The truth is once you start collecting you never really stop, there is always a figure a vehicle or something you find or want to add and if you get hold of a few of the collectors books you'll see just how much stuff has been made between 1977 and today and of course being a SW toy collector probably means you drift into other IP's (Transformers, M.A.S.K & Lego in my case - oh and comics...) It is never ending.
Repros are a nightmare now. The reality is they have always existed, probably going back to the 80's but they weren't commercial back then, I would say in the 80's and early 90's it was more a case of people loosing them, or kids loosing them and parents tying to just recreate a staff or a gun or whatever and if you look at the repros from back then they are pretty obvious (Colour, shape, material etc,) - I guess they really became an issue in the late 90's when folks realised there was a market for them, first as replacements, which is one thing, but now they are so good that you're left with a bunch of folks who try to pass them off as vintage because they can (nasty people), mixed in with folks who probably have no idea what is real and what is fake - it is a minefield. Experience will come, but relying on places like here and other resources to build up that knowledge and build your own is the only way
Now as a tangent, what is interesting is custom stuff - i.e. things that people create to fill gaps from original lines and so forth, so they aren't fake or presenting to be anything they are not - there can be some great stuff in this category and another rabbit hole to go down. I have a few of the Shadows of the Empire and SW Rebels customs from these guys - very good:
https://www.cardback-customs.de/our-showroom-boonta-eve/
Lots of fun to dive into...
