View Full Version : How much does your childhood collection factor into excitement for new releases?
Just curious, for everyone here who played with SW figures as a kid, is it more fun to purchase a SS update to one of your favorite figures or toys that you had or is it more fun to get something that you did not have? You know, tribute to your old childhood toys and memories or to your Christmas lists that never were fulfilled?
pixletwin
02-05-2007, 11:23 AM
Definately some deep urge to satisfy needs my parents couldn't fulfill (or Kenner's production capacity).
DarthNeil
02-05-2007, 11:24 AM
Just curious, for everyone here who played with SW figures as a kid, is it more fun to purchase a SS update to one of your favorite figures or toys that you had or is it more fun to get something that you did not have? You know, tribute to your old childhood toys and memories or to your Christmas lists that never were fulfilled?
Since we haven't yet seen any of the ANH SS 12" it's hard to say. I played with Han and Chewie--- farmboy Luke... grizzled old Obi-Wan... white gowned princess... stormtroopers led by the dark Vader--- SS haven't released any of these iconic 12" yet. When I get the droids and/or Han & Chewie in my hands to display then I'll know how it feels.
Seaward
02-05-2007, 11:36 AM
Sideshow making Star Wars figures is a big deal for me, especially since I had a decent sized Kenner collection when I was a kid. I would hope that someday, we might get a chance to see all of the characters featured on the old Kenner card backs in Sideshow format, as well as all of the new PT characters. When I was a kid, those Kenner toys were perfect recreations of the movies, and I would spend hours setting up Hoth scenes, Jabba's Palace, the Cantina, Dagobah, etc... Looking back, they are a little simple and the likenesses weren't the best, but I never knew that then. It's hard to describe, but the current Sideshow line looks as good as I remember the old Kenner line being when I was a kid. The only difference is that these toys are really that good, not just filtered through nostalgia.
I am excited for every PT figure to come along, but as Sideshow re-invents all of the old Kenner figures, I get more and more stoked for this line.
KitFisto
02-05-2007, 11:55 AM
It's not really a huge factor for me. I am only 34, but my childhood seems like it was 100 years ago in a different life. Star Wars toys were always my favorite and I had a decent collection of them back then.
My enjoyment of Star Wars does bring back some good memories, but I enjoy it on a much different level today.
lcummins
02-05-2007, 12:15 PM
I was 17 when Star Wars came out, so I never had or played with any Star Wars toys. I did buy several of the model kits that came out at the time, including a fleet of AT-AT's which I still have unopened in their boxes; I think it was 5 or 6 of them. They are still back home in KY at my mother's house.
galactiboy
02-05-2007, 12:42 PM
I think it factors in quite a bit! I loved getting SW toys when I was a kid (born in 1978) and I think that now being able to get really high quality versions is awesome. Also, I'm currenlty about 10 or so figures away from finishing a complete vintage set! I'd at some point to be able to display my Sideshow figures along side their original Kenner counterparts.:chew
The Josh
02-05-2007, 12:43 PM
I always played with toys as a kid. Had some SW, Marvel, GI Joe, He-Man, Transformers, Voltron, Thundercats, etc. Collected ball cards growing up and at one time had 1500 different Michael Jordan cards. So for me now it's like being a kid except I like these toys a little more.
customizerwannabe
02-05-2007, 12:46 PM
I was 15 when Star Wars came out, but I still bought all the toys. Guess I never really stopped buying toys. The new Jabba definitely has me geeked. The one I had in the 80's couldn't compare. The throne is what really makes it for me though.
Gundark
02-05-2007, 02:11 PM
I am a chronic lurker here, but I will weigh in on this one. My story is similar to many of the folks here. I am 34 and had (still have, in storage!) a pretty decent collection of the orginal Kenner 3 3/4" figures. I can remember the anticipation and excitement of going to the store and picking out a new figure, after studying the tiny pictures on the card backs for hours on end.
SW was my first real exposure to action figures as a kid, and although I went on to become quite an extensive collector of many other lines of figures and toys (RAH GI Joe, Transformers Gobots, Black Hole, Marvel and DC superheroes, Mego, Visionaries and on and on...), eventually I lost interest in all of it except Star Wars, which I always came back to. In fact, my favorite of all my childhood Star Wars toys were the Kenner 12" figure line, so when Hasbro started to re-introduce them in the late 90's I started to get very interested again and picked several of them up. Then I moved into Dragon and bbi figures, and the accuracy/realism of the Hasbro SW figures started to seem very sub-par.
Then I discovered that Sideshow would be making 1:6 scale SW figures, and I dove in head first. I now concentrate my collecting on 1:1 SW props and the 1:6 Sideshow SW figures. Every time I receive an email notification that another SS figure is en route to my house, I have pangs of that anticipation and excitement that I had as a kid. I hope SS keeps making their 1:6 line for a long time--and I hope I can keep up with the funds required!
Customikey
02-05-2007, 03:13 PM
I was 90% more excited to get Bib fortuna than I was Kit Fisto. What does that tell you?:D
Darth Waller
02-05-2007, 03:17 PM
I was 90% more excited to get Bib fortuna than I was Kit Fisto. What does that tell you?:D
OT > PT? :monkey3
Star Wars had a major impact on my childhood and my toys. I still have every figure, ship and playset that I had as a kid back at my old room at my parents. I have many fond memories of those guys and thought I'd get into the 1/6 figures. After a few figures came in, I realized there was no way I would have the room to properly display them since I assumed Sideshow would release a good number of figures.
So, I've decided just to grab an item or two when they pique my interest.
tomandshell
02-05-2007, 04:31 PM
I do think that the childhood love for Star Wars factors a lot into my enjoyment of collecting these things as an adult. It keeps me in touch with my youthful side and helps me avoid feeling like an old fart as time passes.
ObiWan_67_D1138
02-06-2007, 01:16 PM
Just curious, for everyone here who played with SW figures as a kid, is it more fun to purchase a SS update to one of your favorite figures or toys that you had or is it more fun to get something that you did not have? You know, tribute to your old childhood toys and memories or to your Christmas lists that never were fulfilled?
Hmm, I would have to say a toss-up between the two.
I f#%^ing dig that Sideshow had the balls to do Jabba and his throne. And to make it half way reasonable cost wise. I am in total awe of the great job Sideshow has done with this line. It's nice to be able to add museum quality type pieces to my collection of Kenner and Hasbro toys.
And yes, the day my Sideshow 1/6th scale C-3PO arrives will bring back wonderful memories of receiving my 12" Kenner one on Christmas eve 1978.
:r2d2line
Darth Madden
02-06-2007, 01:24 PM
With the obvious excpetion of Vader, Fett and a couple others I think its better to get something I didn't have. Although since I have no idea where my old figs are (probably in the attic at the parents house) everything is cool for me now.
DarkArtist81
02-06-2007, 07:49 PM
Not really that way for me... I've always collected toys, even when I was a kid. But my favorite for a long time was my Rancor. Yet I passed on the GG Rancor just because of price and a lack of space.
Collecting for me is just fun and I love having these things that remind me of my youth and the heroes that inspired me.
ffl1940
02-07-2007, 12:01 AM
my childhood definitely factors in. I have interest in only a very very few Sideshow items that are from the Eps I-III while I am very interested in stuff from my childhood (Eps IV-VI). Unfortunately Sideshow's 12" line has been filled with far more Ep I-III stuff than from the Eps I care about. :monkey2
Seth Gecko
02-07-2007, 01:05 AM
I'll never forget this guy...so much fun
http://www.toyarchive.com/STAForSale/NEW2001+/StarWars/Vintage/FigureSet/ObiWanWhite1a.jpg
Shai Hulud
02-07-2007, 01:12 AM
GREATEST VINTAGE TOY OF ALL TIMES:
THE 1979 18'' ALIEN FROM KENNER
http://thegalleryofmonstertoys.com/70swing/alienbox.jpg
metaphorge
02-07-2007, 03:43 AM
GREATEST VINTAGE TOY OF ALL TIMES:
THE 1979 18'' ALIEN FROM KENNER
http://thegalleryofmonstertoys.com/70swing/alienbox.jpg
I'll have to admit, this sucker was darned close.
I sold mine a couple of years ago, but am finding my Hot Toys Alien to be a more-than-adequate substitute.
KitFisto
02-07-2007, 05:52 AM
GREATEST VINTAGE TOY OF ALL TIMES:
THE 1979 18'' ALIEN FROM KENNER
http://thegalleryofmonstertoys.com/70swing/alienbox.jpg
I had this when I was a kid. I wish I still did.
pickard
02-07-2007, 06:42 AM
I'll never forget this guy...so much fun
http://www.toyarchive.com/STAForSale/NEW2001+/StarWars/Vintage/FigureSet/ObiWanWhite1a.jpg
I picked up one of those last year off of eBay. The toys look so crude now, but they were so much fun at the time.
My excitement about a release can be amplified if it's something from my childhood.
My favorite figure as a kid, for whatever reason, was Han in Hoth gear. I got two of them one X-Mas and they used to fly around in the Twin Pod Cloud Car. As a result, I'm very likely to pick up Hoth Han in pretty much any format SS, Hasbro and GG offer him in.
On the other hand, I'm not so confined to nostalgia that I can't find great enjoyment in all the wonderful, fun things about the prequels.
DarthNeil
02-07-2007, 03:02 PM
I was going to post this in the "who are you" thread but it fits in this one as well... Here's my childhood excitement at Christmas at receiving BOSSK (I somehow ended up with three of him but that's another story entirely), my older brother is holding up WALRUS MAN (got to love the old school names)... While my anticipation grows as I wait for the arrival of the next 12"--- until SS releases figs from ANH I won't really be able to say if it's at that same nostalgic level that I had as a kid.
2308
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