Some encouragement for Gung Ho Eddie...

[The Baron]

I expect that poor 50p Yak-face seller has been stalking you all this time. It was probably him who keyed your car.

[gung-hoeddie]

in a gollum stalking fashion "give me back my precious"

[Thundershot]

in a gollum stalking fashion "give me back my precious"

I'll soon cut the f*cker down to size if I catch 'em!

[ODB]

I like. Biggest problem with the last 17 isn't supply but finding them with the original weapons and not repro shite. So many sellers will try to rip you off, its one reason why my vintage loose collecting dried up. Still haven't got my Blue Snaggletooth without the dent in his boot variation.

[buddusky]

Great collection!

I've often toyed with the idea of replacing my childhood collection but the size of the task puts me off. I had them all as a child but my Mum gave them all away before the last 17. Nostalgia aside I don't think they've aged well in comparison to Action Force, don't get me wrong though I still love them!

So what's the story behind the last 17, why are they so rare?

[humby248]

I stopped collecting Star Wars when I found this site and went for instead. Pride of my vintage collection though is a boxed Death Star (uk cardboard version) I picked up off an ex pat living in the US on ebay.com for $40!
I am going to photograph Little Humby's modern collection at some point to post on here as he has done really well through a few christmas's and hunting at car boots. His last find was a modern B Wing for £5 and a vintage Darth Vaders tie fighter for 50p!

[ODB]

The last 17 are pricey because they are the last 17 (technically its 19 but hey ho) as they were the last of the line. They were released after the main ROTJ line in an attempt to bolster the flagging sales. As a result they only ever appeared on the Power of the Force cards and later Trilogo cards which basically means there far fewer of them. Hence the higher prices, plus they are figures that are always in demand.

[Thundershot]

Thanks.
I'd love one of them Cardboard Death stars Humby..I sort of the other way around, I got into shortly after finishing My Star Wars collection, as some thing else to collect, researching the line led me to the toy archives & then onto joining the forum which further ignited the passion.

I've gone to great lengths to make sure it's all 100% original & not repro's...even going to the extent of being born in the mid 70's Well, a couple of my troop builder Hoth Stormtroopers have repro half skirt/ capes things..but that's it, the one in the main collection is the one that came off the figure I got back in the day.

The amazing thing was that shortly after the time of 1st release, these figures (last 17) were so unpopular that the retailers couldn't give 'em away..you could walk into any shop & pick them up for pennies

[buddusky]

The last 17 are pricey because they are the last 17 (technically its 19 but hey ho) as they were the last of the line. They were released after the main ROTJ line in an attempt to bolster the flagging sales. As a result they only ever appeared on the Power of the Force cards and later Trilogo cards which basically means there far fewer of them. Hence the higher prices, plus they are figures that are always in demand.

Cheers ODB, are there any collecting guide books out there, I quite fancy a book for nostalgia reasons?

[ODB]

There are loads from price guides to better ones. For the casual collector Star Wars The Action Figure Archive by Steve Sansweet is a good book to start with as it lists all the basics of the vintage line and some of the modern lines. Its a couple of years old now so you can get it quite cheap second hand. After that it gets into quite heavy stuff, such as John Kellerman's Kenner book, Sephane Fancourts Trilogo book and Steve Sansweets From Concept to Screen Collectible.