What is On Jeffs' Mind

Lately my friend Dave and I have been doing some toy runs. I got out of doing the standard toy collecting as I have moved to on to collecting more higher end pieces. But Dave asked me to come along as he was out looking for stores that carry Sideshow figures. I have to say it has been a lot of fun to go check things out. On Thursday Dave twisted my arm on buying a Rebel Ground Crew person with Transport. It is basically a little transport that was seen in the Movies in the rebel Hangar that carries Pilots or Supplies. Sort of boring, but looks ok with Rebel ships. The good thing was it was on sale. That was the first Hasbro toy I had bought in quite some time.

On Saturday Dave and I went on a trip over to the south east side of Edmonton. We stopped off At Millwoods Town Centre, and I am not sure if I have ever been to this mall. If I have, I certainly do not remember when that was. Checked out a comic book Shop there, picked up a Star Wars Comic. After that we went to Capilano Mall, that was another mall that it has been years since I had been to. Found some Star Wars figures on sale at a winners that I bought. Not really for me, but something I might sell at the next toy show. I bought an Astromech I thought that I did not have, but when I got home, I realized I had it already. We went to a collectible store in the mall, which had some cool items. They had a replica of the Flux Capacitor from the Back tot he Future movies. It was cool to see as I have seen pictures of them, but never actually had seen one in person. All in all it was a fun day, and was nice to go out and check some things, as has been years since I had done that.

Tags: Collecting, Star Wars

I have been really trying on keeping to my 2012 resolutions, so far I would say the good word would be consistent. Probably the resolution I am most excited about is my Star Wars vintage collecting. I have been getting a new figure each month so far, but I really wanted to step it up. When I got my bonus from work last month, I said to myself I was going to go out and get one of the more expensive figures. So after a few attempts on some auctions I finally won a figure I had set my targets on.

The Blue Snaggletooth was one that I had in the back of my mind, I was debating between going for him, or a Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper disguise. In the end I really just had the urge to get the Blue Snaggletooth, as it is an expensive figure and if I did not get him when I made the commitment, I was not sure when I could get back to him. As stated, I had tried a few times on some auctions, but always seemed to come up just a bit short. I think part of what makes me happy to get this was getting the figure, but also pushing past that barrier that sometimes holds me back, where I don’t really fully commit to something. So winning this auction represented to me sticking with something, fully committing and achieving. I am hoping that this will be a bit of a lift of for me in other pursuits as well, and that at times, to get something, you have to put yourself all in.

Thankyou Blue Snaggletooth for pushing me past the barrier that holds me back

Tags: Blue Snaggletooth, Resolutions 2012, Star Wars Vintage

An update on my 2012 Resolutions as of April

My Fitness is coming along, I have not really pushed myself to hard, but I have managed to regularly exercise and I think as well I am eating a bit better. We have had some spring snow storms lately so that has prevented me from getting out and walking as much as I would like, but hopefully those are behind now and I can get back to those walks. With the weather getting a bit warmer, hopefully I don’t need to wear such a heavy coat. I am hopeful at some point I might even be able to jog a bit as well as I build up the strength in my legs. For now I will try and to increase the intensity of my bike rides.

I have started back on my reading, and I think I have made some good progress on that. I have already read one book cover to cover, and about 2/3rds the way through the next. I had been trying a Star Trek book but was having a tough time getting through it, so I put it down and picked up some others. I want to get on a roll on my reading, and then I will go back to that Trek book I was having some trouble with. But I am hoping I can get through 2 books a month, so will be pushing myself to keep at my reading.

I was able to get a working computer in the basement, so now I can start on my models again. So I am going to start on them again this weekend. I have some Star Wars droid fighters sitting on my desk right now, it is a small snap together model that I will paint up. After that I think I will take on a Tie Fighter. Really looking forward to building models again, and happy I got my desk setup the way I want to do that.

For March the Vintage figure I picked up was a 8D8. I got it for under 10 dollars. It is not in the best of shape, so most likely this will be one that I will upgrade at some point. There is some pink highlighter marker on the side of it’s head, and looks like some other pen or marker has been cleaned off of it. So this figure will do for now, but will replace it down the road with one in better condition. It is not an expensive figure, so should not be hard.

Last week I was at our annual toy show. It was a great chance to find my April vintage figure, and I picked up an Empire Strikes Back Lando. He looks to be in great shape and I was pretty happy with the price and the condition of him. It was nice as well to find a figure at a Toy Show instead of all my eBay purchases to date. I also have another figure coming that I got of eBay, I will blog about it when I get it, but have to say, I am excited. This Vintage collecting has really renergized my passion for collecting.

Tags: 8D8, Exercising, Lando, Reading, Resolutions 2012, Star Wars Vintage

I had last week off, and I wanted to spend it doing things I enjoy. One of my goals for 2012 was to make good progress towards a complete loose Star Wars Vintage collection. So over the past week, I put in some time on really looking for figures, and getting a good handle of what they would be worth. I started the year off very conservatively in what I was buying, as I really did not know what the going rate was on figures. My first few purchases (The Emperor, Hoth Rebel Trooper and Bespin Han) did not cost much. But I really want to get into some of the figures that are a bit more expensive. I did win an auction for a 8D8 figure, but again, another inexpensive one, which is not bad as I need to fill out my collection, and saving money of these figures will go towards others I can’t.

I have said to myself that I would really like to get one of the more pricier figures. I recently got my bonus at work, so want to treat myself. I Had a few figures in mind, and got close on an auction for one of them, but got out bid in the end. I have my eye on a few others right now, and a bid on an auction, so will see how that goes and if I win it or not. I wanted to get something in the week I was off, but decided to I will take a bit more time. I had my mind stuck on a few different figures, so really wanted to wait and see if some more come up in the next little while, as I might not be able to revisit them for awhile.

The other really important thing, is that I got a good idea of what different figures go for. I think I have pretty much collected all the lesser cost figures, so going forward, the ones I am looking for will be a bit more. I was getting a bit scared off on the price on some, which in the end were not that much. I think I was more chased off as I was not sure what the actual going rate was, but now I do, so I should be more confident in what I am bidding on.

It was nice to just be able to put in some time, looking at auctions, and reading up on figures. I was even able to research some things. I had a small vintage Jawa blaster from when I was a kid. It looked a little different then the ones I saw in auctions but was able to determine it was a variant, and I saw a picture online of the one I had. A bit amazing that I was able to hang onto this small piece of plastic all these years, when I have lost all the others. I also found a missing part for a one of my other figures, so I was happy about that.

The other bonus for the week for me, was I able to get a internet working computer in my basement. I finally worked through what my plans were and came to the conclusion for now, I will you an old computer in the basement. I bought a USB wireless network adapter, which I was able to get working on my older PC. I am happy as now I should be able to use that computer to reference pictures when I work on models and other collecting things. I also bought a chair, which I needed for the basement. I guess I was being cheap, as I had a chair in mind, but did not want to spend much, so was able to find one that suited my needs at the price I wanted to pay. Slowly but surely my basement is coming along.

Tags: Basement, Resolutions 2012, Star Wars Vintage