Swedish collector Mattias Rendahl is no stranger to the Archive blog, having authored a couple of posts (see here and here) and sat for an interview concerning his excellent book, A New Proof. In the below tribute, Mattias remembers how his interactions with the Archive's editors, Michael Mensinger in particular, helped him to discover new aspects of collecting. An excellent graphic designer, Mattias also created the terrific 30th anniversary graphic that you see at the bottom of this page.
Mattias writes:
I discovered the Archive in the late '90s and, like many others, used it as my go-to reference for collecting.
At the time I thought I was the only adult collecting Star Wars memorabilia, but "Toys 'R' Gus" (that's what we called it at the time) showed me I wasn't alone. That realization only fueled my passion even further. By the early 2000s I had also found the forums at Rebelscum.com. While I didn't post much, I spent a lot of time reading and absorbing the insights from the Archive editors who posted there. "JohnA" (John Alvarez) always advised everyone to "read, read, and read the Archive" -- which I did and already had for years, and still do on a weekly basis.
I particularly remember that Archive editor Mike Mensinger regularly posted incredible links to Archive entries each week. He would share threads about new entries as well as links to posts in the "Figure of the Week" threads (I can't quite recall if it was even shortened to FOTW back around 2003). The Archive links from "michael_mensinger" (one of the few RS names I still remember because of his use of his real name) were the highlight of my week. Those links encouraged me to explore the Archive more deeply and sparked a desire to dig into various collecting niches. They also led me to delve into Swedish collectibles, as I realized just how much rare and unexplored material was still out there. Eventually, I decided to focus on a character (Chief Chirpa) with few Archive entries, wanting to uncover what had yet to be documented.
All those links not only piqued my curiosity but also helped me form friendships with many of the editors of the site -- friendships I still treasure today.
I’ll never forget Mike’s AOL email address after all the discussions and questions I bombarded him with. The same goes for Chris (earthlink), John, Gus, Ron (hvc.rr.com), Duncan, Todd, et al. Those old email addresses are like the first phone numbers you memorize for your closest friends.
So thank you, "michael_mensinger," for inspiring me to dig deeper. You and all other editors have played a big part in my journey to publishing books and hosting panels at conventions worldwide. Looking forward to the next 30 years on Toysrgu… I mean theswca.com!
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