What is On Jeffs' Mind

There is something about me and $10. It seems to hold me back on buying certain things. Last weekend I was at the mall with my wife, well she was off shopping, I poked around a few stores. First up I headed over to a local hobby store to check out the modelling supplies. Well I was there I had a look at the models and they had a Klingon K’tinga Battle Cruiser model. I really want to get one of these to make up for the one I built in my teens which I did a completely horrible job on. The price was $50, and for some reason, if it was $40 I would have grabbed it in a heart beat, but $50 it made me leave it at the store. For some reason I feel I can get it cheaper, but logically if I think it through, I will not, as once I pay for shipping I will probably pay the same or a bit more.  But that $10  was holding me back, like an invisible hand. After that I was strolling down the mall and went to the Seen on TV store, in there I saw a miniature humidifier. I really want to get one for my desk at work and this would probably fill the need. It is small and simple and would be pretty much what I am looking for. But the price tag on it was $40. If it was $30 I would not have thought about it and picked it up, but again, that $10 dollars was putting up a wall between me and the item.

Just felt it was interesting to talk about. This is not the first time I have passed on something that was $10 more then I wanted to pay, I guess I just get something set in my mind on what it is worth, and $10 dollars is the magical number for me where if it hits that number, I hold back. for the past few days I have been thinking of that Model, so the irony is I will probably either go back and buy it if it is still there, or spend more to get one down the road. $10 just seems to be enough to make me stop and pause on things, maybe that is not such a bad thing.

Tags: Humidifier, Klingon K'tinga

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