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Even though I wasn't really into Return of the Jedi as a kid, I did love that Kenner was still putting out the original 12 figures during that period. It was like running into old friends...
I love seeing the original prices. My X-Wing and landspeeder boxes still have the Fisher's Big Wheel and Hills price stickers on them. $14 and $5. Definitely got my parents' money worth out of those! Lol
It came in handy for me that they kept making and repackaging the original figures. Those first guys took a beating from the amount of play they got. By the time Empire came out, I had to replace farmboy Luke (couldn't stand or keep an arm up), Han Solo (head broke off), C3PO (gold wore off), and Darth Vader ("friend" flushed his lightsaber down the toilet).
Even though I wasn't really into Return of the Jedi as a kid, I did love that Kenner was still putting out the original 12 figures during that period. It was like running into old friends...
At this point I had drifted away from toys started getting into breakdancing and girls and dirty magazines and fast cars!!! However like you said, I did like what they were doing with Star Wars toys and I still did like them but I just wasn't into them anymore.
That’s the thing about Star Wars toys; they were on toy dept/store shelves for years. It’s not because they didn’t sell, of course. They sold so well and the line went on for so long that by the time Emlire and especially Jedi came out, a lot of kids needed to replace a lot to their well traveled figures.
I can recall thinking, as a little boy: wow, these have been here almost my whole life. I was born in mid 1974.
Laser Pistol instead of 'Blaster' to avoid confusion.....
It would probably still take an hours work, at that year's Minimum Wage, to get a Star Wars: Return of the Jedi three-inch action figure, even with the good prices.
^ Yeah, it’s unreal how much carded Star Wars figures are worth, now...especially since they were manufactured in such high numbers. I don’t know much about the subject of carded Star Wars, but I’m guessing that they’re worth so much because very few were left carded. Correct and educate me on that, if I’m wrong, as I really don’t know.
There seems to be a steady supply of carded SW figures available. I think the difference is the high number of collectors who are willing to pay ridiculous prices for them. I get the high prices for rare items. I collect loose but complete figures. I got most before The Force Awakens at decent prices. I knew things were getting bad when I paid $35 for a Yoda cane.
^ Yeah, it’s unreal how much carded Star Wars figures are worth, now...especially since they were manufactured in such high numbers. I don’t know much about the subject of carded Star Wars, but I’m guessing that they’re worth so much because very few were left carded. Correct and educate me on that, if I’m wrong, as I really don’t know.
- Ian
I would say that's true.
I feel it to be true, because even when I learned to keep toys in the package for future value, I still opened my Star Wars action figures. Aside from a 90 cents Return of the Jedi Jawa on card, (cloth robe) which I kept in a center drawer of my dresser.
I kept the bubbles for some figures.
And- there is a higher population now with greater demand for Kenner Star Wars, around the world. Generations of Star Wars fans want them. I still have seen some deals on carded figures, more common ones in the $20 - $40 range, but mostly they are a good bit more expensive.
Rancho Obi-wan has one of those vinyl cape Star Wars Jawas, by what is said in the video, I think he paid pretty close to it's $3,000 value.
Luke & Vader with the telescoping lightsabers seem to bring the most money now. I never had those, mine had regular solid lightsabers.
Blue Snaggletooth, a loose figure, is worth $200.00.
Also, figures and vehicles get very worn out by so much play, and some figures turn yellow or their card bubble yellows. My original Millennium Falcon even had some smoke bomb damage, for instance, so a lot of toys get replaced and opened.
Droids seem to be mostly loose, and the astromech droids lose their stickers over time and weather.
^ I had an X-wing fighter with those bang snap gun powder stains. I was trying to mimicking battle damage in the early 80s, I guess. So, I can relate to your Millenium Falcon having smoke bomb damage. LOL
Regarding the current cost for carded and loose figures: I suppose you’re both correct. At least, both arguments make sense to me. As I said, I really don’t follow the Star Wars market. Years ago, when a I considered collecting them, I quickly realized that they were out of my price range and that they would be for the foreseeable future. That’s a sad fact since I had so many of those Star Wars figures, vehicles and playsets all those years ago. Having said that, I’d imagine the overwhelming majority of people who have them carded and in boxes, now, collected them post childhood. I never knew any kids who left any toys in the box or on cards...other than one kid whose father was collecting 60s GI Joes from around the world, and U.S. Joes in dress uniforms, for him.
Collecting loose Star Wars is frustrating, because reproduction accessories are highly frowned upon, yet there are tons of them out there. Fortunately, I had most of the accessories from my youth, but I still could use a Han blaster or two.
Carded collecting is just completely out of the question. TONS of fakes and bootlegs out there being passed off as the real thing. They even fool AFA.
It actually is more fun to collect a secondary tier of Star Wars, like the 12 inch figures, or oddball, non-toy items.
^Looking back, I miss those the most. 12" Boba Fett was fantastic!! I had Leia ("borrowed" from my sister), Luke, Chewbacca, C3PO, Jawa, Darth Vader, and Fett.
Collecting loose Star Wars is frustrating, because reproduction accessories are highly frowned upon, yet there are tons of them out there. Fortunately, I had most of the accessories from my youth, but I still could use a Han blaster or two.
Carded collecting is just completely out of the question. TONS of fakes and bootlegs out there being passed off as the real thing. They even fool AFA.
It actually is more fun to collect a secondary tier of Star Wars, like the 12 inch figures, or oddball, non-toy items.
You are right about collecting loose figures. I had 90% of the weapons for my original figures. I found a few sources on eBay and locally that I could trust to not sell me figures with repro weapons. That and the imperial gunnery site helped to not get ripped off. Then everything changed in late 2016. The repro weapons are now much harder to identify. Good news for me was that I reached my goal of having the first 77 figures.
^Looking back, I miss those the most. 12" Boba Fett was fantastic!! I had Leia ("borrowed" from my sister), Luke, Chewbacca, C3PO, Jawa, Darth Vader, and Fett.
I had Luke, Chewbacca and Ben Kenobi. I got them for Christmas, from Santa, one year along with a lot of other Stat Wars toys. I wanted more of them, but it didn’t work out. The first of the 12 inch figures that I had was actually Han, but when we got out to the car, I realized that his medal was missing. So, we returned him to the store. He was the only Han Solo they had. This was during the summer prior. Anyhow, I still really wanted that Han Solo and apparently my grandmother searched for him all over including calling toy stores in St Louis, Indianapolis and Chicago, where we had someone who could pick him up for her. Alas, he must have been very popular as she wasn’t able to find one for me for that Christmas.
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