Newbie looking for advice

BatintheBelfry

BatintheBelfry

Padawan
Joined
Jun 5, 2008
Messages
219
Location
Scotland
Hi all,

I'm Alex and, as the subject suggests, I'm new to the vintage star wars collecting scene. Please be kind! ;)

Anyway, I'm looking to start a collection of vintage figures, mostly for nostalgia reasons as those are the toys I grew up with as a kid. However, I have no real idea of what to look for in terms of what a good price for a figure is or how best to avoid buying a fake/dud (let's face it, we all know what ebay is like!).

What I'd appreciate from you guys and girls are a few tips on how to go about starting my collection. Pointers on how to spot reproductions/good deals, links to other sites with good info, any good sites or conventions to buy from, whatever. All advice is welcome.

Thanks in advance and hope to hear from some of you soon.
 
Hey Alex, welcome to the forum. 8)

Plenty of people on here will be glad to help. For a start a few people on here are currently selling some loose (complete) figures, in pretty good condition. Have a look in the "Star wars items for sale" or "Ebay listings" threads.
Don't worry no one on here will try and shaft you, or sell you a repro (unless you want to buy a repro).
Obviously, the better the condition the figure is in, the more it is worth. If you are keen to get the collection completed as soon as possible, it will be easier to do if you are willing to tolerate a few figures with wear on them (paint chips etc). Once the collection is complete you can then upgrade them, if you want.
There is also the issue of variants. Some figures were made with subtle differences. TBH some of the differences are very hard to spot, but variant collectors seem to delight in finding them. Some of the main variants would be the blue snaggletooth figure (as opposed to the regular, and smaller, red one) and the Jawa with the plastic/Vinyl cape. However, as these are 'rarer' they are more expensive and in the Jawa's case very commonly forged (the plastic Jawa cape is very similar to cape on Ben kenobi).

As far as prices on Ebay go, I'm sure you know what that place can be like. One day a figure will sell for £3, the next day £6, the day after it won't sell at all!

I'm not a loose collector myself, no doubt some one on here can tell you the best place to look, but you may also want to have a read of the bad sellers thread. (I know there is one, but I'm buggered if I can find it!)
That way you know who to avoid, or the reasons why people on here think you should avoid these dodgey sellers!

Any other questions feel free to ask, we're a pretty laid back bunch on here and no one minds answering questions. We all started from were you are now!
 
hi and welcome

http://www.loresdelsith.net/rincon/armeria/index2.htm

the link above will give you a head start on repro weapons and how to avoid them


sellers like emina_1 will sell you repro's listing as vintage so be sure to miss that seller if u dont want **** figures and repro weapons...

ive got a load of nice figures for sale also... :)

are you wanting the main run or are you going to collect the droids line and ewoks line also?
 
Thanks for the warm welcome and the advice so far 8)

I'd definitely be interested in collecting some of the droids; ewoks not so much just now, unless I could get something of pretty decent quality (no offense to any ewok fans out there!). I'd also be interested in some of the vehicles, although I imagine they can fetch a fair price.

I'd like to steer clear of repros if at all possible - I'm a bit of a purist at heart.

One question I haven't found the answer to yet; does the country of origin of a figure make much of a difference?
 
BatintheBelfry said:
One question I haven't found the answer to yet; does the country of origin of a figure make much of a difference?
Click to expand...

some of the country of origin differences can mean that they are from different toy lines such as

Lili Ledy (mexico) mixtures of coo's (a small minefield)
Glasslite (Brazil) i need to learn more about...
PBP/poch (Spain) usually scarred off coo
Clipper (netherlands) i need to learn more about...
Takara (japan) need to learn more...
popy (japan) need to learn more also...

the kenner lines are USA and palitoy UK -
Trilogo ones were also distributed in a few country also

some have "melted/erased coo's" and some have "scarred off coo's" and some have moulded bars over the original coo areas

so in short - some COO's can make the SAME LOOKING figure rarer and worth more to collectors etc - some have subtle other differences such as hollow cheeks tusken raider or bright yellow cloud car pilot or even dark leg han hoths and molded leg han hoths - these can sell for alot more than their standard counterparts
 
BatintheBelfry said:
Thanks for the warm welcome and the advice so far 8)

I'd definitely be interested in collecting some of the droids; ewoks not so much just now, unless I could get something of pretty decent quality (no offense to any ewok fans out there!). I'd also be interested in some of the vehicles, although I imagine they can fetch a fair price.

I'd like to steer clear of repros if at all possible - I'm a bit of a purist at heart.

One question I haven't found the answer to yet; does the country of origin of a figure make much of a difference?
Click to expand...

welcome ,youve just asked gusties favourite question :lol: :lol:
if your a purist take you time ,just buy of here or other forums or ebayers who are recommended .leah toys is good for loose figures
as for loose ships you can get them cheaper then you think .
i have a minty dengar and lobot for sale and a fett but i,m not sure on fetts weapon .
anyway we have a euro 2008 sweep going in off topic with about 4 numbers left if you want a go .the winner gets a £1 off everyone through pay pal
oh and there are no girls on here anymore ,craig scared them all away :cry: thats unless your a lady :D
 
http://www.landoslocker.co.uk
http://www.rebelscum.com/VINfigures.asp


link for all vintage figures

the ewok and droids line are there too if u browse about
 
Welcome...

Said this before but from the point of view of a loose figure collector, take your time and go for good quality, complete figures, you'll soon get a gauge of the prices (expect to pay £10 for a good quality white Princess Leia or a reasonably minty R2D2), look for figures on Ebay under 'Vintage Star wars' and also just their character names (some people list them in 'sci-fi collectables' and the general browsers miss them, I got some great figures cheep this way).
Avoid reproductions where possible, I ended up replacing my (several) repro weapons as my collection became better/more concise though I wont bother with a real vinal cape for my Jawa.

My collection cost about £350-400 over 6 months.

I just have 10 of the Last 17s to get now and they can wait as they are the expensive ones (Yak Face, Luke Stormtrooper), saying that I won a nice looking General lando today for £1.70, no cape but at that price I couldnt say no!

I've bought a couple of bits off here and highly recomend it.
 
01AB said:
Welcome...

Said this before but from the point of view of a loose figure collector, take your time and go for good quality, complete figures, you'll soon get a gauge of the prices (expect to pay £10 for a good quality white Princess Leia or a reasonably minty R2D2), look for figures on Ebay under 'Vintage Star wars' and also just their character names (some people list them in 'sci-fi collectables' and the general browsers miss them, I got some great figures cheep this way).
Avoid reproductions where possible, I ended up replacing my (several) repro weapons as my collection became better/more concise though I wont bother with a real vinal cape for my Jawa.

My collection cost about £350-400 over 6 months.

I just have 10 of the Last 17s to get now and they can wait as they are the expensive ones (Yak Face, Luke Stormtrooper), saying that I won a nice looking General lando today for £1.70, no cape but at that price I couldnt say no!

I've bought a couple of bits off here and highly recomend it.
Click to expand...


if you can get a mintyt ish leia for a tenner you,ve done well
 
I got it (her) a mint Luke farmboy and also very good Obi Wan for under £10 for the three of them.
As I said above, I think they were listed under 'Sci-Fi colectables', you wouldnt have found them unless you were looking bloody hard.
I was tempted to sell them straight back on but didnt see the point as I would be planning to get them anyway at some point!
 
Yes, all original, was about 6 months ago I think, not bad considdering a leia pistol alone can go for £10.

In the early stages of collecting tough its easier to pick up bargains, I wasnt desparate to jump in and buy stuff, theres allways a choice of figures to buy, no rush, average a couple a week for the price of 20 B&H and a pint.

I did end up going through a good few R2s and luke Jedis before I was happy though, thats when It gets expensive, I've just got my new Biker Scout (minty white as i wasnt happy with the yellowing one i had) and I might have a quick look for a whiter 8D8 tonight.

Thats what great about colecting vintage Star Wars, you can choose the level of quality, do you want it in its original packaging, variants/customs (I gave up on that line of collecting for health reasons!), AFA etc and stuff will be out there for years to come so there really isnt a rush to grab it all.

****, you can tell I've been away from the internet for 2 weeks.....
 
jabbawokkie said:
oh and there are no girls on here anymore ,craig scared them all away :cry:
Click to expand...
Scruffy was your girl Jabba, not mine !! :wink:

I do miss the days when we asked newcomers what their worst sexual experience was though !! :lol:
 
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