Grab a random piece the tell the story

[Dr_Ball_MD]

After finishing my loose run of figures, I decided to go for a focus. I chose Zuckuss as he was the first figure I had bought for me as a kid in 1982.

I have a few Zuckuss items now but bought this to remind me of my first ever figure on an Empire card, fresh from Tesco.

 

[TheJabbaWookie]

What a beautiful card. Love me a Zuckuss

 

[theforceuk]

Yes cracking Zuckuss, lets see your focus!

 

[edd_jedi]

Got to be this one for me (sorry it's packed away so using an old photo.) Bought in around 1995 from a local toy dealer in Poole, Dorset. Luke X-Wing or "Orange Luke" was my favourite figure as a kid, so getting one on a Kenner SW card was one of my very first collecting goals. It cost £100 and aged only 14 at the time I had to save up for weeks to buy it, I paid in instalments and remember how chuffed I was when I finally took it home.

My collection has been quite 'fluid' over the years, I regularly sell to fund other purchases, but this MOC was one I hung on to... Until it was stolen in a robbery in 2007. You all know the story by now (there's old threads about it if you don't) but in summary 5 years after the burlgary, forum hero Joe caught the perpetrator selling some of my other figures, and I eventually got it back. It was probably the MOC I was most gutted to lose in the theft because I'd had it such a long time. I was over the moon to be reuinted with it, and it's not going anywhere again

 

[theforceuk]

To spend £100 when your 14 on a MOC is dedication. Great you still have it after all that's happened.

 

[edd_jedi]

To spend £100 when your 14 on a MOC is dedication.

Yes I had a reasonable collection of MOCs at the time (30ish) but the vast majority were trilogo and Jedi cards that cost me £10-30 each. So this one was a big step, and the only Star Wars card I owned until after the millennium. I also stuck to a strict £100 max budget until well in to the 2000s :lol:

 

[TheJabbaWookie]

Interesting story Edd. Sorry about the burglary. Glad you got that piece back though as it clearly meant so much. It's a beautiful MOC.

 

[Pomse2001]

AT-AT Christmas 1985, woke up Christmas morning really scared, had a strange dream, something about a weird Santa. Anyway it was still dark and I had been very excited about getting the AT-AT after seeing loads of them lined up at Tesco's, I remember thinking it's ages until Christmas but was probably only a couple of weeks really.

Thing was I could see this big black thing by the bed and because the dream had freaked me out I was to scared to get up, I was only 5. :lol: So I shout my Mum to come and get me, she comes in all tired and asks what the problem is. My mum says don't be silly and turns the light on. I realise pretty quickly that it's probably the AT-AT wrapped in a bin bag! :lol:

I can still remember that morning really well, certainly the best Christmas memories, such a cool toy for a 5 year old. My parents told me the story of how my Dad left it until Christmas eve to get me one after my Mum had nagged him to get one from Tesco's as they were the cheapest and they had loads. By Christmas Eve they were well sold out, so my Dad had to drive all over the place looking for one, as Santa was definitely bringing me an AT-AT. My Dad ended up getting one from Falmouth which was a 2 hour round trip from where we lived and payed over the odds.

Great stories everyone, I've still got the AT-AT, it's on display in my lounge and the box is in the loft. My son and daughter have to play with it a lot and perhaps my grandchildren will one day. It still works as well, although I only have 1 chewed chin gun. I even have photos from the actual day.

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Great story mate, I have never heard that story before from you or seen that cool childhood picture that you have. Fantastic that you have pictures from that day 8)

 

[Pomse2001]

20200507_095114.jpgDon't have a photo of it right now because I'm skiving at work, but my 12 inch Chewie is one I remember picking up. Preston Thursday carboot sale in 1991. I was doing work experience at a Ford main dealer and nipped into town on my lunch break to have a mooch at the carboot sale. There was a regular Star Wars dealer on there who I bought loads from at 1991 prices The Chewie was lying naked on one of the other stalls. I had never heard of the 12 inch line so this was amazing to me. Cost was a whole £2.50. Bargain 8)

Great story mate

 

[Pomse2001]

This is one of the two Stormtroopers I've got in my loose set, he is in very nice condition and he was found in the wild. I've been a charity shopper for a long time, prob since my teens going to local ones where I grew up in Essex hunting for records etc. I've found all sorts of amazing things in charity shops over the years and got some real bargains. I moved to Surrey in 2007 and started collecting in 2008. I've continued browsing the charity shops down this way since then but it was on a visit back to my old stomping ground in Westcliff-on-Sea about nine years ago that I stumbled upon something I was not expecting. I was probably up there visiting my Mum or Sister who live up the road in Leigh. I don't know why I was in Westcliff, I think I just fancied a mooch about the old manor, I lived there from 1996 to about 2001. There's a main road, the London Road which is lined with all sorts of weird little shops and businesses and off that is another busy street full of shops and restaurants called Hamlet Court Road. Anyway, I was walking along the London Road at the top of Hamlet Court Road and came to what looked like a closed 2nd hand or junk shop. I poked my head through the door and it was actually a charity shop. But not one of those nice tidy organised ones, it was a junk shop, a right **** hole. There was stuff just piled up everywhere and you could hardly move in there. Loads of knackered looking electronic stuff and TV remotes etc. There was an old dude in there with a big beard behind the counter and I think an old lady too. I started looking around and immediately I looked up and there it was, on a shelf, standing up amongst a load of tat. A perfect white Stormtrooper..! I made my way over there and grabbed it. This was not a place with price tags on things. I turned to the old guy and said - how much for this mate? He goes - 99p for those mate. Well I couldn't get the ******* quid out my pocket fast enough. And I still cant fathom to this day how it ended up there in that condition and I got it before anyone else? Nuts

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99p for a nice white stormie sounds fantastic thanks for the story :wink:

 

[theforceuk]

To spend £100 when your 14 on a MOC is dedication.

Yes I had a reasonable collection of MOCs at the time (30ish) but the vast majority were trilogo and Jedi cards that cost me £10-30 each. So this one was a big step, and the only Star Wars card I owned until after the millennium. I also stuck to a strict £100 max budget until well in to the 2000s :lol:

You put me to shame, at that age I was spending a phew £s on loose beaters and car boots and second hand shops!

Thanks [mention]Lars[/mention] the pictures are very cherished!

 

[Pomse2001]

I have a love for baggies ( Frank...Frunkstar I hold you solely to blame !)


Have a number of baggies in my collection

I was then so lucky that Frank found through his extensive contacts an opportunity to get my hansds on a 4 pack mail away box in rough state with my love of bringing items back to life I grasped with both hands and was so fortunate to get the item gifted :shock:

I proceeded to repair and and get the mail away packaging box back to a display state with starch and ironing and then proceeded to source the correct baggies and leaflet for the piece

Was a labour of love and makes me smile every time I look at it, just need to display in a way that befits it's status now.

The forum and the members on here basically are a testament to what you can achieve on a budget that not only enables you to add apiece to your collection that you are passionate about, but also brings back components from all sources theta you then end up with a piece of "history" that is back in the game

This is what I love about SW vintage collecting it's the patience and the support from members with a like minded passion for collecting that fulfils your passions

Hard work, searching, discussing, buying and trading until you get a piece in your collection that you are so pleased with and makes you smile for you, not for its intrinsic value or rarity, but just for your benefit.

I now have a 15 pack mail away that I'm working on and again with the help and support of Frank I'm on a new project

Any way her is the 4 pack Mailer in all its glory, hope you like it as much as I do, and again it's a piece that's been brought back to life

Love it

Thanks michael for that great story I first learned about this mail away box when I started to collect in the early 00. It was not someting that you could get in denmark when I was a kid

 

[Pomse2001]

This is the pride and joy of my collection. Both box and toy have seen better days.

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This was my Christmas present from 1982 or 83. I always remember on Christmas Eve, hearing the front door opening and my Dad going outside. Ten minutes later I watched him struggling across the road with an AT-AT Walker and a Millenium Falcon for my brother (it's battered remains are still in the my spare room). It was that night I discovered Father Christmas wasn't real as well :lol: This represents everything about my childhood and I wouldn't part with it for the world. It's also a connection with my parents who have now both passed on. I was very fortunate to get nice presents as my parents didn't have a great deal of money. You just didn't realise these things at the time.
Looking back, I've lost count how many times in the past I've attacked it with a Snowspeeder run and pushing it sideways for the satisfying crashing noise it would make on the floor. It makes me cringe now how I used to treat it as a child!!
Reading through this great thread it's so special to have those memories and in my case something tabgable I can still see and touch to bring those times flooding back again.

Great story mate from your childhood. I understand why you would never sell or trade it with such a great story this walker has

 

[Pomse2001]

After finishing my loose run of figures, I decided to go for a focus. I chose Zuckuss as he was the first figure I had bought for me as a kid in 1982.

I have a few Zuckuss items now but bought this to remind me of my first ever figure on an Empire card, fresh from Tesco.

Thanks mate for sharing your story, I wish I remembered my first star wars figure, I think I was so young when I got my first so that is why I do not remember it.

 

[Pomse2001]

Got to be this one for me (sorry it's packed away so using an old photo.) Bought in around 1995 from a local toy dealer in Poole, Dorset. Luke X-Wing or "Orange Luke" was my favourite figure as a kid, so getting one on a Kenner SW card was one of my very first collecting goals. It cost £100 and aged only 14 at the time I had to save up for weeks to buy it, I paid in instalments and remember how chuffed I was when I finally took it home.

My collection has been quite 'fluid' over the years, I regularly sell to fund other purchases, but this MOC was one I hung on to... Until it was stolen in a robbery in 2007. You all know the story by now (there's old threads about it if you don't) but in summary 5 years after the burlgary, forum hero Joe caught the perpetrator selling some of my other figures, and I eventually got it back. It was probably the MOC I was most gutted to lose in the theft because I'd had it such a long time. I was over the moon to be reuinted with it, and it's not going anywhere again

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Great story edd and great that you got it back . I think I remember the story, was it not something about a friend of your brother or something like that, that had stolen the items ? Did you get any of the other star wars items and the computers back ? The things you did not get back, have they ever showed up again in other collections ?

 

[edd_jedi]

Great story edd and great that you got it back . I think I remember the story, was it not something about a friend of your brother or something like that, that had stolen the items ? Did you get any of the other star wars items and the computers back ? The things you did not get back, have they ever showed up again in other collections ?

Yes it was one of my brothers friends who he knew from playing pool. He must have shown them to him at some point. Most of the 'non Star Wars' items taken belonged to my parents as it was their house, but I also had a record bag full of vinyl taken that was never recovered. By the time he was caught 5 years later he only had about 10 of the 70ish MOCs left, so the other 60 are out there somewhere, but I don't look for them any more (I always said I would never try and get them back from people who bought them in good faith.)

 

[Pomse2001]

Great story edd and great that you got it back . I think I remember the story, was it not something about a friend of your brother or something like that, that had stolen the items ? Did you get any of the other star wars items and the computers back ? The things you did not get back, have they ever showed up again in other collections ?

Yes it was one of my brothers friends who he knew from playing pool. He must have shown them to him at some point. Most of the 'non Star Wars' items taken belonged to my parents as it was their house, but I also had a record bag full of vinyl taken that was never recovered. By the time he was caught 5 years later he only had about 10 of the 70ish MOCs left, so the other 60 are out there somewhere, but I don't look for them any more (I always said I would never try and get them back from people who bought them in good faith.)

Thanks edd for the update Did he go to jail for it ? I was just thinking if you found some of them, maybe the new owner would sell them back to you :wink: But I guess since you do not look for them then you do not miss them anymore, I guess you got some money from the insurance company ?

 

[Dr_Ball_MD]

Yes cracking Zuckuss, lets see your focus!

It's not huge but there's a link in my signature, I have quite a bit of modern 4-LOM as well but not pictured.

 

[Palifan]

Yes cracking Zuckuss, lets see your focus!

It's not huge but there's a link in my signature, I have quite a bit of modern 4-LOM as well but not pictured.

Great collection and I don't think I've seen your flickr page before so it's nice to see how well laid out they are.

Ian

 

[theforceuk]

Yes cracking Zuckuss, lets see your focus!

It's not huge but there's a link in my signature, I have quite a bit of modern 4-LOM as well but not pictured.

Nice focus, love the LL card. 8)

 

[jayums]

My random piece is my original copy of the Return of the Jedi novel, picked up in the '83/4, I believe. My gran told me to pick something whilst we were out shopping and I chose the novel. I loved the cover artwork and the prologue and that was enough for me to not choose a figure, or some other item that I would normally have chosen as a 7/8 year old. It's a well thumbed book but I still love it

I had that novel ! Had some nice colour photos from the film inside, unless I'm mistaken.

 

[Nita Nitro]

I had that novel ! Had some nice colour photos from the film inside, unless I'm mistaken.
[/quote]

It does... it's hard to remember just how good it was to have the pictures from the movie in a book like that, especially when there was not the immediate access to the film itself that we have nowadays. It's something I still like in a movie adaptation to this day

 

[poncho]

Bump