Collector Snapshot #22 – Michael Molloy

Posted on August 8, 2018 by bobbybobs

Welcome all to the twenty second episode of our collector snapshot, where a vintage collector answers 10 short questions. The same questions will be given to every collector appearing in this segment. Check out our last collector snapshot (Lee Harris).

It has been a while now that I’ve been meaning to ask Michael onto the blog, but as you guys know, I haven’t been as active here as I would have liked to have been this past year. But what better way to get back into the swing of things than with an interview with hands down the most positive bloke in the hobby. Have you ever seen Michael complain online? Ever seen him tell a new collector that “google is their friend?” Ever witnessed him bully someone or say something sexist? Bet the answer is a big fat NO. He does worry me a little though, no-one can be this nice can they?

Michael was born in Perth, Western Australia and has lived there his entire life. When he’s not collecting Star Wars figures he can be found down at the beach swimming, surfing and just enjoying life. He’s currently studying full-time library and information services and studying part-time as an ‘Education Assistant,’ so he tells me that he hasn’t got much of a social life at the moment. Well I’m glad he had a bit of time here for us at VSWC blog.

Now to the questions!

1. How long have you been collecting?

I have been collecting Star Wars vintage since 1978. I had all the figures but had to give them to my cousin as we moved house. I have been collecting again since 2010.

2. What do you collect?

I collect the first 21 figures vintage carded and anything that I think is a great item to own. I am limited to the space I have so just happy to have what I have.

3. What’s your grail?

My grail if I have one is to own a Toltoys 12 back carded or a 20 back Toltoys figure carded.

4. What collectors inspire you?

The collectors that inspire me would be Brian Angel, Ross Barr (VSWC – check out our preview interview with Ross and the 12 back group founders – Carl, Gary and Ross from the 12 Back Group), Derek Ho, Ben Sheehan, JohnPaul Ragusa (VSWC – we’ve also interviewed JohnPaul – Vintage Star Wars Moderator Roundtable: Forums and the Future), Aussie James (Jame Kenneison), Gerry James, Yehuda Kay, Ron Salvatore, Sean Lehmkuhl, Chris Georgoulias, Christian Carnouche, Jez Allinson, Alex Pardi, Jenni Bennett and Robin Bocra. The list goes on but these people inspire me to be a better collector in the hobby.

Michael and some of his Aussie collector mates

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

I don’t have any embarrassing moments. Can I pass on this one?

6. What is your favourite Star Wars film?

My favourite movie is The Empire Strikes Back, then the original Star Wars. I loved how different The Empire Strikes Back was. I still love it today as much as I did when I was younger.

7. What would you change about the collecting community?

The one thing I would change is U-Grading. Also I would like to stop the negativity as it’s a hobby so we should enjoy it. One thing I pride myself on is being positive all the time and to be the best I can be.

8. Forums or Facebook groups?

For me at the moment Facebook, but I do look at forums once in a while to see what’s for sale etc.

9. What Star Wars character do you most resemble?

The character I would most resemble would say I’m Han. He is the good guy 🙂 ‘Trouble’ is his middle name. I have a cheeky side like Han has.

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

One thing collectors may not know about me is I love AFL (Australian Football). I go for the West Coast Eagles and I watch all sport, from ice hockey to basketball and the NFL. Love sports, can’t get enough 🙂

VSWC: Well thank you so much for coming on Michael! I hope everyone enjoyed that as much as I did.

RIP Steve Pullman

Posted on June 23, 2018 by bobbybobs

A lot you may have known Cantina Tig, who was not only a good friend, but one of the most knowledgeable and generous collectors in our hobby. Steve was a founding member of the Tantive XI forum, a former moderator on TIG and he was also kind enough to write an awesome Variant Collecting 101 guide for us here last year.

May he rest in peace.

Variant Collecting 101

Photo courtesy of Marco

Here’s the post from Tantive XI (where I am also a moderator):

It’s with a very heavy heart that we have some extremely sad news to share with you all.

We have lost a fellow vintage collector, moderator, founding member of the Tantive XI forum and most importantly, a very good friend to us all here at Tantive XI. Steve Pullman (aka Cantina Tig) passed away on March 17, 2018 at his home at the age of 46. Steve passed away too soon and sadly leaves behind his beloved daughter Beth.

Steve was an incredibly well-respected member of the vintage community, not just for his incredible knowledge but also for his willingness to impart this knowledge onto his fellow collectors. Here’s an example of his efforts to improve our collecting knowledge – a fantastic and informative article on variant collecting:

http://www.tantivexi.com/t2207-variant-collecting-discussio…

Before helping set up the TantiveXI forum, Steve was a moderator over at The Imperial Gunnery forum, where he ran the very popular ‘details’ competition.

If you didn’t know Steve, check out his profile below from the “Meet the TXI Team” thread.

http://www.tantivexi.com/t1065-meet-the-txi-team

Collector Snapshot #21 – Lee Harris

Posted on February 20, 2018 by bobbybobs

Welcome all to the twenty first episode of our collector snapshot, where a vintage collector answers 10 short questions. The same questions will be given to every collector appearing in this segment. It has been almost a year since our previous collector snapshot (Snapshot 20- Todd Thornhill/) so we’ve done out best to make sure this interview is a cracking one.

I’m extremely pleased to present my friend and fellow Australian Lee Harris onto the blog. While I’d seen Lee around the Facebook groups for a while, I hadn’t met him face to face until Celebration Orlando, where we sank booze and dropped the c-bomb every ten seconds. All part of being an Aussie I guess….

Lee going full turtle neck…. Image courtesy of Ryan Lee-Taylor

I warmed very quickly to Lee and to his laid back and extremely friendly attitude but I was particularly impressed when he organised a boxed 12 inch Stormtrooper figure as a present for our mate Jez Allinson (The Running Stormtrooper), who had broken his back on a running machine for all four days of the convention. Lee gave the present to Jez on behalf of all of us but I don’t think Jez knows that it was actually Lee who paid for it. When we asked if we could contribute, he simply told us to pop some cash into Jez’s donation box (not a pun…). What a bloke…

Lee and his wife Nicole own and operate a school bus service, so he’s busy dodging kangaroos, wallabies, snakes , echidnas, kookaburras and eagles on country roads while driving kids to school. Along with their two girls, Dusty 24 and Drew 22, they live in north-eastern NSW, in an area called Diehard. Yippie Ki Yay. I don’t know the area myself but Lee tells me that it’s a very beautiful mountainous area and that he wouldn’t trade it for anything.Lee is still shocked that somehow his wife and kids have put up with him after all these years….

Lee’s beautiful girls Dusty and Drew

Yippie Ki Yay

Although Lee lives in Diehard now, he was actually born in Narrabri NSW and then lived in Sydney until 1980, when he was around eight years old and moved to Cairns in far north Queensland in 1980. In 1984, his parents split and he and his dad moved again , this time across the Pacific until they landed in California. He then moved back home to Australia in 1988 and has been living back in Australia ever since.

Now to the questions!

1. How long have you been collecting?

This is my second go at collecting as an adult, I started back up around 2 1/2 years ago. Before that I had collected in the late 90s early 2000s after I found eBay and went a little crazy. I’m definitely enjoying it a lot more these days, compared to the old days of going to the post office and sending away a western union money order and then waiting weeks and months for things to turn up. So much easier these days.

2. What do you collect?

Anything vintage that I like the look of. I’m a bit limited with room for displaying stuff at the moment so really have only been picking up stuff in SW packaging. Would like to finish that off and then move onto the other lines. Also hoping to build a man cave / display room later in the year so I can go a bit harder.

Some of Lee’s awesome collection

More of Lee’s collection

Yep that’s a Toltoys landspeeder in there…

3. What’s your grail?

I don’t like to use the word ‘grail,’ it’s more like what’s next on my hitlist. At the moment a 21 back Fett is pretty high on the hitlist to finish my 12/21 MOC run. Also anything Toltoys. I would really love to pick up any 12/20 back Toltoys MOC. Gotta have dreams..

4. What collectors inspire you?

I would have to say the person that has inspired me the most would have to be hands down is Jez Allinson (The Running Stormtrooper) I was fortunate enough to meet Jez at Celebration Orlando and to see him giving his all for such a great cause – that was one of the best things about my trip. Then for him to head straight home and grab a world record in the London Marathon and then smash the 40km run for ‘May the fourth’ was pretty special too. Very keen to see him smash his 100km run that’s coming up soon. Good luck mate.

Jez and mini-Jez at C8

Lee, Jez and the SWFUK lads at C8

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

This is a hard one for me to answer. I don’t feel that I have embarrassed myself as a collector yet 🙂 Can I pass?

6. What is your favourite Star Wars film?

Not even a contest. Star Wars. I was hooked from the moment my dad took me to see it. We lived in Sydney at the time and I can still remember walking into the cinema and seeing cardboard X-Wings hanging from the ceiling.

7. What would you change about the collecting community?

Probably would like to see the end of u-grading. Not really a fan of any grading myself.

8. Forums or Facebook groups?

Facebook at the moment, as I’ve never really enjoyed forums to be honest. I do though keep planning to get more involved in forums.

9. What Star Wars character do you most resemble? Han. I can be little bit cocky and have a smart mouth at times. So my wife tells me 🙂

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

I’ll give you a couple of things. Most people probably don’t know I’m half yank and that I did my JR high and Freshman and Sophmore years of high school in California. Also I am a mad keen dirtbike rider. I’ve been on a bit of an enforced holiday from riding the last 18 months but I’m getting very close to getting back on my bikes though (Little Katie and Dirty Hussey) yes they have names 🙂

Okay, he’s not lying about the dirtbiking…

Little Katie

VSWC: Well thank you so much for coming on Lee! I hope everyone enjoyed that as much as I did. Was great getting to know you a little bit better. Looking forward to our next beer mate!

Who said the vintage forums were dying? Welcome to Tantive XI!

Posted on December 23, 2015 by bobbybobs

Hello everyone!

I’m proud to announce that last week we finally launched our brand new vintage Star Wars forum – Tantive XI! Your initial thoughts may be – aren’t the forums dying? Hasn’t Facebook taken over? Aren’t there already enough forums and FB groups? Well the simple answer is no, no and no!

If you’d like to join up without reading on, then click this link:

http://www.tantivexi.com/

The forums are struggling but they are not dying. We are adamant that there is still plenty of space in the vintage social networking landscape for new forums or similar ventures. New collectors are joining our hobby every day; our hobby is expanding massively. Not everyone is a fan of Facebook and if you are anything like me then you’ll be on all the forums, a million Facebook groups, Gemr, Twitter and even Instagram! I wish I was joking!

So how did this all come about?

A while back a bunch of us had a vision for a brand new forum, which not only took full advantage of some of the technologies and usability options employed by Facebook but also a place where experienced collectors would find sufficient intellectual stimulation yet newer collectors would not be embarrassed or berated for asking ‘stupid’ questions.

After many months of hard work, we transformed that vision into a reality and on December 16th we finally went live! So far the feedback from members and special ‘previewers’ has been extremely positive. We have to emphasize though that the site is a work In progress, and that we are now in a stage heavily dependent on the input of new crew members to progress further. So if you miss a certain aspect of the hobby and would like to see it here, simply tell us and we can make it happen, together with you.

What’s our mission?

Our mission is to bring quality contributions to all of the different aspects of our hobby (MOC, MIB, oddballs, loose variants, bootlegs, and many more vintage collectibles) and to stimulate open discussions around the collectibles that we all love so much. Moreover, we hope that our forum will provide a ‘A New Hope’ in these dark times, within which the fora have lost their impact and previous high traffic due to the increased popularity of Facebook. However we do acknowledge the strength of Facebook and do not oppose it. It has its place in the collecting world and we hope that our platforms can complement each other. Tantive will combine the best of both worlds and serve as a bridge between FB and traditional forum activity. Our Facebook Page will serve as a Bridgehead:

Facebook Page

We do not perceive ourselves in opposition to the existing forums or FB groups, we want to work together to bring all collectors the best possible collecting experience. We welcome other forum moderators and FB group admins to join us and you are of course welcome to advertise your pages and groups on Tantive XI!

Our mission can be read in more detail right here:

Tantive XI – This what we stand for.

How will we bridge the gap between Facebook and the forums?

Tantive XI is supported by a heavily modified platform allowing for modern functionality, which – we hope – will provide a unique and pleasant “look and feel” experience for our crew. Just to give you an idea – right now members can ‘tag’ each other in posts, get instant notifications, and attach photos directly from smartphones or PCs via TXI’s Tractor Beam. I must say we are blessed to have some mechanics onboard who are absolutely top of the IT game. We are only going to get stronger as they continue to un-weave the hidden technological magic that forums offer.

We have a large team of 12 passionate moderators who will be working ceaselessly to update the forum and to keep things running smoothly. We will also be working closely with our members to improve the forum.

What else do we offer other than a traditional forum place to hang out?

Well this brings us to one of our real strengths. We’re in the process of creating an extensive reference database for the community. At the launch of Tantive XI this database already included a basic and advanced COO guide and also a comprehensive figure guide. Check it out yourselves:

The Library

We would love to expand the Library with the help of members who will actually be working with us to present their own research and projects on the site; with the aim of developing the community’s knowledge and appreciation of vintage Star Wars collecting.

We will also be interviewing members and I’ll be reposting all of my interviews from here onto Tantive XI. So stay tuned!

Who is behind Tantive XI?

Our team contains some of the globe’s most well-known and experienced vintage collectors; coming from the UK, the U.S, Canada, Spain, Mexico, Denmark,The Netherlands and Australia.

Other than myself, the team is: Alexander, Chris, Clint, James, Jay, Javier, Kenneth, Marco, Ozio, Patrick and Steve. Click the link below to learn more about us:

The TXI Team

I hope you can all join us in our little adventure. And if you can’t, well no worries – I’ll see you all around on Facebook and the other forums!

Watch this space for details on a competition we are running for our members. First prize is a Burgundy Cape Lili Ledy Squid Head!

Collector Snapshot #12 – Jay Williams

Posted on May 18, 2015 by bobbybobs

I’m happy to present the twelfth issue of our regular segment, where a vintage collector is given 10 short questions to answer. The same questions will also be given to the next collector appearing on the blog.

Next up is my friend Jay Williams (Psybertech on most Star Wars forums), a 42 year old (he tells me he feels 52! Don’t we all!) from northern New Jersey, U.S. I met Jay (and his weird Scandinavian roommate) at Celebration Anaheim last month and I’m happy to report that he’s as easygoing and friendly as his online persona. I regret not hanging out more. Well there is always London 2016 🙂

Jay works on the technical side for an imaging and medical company and his job is to create web applications to connect different systems together for their field engineers and customers. He tells me that he doesn’t really have a fancy title other than simply being a jack of all trades and that he considers himself fortunate to do what he likes for a living.

This link might give away Jay’s answer to question two, but check out more about him and his focus at his great website:

http://leia.bespin.info/.

I love this page and it’s easy to see both Jay’s love for Bespin Leia and his IT skills shine through. Well done Jay!

To the questions!

1. How long have you been collecting?

I recently got into collecting as an adult in Dec. 2012 after my father dug up a decent set of 20 or so figures from the first 12 & next nine and some ESBs from my childhood in my grandparent’s basement. They were all near mint, like new, and I wanted to complete the first 12 immediately. Before I knew it I was out to complete the next nine and then ESB, ROTJ and POTF. My goals have been evolving and a constant moving target ever since. I never thought I’d be a collector and it all came at me completely out of the blue!

2. What do you collect?

At the moment it is hard to say really. Last year I completed the full Kenner run, but the biggest thing for me is a focus I have on Leia Bespin. I took to her at first for the very obvious variations of crew and turtle necks but quickly spiraled down the path of mould pairs, factories involved, licensees, packaging, and well, everything and anything I could research. All of that research has helped me get a better handle on the hobby as a whole. I now see variants of everything, everywhere!!!!

I also am digging my latest run called the “Gross MOC Run” which is the first 12 figures each on 1 of the various 12 major US card back releases (12, 20, 21, 31, 32, 41, 45, 47, 48, 65, 77 & 79). It is cool thing and has so many possible combinations that will help this run evolve over time.

VSWC: Ok here’s some eye candy, first up is Jay’s main display. She’s a beauty.

VSWC: Next batter up is a photo of Jay’s loose run.

VSWC: Jay calls this his “Duo Display”

VSWC: And here’s the “Gross Run” he was talking about

3. What’s your grail?

I’ve got three grails so far and on the hunt for more. I own three Leia Bespin proofs; a 31B, 45A Hand-Cut and a Revenge. Plus a very cool and unique SW-A Leia Bespin baggie. That’s right… an ESB figure in a SW baggie!

Beyond those, I am looking out for any true pre-production Leia Bespin pieces like a first shot or carded mock-up. They are all up there for my top wanted grails. But any cool pre-production piece, Leia Bespin or otherwise, will be awesome to add. 🙂

VSWC: Jay’s grails: (31B Proof, 45A Hand Cut Proof, Revenge 48 Proof & a SW-A Baggie (1 of 2 known)

VSWC: One of Jay’s favorite pieces to finish off the photo gallery – Takara Transforming X-Wing

4. What collectors inspire you?

A lot actually, but there are two that started me down my research path/rabbit hole. Alex (General Khan) and Wolff (wbobafett). When I first saw two massively different Leia Bespins in my hands, I was trying to find information on her and stumbled across Alex’s Luke Bespin Limelight and Research topic on The Imperial Gunnery forums and my jaw dropped. What the hell was all this???? He documented not just hair and paint, but COO stamps, company origins, blaster and lightsaber variants, what accessory could be confirmed with a specific Luke, cardbacks, MOCS, baggies and man, that was more than my brain could handle at that time!!!

My OCD finally met its match and puked!

Next, I quickly found Wolff’s site and my jaw proceeded to punch a hole through my floor! This was widely spread through the figures and I had to know (and OWN) more!

My collecting had just found a direction!

Thanks Alex and Wolff!!! Who knows if I would have stuck with collecting if I wasn’t inspired like I was.

Same goes to every other variant collector who helps the hobby with discussion and documentation! (Kenneth, Lee, Marco, Patrick and so many more!)

Thank you all!

VSWC: Check our full length interview with Alex here:

http://vintagestarwarscollectors.com/collector-interview-1-alexander-magraw-the-beard-behind-that-luke-bespin-limelight/

And with Wollf here:

http://vintagestarwarscollectors.com/collector-interview-4-wolff-aka-wbobafett/

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

All of my early posts. 🙁 I had the same questions you see on every forum out there. YUK.

Is this a real DT? Is this rare? Why is the COO like this? I think I discovered something!! Jeesh… so many posts that make me cringe when I was very green. Shit, I still make some boneheaded comments. :/

6. What is your favourite Star Wars film?

The Empire Strikes Back!!! Bad guys winning, Boba Fett, incest and the Skywalker’s plot thickening… man, such a great movie!

7. What would you change about the collecting community?

That is a tough one. I guess two things come to mind….

I’d encourage folks on Facebook that aren’t on forums to sign up and start posting on forums more. Forums are like an encyclopedia of sorts and so much more manageable for searching long term.

I’d also love if there was some Artificial Intelligence involved in posts to automatically get rid of dickheads.

8. Forums or Facebook groups?

See #7…. but………. Forums, forums, forums. Forums for anything serious. That said, I just really started getting involved with Facebook and while it can be fun, it is total chaos and unsearchable mostly. It has it’s place to help expose the masses to some things, but I would love for the serious FB’ers to join up on the forums and get involved. There is just so much blatantly wrong information floating around. Get your feet wet on FB and if you’re serious, we’ll see ya on the forums at some point I hope. No offense to full time FB’ers! I get it. People like FB. I like it too for some things for sure. But at the end of the day, meat and potatoes are what forums are. The hobby would benefit greatly if more people could contribute to the hobby in this manner.

9. What Star Wars character do you most resemble?

In ROTJ at the Emperor’s arrival, the Stormtrooper in the 4th row, 6th to the right. 😛

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

Let’s see… I love drinking beer! Wait!… people know this already. I love hockey and the NY Rangers. Wait, people know this too. I like RC cars and crawlers. Damn, I’ve said that before. I’m a PC techie…. damn, I’ve mentioned that before. Damn, I guess I share too much. 😛 Wait, I have a soft spot for Yoda… crap… said that before too! hahaha

OK… one thing I guess, I am a HUGE Forza Motorsport fan! I love running laps over and over and over and over and…….. Name a car and a track and a lap time and I will destroy you!

VSWC: Well thanks Jay for joining us on the VSWC blog. As always it has been an absolute pleasure!

Collector Snapshot #6 – Krille Söderlund (aka ‘yeahsus007’)

Posted on November 12, 2014 by bobbybobs

Welcome to the sixth 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 up to bat is Krille Söderlund. He is 38 years old and was born and raised in Sweden where he lives with his girlfriend and their daughter.

VSWC: Here’s Krille relaxing after a tough day playing with his Star Wars toys.

If you’ve ever come across Krille on Facebook or the forums (he is yeahsus007 on Rebelscum and Yeah-sus on SWFUK), more than likely you’ve noticed what a positive collector he is and that not only does he have a beautiful collection but he it always willing to contribute to vintage discussions. Krille is also very modest so a lot may be surprised to see how comprehensive his collection is.Yes that’s right, Krille is another example of how annoying Scandinavians can be – they all seem to be good looking, self-confident, friendly and intelligent.

Here we go!

1. How long have you been collecting?

I started with my childhood collection back in 2006 after a double date with a couple my girlfriend knows. He showed me his toys and when I pulled out mine from the box in my parent’s garage I was hooked and have never looked back.

2. What do you collect?

I started with collecting loose ships and figures,variants,boxed ships and now I’m mainly collecting carded figures. During the years I’ve been able to pick up oddballs, posters and some paperwork. My ‘goal’ is one MIB of every ship and figure released by Kenner. I also have a soft spot for Playmix/Scanditoys marked toys and everything relating to Star Wars in Sweden.

VSWC: Check out Krille’s collection. Not only is it filled with fantastic pieces but the set-up is as stylish as you’ll get. Even the Persian rug is all class!

3. What’s your grail?

I’m one of those lucky bastards with my grail already in my collection. A 12-back Palitoy Darth Vader MOC with a Swedish price sticker.

VSWC: Photo of Krille’s grail below. Yep he’s definitely one lucky bastard!

4. What collectors inspire you?

I’ve been inspired by collectors with great knowledge and who help out in the community. I will take the time to thank my Swedish mentors who always watch my back: Mattias Rendahl, Daniel Bornheim, Johan Sydling, Fredrik Juthberg, Rasmus Hult , POTF Micke and of course the rest of the gang in SSWC (Swedish Star Wars Collectors).

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

I don’t have any shame in my body so until now nothing.

6. What is your favorite Star Wars film?

As a kid Return of the Jedi but as an adult Empire Strikes Back.

7. What would you change about the collecting community?

In a perfect world we would all be friends, be happy for the collections of others and their scores. I hope someday everybody understands we are collecting toys and it’s meant to be fun.

8. Forums or Facebook groups?

I love forums for the knowledge and all of the info that is easy to reach but Facebook is great for superfast answers and is the easy way to publish photos

9. What Star Wars character do you most resemble?

I see myself as Yoda but I think my friends think of me more as Han Solo; loud but kind.

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

I’m a hoarder and hate to let go of things. My motto is “Buy it so you have it.”

VSWC: Well thank you so much for joining us Krille. I know you’re a busy man so I appreciate your time. Keep collecting and stay cool!

Check out my interview on the TIG forum!

Posted on July 29, 2014 by bobbybobs

Hey guys just a quick shout out to the awesome guys at The Imperial Gunnery Forum (TIG) for having me on their forum for a quick interview. It was a lot of fun doing it and to be honest the interviewer’s edits were a hell of lot funnier and more interesting than my answers. I love TIG and I’m always astounded at how smooth their forum runs; no dramas barely any scammers and zero love for hobby damaging practices. Those guys run a tight ship. If you love SW vintage then you should all join up!

Anyway here is my interview. Please no comments on my hair style that day…..The majority of my Luke focus is there as well but I will be posting a detailed limelight here in a couple of months.

Enjoy!

http://www.imperialgunneryforum.com/t4436p360-fx-7-member-probe-10-points-of-articulation-10-questions-we-will-probe-you#127023

The Imperial Gunnery Forum (TIG) reproduction guide – get on it!

Posted on July 23, 2014 by bobbybobs

Newer collectors on Facebook and the forums often ask how to spot a reproduction figure, accessories etc etc. Well The Imperial Gunnery Forum (TIG) is really a one stop shop for all your repro questions and you can compare your items with their database of both real and repro. This is a massive effort from those guys, especially from the owner John Paul RAGUSA, and it’s easy to forget that TIG is a non-profit page.

There are more and more repros coming onto the market lately so you better educate yourselves before you wreck yourselves!

http://www.imperialgunnery.com/reproductionfigures.htm

Collector Snapshot #2: Adolfo Martinez aka ‘Merlin(72)’

Posted on July 14, 2014 by bobbybobs

Welcome to the second installment of our regular segment, where a vintage collector is given 10 short questions to answer using only a sentence or two. The same questions will be given to the next collector appearing on the blog.

The current victim is Adolfo Martinez, known as Merlin(72) on the forums. If anyone has crossed paths with Adolfo they will know that not only is his collection outstanding but that he is equally humble and a very down to earth and friendly collector.

Here’s a photo of the handsome Adolfo with his awesome collection.

Adolfo is 41 and for the last 25 years he has lived in Cancun, Mexico (tough life huh), where he works as a travel agent. He is currently one of the admins of the largest SW FB groups in Spanish named Star Wars Collecionistas / Collectors. This forum has over 6500 members and was founded in 2010 by Adolfo’s good friend Moises Rodriguez. Adolfo is proud to say that he was the second member of that forum.

I’m a little bit disappointed by having Adolfo appear in this segment. Not that he isn’t interesting, quite the opposite – in fact he is too interesting to simply appear for 10 quick questions! I think we’ll try to get him back on the blog in the future in some capacity.

Anyway let’s get to the questions! Let’s go Adolfo!

1. How long have you been collecting?

I’ve been collecting since the early 2000s.

2. What do you collect?

I’m generally known for collecting Lili Ledy MOCs (and all the entire Kenner set before that) but recently I started collecting pre-production items. Some of my favourite pieces are: my Lili Ledy Mock up, (only seven Lili Ledy mock ups are known to exist and they are the grails of the LL line), Blond Luke Bespin with Lili Ledy Han Bespin blaster and LL lightsaber (Imperio Contraataca action figure production) on a “Retorno de Jedi” 12 Back (No guarantee inside or sticker, and a Yoda Master Jedi Variant) inside a hand glued Imperio Contraataca Bubble.

3. What’s your grail?

My Holy Grail would be any Lili ledy “Imperio Contraataca” MOC.

4. What collectors inspire you?

My good friend Oscar Didier (known as Oscar cases) inspired me to collect Lili Ledy MOCs

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

It has to be every time that someone asks me about modern SW items (90s to present days) because I don’t have a clue what they are talking about lol!

6. What is your favourite Star Wars film?

ESB! Is there another one?

7. What would you change about the collecting community?

I would like collectors to take more time to research the SW collectibles they plan to buy.

8. Forums or Facebook groups?

Both are great, everyone needs to learn to get the most out of them. Facebook groups let me put faces to names and I’ve seen more interesting things in the Facebook groups than on the forums. But forums are the encyclopedias of SW, they maintain a lot of important information about collectibles, such as reference guides.

9. What Star Wars character do you most resemble?

Han Solo – because I’m a scummer like him!

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

I’m also an avid coin collector and I really enjoy what I do for a living!

Thanks for the opportunity to share this info with my fellow SW collectors in this extraordinary place.

VINTAGE STAR WARS COLLECTORS

A blog by a collector about collectors

Tag Archives: Forums

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The Imperial Gunnery Forum (TIG) reproduction guide – get on it!

Collector Snapshot #2: Adolfo Martinez aka ‘Merlin(72)’

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