Ok,

another thread spawning from the one i just made. I am sitting down thinking about how i am collecting right now and i kinda just want to bash my head in on a wall.

Here is why. I collect loose figure everyone knows that. But my ultimate goal ( if ever achievable ) would be to have at least one single MOC copy of the original trilogy toys.

Now as a goof and while checking other ebay stuff i decided to type in star wars moc and look at " the market"  i was shocked to be frank. I do not look at MOC because they depress me with their price. But today i saw a lot of decent ROTJ MOC figures with decent cards and they were roughly going for the same amount as some of the loose figure price i paid for some figures i have. The ROTJ dont seem to be that hard to get and a lot of decent ESB cards are showing up too.

example: Poncho Leia. I paid like close to 40$ for her, today i saw on her a card for 50$... i m like... ok i am doing something seriously wrong here. I could have added 20$ more to a purchase and get the toy on a card. ( not mint ) but still on a card ( which i state again would be my ultimate goal ) Now i am almost done with a loose collection and left wondering if i did it right.... I wont let down my loose collection now cause i am just too close to being done now. But had i known a while back... Maybe i would have done things differently.... I mean i am very proud and happy about my loose collection but now...mmmmm

anyone in the same boat as me?

I try not to live life with regrets. When I first started collecting as an adult the Australian dollar was very low. If I hadn't bought anything & started collecting a year ago I'd have a full debut MOC set & spent half as much. But if, what if....... I wouldn't change anything. I still get out my loose figures & 'play' with them. My MOCs don't move & if I was to sell up they'd be sold first.

Bud, ultimately it is up to you on what your goals are. You can find a lot of decent jedi carded figures, but once you start going for star wars 12 back you will see a drastic decrease in amount available and a huge increase in prices. If you want carded over loose though, I suggest stop with the loose now and flip them to get the carded samples. Again this is up to your goal. I think you can probably put together a carded run of ROTJ cards fairly easily. Might even be able to get the ESB run failr cheap to. Star Wars cards will be a harder set to get togethor and more costly on your pocket book.

I agree with AJ I originally started with loose figs until I realised that ROTJ ones were really cheap I now have a few MOC'S from star wars to ROTJ but I still prefer to get the loose ones and now I realised that the afa ones are pretty cheap also so I bought a few of them over the years. I am really happy with just the joy of getting the figs I had as a kid and am not worried about the what if's. I feel once you start kicking yourself over the what if I did it this way then the hobby is no longer any fun.

There's a far larger gap in price between loose figures and MOC's in the UK. There's no way i could afford to collect carded figures, which is why my 1st goal is a near mint loose collection.

Stick to the loose collection Bud, then collect the MOC's. Will make the collecting experience last longer. I dread the day my collection is complete and can feel the void of the missing bug that fuels my obsession.

ouf, i am far away from being close to be near finish, i probably have 10 years of collecting to do before i can say i cant be satisfied plus i collect modern stuff like the neo-vintage line stuff (TVC ) plus the 6 inch line and i am sure i am gonna fall into rebels and the upcoming movie toys. So as you can see i ll be all over the place.

Like i have said many times. I am close to being done with my loose collection i am at 80 plus and most of my figures are high grade. That is why i lamented paying so much for a loode Endor Leia but she is close to being mint. I have spent a huge amount hunting the best version of each possible loose figures. So far i have almost most of them aside some of the POTF line. I dont regret any of it becaus each figure i got was a hunt and challenge and it made me proud when i got my Amanaman , Han in carbonite, Luke stormie etc... in high grade. If you have been following my limelight threads you know that i collected other stuff too.

I am very proud that i have a lot of boxed versions of the original movies toys. That was one promise i made to myself when i started. loose figures and boxed vehicles and playsets and i did just that. I could have bought all my playset and vehicles loose but i got boxed version of them and that is an awesome feeling. Ill have to unpack all that stuff someday when the GF is away and pile it all up and take photos. I am sure i am gonna impress myself... In a short amount of time, couple of years plus i managed to snag a lot of cool stuff so yes i might lament on the MOC but the rest. i have no regrets at all.

I'd have no regrets if I were you.

My complete loose collection is the centre piece of it all. The loose set has that nostalgia factor in that its what I had as a kid, only now they are in better shape. Also, you can touch loose figures!

I pick up MOCs when I can and love them, but the loose set is where it all starts IMO.