Welcome to the fifth episode of our regular segment, where a vintage collector is given 10 short questions to answer. The same questions will be given to the next collector appearing on the segment.

Next batter up to the plate is Troy Patterson, a collector who I know from Rebelscum. Troy absolutely loves his vintage collecting and I’ve been very keen to coax him onto the blog. Thanks Troy for giving up your time.

So a little bit about Troy before we get to the ten questions. He’s 45 years old and lives in Alabama. He grew up loving Star Wars from the movies, behind the scenes action and the toys. It was a great time to be a kid and he has collected about 2000 pieces with no signs of slowing down!

Here we go!

1. How long have you been collecting?

Pretty much from the beginning, around 1978, but I could only get things every once in a while on birthdays and Christmas. I took a break from it around 1985 to 1989. That was when I got into cars, but  I got back into collecting in 1990. I still have everything from when I was a kid.

2. What do you collect?

Production stuff, autographs, and prop replicas. Prototypes don’t interest me at all to collect but I do think they are cool and I really don’t care for bootleg merchandise. I am currently working on collecting a complete set of Star Wars figures on Empire cards and only have four more to get to complete the set. I have some mini rigs to get and a few other things.

VSWC: Heres’ a sample of some of Troy’s fantastic collection. 

3. What’s your grail?

I would say a complete POTF coin set. I have 30 so far and need 32 more.

4. What collectors inspire you?

I would have to say Jeff’s Museum (Jeff Jacob)  inspires me. I will never reach that level of a collection but it sure is fun trying. I also like Gus Lopez’s collection as well. I would love to have my collection throughout the house.

5. What is your most embarrassing moment as a collector?

Not getting the vinyl cape Jawa when I first got back into collecting. The vinyl cape Jawa was like $300.00, so I said to myself I would get that later. Well before I knew it $300 became $400 then $600 to $1400 and finally $3000. Then it began to bug me every time I would read something on Star Wars collecting that would talk about the Jawa. After that, I made a big decision to sell all my 12 backs and some of the POTF figures to fund the Jawa and just start over. Well I got the Jawa and began to “rebuild” my collection. I am happy to say I have all of them back, but only one Luke Stormtrooper which I plan to get next year.

6. What is your favourite Star Wars film?

To me The Original Unaltered Trilogy is just the one movie. I love it.

7. What would you change about the collecting community?

I really don’t like the idea of “U” grade. The thought of someone ripping a figure off a not so prefect card just makes me sick. Also reproductions, a seller may be selling a figure that he may not know has a repro gun or helmet.

VSWC: Please check out this link if you’d like to learn more about the ‘U grade’ and its impact on the collecting community:

U Grade

VSWC: And when it comes to reproductions, here is another great article:

http://vintagestarwarscollectors.com/guest-collector-ian-cowley-the-hazards-of-reproductions-on-vintage-collecting/

8. Forums or Facebook groups?

Forums are great, but Facebook is good too. When you are looking for a really hard piece everything thing helps.

9. What Star Wars character do you most resemble?

Yak face

VSWC: I literally laughed out loud when I read this answer! I think Troy is being a bit harsh on himself here. I can’t see any resemblance! 

10. Is there one thing that collectors may not know about you?

I love to collect movies. I am a huge dog lover and I feel every home should have a dog. Every dog needs a home.

Well thanks Troy for coming on the blog. Thanks for the support you’ve given us so far. Good luck with your collecting and we hope you finally obtain your holy grail!