Who was the UK equivalent of Steve Denny?

stratpack

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After reading the amazing interview at Kenner Collector with Steve Denny it made me wonder if there was anyone over here doing the same thing at the same time? :)
Obviously Steve's proximity to Cincinnatti at that time gave him access to prototypes, Kenner employee's etc (and bin raking!) but was anyone going into stores buying up the remaining stock with a view of selling on to collectors or people who were still buying the toys? Or even buying the remaining stock from the Palitoy factory?
I'd really like there to have been someone else other than Toytoni who ended up with the Palitoy leftovers :|
 

Joe

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Jim Stevenson is probably the guy that's most like Steve Denny because he's been around the longest, I would imagine he was buying and selling Star Wars at around the same time as Steve too - way earlier than most that's for sure.

Pretty much all the other UK guys from back then that brought awesome stuff to the market turned to the dark side long ago..
 

SublevelStudios

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Yes, Jim 'Mr Star Wars' Stevenson was one of the first dealers on the scene and being based in Mansfield he wasn't far from Leicester. There were a couple of other big dealers around in the very early 90's and a bit before who I also knew, Gary McGuire, Dave Oliver, Monica Deegan, Mark Woollard...some of these guys are still going. I even traded back then along with a couple of friends under the name SUBLEVEL (which is where I get my company name today!).

I think most of these dealers were snapping up old shop stock rather than prototypes and unproduced items. I believe most of Palitoys stuff ended up at the V&A and therefore not much on the open market, although I have seen some cool 1st shot Action Force figures recently!

I know of many stories of dealers uncovering warehouse finds and old shop stock discoveries - I even uncovered a few myself. At that time you couldn't give the stuff away.

I'm not sure there is anyone here who could possibly be on the same level as Steve Denny for acquiring rarities like that but Jason Joiner is without doubt the most prolific in his acquisitions.
 

palitoyjunky

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Indeed! Jason Joiner was prob most responsible for creating the secondary market for vintage SW over here.
Jim Srevenson tried to get as much as he could from the Palitoy Factory but I believe he missed out as much of the stuff was BBQd before he could get his hands on it :( Apparently he hooked up with a bird who worked in the factory but don't know what he got out of her :roll: He managed to get hold of all the 12in Empire box flat prototypes amongst other things 8)
 

slim

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back in the early 1990's the big cheese was Jim starwars stevenson he was buying in bulk whenever he could mainly ex shop stock ! back then ALL vintage starwars stuff was so cheap :roll:
 

stratpack

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I remember Jim Stevenson's ads always being in sc-fi/model magazines back in the 90's - has he retired? Surprised he doesn't have an online presence by now. I've only heard Jason Joiner's name from reading this forum.

Anybody got any personal stories from the mid to late 80's of finding a SW trove? Before the vintage collecting industry got into the groove I mean. The Steve Denny interview has really whetted my appetite for tales of a simpler time! :lol:
 

slim

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sometime around the early 1990's in the toymaster store in belfast they still had vintage starwars for sale , i can still see all those potf playpacks sitting there :mrgreen: , pity i did not buy more :evil:
 

slim

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i bought some vintage starwars from that toymaster store they had those playpacks on offer for yonks , 49p ! you imagine how many stores like that did jim stevenson walk into and buy up all the vintage starwars stock they had
 

stratpack

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That is quite amazing and look what those playpacks go for now.

I never saw any POTF in stores although my mate remembers them and got Luke Stormtrooper for 50p!

There used to be a Beatties model/toy shop in Ayr (formerly called Scotch Corner) and in 1986 I walked in with my parents and they had a section floor to ceiling of SW, reduced stickers all over the place. Don't remember too many specifics but Tie Interceptors and a vast amount of Trilogos stuck in my mind. Being naive (and only 10) I thought I'll get something next time I'm there, like it would go on forever. A YEAR later I'm back (Ayr was a long way from home and we had no car back then). Absolutely bugger all. :roll: We asked the staff - blank looks all round and then they say 'aren't those collector items now?' First time I'd ever heard that and that must have been about '87. :cry:
 

Rich.b

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Jim Stevenson is still trading today, he has a stall at the Toy collectors fair at the NEC and I believe he still goes to Memorabilia.
I remember buying from Jim in the early 90's when the fairs were called the Toy and Train collectors fairs and were held in the Pavillion building at the NEC.
On the old shop stock story side of the tale, I remember going into a little old family owned toy shop in Aberystwyth in 93 or 94 and they still had some items on the shelves then....I bought a speeder bike (still have it) and had every intention of going back and buying more but the friends caravan we used to stay in got sold and we never went back.
 

Grant

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Sorry guys but i don't think there was anyone in the UK that could compare to Steve D. Steve D helped source virtually all the Proof cards that are In existence today not to mention lots of figural prototypes.

I'm pretty sure all The UK guys just bought and sold Ex shop stock. The closet thing to Steve D is another American called Tom N.

Could be wrong of course just my 2 pence worth. G

Edit... I'm not trying to say that production stuff is any less important or less rare than pre production just that the material in the finds were different and hard to compare. Thinking about all that Super hard to find Palitoy stuff some of that is rarer than rocking horse sh*t and is coveted more than Pre Production as far as the masses go. So maybe Stevenson is the man after all. 8)
 

stratpack

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Again, location and timing is everything.

Not sure if anyone watched that TV show Hollywood Treasure from a year or two back (SyFy channel in the UK). One episode had the host chasing down a Rocket Firing Boba and it took him to a comic book shop in Cincinatti. The guy used to get Kenner employees in every other day trading prototypes, figures etc Apparently they'd come and swap for comics, to them it was just junk sitting around the factory. Who knows, maybe that was Steve Denny that ran the store? I wouldn't have known at the time. :)
 

snlmace

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bobbybobs said:
Great thread guys. I actually hadn't heard of Jim so good to learn a bit about the history of UK collecting.

What about the Netherlands? any Dutchies who can share some stories? What ever happened with the old Clipper stock??

I started collecting in 1995 or so, and remember there was "Space oddity" still around today, who had loads of star wars. If not mistaken the owner Jef bought the old "Blokker" store stock?

Ans on collectors fairs there was this "Otten" guy. Loads and loads of boxed vehicles. Well, what I remember were stacks of Jabba's and Jabb's bands. Speeder bikes and boxes full of mini rigs. I don't remember him selling carded figures, but heard more on this subject from old time collector Dylan :)

Apparently this Otten guy (who was into selling trains and models and had a store) had as many carded figs and one can dream off. They were stocked in some sort of attic? Just what I heard... you choose a figure which was pinned to a board and then someone would go and get you a brand new example from never ending stock :mrgreen:

Hey, I might be wrong, but if you have any information on this, please share :)
 

Alas-1

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I started out in 93 collecting ROTJ MOC.
Back then the most expensive MOC was Luke desert scene. How times have changed.
I remember a couple of guys had a store in the corn exchange in Manchester. Highly experienced and full of knowledge. They would purchase Yak's to take in trade over to the US and come back with MIB Imperial Shuttles and the like. I miss those days. And those guys!
Going rate for a Yak was £50-75
Prices were all over the place.
The person most equivalent to Steve Denny would be Toy Toni in my opinion...
Shame he took the bent route.
 
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