet store near my work and couldn't believe how cheap it was.  Normally these sell on eBay in the $70 to $90 price range, but I paid $39.99.  I'm keeping it in the box until I decide what I want to do with it.  It's a little to big to display, so I might end up flipping it for some extra cash.

Here's another vehicle I picked up for my Star Wars collection:


This time around... it's the Lego Tie Advanced Prototype which was featured in the new series: Star Wars Rebels.  I picked this up because it's actually a really cool ship for the price and it includes the Inquisitor mini figure.  I bought it back in January for $39.99, but I had a $20 Target gift card from one of my students.


I've always wanted to start collecting Legos, but once again the storage and lack of display space are issues I need to work out.

And finally... here are the most unique Star Wars collectibles I've purchased in the past year or so...


Last year, Santa Cruz Skateboards and Star Wars teamed up to produce a line of skateboards.  One of their series involved a collector's series that were packaged in actual blister packs designed to be reminiscent of the vintage action figures I used to buy.  As soon as I saw these, I knew I wanted to hang these up in my house.

Unfortunately they retailed for $135/each... which is way too much for wall decorations.  But patience paid off and I was able to pick up the pair in two different eBay auctions for under $170/shipped.  They're still kind of pricey, but they are two of the coolest Star Wars collectibles I own and combine different parts of my childhood together... which is why I had no regrets spending that kind of money.

Well that's it for now.

Anyone else Star Wars fanatics?  Do you collect Star War memorabilia?

May the force be with you.  Happy Monday and sayonara!

7 comments:

Rob's Cards said...

Those 1977 Star Wars cards are why I started collecting cards. I think the progression was Star Wars>Grease>Kiss>1978 baseball cards! ;-P I had the Star Wars comic books, puzzles, posters, several little figures, Han Solo, the Sand person, C-3PO I think, an X Fighter and hundreds of Star Wars cards. I saw the movie the first time at the Serramonte Theater, which is now a BevMo. Utterly life changing as an 8 year old :-D Never got into the other films much.

Anonymous said...

I think I'm about as young as someone can be while viewing Star Wars solely as a really fun trilogy of Science Fiction movies. I enjoyed the heck out of the original trilogy, saw each one in theaters during the original release (so I know for a fact that Han shot first - Justice For Greedo!), but I was a shade too old for action figures and never got into Star Wars in terms of collectibles.

That being said, the coolest Star Wars item I have is an original copy of "Splinter Of The Mind's Eye", the first Star Wars book that went beyond the movies.

May da Schwartz be wit' you!!!!!!!

Barry said...

Yes i collect the 1977 topps Star Wars cards. I just need to finish the Series 3 card set and i have some 1970s Star Wars (Marvel) comics.

As a kid during the early 1980s we had many Star Wars action figures and ships/playsets. My older brother and the neighbors also had many Star Wars figures. Sadly we played to hard with the figures many with broken heads and the guns was so easy to lose. We had some figures in a cardboard box outside and they got chewed up by a dog and a lawnmower also ran over some. I remember i got a Ewok Village and X-wing Fighter for Christmas in the early 1980s and i bought a (Bespin) Han Solo at Rose's Department store. We had a bunch of the Star Wars
toys but we played with them and all the toys are long gone

Corky said...

I love the Star Wars movies, being in the same age group as you I had the cards, comic books and action figures on my list for every holiday. When Phantom Menace came around in 1999 I was working as a retail manager so I got to see all the re-releases and new figures come though the shelves but at that point I didn't want to dive back in and start collecting action figures again, now I stick with only collecting the card releases.

GCA said...

I have the Wonder Bread card set and a smattering of the other Topps ones. I'm trying to complete the Empire Strikes Back series, but not much else.
I have a few of the BK glasses if anyone is in the market. I sold two rounds of the action figures several years ago on eBay (mine and a friend's collections). Still have the Cloud Car somewhere....

Mark Hoyle said...

Not much of a Star Wars fan. But I can appreciate the collection. It seems like you could collect Star Wars items non stop for years.

Fuji said...

rob's card - are you from the bay area? do you go to the serramonte mall shows? i might have opened a pack or two of greases... but star wars was always my focus.

shlabotnik - i definitely need to find a copy of that book.

barry - i'm debating on going after those star wars comics... well at least the first five or so, since i owned them as a kid. as for those toys... i totally forgot about the ewok village. i never owned it... but remember seeing it in a commercial.

corky - do you remember everyone hunting down darth maul figures? i worked at a card shop that also sold toys... and we always sold the mauls at a huge premium.

gca - forgot about that wonder bread set. not sure if i actually owned any... but it has been added to my list.

mark - yeah... they keep making stuff. and collectors keep buying it up.