Star Wars Collecting

[wolfx]

Hi guys. I don't intend to start a new star wars collecting spree here. But since the dawn of time I always wanted an X-Wing toy or die-cast display that doesn't look like crap or costs a spine and a liver. Any new X-wings coming out or any to recommend that doesn't cost you a bomb? I saw some nice big X-wings in some collection pictures but not sure where they are from.

And what's with the Hasbro Star Wars figures? They have almost every freaking character in star wars. They don't even look that good and their "lightning launching emperor" like features are dodgy at best. But everyone wants to complete this hugeeee series. And then from this series there are the rare figures....that everybody will queue outisde TRU to get..like Vader or some Target exclusive Clone Trooper. What makes these figures rare? Hasbro ships only 1 Vader in every carton of 10 or something?

Just curious about the star wars collecting scene.

[Fugly]

I apologize in advance if this doesn't help, BUT:

I've been jonesin' for some Stormy action (figures! I mean figures!) ever since I started playing Battlefront, and apparently the VOTC Stormtrooper is the way to go. If you're into 12", the marmit ones (Stormy, SandStormy, AT-AT Pilot) are good, and the upcomin' RAH Darth Vader looks awesome. The sword looks kinda short, but then again, it's a lot truer to the original movies.

Oh yeah, and already out is a nice RAH Luke. Cloak, lightsaber, pretty good sculpt, though not very accurate, if that makes sense...

[Guppy]

My SW collecting frenzy passed away a couple of years ago. I must have about 200 figures in a box looking like a mass grave.

I still display all my Action Fleet ships. I've got about 30 of them.

[Eternal_D]

as far as collecting star wars figures...good luck getting them ALL. they put out so many exclusives a year...you're bound to go crazy trying to get them all. plus all the vehicles, 12" figures, playsets, delux craps...oh forget about it.

then you get 6 of the same figure...luke with hat, luke with cloak, jedi luke, luke with blaster, luke with battle damage, luke with...you get the idea.

my suggestion to you is...funk hasbro! maybe pick up a few of those little figures for fun. stuff like marmit, kotobukiya, fine molds(model kits), medicom, and code 3 can get a little pricey, but at least you won't get stuck with 20 variations of the same character ie luke with new pose! or some retarded char that shows up for 1 second in the films.

in short, buy what you like and can afford, stay away from buying all SW figures, somewhere down the line, you'll regret it.

[wolfx]

Thanks for the replies. So as it stands it seems the japanese renditions of the star wars figures seem to be the best bet for collecting.

I'm still wanting on of them X-wing fighters though.

[Graham]

Best X-Wing toy IMO would be the Kenner electronic FX X-wing from 1998.

Best X-Wing collectible IMO is the Code-3 diecast X-Wing, if you have money to burn.

Best X-Wing model kit IMO is the Fine Molds version.

Graham

[Warmaker]

Best X-Wing toy IMO would be the Kenner electronic FX X-wing from 1998.

Best X-Wing collectible IMO is the Code-3 diecast X-Wing, if you have money to burn.

Best X-Wing model kit IMO is the Fine Molds version.

Graham

If Fine Molds can make 1/48 scale versions of their Star Wars kits...

[Guppy]

I'm starting to worry that I like all the new vehicles a lot.. which means buying more SW crap and nowhere to put it. I love the republic attack cruiser and the jedi starfighter. I still don't like the aRC-170 though.

[Zor Primus]

I have quite a few figures still in boxes from all three prequals. One figure in particular I've been after is Amidala in her Queen outfit she wore in the Senate when she thrashed Valorum.

I got the Target Exclusive "Lava" Darth Vader...two in fact. Already over $50 on eBay

[bsu legato]

Best X-Wing model kit IMO is the Fine Molds version.

Not quite. The Fine Molds is an awesome piece, but the best kit would unquestionably be the Captain Cardboard Studio Scale X-Wing kit, which as it so happens is currently being produced by a member here. Contact mslz22 to see if he still has kits available.

[Hoptimus]

I only collect 2 SW types.

1.) Star Wars LEGOS

2.) 12" Star Wars Figures.

The smaller figures always dissapoint me. Although a friend bought me the clone commander and its pretty cool.

[armentage]

I remember a small Die-Cast X-Wing toy that would fall apart. It had to be about 20 years ago. I want to say it was Micro-Machines, but it was too big for that. About 4" long, with a rubber band or something that kept the body in one pice. When you pushed a pin in the back, the whole thing would fall apart (to appear crashed)

I was a kid when I had this toy, but I remember it being really detailed and nice to look at. Anyone have idea what it could have been?

[do not disturb]

I only collect 2 SW types.

1.) Star Wars LEGOS

ahhh, another intelligent member on these boards.

back on topic of SW collecting....

while legos are kind of expensive, they don't put out as much "crap" as hasbro. the line is relatively small in comparison to the other companies that have a SW license so its not that hard to collect them. i think theres been a total of 140+ sets including mini's, technic, systems, UCS, promo's and other nonsense like keychains and pens. they didn't release a lot of stuff considering they got the license in 1999 and they only have the til 2007.

the only other SW stuff i'd like to collect is those damn lightsabers but they're way expensive and they're all pretty much the same outside of dooku and darth maul(the only one i really want). or possibly the action fleet stuff since its small.

i don't think i'd ever start collecting hasbro, even as a kid i only had the x-wing and the snowspeeder, no actions figures. theres too much crap out there and even more crap that you didn't know about...like the luke with the red and green rasta capin the japanese packaging thats only sold in south africa.

[wolfx]

After watching star wars, i've been bitten by the bug. I MUST HAVE SOME CLONE TROOPERS!!

Some people told me that the Target Exclusive clone trooper is the best figure to have due to its poseability. But the price for this thing is absurdly more than the rest.

Anybody has one of these or some screenshots of one?

[MrDisco]

i got the TrU hologram yoda. wish i could get the target lava vader but there are none up here

[dyowelb]

i only have those star wars animated figures from CN. i'm still missing the yellow and red trooper though.

[areaseven]

I'm shopping for a soundtrack CD that has tracks from the original trilogy (and maybe some from the current trilogy), as the Special Edition OSTs are just too expensive. Which of these should I order?

John Williams Conducts John Williams: The Star Wars Trilogy by the Skywalker Symphony

Music From the Star Wars Saga by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra

The Star Wars Trilogy by the Utah Symphony Orchestra

John Williams Conducts Music From the Star Wars Trilogy by the Boston Pops Orchestra

The Best of Star Wars by the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra

[Warmaker]

1/6 Medicom Darth Vader figure (Preorder HLJ) You'll never see this here in the US, since...

their ROTJ Luke looks pretty good.

Kotobukiya 1/7 Sandtrooper

StarWarsShop.com used to have 2 other exclusive Kotobukiya Sandtrooper variants. These things are nearly 1 foot tall and look good.

[Toonz]

my starwars collection centres mostly on the jedi and sith

[promethuem5]

Only thing I have to say is:

Star Wars figures suck balls! They are of very poor quality, the paint jobs usually suck, there is almost no posability, and the materials are very poor... this is especially apparent on all of the battle droid designs.... small spindly figures should not be made of uber-soft plastic because by the time you get it out of the package, it's a bent out of whack, warped, gangly mess...

I can't comment on the 12 inch figures and such, but I have always found the small figures to suck righteously.

[Black Valkyrie]

The last thing I got a few month ago was Luke Bespin Duel and R2D2 Sails Barge. Most of my collection are the main characters OT, some from TPM plus many Stormtroopers and I do have some 12inch figures but overall OK.

[Chronocidal]

Most of the old figures truly were pathetic, but I think they're getting better.. the old ones had at most 6 points where they could twist.. waist, neck, shoulders, and hips. No posability at all. The latest ones though, they look more along the lines of the old GI Joe posability, with bending elbows, knees, etc.. maybe even waist and ankles. But really, I don't think I've ever bought a figure that didn't come with a vehicle. They just don't interest me that much.

As for X-Wings, though, I'm obsessive. I think I have about 6 of the original 1978 kit (all nasty, working on hacking the kits to death to get a decent model), 1 of Ertl's snap kits (all hand painted, looks pretty good but horribly inaccurate), the later 1/32 special FX Ertl model (much better cockpit, but worse exterior detailing than before if you can believe it), two or three of the Action Fleet X-Wings, one of the Micro Machine ones, two Lego ones (first edition, and Ultimate Collector Series), plus now 3 and 1/2 of the Hasbro FX style ships. I've never gotten up the nerve to buy the Fine Molds kit because it's just so tiny. I couldn't justify the price tag when I could get the TRU Red Leader edition X-Wing for the same price. I want a Captain Cardboard like nobody's business, but, I can't afford it, and frankly, a resin kit of that magnitude frightens me when I consider I've never built one before.

Now, a note about the FX X-Wing: It was a great toy, but frankly, I got a little annoyed with all the electronics. I tried to take the thing apart once so I could repaint it, and got hampered with all the crazy wiring and circuits inside. Also, the flight handle just bugged me. I left it off, but the trigger and missile launcher still were there, constantly getting set off for various reasons. I bought one of these when they went on sale for $25 way back when they couldn't sell them for $75 like they wanted to. Recently though, I bought just the fuselage of one on Ebay for $3. No wings guns or canopy, probably no missile either. But it doesn't worry me one bit, and you'll see why...

More recently, different variations on the FX version X-Wing were released. One, a while back, was released with Dagobah-ish packaging, came with an R2 unit and was basically the same ship, except this time, no electronics, and no pilot figure. They essentially gutted the FX version, put in an actual cockpit and R2 socket, and remolded the fuselage without the battery box, missile mechanism, and all the buttons and stuff for the sounds. Essentially, what was left was the most accurate X-Wing toy ever produced... EXCEPT: The nice, sharp, accurate nose-cone of the FX version is no more. On these new editions, they replaced it with a REALLY blunt version. Stupid child safety limitations..

In the past year or so, they released a different version of this Non-FX-Wing, this time in the markings of Red Leader from Episode IV, with a special figure, but no R2 unit. It went exclusively to TRU for about $30. I managed to get one there, and another recently on Ebay.

These most recent toys, either the Dagobah or Red Leader one, are probably the best, most accurate X-Wing toys ever made. Also, from what I can tell, it's VERY nearly a studio scale ship. Going off the published length of an actual ship of 12.5 meters, this toy comes out very close to 1/24 scale. It's close to about 20 inches long, maybe a little less.

Now, for a little explanation... I'm a detail freak. Years ago, I set out on a quest of sorts to make an accurate X-Wing for display.. well, I gave up on the Ertl kits some time ago, and now my plan is to take a dremel to one of these Red Leader editions, and make myself "The Poor Man's Studio X-Wing." I'm planning a LOT of modifications. This is where that spare FX fuselage comes in.. it's spare parts, plus an accurate nosecone. I don't know how far I'll go with this, but I hope to completely remodel some parts of the ship. I'm hoping to replace the vinyl wings with scratch-built ones (ones that won't bend and warp ) and rebuild the guns mostly from scratch. I also hope to get some old J-79 engine parts to rebuild the rear engines and nozzles to look more like the movie models. Cockpit'll be completely redone too, and I'm going to cut off the fake rear windows and make a new canopy from sheet styrene and maybe some lexan sheet for windows.... Okay, I don't know if all that will really happen, but at the very least I'm going to strip the stickers off it, scribe some more detail in the hull, and paint it up to look like the movies. In the end, I'm planning to either display it, or maybe hang it from the ceiling. Dunno if I'll glue it all together and remove the screw holes, but it's a possibility.

So, yeah.. My name's Steve... and I'm an X-Wing-o-holic....

Edited May 23, 2005 by Chronocidal

[Black Valkyrie]

All X-wing fans here, no MillenniumFalcon fans

[wolfx]

Only thing I have to say is:

Star Wars figures suck balls! They are of very poor quality, the paint jobs usually suck, there is almost no posability, and the materials are very poor... this is especially apparent on all of the battle droid designs.... small spindly figures should not be made of uber-soft plastic because by the time you get it out of the package, it's a bent out of whack, warped, gangly mess...

I can't comment on the 12 inch figures and such, but I have always found the small figures to suck righteously.

I heard otherwise from reviews and some collectors for the newer range, but it might be collector's bias?

I don't care for the 1000001 characters that appear in starwars and their variants, cause i've seen the face sculpts and the paint application. They were indeed horrid. But I think building up a republic army isn't bad. The Clone Trooper is touted among SW collectors to be the most super-poseable figure in the line. I'm really liking the Clone Commander....and will probably get few of the basic trooopers (which have a lame quick-draw action when you press the legs but apparently loses no poseability). Paint application like everything in the line is a hit and miss. Looks like crap on some, looks forgiveable in others. You'd think White and Black would be simple to paint and not get bad paint finishings on it. But then again, i want a republic army badly now. And that clone commander looks kick ass.

[areaseven]

Nice HLJ logo, Warmaker.

[Warmaker]

I just linked it straight to HLJ. That's not a bad thing is it?

[areaseven]

I just linked it straight to HLJ. That's not a bad thing is it?

If you didn't notice, HLJ has security measures to prevent people from directly posting their pics to other sites.

[wolfx]

Well....star wars collecting in malaysia sure is a bitch. Everybody is scalping everything and HASBRO malaysia sure is a crap distributor. There's not enough stuff going around for everyone. Local retailers have to rely on HK traders to get stock and hence more expensive than normal price. Anyway, here's my clone army. And most of it is Japan imports.

http://www.wolf-x.com/gallery/clones

Customised the clone commander a wee bit cause out of the card it looks like crap.

[Briareos]

Im definitely picking up the Medicom Darth Vader and Stormtrooper

If you have the cash consider GG's Speederbike and Scout