Life before WETA

It seems a vast majority of collectors here are/were Sideshow/WETA collectors. I'm just curious what you guys collected before WETA? I myself, did not collect WETA, mostly 1/6 scale figures (Sideshow, Kenner/Hasbro, Mego...) & Garage kits.

My God! I squeezed in 4 backslash (/) in 3 sentences.

I didn't have a job that allowed me to have a collectibles budget until right about the time I discovered Sideshow. The SSW pieces were some of the first nice collectible items I ever purchased. Before that, I collected student loan bills.

This always cracks people up but I found SS threw the Dark Crystal Figures and from the Lotr Line. ROFL i had better get ready for the back lash on that.

I have collected alot of stuff. Used to be movie posters from the local theater then it was old beer mirrors the kind you find in bars for coors etc then it was a good sized arrow head collection. When i was kid I used to go digging in the old city glass dump pre 1920's and collect all the cool bottles I could find.

1/6 brought me to SSC. Would never have considered buying a statue before that. Now I not only collect the PF's but also DC statues.

For collecting though - I've got movie posters from the '80s when I worked at a movie theatre and still buy current theatre posters. Over 800 at last count.

OK Dave, I've always wanted to collect posters but could never figure out how to display them. Do have them shrinkwrapped onto boards or are they in flip through binders? Other than wallpapering my house with them, what are the best options?

Sports cards. Basketball and Baseball mainly with Michael Jordan being my main interest. I at one time had over 1400 different Jordan cards so that's what I was into before I started collecting LOTR statues, PF, and 12". LOTR is what brought me to SS. Before that I'd never even heard of SS.

Unfortunately I don't have my posters displayed at all. I have about 6 framed on the walls (wall space that is quickly diminishing because I need the shelf space). The rest are stored flat in large art portfolios, mostly under the bed. Eventually I hope to have a large Irish castle where I can line the halls with framed posters...

At the ripe old age of 23, I did have a few hobbies before Weta. As a kid I collected anything from movie cards (ex: Terminator 2), coins, stamps, rocks, toys, sports cards you name it. My older brother got me into comics at the age of 10 and I became a huge Marvel fan. Began collecting DC/Marvel cards, comics, figures, posters etc etc. Around 13 I went into comics straight up leaving everything else behind and a few Mcfarlane Spawn figures here and there. At 16 I just stopped and got into the Fantasy world with books such as DragonLance and Forgotten Realms. Not to forget the Wheel of Time series. Next I went into dragon statues from Lines such as Franklin Mint, Danbury Mint, Spellbound, and Enchantica.

Right before Weta, I made the tough choice to sell it all to get into the Lord of the Rings line. Began with the discovery of the Weta Ringwraith on Steed on ebay after a quick search for "lord of the rings nazgul" search.

Danny tell them about your Chuck Norris Collection.

Well I never collected anything prior to SSW. Lord of the Rings started me down this slippery slope. Unless you include Football cards but that was a loooooong time ago. I also collect various beers of the world for which I'm an opener not a Mint on Card collector.

As a kid I collected Baseball cards, matchbooks (not matchbox cars), comic books and I had an extensive mess of G.I. Joe - the 3 3/4" joes. Got rid of the Joes around age 10 or 12 or something around there. Sold the comics around 16. Gave my matchbook collection to my cousin who collected them as well. Moved when I was 16 so I sold the cards but kept my favorites and the really old ones. In 1997 I got pulled back into baseball & in 1998 started adding to my collection again, at least of my favorite players. A fella by the name of McGwire just got traded to St. Louis and was about to do some pretty big things. Started a small Wolverine comic collection again in 1996 & sold them again around 1998. The first time my wife and I stayed in a Bed & Breakfast, we bought a set of Foo Dogs. From there one set turned into about 20 sets along with other oriental statues. Then, around Christmas of 2001 or 2002, I received a Legolas and a Gandalf the White bust. I started with the busts and have every bust that I wanted and started picking up statues here & there. I also have three plaques and numerous United Cutlery pieces. There are seven and maybe nine more statues that I wish to purchase and about a half dozen other UC pieces that I wish to get. I started collecting comics once again in 1999, this time for good.

I have a very extensive collection of rare and promotional music
CDs (more than 1,000) which I obtained over the last 15 years from
friends in the music business.

I have a large collection of Hockey Memoribilia (autgraphed and game-worn stuff) Also, I collected and still collect crystal sculptures from Steuben Glass, Lalique, Waterford, and Swarovski. Also, I have a lot of inherited and personally added to Playboy mags

I collected Swarovski crystal and dragon statues (Enchatica and Tudor Mint, both lines got cancelled) and to lesser extend die-cast car models (still doing that a little) and coins.

Headless Horseman stuff (not necessarily Burton), Disney's Haunted Mansion and Nightmare Before Christmas was and is collected in this house.