David writes:
As we trudge through the winter months, the proverbial light that awaits us at the end of a long, cold, snowy tunnel is the start of another toy show season.
Do you remember the first time you visited a toy show?
I attended my first Star Wars-themed toy show in the summer of 1992 or 1993. It was held on a Sunday in Long Island, New York, in the basement of a synagogue. In a small, dimly lit and musty room, among vendors stocked with tables of Star Wars collectibles, I faced the stunning realization that somehow I had missed the release of Kenner’s Power of the Force figures in 1985. Discovering that the line did not end with the 79th figure and Return of the Jedi, but continued with characters like Luke Skywalker in his Stormtrooper and Endor outfits, or Han Solo and his Carbonite block, made me desperately excited to be a young collector, with new territory to explore.
But at the time, as a middle school child without a job, taking home a four hundred-dollar carded Luke or loose Yak Face was impossible. I was able to buy my first Star Wars pieces as a collector that day, ending up with a bagged Luke Hoth figure for five dollars, a five-dollar loose Luke Jedi, complete with cape and blue lightsaber, and a twenty-seven dollar carded Return of the Jedi Darth Vader figure on an alternate photo cardback.
And approaching high school, other interests jostled for my attention: girls, music, art, friends, and most of what was covered on shows like Saved by the Bell, Beverly Hills 90210 and My So-Called Life.
When I revisited collecting Star Wars memorabilia in 2011, I sought out toy shows as a place to learn about and to acquire the figures, vehicles and playsets from my childhood. And unlike eBay, these experiences afforded me the opportunity to handle these items in person, inspecting them for flaws and issues, and selecting the ones in the best condition for my collection. And most of the time, the dealer was kind enough to give me a discount on my purchase.
I drove to nearby, smaller shows on the weekends, arriving with the early buyers and entering as the doors to the venue opened.
The night before a show, I would struggle to fall asleep, pulsing with anticipation over what I might discover, or what I might bring home. And those mornings, I’d leave as the sun rose, driving on roads that felt quiet and untraveled, as the rest of the world was still asleep. The hues on the trees and the buildings along my path changed with the growing light, and my GPS counted down the time until I reached my destination. I fully embraced the excitement around each toy show adventure.
Since then, my toy show trip radius has expanded greatly. I’ve traveled to other states and to other regions of the country not only to find Star Wars prototypes and production pieces, but to connect with others within our community who share a similar passion for collecting.
And as we enter a new toy show season, I wanted to highlight some of the aspects that make attending local and out-of-state shows worthwhile experiences.
 |
| A Star Wars haul from a 2014 ToyCon NJ Show |
I drove to nearby, smaller shows on the weekends, arriving with the early buyers and entering as the doors to the venue opened.
The night before a show, I would struggle to fall asleep, pulsing with anticipation over what I might discover, or what I might bring home. And those mornings, I’d leave as the sun rose, driving on roads that felt quiet and untraveled, as the rest of the world was still asleep. The hues on the trees and the buildings along my path changed with the growing light, and my GPS counted down the time until I reached my destination. I fully embraced the excitement around each toy show adventure.
Since then, my toy show trip radius has expanded greatly. I’ve traveled to other states and to other regions of the country not only to find Star Wars prototypes and production pieces, but to connect with others within our community who share a similar passion for collecting.
And as we enter a new toy show season, I wanted to highlight some of the aspects that make attending local and out-of-state shows worthwhile experiences.
*****
1. The Thrill of the Hunt
Very simply, the thrill of the hunt is often why collectors frequent toy shows.
In some ways, toy shows recreate the feeling of visiting Toys “R” Us or any of the toy retailers as a child. The anticipation of walking into a large building boasting aisles of action figures, not knowing what you’ll find and what you’ll bring home, recaptures those life-shaping moments of being a young Star Wars fan.
The thrill of the hunt is the catalyst. It’s what pushes us to leave our homes and to explore. It’s the idea that something could be waiting for us in a bin or on a table at a vendor’s booth. But it may not be there for long -- we need to find it and claim it before someone else snatches it.
 |
| Scoring a mint Vinyl Cape Jawa at Pennsylvania's 2015 Retro Con |
And that item assumes many forms. It may be the last piece we need for our run, or it may be the one that triggers a new focus. It could also be something as simple as a desired collectible at a price too good to turn down. It might be something we didn’t even know existed, or something that is part of Star Wars’ vibrant history. Or it might just be the grail we never thought we’d see in person, let alone own.
 |
| A prototype surfaces at the Cincinnati toy show room sales event. |
The addition of the year. The score of the century. That is the possibility when you attend a toy show. And it’s why we return, again and again. It’s the thrill of the hunt.
2. The Chance of Landing a Better Deal
Today, many of the sales of Star Wars memorabilia take place online. But purchasing items from a vendor at a toy show has its benefits.
When it comes to auctions, a good deal may surface once in a while, but the competitive model often works against the buyer. On sites like eBay and through the auction houses, each bid drives the price higher, and those who get caught up in the momentum of the moment risk overpaying, and sometimes by multiples of the collectible’s reasonable value.
At a toy show, a dealer generally has a fixed price on an item. And that price can be negotiated down to a place where both the seller and the buyer are happy with the result.
And paying for an item in-person eliminates the need for the extra fees associated with certain platforms. Most auction houses add a standard buyer’s premium to the price, usually landing at fifteen to twenty-five percent of the winning bid. Some even charge the consignor a seller’s premium to host the items. And when it comes to transactions, eBay and PayPal take a substantial portion of the total sale in exchange for the use of their services, affecting a seller’s cut before taxes.
Purchasing a collectible at a show eliminates the need for premiums and fees. Many dealers prefer to receive payments in cash, and will reward buyers with a discount for paying with currency instead of processing a sale through an app.
And for larger or more fragile memorabilia, an in-person exchange removes the concerns that an online transaction may draw. It gives the potential buyer the chance to inspect the item with the vendor, to make sure it is authentic and to address any issues or questions before the purchase. It removes the costs associated with mailing and insuring an item, which can be substantial depending on the size and the price. And without the need for an item to be shipped, it also quells concerns about the item surviving its shipping journey and arriving safely.
3. A Place to Use Your Knowledge to Your Advantage
As collectors, we obsess over the details. Our understanding of the action figures and the collectibles extend far beyond what the average Star Wars fan knows. We study figure variants, their countries of origin, the different mold cavities used to produce them, and the accessories. We log the differences in paint and appearance, and the specific cardbacks on which they were packaged. We learn about multipacks and mailers, international figures and bootlegs, vintage and modern lines, and prototypes and production pieces. We feed that desire to digest as much as possible with platefuls of information.
And that knowledge can make our toy show hunts even more successful. Spending time among the tables, digging into bins and examining the contents of a vendor’s booth may unlock some of the variants and rarer items that a more casual collector may overlook.
And the toy show is the perfect place to find these nuanced treasures. It’s where a hollow tubes Tusken Raider is discovered in a five-dollar figure bin. Or a “Red Bar” R5-D4 droid -- where one of the white rectangles on its sticker label is filled in red and sells for hundreds of dollars -- is sold for the price of a regular version. Or a solid black Endor blaster, which also sells for hundreds of dollars and was only released with two 1985 Power of the Force figures, is packaged with a common B-Wing Pilot or AT-ST Driver instead.
 |
| Note the small red rectangle on the figure's decal |
I’ve witnessed many of these finds over the years. At a winter toy show a friend picked up a Luke Skywalker figure for twenty-five dollars, only to find out later that the accessory inside of its arm was a double-telescoping lightsaber with a beautiful inner filament.
Others have purchased Lily Ledy international figures that resembled their domestic counterparts, but were sold at a fraction of the price. And when you’re dealing with a box of toys, there are always some desirable parts and accessories waiting for you at the bottom.
And certain action figures are simply tougher to find on specific cardbacks. In 2017, I purchased a carded Return of the Jedi Bib Fortuna for forty-five dollars from a vendor at New York Comic-Con. Months later, as I researched the figures I owned, I realized that the Bib Fortuna was packaged on a 79-B cardback, with the Anakin Skywalker sticker, and was one of the tougher characters to find on that particular card.
 |
| A 79-B ROTJ Bib Fortuna |
4. A Locale to Establish Friendships and Connections
I mentioned the previous three points first because they are often what incentivize us to travel to a toy show. But I think this one is the most important, and the most rewarding.
Collecting Star Wars memorabilia can be a hobby done in isolation. A person can pick up items online and with very little interaction with others. And some people enjoy it that way, taking a similar approach as one would to other singular hobbies, like running, gardening, woodworking or learning an instrument.
And the online groups and social media have given us the illusion of interaction, through transactional relationships and digital conversations. But spending time face-to-face with those who share our interests brings us the connections we long for as humans, and can literally change our lives.
When I returned to collecting in 2011, the first show I attended was the Wayne Toy Show, which was a monthly event at a firehouse in Wayne, New Jersey. As a smaller show, it afforded me the opportunity to get to know the dealers and collectors, and to become a familiar face to others. A number of established and newer Star Wars collectors routinely gathered in front of a dealer’s table, sometimes for hours, sharing photos of recent purchases and talking at length about the toys and their fascinating histories.
The rapport at this local show soon became as much of a draw as the hunt for the toys. And the monthly reunions gave us the time not only to learn about the toys and memorabilia we loved, but to learn about one another in the process.
 |
| A 31-A ESB Han Solo in Hoth Outfit. |
In 2015, I had purchased a carded Han Hoth figure from a vendor at the show, and another collector stopped me a few minutes later to ask me questions about it. We chatted for a while, exchanged phone numbers, and I told him to contact me if he ever had any other collecting questions. Over the next few months we talked regularly about Star Wars and the collectibles, but we began to build a friendship. And two years after that first toy show encounter, the two of us drove from New Jersey to Florida, to attend our first Star Wars convention together. And it all started with a simple conversation about Star Wars action figures.
Toy shows serve as hubs for collectors. And your circle of friends will eventually overlap with another collector’s circle of friends. As a result, those circles merge through connecting and networking. It’s an organic way to grow your group of friends, ones who share the same passion for Star Wars and collecting.
And I’ve met some of my dearest friends at toy shows. And I’ve traveled to different regions of the country with them and have attended meetups and events that defy anything I could have expected from being a Star Wars enthusiast.
One of my favorite things to do at a toy show is to tour the floor with another collector. It’s a great way to discuss the hobby and life in general, while exploring the aisles of vendor booths, as the bustle of the crowd becomes a peaceful white noise. And a random run-in with other collectors or finding something special during a walk only makes those strolls even more memorable.
And over time, certain locations within a toy show become significant. They mark the places where friendships began, or where moments occurred along the timeline of a friendship. They serve as both reminders of fantastic finds and those electric, unforgettable days spent in the company of fellow collectors.
5. An Experience That Becomes Meaningfully More
Toy shows can also serve as spaces for both impromptu and planned collector activities that often take us beyond the walls of the venue.
For Star Wars fans, a regional show can become a neutral meeting site, a logical place to gather as a group without having to worry about accommodations or hosting. And being surrounded by Star Wars memorabilia for sale in a large space is the perfect setting to draw established members of a local club, and also to engage with potential future members.
When a show morphs into a meetup, the backdrop will always be the collectibles, but the in-person connections become the true focus.
Some of the first examples I encountered of these meetups occurred in my travels to Ohio, for the Columbus Toy Show. I’d arrive the day before the show, attending the vendor setup, and would get to know the various dealers running more than 450 tables. After setup that evening, I would join a group of collectors and dealers for a dinner at a nearby restaurant. Or our group would schedule an activity in advance for that day, like a meetup at a collector’s home, or practicing golf swings at a driving range. And we’d meet up the following day to hang out together at the toy show.
Venturing beyond my region in the search for Star Wars collectibles, those Columbus trips became the starting points for many of the friendships I have today.
*****
Every October, the Cincinnati Toy Show draws collectors from all over the country, and from around the world. As a toy show in the heart of what was formerly Kenner country, it has become one stop along a very packed and exciting collectors’ weekend.
Attendees generally arrive to Cincinnati a few days ahead of the show. They visit collectors in the area, viewing some incredible vintage and modern Star Wars collections in the process. They frequent the antique malls where some notable prototypes were discovered over the years, and shop at some of the toy stores famous for their vintage selections. And being in Cincinnati for a few days affords collectors the chance to take group tours of some important Star Wars sites, like the Kroger building that formerly served as Kenner’s headquarters, or the multi-story Kenner Mural depicting some of the most iconic toys ever created.
And each day, attendees gather for meals together, sometimes taking over entire restaurants. And the night before the toy show, the lobby of the host hotel transforms into a room sales event, where collectors buy, sell and trade rare prototypes and production items.
 |
| Produced and unproduced POTF proof cards for sale at the 2017 Cincinnati room sales. |
Spending full days together rapidly forms bonds between collectors. And for the ones who return to a place like Cincinnati year after year, those weekends truly feel like family reunions.
 |
| The 2019 room sales during the Cincinnati Toy Show weekend. |
And this tradition of extending the toy show experience has continued with the regional clubs and local shows as well.
Zolocon, a Pennsylvania toy show that kicks off the season each year in the northeast, has become a meetup for collectors from Star Wars clubs based in Pennsylvania, New York, D.C. and Connecticut.
 |
| Zolocon 2024 |
Halfway through the day, collectors would drive to a barbecue restaurant down the street, spending a few hours away from the show. These lunches became just as important as attending Zolocon itself, and developed into an annual tradition that brought collectors together over a hearty meal.
In May of 2021, after being away from one another due to the pandemic and the resultant quarantine, thirty collectors from the Empire State Star Wars Collectors Club took a break from shopping New Jersey’s ToyCon NJ show to take over an Italian restaurant for a few hours. These moments together provided laughter and longer conversations, but more importantly gave us a sense of normalcy that had disappeared over the previous year. And it’s a blessing to say that a group meal or an extracurricular activity has become a staple of the toy show events for many Star Wars club members.
Transforming time at a toy show into a collectors’ meetup often makes it a more meaningful experience. It creates real relationships beyond transactional ones. And it gives us a chance to share our love for Star Wars and the memorabilia with others who share that same passion.
And in the same way the 1977 Star Wars film opened a door to decades of stories around the characters we love, these toy shows and meetups are the key moments that lead to further adventures together, often ones that stretch beyond what we can imagine.
So this year, seek out toy shows in your area, and attend as many as you can. Get to know the dealers and the collectors who frequent these shows. Introduce yourself to other collectors with something as simple as a conversation around a certain item on a vendor’s table, or with the best ice breaker in the hobby: So, what do you collect?
Link up with members from your regional Star Wars club. Plan meetups and meals together around an upcoming event, and see where those moments take you.
And you never know what figures you’ll find and what friendships may form from a day at a toy show.
*If you'd like to hear more about the toy show experience, as well as moments from the shows over the years, check out episode 211 of the Star Wars: Prototypes and Production podcast here.
