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| A small part of my POP! Figure Collection |
First things first, I must give actor Mark Patton credit for the inspiration for this week's post. Yesterday, he was attending a convention in Mexico and he took photos of his friend's enormous toy collection that was on display there. It was the largest collection of action figures I have ever seen. This gentleman has everything from Ghostbusters to Star Wars. It really made me start to think about my youth and how collecting has touched my life over the years.
Before I ever saw the first Star Wars movie, I fell in love with the action figures. Jefferson Ward Department Store had a huge bin of them in the front of their store and displays of ships. As a young child I was in awe of all the different creatures and robots and people in robes with magic glowing sticks. I wanted them all! Over the years I had obtained a huge collection. They are all I really wanted for birthdays and holidays. I played with mine for hours at a time with friends or alone. I carried around my Darth Vader collector cases with pride. Sadly, I lost much of my collection in Hurricane Andrew. I still have many of my figures, the Landspeeder, (which was one of the first items purchased by my parents for me), and a few of the ships, (which are very worn with play and damage from the storm). At this moment, my Darth Vader action figure cases are next to my bed and the Landspeeder is sitting on a shelf above my TV.
In the early 1990's, my father and I use to scour Toys R Us and other nearby stores for Star Trek: The Next Generation action figures. By this time, I had learned that it was more valuable to keep action figures in their original package, and we displayed them in my bedroom with over fifty nails in the wall I also bought some to take out of the packages and display. I also bought anything I could find in connection to that series: trading cards, books, magazines, pewter figures, plates, and cardboard cut-outs. My father even made a ferengi sculpture that won second place at the second Star Trek convention we ever attended. Majel Barrett Roddenberry even signed it for him. It was an amazing time for both of us and I am happy I was able to share something I loved with him.
One of my favorite collecting moments was the night Toys R Us opened at midnight to introduce the new line of Star Wars: The Clone Wars action figures. My husband, son and I waited in line with hundreds of others waiting for the store to open. Everyone was talking about their collections and how much Star Wars meant to them. The funniest thing I overheard that night was a discussion two young boys were having and one of them said to the other, "You know the same actor who played Han Solo also played Indiana Jones". The other boy's mind was blown. "Really?," he said in awe. I remember having the biggest smile on my face hearing that. After the store opened however, the gloves were off, and the carts were piled high with action figures, ships and Lego sets. It was an intense couple of hours, but no one got into fisticuffs. What an amazing and over-indulgent event it was, but it was a once in a lifetime moment.
I have collected from many shows over the years such as the new Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, and most recently The Walking Dead, to name a few. My favorite items to collect at the moment are the POP! figures from Funko. I buy which ones I like, and I do not necessarily collect every one from a set. I first started collecting just the ones from The Walking Dead, but the collection has grown to the guys from Supernatural, Star Trek, The Big Bang Theory, and even Michael Myers from Halloween. The boxes are easier to display than action figure packages, but they require a lot of room.
Are you a collector? What are some of your favorite items? I would love feedback and I invite you to share your favorite collection moments and photos here.
Until next time, I am,
Sci-Fi Fan FL
