Thursday 30 August 2007

How Mint can Mint be?

A friend of mine is on a hunt for a perfect He-man figure and this got me wondering, is there such a thing. I know you can buy any figure Mint on card, and the figure within the bubble will be mint, and have never been touched by human hands. But the very nature of toys is that they are cheaply made and mass produced and most figures have some kind of factory error on them. Be it bad molding, or a paint smudge. I don't think I have ever opened a figure and thought, Wow! that's perfect.

Of recent figures I have bought there has always been a flaw. I bought the TF movie Blackout figure, and this already had stress marks on some of the clips. And it cost £20!. Another figure, straight off the card was an R2 Naboo escape. This had a scratch on the paint.

So is there every really a mint figure? I very much doubt it!

Wednesday 29 August 2007

Is there an R2 in the house?

Just thought I would post an image of my Astromech collection. As you can see I have quite a few of the little droids. And this is not a complete collection. There are still quite a few I am after.


When I started collecting astromechs, I didn't think there were that many. But pesky old Hasbro keep making more of them. And now I have started, I just can't stop. Damn them!

Monday 27 August 2007

Ebay Nutters

I'm sure it's not just me, but every time I go on ebay I see people paying over the odds for items that are really easy to get. Last week, someone bought a Transformers Movie Barricade figure for £24.99, when you can pick them up most places for £9.99. Or even cheaper if you bother to look.

Obviously if you are a seller, then that's great news. I have had it happen to myself a few times now. But what I don't understand is why people do it. Do they just get caught up in the heat of the moment and can't help themselves and keep clicking the 'Buy it' button. Or are they just so desperate to get that they can't wait until it pops up cheaper.

When it comes to ebay, I'm as tight as they come as I always believe I will be able to find it cheaper if I wait. And so far I have mostly got the things I am after at a good price.

Patience is a virtue! But not for most buyers on ebay.

Thursday 16 August 2007

Bounty Hunter

I've had a great few days worth of toy finds. It seems you can go for months and not find anything good, then you will just have a run of top finds. Having popped to Asda in Taunton to get a bit of Chinese I like to have a quick rummage around there toys shelves as they quite often have some real bargains. And this time was know different. Seems like they have been clearing out the old toy stock room and had come across some EP1 figures. I picked up a few I need, all on really nice mint cards for the bargain price of £1 each!

And then the next day, on to the Entertainer, one of few dedicated toy shops around. Another shop I like as they have same ordering policy as Woolworths. Buy loads of the same thing, and then wonder why it doesn't sell. This can sometimes be great for collectors as after a few months they reduce the prices on the stuff they can't shift. Today I picked up the 500th Star Wars figure, Vader in his chair for £3, not bad. And The Demise of Grievous, which they had been trying to sell for £12, reduced to £4 which is not bad.

This is the sort of collecting I like.

Monday 13 August 2007

The first transport is away!

How cool is this! It even has a great number plate. What you can see in my photos is that it was being driven by Greedo with Admiral Akbar in the passenger seat.



These images were also taken at the Clarkes Village Movie event. I have more to come and will add them shortly.

Star Wars comes to Somerset part 2

Earlier in the week saw the appearance of Kenny Baker. I have to say he was looking very old, and not particularly well, but it was great to see him doing the rounds. He signed my R2-D2 and I got my photo taken with him.


This day also saw more guys running around in various outfits. My favorite being the Tusken Raider. Not a bad costume, but the guy inside was way to short.


Now here is the must have shot for any star wars nerd like me. Being accosted by a Stormtrooper (again a little on the short side, so good job I'm kneeling). And maybe I shouldn't have been so happy, but hey, what can you do.

Saturday 11 August 2007

Star Wars Comes to Somerset

What a great week for Somerset, Clarks village in Street to be more precise. Each day has seen a different star signing autographs, and various people in costumes walking around. Today it was the turn of Darth Vader himself, Dave Prowse. And what a nice man he is.


I got him to sign one of my Darth Vader figures, and had a good chat with him. He's and ex somerset chap, so it was nice to see him back on his home ground. There was another guy doing the rounds dressed up as Vader as well as a couple of Stormtroopers. More posts on those shortly.