Before the Internet did people focus collect?

[x-pack]

I was in the attic looking at how random my collecting used to be. Most of the vintage items I have are from 15 - 20 years ago, before Ebay and the net. A lot was just picked up from wherever it appeared - car boot sales, old shop stock, friends, sales ads, the odd dealer.

Since i've been on here my collecting is much more focused. I put that down to inspiration from other collectors and the fact that there is now so much available through the internet it's hard to know what to go with.

My question is back in the day were people still focusing on certain things? How was it possible to focus a collection like people do now? Also, did people collect from overseas and how? The different ways people used to collect intrigues me. Really gutted I missed the talk at Farthest From.

Cheers guys

 

[edd_jedi]

I had certainly never heard of a focus collector before the internet. As you say there was much less choice so you had to collect what was available. I'd love to see some of the fussy tw**s you see these days trying to collect back then, crying about every missing punch or card crease :lol:

 

[Joe]

Not sure if you saw this thread about the early online collector groups on RS? - http://forum.rebelscum.com/t935723/

It shows that Star Wars enthusiasts were online and chatting about the movies as early as 1982 :shock: The Vintage collectors that helped shape our hobby in the very beginning all got involved in internet discussion in the early 90's..so with that said I am not really sure there was ever really a "before the internet" period, at least not a particular long period.

Sure, the internet is nothing like how it is today but people were definitely collecting and exchanging information about the toys soon after they stopped producing them.

The earliest character focus collectors were definitely around in the early 90's, the names that spring to mind are John Kellerman with his Leia focus - http://theswca.com/index.php?action=disp_item&item_id=48662 and John Wooten with his Stormtrooper focus - http://theswca.com/index.php?action=disp_item&item_id=48740

I've no idea when they started to focus on one particular character but it had to have been pretty early, I think I remember reading a post by Wooten where he said other collectors were a little weirded out by him collecting just Stormtroopers back then so it wasn't the norm but it was happening.

 

[x-pack]

I had certainly never heard of a focus collector before the internet. As you say there was much less choice so you had to collect what was available. I'd love to see some of the fussy tw**s you see these days trying to collect back then, crying about every missing punch or card crease :lol:

Very true. I remember being amazed upon seeing an Imp Dig sometime around 1992. Hadn't seen one before so just seeing one on a dealer's stall for £4 was the most unbelievable thing ever. Didn't give a crap about it being loose or having paint loss on the nose ..still have it today

 

[x-pack]

Not sure if you saw this thread about the early online collector groups on RS? - http://forum.rebelscum.com/t935723/

It shows that Star Wars enthusiasts were online and chatting about the movies as early as 1982 :shock: The Vintage collectors that helped shape our hobby in the very beginning all got involved in internet discussion in the early 90's..so with that said I am not really sure there was ever really a "before the internet" period, at least not a particular long period.

Sure, the internet is nothing like how it is today but people were definitely collecting and exchanging information about the toys soon after they stopped producing them.

The earliest character focus collectors were definitely around in the early 90's, the names that spring to mind are John Kellerman with his Leia focus - http://theswca.com/index.php?action=disp_item&item_id=48662 and John Wooten with his Stormtrooper focus - http://theswca.com/index.php?action=disp_item&item_id=48740

I've no idea when they started to focus on one particular character but it had to have been pretty early, I think I remember reading a post by Wooten where he said other collectors were a little weirded out by him collecting just Stormtroopers back then so it wasn't the norm but it was happening.

Did you say '1982' or is that a typo? I know the internet was around in the 70's in one form or another but chatting about Star Wars online in 1982 is mind blowing

Imagine 20 years ago seeing a collection comprised entirely of one particular figure :? It makes me wonder how they got enough of one line to form a focus. I like to think that I shopped about a bit in the north but it was a very good day to spot one MOC, let alone several ...of the same thing


By the way, RS Mike banned me a while back :|

 

[Joe]

Sorry about the ban on RS, I forgot a few of you guys lost your accounts on there

Yep 82! Here is the thread: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!topic/net.sf-lovers/KUN430ONTs8

It's really amazing to think there were Star Wars related discussions happening on the internet (in some basic form) before the final film was even released isn't it? lol!

It was definitely harder in the early 90's to source what you wanted given that there was no real ebay market place or a billion collector forums to visit. In fact for many collectors it would have been hard to even work out what was actually out there in the first place let alone decide what to go after.

The American collectors probably had it a bit easier in the beginning because there was a source for Vintage goodies called "Toy Shop" which was a publication where dealers would put out adverts for their items and you could call them up and buy and trade Star Wars over the phone, check out Chris G's scrapbook for some awesome pictures: http://www.sandcrawler.com/webpages/chrisgscrapbook/

There was everything from rare foreign pieces to Kenner prototypes being sold in the Toy Shop publication.

On the subject of "focusing" in general - I think that is just something most collectors go through, we all got into Vintage in the same kind of way. You find something for sale that sparks the memories then you just randomly buy stuff up till it's taken over your room..then you think "oops perhaps I should have a sell up and focus on something to stop this getting out of hand"

In fact, there is a great article written about the stages of collecting here: http://astoundingartifacts.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/six-stages-of-collecting.html

That's me all linked out! Happy reading :lol:

 

[x-pack]

Cheers Joe. Going to have a read now

 

[Dublinjeff]

Joe, what a great link to that 1982 thread, brilliant stuff

 

[Michael Sith]

Joe, what a great link to that 1982 thread, brilliant stuff

Awesome....just read that ...brilliant

Cheers for posting links Joe

Great thread Barry

 

[x-pack]

The scrap book link is one of the most impressive things I've seen in all my years of collecting. Goes to show that they had it good in the U.S. A LOT of wonderful vintage that I never knew existed. Funny though looking at prices for things in the early 90's - somehow expected some items to have been a lot cheaper. Saying that, i'm looking at a lot of the stuff thinking 'if only' :roll: Movie props for $500


As for the collecting stages - has to be somewhere around 3 and a half :wink:

 

[Snake_eyes_82]

Great thread and interesting info Joe!

 

[edd_jedi]

There may well have been a few people chatting about collecting online in the early 90s or even early 80s as those posts show, but it certainly wasn't mainstream. I'd hazard a guess that nobody on here had heard of the internet before 1995, and many probably didn't have it until later (I first got it in 1996.)

 

[x-pack]

Probably around 1998 for us round at my mum's. This was during a lull in my collecting so didn't really bother to search at the time. At the time I was into collecting Acid House records for which there were a load of decent sites. Must have been some for SW.

 

[Dark Sith Lord]

Great link Joe! As early as 1982 :shock: