The TIG team wanted to take a minute to introduce ourselves. It's not often that we get to meet members in person and thought it might be nice to "unmask" ourselves and give a little background. We strive to keep TIG fun, light and informative. Always feel free to reach out to us for anything. We're only a PM away!

 

Johnpaul Ragusa - Darthberizing
Owner / Head Janitor
Dutchess County, NY

John has been a Star Wars fan since he saw it at a Bronx Drive-In back in 1977. Collecting took a time out during the 90's but his love for the series gave him a new desire in 2005 and he hasn't looked back since. John focuses mainly on foreign carded items and he is trying to have at least one example of a carded figure from every country and their lines. He also collects some bootleg lines and tries to find interesting items along the way. He recently posted a video tour of his collection and can be seen HERE. As well as being site owner for the TIG forum, John is also the site owner for http://imperialgunnery.com

A native of New York, John resides an hour outside of New York City with his wife and 2 wonderful children and works for US Telecommunication company Sprint as a Global Account Manager. Besides being a huge fan of movies, his free time is spent following the New York Yankees, playing poker, and poorly playing Softball & Golf. Rounding out his diverse interests, he is a member of IQ society Mensa and the US antique car organization AACA.

James Kenneison- aussiejames
Admin
Perth, Western Australia

James was born in Singapore & moved to Australia for high school. He collects anything & everything vintage star wars. He managed to keep almost all his childhood collection of 77 figures. His 'adult' collecting started about 4 years ago & mainly focuses on loose variants & cardbacks. He's a mechanic by trade but works for his wife at a kids play center. They have a 3 year old son. His other interests are motorsports (heavily influenced by his dad) . He'd like to be retired by 50 & live in a big shed to accomodate his hoarding. James is also an admin over at http://imperialgunnery.com

Paul Ford - Artoo_Detour
Admin
France

Paul lives in France with his wife and son. Originally from the UK, he remembers watching the original Star Wars film (along with what seemed like the entire neighbourhood of kids all crammed into his mum's living-room) on a home movie projector that belonged to one of the neighbours. Paul's collecting interests are the X-Wing Fighter and Luke X-Wing Pilot figure. He also likes oddball collecting, in particular Star Wars vinyl records and advertising from comics and magazines.

Paul's other collecting interests are Doctor Who figures and Corgi die cast, drumming, writing and collecting vintage toy adverts from the 1970s and 80s.

Paul is editor over at http://imperialgunnery.com and the site owner of the excellent vintage toy advertiser site: http://thevintagetoyadvertiser.org ... go check it out!!

 

Stefan Callear - walkie
Head Developer
Staffordshire, United Kingdom

Although Stefan was born in the summer of '76 he wasn't able to attend the original Star Wars premier at his local cinema. However, growing up amidst the Frenzy of Star Wars he soon developed a love for all things Star Wars (even those ewoks!). Early memories include watching a double-bill at the cinema in his home town for The ESB & ROTJ in '83 with his younger brother and mum, and receiving his weekly ROTJ Marvel comic throught the letterbox.

Having regretted allowing his parents to "make room in the attic" and selling all his Star Wars toys in the early '90's, Stefan continued to be a Star Wars fanboy and enjoyed reading the Dark Horse graphic novels. Having the collecting bug in his genes See Here he bit the bullet and purchased a small 'childhood' collection on eBay back in April 2004. His initial aim was to collect a full loose set but then something happened..... variants!
Stefan collected hard until 2007, having a full basic set and many of the "common" variants. Then he packed his collection away and continued on with the normal day to day events that life throws at you.

Following several trips to the States in 2009, including a visit to Star Tours at Disneyland in Florida, his fire was re-ignited and he started collecting again. He began researching more into variants and this led Stefan to TIG and the world-famous "Lili Ledy Guide". He watched and studied from afar but didn't take the plunge to become a member until Nov 2012 (his second star wars regret!). Since then he's made plenty of new friends and enjoy's being an active member of the Star Wars collecting community.

Stefan lives with his (very understanding) wife (although she does occasionally tell him to sell this toys!!) and his two-year old son who Stefan hopes one day will develop an interest in Star Wars. He currently has no pets thanks to a small accident as a child involving his pet Ouch!. Other non Star Wars hobbies include Poker, DIY and mountain biking.
Stefan currently works as a Project Manager for a company who manufacture and install radar systems worldwide. A time served mechanical engineer, Stefan is also fluent with 3D CAD model practises.