When people ask me how long I’ve collected Star Wars figures I normally reply with “which time” or “since the beginning”. It’s not a lie. I’ve been a collector since the first figures were put on the pegs which means, well, I’m a long timer. So, yes, it all started with the Original Trilogy years. Like so many kids during that era, Star Wars was my life and these figures allowed me to play out so many stories between the movie releases.

The best part about a movie release wasn’t just seeing your favorite character’s adventures. It also meant that there were going to be more FIGURES, vehicles and playsets released, too! Every generation of Star Wars collecting has its own Golden Age and for me it was definitely the OTC. Of course, I didn’t realize that I was a “Collector” back then. I just knew that I needed everything related to 3-3/4″ figures. That cardboard Sandcrawler set? Had it. The Death Star playset with the sponge trash shapes in the compactor? Uh huh. The Hoth and Dagobah playsets? Oh yeah! Mini-Rigs? Ewok village? Jabba’s playset? Max Rebo? Yepp, yepp, yepp and fuck yeah, of course I did! Now, I didn’t have everything, but I had everything that I wanted. Of course, back then, getting everything you wanted was a lot easier. You didn’t have people running around early in the morning buying up everything on the shelves to sell them at a higher price somewhere else. You could say… It was a more civilized time.

Then, I became a teenager and was headed to college and your world is suddenly so much larger than it was previously. My attention was on many different things as I tried to figure out how I fit into the universe. I sold my collection sometime around that period in my life. I’m sure it went to some temporary pleasure like a trip to the beach or some other frivolous expense. I’m sure not having more movies in the pipeline went into that decision, too.

But, in later years, when more movies were to be hitting the screen, my interest once again peaked. I started collecting 3-3/4″ all over again. I hunted down what I had owned previously and started collecting what was being released at the time. Yes, that means that I had those figures that looked like they were inspired by Masters of the Universe. Yes, I had vehicles that couldn’t even hold figures correctly. (I’m looking at you Flash Speeder.) This went on until well into 2013/2014. Unlike my previous collecting experience during the OTC, this period had me at roughly 98% complete when I finally decided to call it quits a second time.

There were three factors going into the decision to stop collecting a second time. Firstly, I saw the release of 6″ figures, and it appeared that repaints and kit-bashed 3-3/4″ figures were becoming the future of the line, I got a little disenchanted. Secondly, the Expanded Universe got wiped from existence, err, canon at this point which helped my decision because I had collected/read most of the books, too. Finally, I had so much that there was physically not enough space to display it in its entirety. I decided it was time for others to enjoy what I had accumulated, so it was dispersed into the hands of the collecting universe.

This wouldn’t be my last adventure in collecting Star Wars. I mean, let’s be real here. Star Wars is known for its trilogies, so it stands within reason that I would start collecting a third time. However, this time I think I was a bit wiser. I decided to keep the scope of collecting centered only on the characters I enjoy which are primarily Stormtroopers. I’ve had my own Stormtrooper uniform since 2004, so to say they are my favorite character is an understatement. Plus, while growing up, my stormtroopers were always the good guys defecting to help Luke, Leia and Han long before there were storylines about Wedge or even Finn being in uniform.

I also decided to choose more detailed figures. I fell in love with Hot Toys in 2017 when I saw the Rogue One Stormtrooper. It was light years better than the 12″ Hasbro Stormtrooper I had. I knew this is where I belonged and I’m loving this new scale! The quality, the detail and the variety of Stormtroopers are all high. It’s VERY high. You’ll see to the right the figures I’ve acquired since and I hope to have them all shown in my social media at some point in time. I update the list as I have new figures in hand or on order, so the list might be a little longer the next time you look.

This is the way of my collecting.