Hi all
Thanks for the welcome yesterday and was thinking that before I let this hobby absorb my life what would be the best sector to collect.
I initially thought Loose mint figures and have brought a few still in their original bags which I am told and hope are C10 and was going to try and build a collection and get them gradually graded / encased but wonder if now this would be the best thing.Alternatively I like the carded figures but know that if i want anything of mint condition I am probably going to be looking at a small fortune or are there some vintage figures on cards that are considerably cheaper ?
Any advice guys :O)
Tony

Hello Tony, and welcome!

I'm FAR from a "pro collector" or anything like that, but for ME personally its all about the nostalgia...I'd go the loose/good shape route myself, but its all in what YOU like I suppose.

Honestly, I couldnt give two shits for an "AFA" anything, but thats just me! They are TOYS for god's sake, let them BREATHE!! You know, like in the movie 'Dolls' when the old toymaker is telling the girl how the toys 'come to life at night'. Just recently I got myself a carded WalrusMan and he didnt even make the car ride HOME before I SHREDDED him out of his package, lol, so....


Cheers,

Andre

Tony

I dont think there is a right answer to this one. Some people are huge loose collectors, some AFA , some both (like me). I can give you my opinion however

Personally I have a little slice of it all. Loose fig, AFA fig, carded, foreign carded, etc.. I like the variety personally but again that's just me.

Maybe start off with a little taste of everything and if you feel you like on style, then lean towards that.

I just buy things that catch my eye and focus on my Ledy stuff, had lots of carded but no room for them, its all down to what do you want, whatever route you choose its all fun

Darth,

I use that SAME philosophy at the China Buffet!!

Cheers,

Andre

i also buy alot of loose figures that way i can get more variety.i also do have a mix of thing's,carded,boxed,afa stuff as well.mostly loose figures though..

Roussimoff wrote:

Darth,

I use that SAME philosophy at the China Buffet!!

Cheers,

Andre

I can see you're going to fit in well here

yes ledy stuff.that's all i have been looking for lately.

Well thats GOOD, cause god knows I cant fit into an AIRLINE SEAT! ZING!!



Andre

Hi Tony,

I think a good way to do this is to just browse ebay and the forums for a while and pick things up you like.

You'll soon get a feel for what you enjoy. I started by buying up loads of random stuff...boxed, loose, odd MOC's.

I then decided to focus on my loose collection, then a few variants, then onto carded figures which led to foreign items and bootlegs.

Your collecting habits will evolve and branch off into different focuses. You may decide that you like a particular figure and focus on that.

A good way to start an affordable MOC collection is to look at Jedi carded figures.

Good luck with what you decide to do, looking forward to seeing what path you take.

Thanks for all the comments and well noted.
Think as suggested I am gonna take a little time to check out whats available and then buy a few pieces to see where it leads me to.............watch this space :O)

Personally, I love focus collecting. It helps keep you... well... focused () on just one thing instead of worrying about picking up everything under the sun. There are lots of great focus collections that have expanded and gone on for ever!

The best advice is to collect what you like and let it take on a life of it's own. You may start off loving carded figures, but in 2-5 years, you'll notice you can't get enough of COO variants. It's an ever evolving hobby and that's what makes it fun. I don't think anyone could just stick to one thing though. There's just too much cool stuff out there.

I think you definitely need to pick up things you like Its easy to sell up down the road and refocus after all, most of this stuff
holds its value pretty well and if you do some informed buying you might even make a profit here and there

I have a figure focus but it took me 6 years of buying random stuff to start down that path, I had fun, I bought some shit and I
also bought some nice pieces, no goals but I enjoyed it! It did and it can get too much at times, too many things not on display, packed up and not being appreciated and I sold it all off .

More importantly I think the best choice you can make ahead of time (if you REALLY want to plan out your collecting days)
is decide on your budget, will that increase or decrease over time, will you be buying to sell and finance things you want etc?

If your budget is small a loose set and variant collecting is a cool path, if its a bit bigger try and get a set of ROTJ MOC or just MOC that you enjoy and that fall into your budget.

Whatever you do - Enjoy the ride

I collect for the memories. If I can get a good eal on a carded figure, then I jump on it. I don't want a figure that has been "battle damaged" and I am not too fond of AFA graded figures.

If I could, I would buy carded figures.

The best way is to look around some of the limelights that are posted and think about what you would want in your collection. Whether its loose, carded, boxed, or bagged, just try to figure out what you would be the happiest to have on display and to show off. Alot of the stuff you can get real good deals on if you shop around and wait. If you jump on the first thing that pops up, you might not be happy with it later on down the line because of condition and alot cheaper if you shop first. Or do like some have, focus on a certain character and build on it from there. Best of luck to what ever you decide.

Thanks to all who responded and having collected other toys in the past there are a number of comments I can relate to !!
I have bought a few loose figures of which some I wish I had waited but I guess thats a learning curve I thought I was old enough to have realised by now but alas not :O)
Have looked at some of the limelights and there are some fantastic collections thats for sure so there is plenty of scope for me thats for sure.....why did I not start sooner :O(
Anyway I am keen to get going so will no doubt be asking more questions :O)
thanks again
Tony

hi tony, welcome to the tig bud.Dan

Hey Tony, as said before , collect as good a condition complete items as you can. Don't rush and I think it is also important to only collect what you can display (within reason) I wish I had listened to this advice when I got back into collecting