If you could pick a moment in time in regards to the hobby...what would be one of the highlights for you?


Mine would be getting the Dark Crystal proto's off Michael...finally. He was so very generous with the payment plan we had arranged and even let it stretch out longer. I honestly never thought I would get a shot at them in the first place, but he came through and now they rest here with me. I honestly feel pretty lucky to own them, so too me it's a pretty big deal.

Anyone else want to play? I am sure we will get some good replies here. We need to get a bit of a good vibe running, so let's make it happen people.
Stand up and be counted or lay down and be mounted I always say

My best highlight was actually being asked to moderate here on TIG.

Ive had a lot of cool items come into my collection and honestly it's been very cool. But I remember getting asked about being a mod and really felt it was like an honor. It meant I was considered a good collector, good person , and good mediator.

It's really difficult to pick just one as I'd say I have several.

But, certainly one of those would have to be the day I first got online and found the archive. It's a story that my friends still remind me of to this day. lol It was mid '95 and one of my two good friends just got this thing called "the internet." I was 15 at that time and had been collecting for about a year. Of course when you hear about a 15 year old getting online the first time you would expect them to be searching for other things beside Star Wars. We found the archive and I just got lost in everything. My friends lost interest soon after and eventually went off to goof off at another part of the house. I was just in awe of some of the items I saw like the prototypes, foreign, dioramas, and customs that were shown. It opened my eyes to how far you could really take collecting vintage Star Wars.

My friends finally pried me away from the computer probably an hour later. When I went home that night I did my best to convince my dad that we needed to upgrade to a 14.4 k modem and that I'd pay half of the monthly bill to get online and he went for it. It was certainly one of those "taking my first steps into a larger world" moments in collecting.

One of the moments, or experiences that stands out above most others is being at the 2004 Encuentros Star Wars covention in Mexico City. We arrived at the hotel, and there were already Mexican collectors literally waiting AT THE HOTEL! to sell me bootlegs. I was mistaken for Kerry King from Slayer more than once (at a restaurant and by a dealer at the convention) They put the US collectors in with the movie celebritys for the dinners and tours they had set up of the Museum of Natural History, as well as Theotihuacan. Not to mention a Symphony performance of the music of SW. I hate to link anything from.."there",but here's a great pic of the crew on top of Theotihuacan.

http://www.rebelscum.com/gallery/encuentros04/DSC00839.jpg
EDIT (at Josh's request to know who's who In the pic): in the back we have Karlee, Shane Turgeon,Isaac Lew,Todd Chamberland, ME, Femme Taylor(oola), and Daniel Logan(young Boba Fett)
kneeling, once again from left to right, we've got 2 folks I can't remember their names,David Gaule,James Gallo, Chris Georgoulias,Luis Galvez, John Alvarez, and Steve York.

That experience will go down as one of if not the best time in my years of collecting.

Cheers
Joe

well the main one that stands out is about 6 months into collecting back in 1991. I had about half the figures most without weapons, I had a list of figures I wanted ... Luke Farmboy, original Leia, han cabonite, luke stormtrooper and R2 pop up saber ... I love han in carbon, just the creative side to him.... but luke and r2 more for the simple fact I was in awe they made them ... I had never seen them before. Well, one guy who I would deal with at the local monthly flea market called a friend of his in california and got me a Farmboy Luke ... now getting him in hand I was in AWE ... here is the figure I wanted so bad as a kid and never could find ... in fact it was the first time I saw farmboy luke figure in person. At that point paying the $7.50 for him I felt like such a true collector, and the funny thing is ... soon after I found Han Carbon at a small shop for 5 bucks, same guy got me Leia with pistol for 5 bucks ... and then another guy came up with a luke stormtrooper for me with helmet ... when some of the others in the hobby saw i had him with helmet I was like the cool guy. So that Luke was the first harder to find figure I got and soon I was on my way.

I always love reading that story of yours, Shawn. The only boy who went online the first time not looking for porn

And that sounds like a great trip Joe. Who have we got in the picture for the uninitiated?

LOL Rusco! The days of when discovering a Luke stormie helmet was a highlight. hahahaha. I can only imagine what went down when people found a thing called the internet. Would of been a really cool time to be about I reckon and into the hobby. Everyday would of been bringing in something new.

Josh wrote:

I always love reading that story of yours, Shawn. The only boy who went online the first time not looking for porn

And that sounds like a great trip Joe. Who have we got in the picture for the uniniated?

LOL Rusco! The days of when discovering a Luke stormie helmet was a highlight. hahahaha. I can only imagine what went down when people found a thing called the internet. Would of been a really cool time to be about I reckon and into the hobby. Everyday would of been bringing in something new.

My only guess Josh is because we'd found plenty from other sources lol

Love reading all the stories so far. Fun thread idea Josh.

I am still waiting for mine...

I would have to say that my favorite moment collecting was May 24 2007. Its was my very first star wars convention. I think it is my favorite moment because its the first time that I could share my love for star wars with other people. My friends and family know I love star wars and even help me get things from time to time but its not the same as being in a humungous convention center filled with so many different people with one shared idea, star wars. For the first time in my collecting history was I able to meet new people and learn so many new things. There was so many new things that I have never seen before and so many cool shows and exhibits. I went by myself and never once felt alone. It was also the first time I actually saw and met my first Star Wars actor which was really cool. It was so overwhelming but such a great time. Before CIV I could only read and see pictures of everything and buy my collectables from ebay, but during CIV I was able to actually see some really cool high end items and there was so many venders to buy from. After CIV i set a personal goal to attend ever star wars celebration after that.

It's on my bucket list...to do a con. I reckon it would be an excellent experience, and I am sure the kids would love it.
Geeking out like that I am all for

Josh....post edited so you can see the who's who on that part of the adventure.

Cheers
Joe

I am sure there are many happy moments. Being asked to be a TIG developer and later a moderator, are surely amongst them. As well as that impressive moment back in 1978, when I saw the Clipper 12 backs for the first time in the toys department of a local dutch V&D warehouse (kind of dutch Wall Mart). Even without having seen the actual movie at that time, those attractive blister cards had mastered to capture my full attention. They appeared magic to me, and in fact they still do. That day, my mom bought two figures for my sister two as well. I still remember which figures, Darth Vader, and Stormtrooper for me, Luke, and R2-D2 for my sister. Only a few weeks backs, my parents brought me a plastic box, which was hidden somewhere on their attic, which contained amongst others, these four figures. These figures were still missing from my childhood collection, and I had given up finding them ever again. So you can imagine, that was a great moment too. There was also a little surprise, about one of the figures, which I tell you another time.

Another moment which I cherish very much, happened three years ago, June 2009. I was in The Hague to get me a visa for visiting China. If you would apply at the embassy before 10:00 AM, you could pick up your visa two hours later. So my girlfriend and I decided to use the waiting time, to walk around a bit in the surrounding area of the embassy. There was not much to do in that district, just a few restaurants, bakeries, till suddenly out of nothing, a small comics shop popped up. We entered, going through the second hand comics, till I saw a small basket in the corner holding plastic bags with toy figures. I came a bit closer, and saw they were vintage SW figures! WOW! Curious without too much thought, I went through the around 40 or 50 figures, B-Wing pilot, Emperor, Rebel Commando, till suddenly he was there, right there, in my hands! I was looking at him, and he was looking at me, after so many years we managed to find each other ......TIE Fighter Pilot.

As a kid it was my biggest wish to add this cool black pilot to my modest collection of Star Wars figures and mini-rigs. Unfortunately the figure was virtually absent from the dutch toyshops which I used to visit with my mom during my childhood. Till one day, I saw the One Card in the front row of a rack at the back of the shop. I slowly walked towards the card, a moment of complete joy which appeared to last a life time,…..only to see it taken away by another kid, just seconds before I could get my hands on it….Taken away from me….My precious….I never saw him again....

You understand, while standing there in this little comic shop in The Hague, almost three decades after that traumatic event, I was reunited with an old friend, and HAD no choice but to leave that shop together with him, to bring back balance to the Inner Force, to please the little boy inside me. My girlfriend, looked at me, and without knowing what was going on exactly, she understood.

Back home I gave him a central place, on the living room's mantelpiece (see pic). The little boy inside me felt happy.
It actually gave me the spark I needed to actually start collecting SW, instead of only reading about it on the internet. If only I had known before...

There were three significant moment in my collecting that stand out apart from the number of times that I've just got to hang out with fellow collectors. One of those moments was the night that I purchase the Top Toys Sample Carded Stormtrooper off of ebay (coming from the Matt Brand find, but being sold on ebay). I stayed up and watched the other items closing and I kept my eye on the Stormtrooper the entire time. This was before the sniping services so you had to type your bid in yourself, and this worked against some of the East Coast US guys due to time difference. Winning this figure was what set me on the path of being a Stormtrooper focus collector and is defnintely a defining moment in my collecting.

The other moment was when I was contacted by Bob Wirth circa 2008 about the POTF Stormtrooper coin sculpt and hardcopy ( I already had the softcopy). He sent me the e-mail stating he was getting out of collecting and wanted to know if I was interested in these items. I must have read the e-mail two to three times before I dod the only thing I think of doing, which was responding with panic. I immediatey went home and looked at what I had that I could sell to fund this deal. I contacted Bob and we worked out the details and I went about paying for the items. Being that Bob lived a couple of hours away we decided to meet up for the hand off and that was such a huge moment for me. It was like the torch of being the Stormtrooper Focus collector was being passed along to me, only this torch was in the form of plaster and dynacast. Still pretty damn impressive when we met up and I handed him an envelope of cash and he handed me the Sculpt and hardcopy.

The third was around 2009 there was a meet up of the California Star Wars collectors, and we met up in San Francisco. John Kellerman made it out to that meeting and we sat there and listened to Kellerman talk about collecting over the years and putting together his Action Figure Guide book. He brought alone some proof material to show off and that was cool, but just listening to him talk about his experiences collecting over the years was priceless. My only regret is that we didn't record it (either video or at least audio). It was such a great priveledge being able to sit there and listen to him tell these tales. I personally remember looking around the room at one point and seeing all the guys sitting there, hanging on every word that Kellerman uttered and I thought to myself.. "This is why I collect".

Such great moments help define both you as a person and a collector.

Don
who may add the Lee Bullock/Matt Difa incident at C IV to the list one day as it was pretty damn memorable.

If I had to choose just one memorable moment it would be seeing all these Toltoys MOCs in one spot:

Joseph_Y wrote:

Josh....post edited so you can see the who's who on that part of the adventure.

Cheers
Joe

*Cheers, Joe.
What was Daniel Logan and Femme Taylor doing there? Were they friends with everyone there or was it like an organised tour for people attending the con?


*LOL Marco Awesome story of the Tie Fighter Pilot reunion. Just imagined if you never took that stroll. Where would you be now with your collecting I wonder?


*A great post from Don to round it up. Totally know the feeling of getting the torch passed.
And you are right. It was a shame that meet up with John Kellerman you guys had wasn't recorded. Would of been interesting to listen to, I imagine. I can only imagine the questions he was bombarded with once you all pulled yourselves together.


*AJ. Is that the set you went around and saw or Marcus's lot?

This is moo's


& receiving this was a very special moment:

Josh wrote:

What was Daniel Logan and Femme Taylor doing there? Were they friends with everyone there or was it like an organised tour for people attending the con?

The tours were only for the celebritys and VIPs. The crew of US/Canadian collectors were considered VIPs by the convention organizers and got some amazingly nice perks.

IF I had to pick defining moments in regards to acquiring items shaping my collection. The day I bought my first Uzay would have to be among them. It was 1994 at a small toy show in Auburn Mass, it was a month after I'd purchased my first bootlegs(some loose Polish, and 2 carded Hungarians). I'd already seen and had my sights set on this cheesy item:A carded Uzay Imperial Gunner, in all its glory with the beautiful calculator card art. Little did I know then what the impact of that piece would be on my collecting in the long term.

Another would be the disappointment I felt over a large prototype purchase that I'd made. The item wasn't nearly as cool in person,as the hype and history behind it would have made it out to be. Around this same time Lenny Lee was selling his Uzay set, and Tom D was brokering it. Tom wanted this prototype from me (a J-slot RocketFett), and me and Tom worked out a trade. 6 carded Uzays (including the carded Head Man) for the Rocket Fett. Now while the day the package with the Head Man in it arrived still rivals any childhood Xmas morning in my memory, the true "moment" of all of it was that I chose items that at the time, I was laughed at by some for taking over a RF(bootlegs weren't quite so popular at that point in time), but I've never once questioned myself for that decision and it was a defining moment in the direction that my collecting has gone.

Cheers
Joe

Sorry mate I should of read your initial post more clearly. I was to busy trying to work out who was in the picture.

How did you come across the Fett initially?

Josh wrote:

Sorry mate I should of read your initial post more clearly. I was to busy trying to work out who was in the picture.

How did you come across the Fett initially?

A friend of Gus' had it and needed it to move it for some real world bills. Gus knew I'd mentioned wanting one,and set it up.
I completely appreciated the opportunity to own such an iconic piece, but to me, once I had it, it was very underwhelming.

Cheers
Joe

Thanks for the info. It would of been a hard decision for most I imagine..at the time. I defiantely think you made the right choice. While the Fett maybe iconic, the Uzay line is definately more interesting IMO.


Anyone else want to play? We've had some top replies already...let's keep it moving along

My moment in the hobby might have to be afterhours at Celebration Europe. I forget who all I was talking to (the beer was flowing a bit too well) but I was going on telling everyone to get more involved in the community and how much more fun it then becomes. This is my moment because only at CIII I was the shy collector who knew no one, talked only to JohnA a few times and ran into John Wooten only because he owed me a figure. At that moment I realized how important the community had become and the friends I had made, more than anything I might collect. I've said it before, I would travel to these Celebrations and not even go inside, just as long as I get to hang out with my friends. It might sound sappy but I considr my collection of friends more important than any collection of toys.

Mike

Michael Ritter wrote:

My moment in the hobby might have to be afterhours at Celebration Europe. I forget who all I was talking to (the beer was flowing a bit too well) but I was going on telling everyone to get more involved in the community and how much more fun it then becomes. This is my moment because only at CIII I was the shy collector who knew no one, talked only to JohnA a few times and ran into John Wooten only because he owed me a figure. At that moment I realized how important the community had become and the friends I had made, more than anything I might collect. I've said it before, I would travel to these Celebrations and not even go inside, just as long as I get to hang out with my friends. It might sound sappy but I considr my collection of friends more important than any collection of toys.

Mike

I would be the same...maybe the first one I went to I would check the show out, but it would be about catching up with people finally, for me.

I've really enjoyed this thread, thanks to everyone that has share their great stories.

I'd have to say one of my biggest moments was attending CIII in Indy. It was the first time I had attended a convention of any kind, and it was so great meeting some of the people I had enjoyed chatting with online.

Another great memory was making my first "big" vintage purchase, a Canadian 77back Vader from Jim McCallum, certainly one of the biggest names in Canadian collecting. It lead me to pursue so much more info, both from his Irwin Toys book and other collecting sites by guys like Scott Bradley and Mike Chomyn. I've learned so much from the info these guys have provided, but I have so much more to still learn. It's been a lot of fun to take my time and slowly acquire some more pieces.

Michael Ritter wrote:

My moment in the hobby might have to be afterhours at Celebration Europe. I forget who all I was talking to (the beer was flowing a bit too well) but I was going on telling everyone to get more involved in the community and how much more fun it then becomes. This is my moment because only at CIII I was the shy collector who knew no one, talked only to JohnA a few times and ran into John Wooten only because he owed me a figure. At that moment I realized how important the community had become and the friends I had made, more than anything I might collect. I've said it before, I would travel to these Celebrations and not even go inside, just as long as I get to hang out with my friends. It might sound sappy but I considr my collection of friends more important than any collection of toys.

Mike

I completely agree with this. John A always told me that community was important and practically lectured me about being more active and attending these shows. I finally went to C IV in Los Angeles and had a good time, though realizing that the next time I would do some things differently. Well, CV rolled around and I had a blast. It wasn't about Star Wars, or Star Wars toys at that point, but it was about hanging out with friends. Seeing guys who I usually only get to talk with online, and hanging out with them is key. Wouldn't matter if I was still an active collector or if I stopped completely, I'd still want to go to these shows and just hang out and B.S. with everyone. John A was right all those years... community is the most important thing.

Don
who, in hindsight, regrets not attending earlier Celebrations.

There's a couple of moments for me as well.

I think the first is when Aimee and I first started dating. Not only was she totally accepting of my collection and collecting habits, but I knew she was a keeper when she helped work out a deal with Jordan to purchase a HC Rebel Commando head. Not only did that make me realize in my eyes that she was definitely a "keeper", but that also started me off on the path to character focus.

The second most prominent moment for me would be C5. As Don and Mike mentioned, this hobby is totally about friends and the community. Aimee and I went to C3 and had a blast, but we always felt like there could be more adventures and fun to be had. We were unable to make C4 but we promised ourselves not to miss any more of them after that. C5 was really our "coming out party". It was at this convention that we met our closest friends not only in the hobby but out of it. But we were finally able to put faces to names. C5 was so much more than a convention to us. We hung out and stayed up almost all night every night of the convention just talking and BS'ing with everyone. It was an incredible time!

It's been said countless times on the forums, but really this is a tight knit community of collectors that have basically grown together. It wasn't fully obvious to me until C5. And that was the first time I actually felt like I was a part of that community as a whole.