Post by scoobypat on Jun 19, 2007 14:45:30 GMT -5
This story has a point trust me, please read.
So about 15 years ago I was 5 and I lived in Omaha,NE. I was obssesed with Star Wars from the moment I saw it. Every few weeks it would be about time for me to get a haircut and afterwards my dad would take me next door to a comic shop that was loaded with used 70's/80's Star Wars figs, this was before the internet was popular so the craze and price of these figs were relatively cheap. Over time I had amassed quite a collection, I'm willing to bet at one point I had over 120 not including repeats or vehicles. Those figures were my first love, I had GI Joe, and I had He-Man and Playmobiles, but my Star Wars figures were my first passion really. But along with being obssesed with them came playing with them just about every day. I was a kid and these were my toys, I had no idea of what there worth was nor did I care because to me they were worth more than money. Let me tell you I was rough with those suckers, some were chewed by my dogs, some were lost, some just fell apart over time.
As I grew up the new line of figures came but I never really got nearly as many as the older figs. And as I grew up I began to conform to what was cool and what wasn't, my Star Wars passion was put in a closet figuratively and metaphorically as it wasn't cool.
Fast forward to about 2003, I was a teenager in search of money and quick, that's when I realized I was sitting on gold. I pulled out my old boxes and gave my dad about 40 figs, a Darth Vader fig carrying case, and an original Ewok tree fort. On eBay I got probably $65 total for it, and I went on my way.
Now fast forward even more, to yesterday to be precise. Cleaning out my room I found a box full of about 40 figs and a few original vehicles. Some of the stuff was in bad shape, an original X-Wing was missing all of it's wings and it's cock-pit window, a bunch of figs lookes like casualties of war missing half of limbs from my dogs. Usually a site like that would depress a man, I mean that's as good as watching yourself burn money, but let me tell you it kind of made me happy. You see last year I started collecting wrestling figs, and I joined here. Thats when I started realizing people seemed to miss the point of these figures, I'd read stories about guys getting angry at how little kid treated figs or freaking out when things were taken out of the package. One thread comes to mind a ways back when a guy said his nephews friend had a Terry Funk fig covered in marker and dirt, the posters in the thread would go on to speak about how sick it made them. Well looking at thsoe destroyed vehicles made me realize I got more out of those then i could ever get money-wise, I have memories to last a life-time and the sentimental value of those figs is worth so much more than the monetary. I pulled out those boxes yesterday thinking perhaps I'd eBay them, I'm proud to say all 40 figs that are in good shap, and a few vehicles, now reside on my shelf giving me more pleasue then I'd ever get by selling them
The point of my long winded story is that I see people taking this hobby too seriously, they seem more concerned about the selling value of items then the actual item. I'm just trying to urge you to remember why you got into collecting figs, I do now.
So about 15 years ago I was 5 and I lived in Omaha,NE. I was obssesed with Star Wars from the moment I saw it. Every few weeks it would be about time for me to get a haircut and afterwards my dad would take me next door to a comic shop that was loaded with used 70's/80's Star Wars figs, this was before the internet was popular so the craze and price of these figs were relatively cheap. Over time I had amassed quite a collection, I'm willing to bet at one point I had over 120 not including repeats or vehicles. Those figures were my first love, I had GI Joe, and I had He-Man and Playmobiles, but my Star Wars figures were my first passion really. But along with being obssesed with them came playing with them just about every day. I was a kid and these were my toys, I had no idea of what there worth was nor did I care because to me they were worth more than money. Let me tell you I was rough with those suckers, some were chewed by my dogs, some were lost, some just fell apart over time.
As I grew up the new line of figures came but I never really got nearly as many as the older figs. And as I grew up I began to conform to what was cool and what wasn't, my Star Wars passion was put in a closet figuratively and metaphorically as it wasn't cool.
Fast forward to about 2003, I was a teenager in search of money and quick, that's when I realized I was sitting on gold. I pulled out my old boxes and gave my dad about 40 figs, a Darth Vader fig carrying case, and an original Ewok tree fort. On eBay I got probably $65 total for it, and I went on my way.
Now fast forward even more, to yesterday to be precise. Cleaning out my room I found a box full of about 40 figs and a few original vehicles. Some of the stuff was in bad shape, an original X-Wing was missing all of it's wings and it's cock-pit window, a bunch of figs lookes like casualties of war missing half of limbs from my dogs. Usually a site like that would depress a man, I mean that's as good as watching yourself burn money, but let me tell you it kind of made me happy. You see last year I started collecting wrestling figs, and I joined here. Thats when I started realizing people seemed to miss the point of these figures, I'd read stories about guys getting angry at how little kid treated figs or freaking out when things were taken out of the package. One thread comes to mind a ways back when a guy said his nephews friend had a Terry Funk fig covered in marker and dirt, the posters in the thread would go on to speak about how sick it made them. Well looking at thsoe destroyed vehicles made me realize I got more out of those then i could ever get money-wise, I have memories to last a life-time and the sentimental value of those figs is worth so much more than the monetary. I pulled out those boxes yesterday thinking perhaps I'd eBay them, I'm proud to say all 40 figs that are in good shap, and a few vehicles, now reside on my shelf giving me more pleasue then I'd ever get by selling them
The point of my long winded story is that I see people taking this hobby too seriously, they seem more concerned about the selling value of items then the actual item. I'm just trying to urge you to remember why you got into collecting figs, I do now.
