3D Printing a Galaxy

Yehuda writes:

 After the release of the first Star Wars film in 1977, instant fans of the film were hungry for more tales from that far away galaxy, and waiting patiently for several years to see the sequel wasn't in the cards. 

The imaginative playground that George Lucas created left a fertile ground for further storytelling by energized fans of the franchise. The un-official expanded universe of new Star Wars adventures began to coalesce through fanzines and Sci-Fi magazines of the era. In addition to featuring inventive new tales, publications began to feature some of the earliest examples of Star Wars customized toys ever produced.

In March of 1979, Famous Monsters magazine ran what likely was the first Star Wars customizing contest. Competitors used available Kenner action figures and toys to create new playsets, dioramas, and vehicles to accompany often archaic new Star Wars narratives. Much as professional toymakers of the time, customizers creatively used available hobby materials including urethanes, paint, and plastics to fashion their creations.

What was once a burgeoning new branch of the hobby, customizing has grown into an expansive artistic impression of our own imaginations. Over the past decades, examples of customized art/designer figures and toys have ranged in quality and appreciation, at times even soaring to the levels of high art and appreciated folk art (e.g. Kaws, Be@rbrick, Suckadelic, and Bill Cable among many others). 

For many modern day toy customizers and artists, the original joy of customizing still reflects a drive to continue the expanded storytelling of the Star Wars galaxy. Much as toymakers of today, many customizers are beginning to transition their creative process away from the more traditional craft of sketching and hand sculpting to the more technical world of computer designing and 3D printing. 

As a fan of the iconic Kenner line of Star Wars action figures and toys, I have come to appreciate the fine details and lines of the playsets and vehicles that were produced during the original releases of the films and the toymakers who created them. Having covered New York Toy Fair over the past several years, I've had the opportunity to speak to Mark Boudreaux, who created many toys at Kenner and Hasbro for over 40 years and has impressively only recently retired. Mark created the 1977 release of the Millennium Falcon and in fact every iteration of the Falcon produced until his retirement in 2020. At the time of our meeting in 2018, Mark was promoting the yet to be funded Jabba's Sail Barge. Describing the cockpit, Mark showed the zeal of any fan. He was particularly proud that the cockpit had been approved by Lucasfilm, since that part of the ship was never seen in the films and was his original design.

The sleek, grey primed Sail Barge prototype displayed at Toy Fair was entirely 3D printed -- a tremendous feat at its gargantuan size of over four feet in length and much in contrast to the rudimentary kit-bashed prototypes Mark produced for the vintage ships in the 1970s. 

3D printing was created with the intent to simplify the creative process of producing prototype hardcopies. This new process avoided the need for manual sculpting and the subsequent process of creating silicone molds in order to produce hardcopies of the original toy sculpt. With 3D printing, examples of the original design can instead be printed as needed in any quantity. It is for this reason that the original term for 3D printing was termed "rapid prototyping." Nearly all toys produced today are designed using this process.

3D printed hardcopy of the retro Kenner Stormtrooper introduced at New York Toy Fair February 2019.

 Notice on close inspection the 3D printing lines on the back of the figure.

3D printing is now readily available for customizers to use and express their ideas. Public websites such as Thingiverse.com allow amateur toymakers and artists to share their creations with other people for printing and further customization.

Having recently re-watched American Grafitti and admiring the classic American hotrods that pepper Lucas' early film, I started to consider what a hotrod might look like in Lucas' later space adventures. Maybe a Corellian cruiser suped-up by some Rodian teenage delinquent. And with that inspiration, I set up my Ender-3 3D printer.

Stripped vintage Kenner ships and playsets are plentiful and serve as an ideal foundation for customization. Often the bane of vintage toy dealers, these large plastic hulls carry little value to most collectors and are difficult to sell. Typically brutally cannabilized for parts by Jawa-like collectors in search of a missing piece, they sit piled up by the dozens in Rubbermaid tubs often left in storage.

Mountains of previously unappreciated plastic vintage ships and playsets remain readily available. 

(Images courtesy of Alyssa Loney at IbisAppraisals.net)

I started my custom with an incomplete vintage Kenner Millennium Falcon that my children used years ago in weekend-long epic battles. Wanting to begin with an empty palette, I removed all remaining parts and set them aside for other collectors who may be in need of the parts. I then separated and cleaned the empty hull with care to protect any remaining stickers and reassembled the ship.

For the customized exterior parts, I chose a metallic purple with additional silver and black elements. I also incorporated a modified version of the unproduced 1986 Kenner shuttle concept piloted by a matching purple Astromech.

Interiorly I chose a more movie accurate color scheme of silver and black with added details to the chess table and floor panel. Most of the parts printed were modified designs I found on Thingiverse.com.

For the interior design I chose a metallic silver and black color combination for more movie authentic character. De-emphasizing the silver arm for the training remote by printing it in a clear plastic was done with the same intent. The chess table-top design is 3D printed as well.

Much like any other custom, care should be taken not to produce any part that could be confused even by a novice collector for an authentic vintage piece. Fortunately, due to the nature of the additive process of 3D printing which is dramatically different from heat extrusion, customized parts are usually easily discernable. Greater care should be taken if printing in vintage-like colors.

Comparison pictures from original Kenner parts to the 3D printed models show several design techniques. With the use of multiple colors, the purple pinstripe detailing was given a black background to give the appearance of grease and space debris embedded in the machinery. The ramp picture demonstrates a Kenner original ramp followed by a 3D printed black model and then followed by a ramp 3D printed in Kenner like color.

A missing sticker replaced with a 3D printed plastic grate gives a realistic effect.

Complex prints can be achieved with experimentation.

If you are interested in finding a stripped vintage hull for customizing, the dealers listed below can likely assist you. Please empty their basements.

• Ibis Appraisal Services
• Toy Chamber Collectibles
• Toy & Comic Heaven
• Pete LeRose: 914-456-3693
• Imperial Castle Toy Shop

'Chive Cast 90 - Solo Vintage Winners & Losers

Skye and Steve analyze and review Solo: A Star Wars Story by breaking down which vintage Star Wars collectibles will benefit from the movie and which ones will suffer from it. From Snoopies to Troopies, Chewie to Han and from 3PO to Gonk, we cover it all in our now traditional Top 10 Winners and Losers list. How can a new movie impact the collectibility and desirability of 40 year-old toys? Listen to find out our take on the 90th 'Chive cast Vintage Pod: A Podcast Story, Anthology. 

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Steve's Star Wars at the Movies Review for Solo

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
01:32 – Opening Thoughts on Solo
04:43 – Skye’s Rant Against Slate, NPR, Cinemasins, Red Letter Media Style Film Criticism
11:53 – #10 LOSER (B-Wing Pilot)
12:54 – #10 WINNER (Bossk)
16:27 – #9 WINNER (Death Star Droid)
18:50 – #9 LOSER (Rancor)
20:08 – #8 WINNER (Falcon)
21:59 – Steve’s Soundtrack Rant Against Re-used Music Cues
25:57 – #8 LOSER (Non-SW Han Solo Figures)
30:40 – #7 LOSER and WINNER (X-Wings and TIE Bombers)
32:18 – #6 WINNERS (Imperial Commander and AT-AT Commander)
37:12 – Steve’s Rant Against Lawrence Kasdan’s Screenwriting
41:19 – #6 and #5 LOSERS (Snoopies and Troopies)
43:39 – #5 WINNER (Han’s Blaster)
47:52 – What about the Bandolier?
49:40 – #4 WINNER (???  A Droid ???)
54:03 – #3 WINNER and LOSER (??? Head Trouble ???)
59:38 – #2 LOSER  (??? Skye is probably wrong about this ???)
01:01:22 – #2 and # 1 WINNER (??? Lando and Chewie, but which order ???)
01:04:09 – #1.5 WINNER (Bantam Books)
01:20:18 – #1 LOSERS (Neal Scanlan MUST Be Stopped)
01:21:43 – Eat at Denny’s… Pray for Death

MarketWatch Summer 2017 Round-Up: State of the Market

Pete writes:

 Happy October Space Freaks! As we look back on the Summer this month on the MarketWatch, we dive deep into the vast sea of Vintage floating out there at nearly record low prices and absolute bargains as the sky has literally fallen. The bubble has burst, the champagne has popped, the bottom has fallen out, this is it folks...the Dark Times are near. Loose Vinyl Cape Jawas for $19.99, complete 12 Back runs for $100, Revenge of the Jedi proof cards at $1.00 a piece.  

If you haven't realized by now, I’m being a tad bit facetious! But who can blame me? It seems every week there’s a new thread popping up somewhere in social media about how the market is crashing. Most of these threads fall into a few categories: perception, speculation, trolling(?), and one data point theories.   

It reminds me of a famous line from The Simpsons when Lionel Hutz was asked by the judge if he has any evidence, and he replied in kind “Well Your Honor, we've got plenty of hearsay and conjecture...those are kinds of evidence.”

The fact of the matter is that for as long as eBay has been around there have been great deals in the marketplace, and using these outliers as the basis for predicting patterns in the market is one of -- if not the most -- damaging things to the hobby. I know that may seem a bit extreme, but the fact of the matter is that a false perception is damaging to any hobby, especially a highly socialized one such as ours. It’s all about belief. Things such as scandals shake the hobby quickly and aggressively, whereas false perceptions of value kill the hobby slowly by eroding one of its founding aspects: the belief that there is value in what we collect.

This month we take a hard look at the market through the Three Cs - Categories, Condition, and Characters, and where things are hot and where they may be cooling off.  In addition, we’ll look at literal results from eBay and discuss the assumptions that are made with each of the channels of buying and selling in the marketplace today.  

So what’s going on with the market these days? What are the trends that we’re seeing?   

At a high level the overall health of the Vintage market is good. Now that may seem a bit vanilla, and to be honest it is. I look at this as a balancing situation. Some things are up, some are down, but the only extremes in the market are actually on the positive side of the equation. The market is what it is, not because of a lack of engagement, but because of a lack of buzz. This for better or for worse has normalized the trends that we’ve seen leading up to the release of The Force Awakens and directly following its release given the overall positive reception for Star Wars as a brand. Even though this buzz has died off a bit, we still have movies coming out regularly which are receiving praise from critics and fans. The other factor that is keeping the market up while we are seeing declines in awareness is the global economy, and more-so the economy in the key countries where the majority of collecting occurs. The simple rule is the hobby thrives when people have more money to spend on it.

To dive deeper into what’s happening and uncover areas of growth and areas which have seen a decline, I dissect the market through three factors, the aforementioned three Cs of the collecting community.

Condition:

-          High grade* = Flat. The best will always demand the most and hold its value. This seems to be the case still today with higher grade items doing extremely well.

-          Mid grade* = Down. I won’t say the middle has fallen out, but this segment has seen the most decline across all categories and characters of toys.

-          Low grade* = Up. Surprisingly the lower end of collecting packaged toys has actually seen an uptick over the past year. This really has to do with the barriers to entry for both new and existing collectors. With prices swelling throughout the past several years more and more collectors are fine with accepting lower grade items in their collection then previously, it all comes down to the elasticity of the market.

*Grade = overall condition and is not specific to items graded by a third party such as AFA, CAS or UKG

Categories:

-         Packaged Toys = Down marginally to slightly up, so there’s a little Yin and Yang when it comes to the core packaged toys category. On one hand we are seeing Star Wars atrophy in a few segments. Specifically, more common items like the first 21 on Star Wars cardbacks are at the core of this decline. As most people know, the first 21 characters on Star Wars cardbacks are the most readily available of almost any in the series, with 12 Backs being the most common of the series. It feels like a greater part of the market has realized this over the last year as we continue to see 12 Backs decline in price. Collectors are getting smarter and as long term collectors reach a more mature phase in their acquisitions, there seems to be diminishing demands for Star Wars back MOC figures.

The same can be said for the MIB segment. Common items are seeing some decline, although not as rapid as with MOC figures. The other side of the coin are rare items which continue to go up in value. And when I say rare, I’m not stating it in the true rarity scale index, but in broad strokes. Things like MISB short release items and 12” sealed figures seem to be on the climb, as do popular mainstays like the Falcon and AT-AT. Additionally, the exception to the 12 Back dive are items such as carded Double Telescoping figures and Vinyl Cape Jawas, which continue to remain strong and show some signs of growth.

-         Pre-production = Still at an all-time high in some segments like Revenge proofs, first shots and other 3D pre-production, as well as early pre-production. Although it may not be as noticeable on social media, proofs hit an all-time high at Celebration this year. With lower demand, 45 Back and Revenge characters were reaching upwards of $2,000 a piece on the show floor. 3D pre-production is hotter then ever, with prototype limbs and torsos going for thousands of dollars for tertiary characters like Ackbar and Prune Face.

-         Loose = Hot as ever. I mean come on guys, if you ever have a doubt that things are looking good, look at what graded loose figures sell for: more than beat up MOCs. It’s a new trend and one that’s been sustaining itself for over a year now. With new and exciting designs from CAS mixed with more attainable price points than high quality packaged items, there’s new excitement in this segment of collecting that’s driving up demand across the board.

-         Mailers and Multi-packs = Holding flat to last year. In short, there’s not much to say about mailers and multi-packs. What was one of the fastest growing categories over the last 5 years has now leveled off and in turn created a new normal for collectors of tiny white and brown boxes. Another factor to the plateauing of this segment has to be associated with the fact that AFA wasn’t accepting submissions of these items for nearly a year. That has since changed and in the last month we’ve seen things take a bit of a jump, but not enough to call it anything other then a blip on the radar.

Characters (Supply/Demand):

The last factor that I’ll be discussing is related to a core aspect of the hobby that’s hard to quantify. Call it popularity, call it desirability, or even call it rarity, for all of these descriptive terms come down to one thing: what is the item itself. Characters as a measuring stick for the market is used a bit ambiguously, as not all items are characters in the hobby. But what we’re talking about here is really how many people will go after an item and how much they will spend. When it comes to this past year, we see some interesting results.  

Common Characters = Up dramatically in pockets. The interesting thing that has really impacted the less popular characters in the series is the advent of focus collecting and a deeper interest in variants. Here we see new collectors jumping into the fold and gravitating towards a specific character or item that is more obtainable. Another aspect that is impacting this is the fact that collecting hobbies have changed. As I mentioned earlier, two of the strongest segments of the hobby are loose and pre-production, and this is driving some of the growth we see here. A few examples to think about would include trying to find a good condition Black Bespin Guard, a figure that is fairly plentiful, but finding one that has all of his gold in tact is nearly impossible. The same can be said on a Death Star Droid with his black paint. On the pre-production side, as the category goes up so do all things pre-production. Thus we’ve seen examples of Revenge proofs reach over $1,000 for very common characters. Again I’ll bring up the Bespin Guards and even the disco king Lobot. Going to vehicles and playsets, we’ve seen appreciation in Mini Rigs and other small items that typically have all been sub $100 in price.

Average Characters = Flat. As I mentioned before, there’s been some fallout in the middle to the extent that it’s hard to really separate the category into three segments. Sometimes the line isn’t just blurred, it’s been erased. As common characters and items appreciate and middle-ground characters and items stay flat, it’s hard to distinguish what side of the line items reside on.

Key Characters = Flat to slightly up. The top of the food chain will always demand the highest dollar figure in the hobby. Over the last year we’ve seen things like Vinyl Cape Jawas, and Double Telescoping Luke Skywalkers hold their value and appreciate slightly, however the variation hasn’t been dramatic. There are exceptions to this rule, and the major exception is the extremely rare. Always realize when I use the term "rare" in the Star Wars hobby that it’s about proportionality, not the true measure of rarity as outlined by some other hobbies like comic books. Items such as Double Telescoping Vaders, Meccano carded figures, and other short release or non-domestic release items continue to see increases in value. Overall, the theme of "value" in the high end is very similar to where we’ve seen over the past decade: steady predictable appreciation in pricing.

AUCTIONS:

Although the topic of this MarketWatch update was really about the market itself, I wanted to cover some of the high points that have been seen over this past Summer and share some of the impressive auctions that we’ve seen.

Vinyl Cape Jawa (Carded) - $5,950 Ungraded - eBay listing
Although the lower end scale of condition always seems to take a hit, this is an exception to the rule. With no POP and some significant creasing, this items did fairly well.

Boba Fett AFA80+ 21 Back - $5,655 - eBay listing

         Always a popular figure and the cornerstone of many collections, the 21 Back Fett is still one of highest value items from the first 21 release and this example was on par with where these have been priced in the past year.

Yak Face POTF MOC - $4,200 - eBay listing
Yak Face sees a lot of fluctuation based on his grade and condition, and this one was right in line with where the market has been over the past few years.

"Collect All 21" Bell Display AFA90 - $3,000 - eBay listing
The highest price "Collect All 21" Bell I’ve ever seen on eBay of course has the highest grade I’ve ever seen on eBay. Where great condition loose versions go from around $1,500-$1,750, this particular piece did extraordinarily well driven by its condition.

ROTJ Millennium Falcon AFA 80 - $1,776 - eBay listing
One of my personal favorite pieces of box art is without a doubt the ROTJ release of the Falcon.

·       Falling right in line with my estimates, this particular piece is one of the few graded pieces of this version existing in a sealed package today -- fewer then either the ESB or SW releases.

ROTJ Yoda MOC AFA 95 - $1,981 - eBay listing

·       The central theme behind the market today is that condition and characters drive price in the hobby, and what we have here is a perfect example of this. What is traditionally a $400-$500 figure in 80 condition skyrockets when you have the best of the best. Finding a MOC that is graded a 90 is difficult. Finding a 95 is nearly impossible and thus this item was able to demand a 4x lift above that of its other high grade counterparts.

That’s it for this month. I hope you’ve enjoyed the update, the coverage of the market, and are able to take away a grounded and informed analysis of where the market is today, where it’s been, and what factors to continue to look at to evaluate the hobby as a whole.   

I’d like to dedicate this article to a good friend of the hobby who I had  some great interactions with over the years, Mete Akin. You’ll sorely be missed my friend. Gone to soon, but so many of the good die young and you were one of the best, honest, friendly and knowledgeable, rest in peace my friend.

Wampa Wampa,

Fratastic Pete

Winter 2016 MarketWatch

Pete writes:

Happy March Space Freaks!

If you haven’t heard, no one really cares about anything else but Star Wars these days…and rightfully so. With the success of The Force Awakens and the overall reception to the film, things seem all Summer of 1977 these days. Well maybe not that extreme, but nonetheless the franchise is seeing a peak of excitement rivaled only by the glory days of the original trilogy. Given this, it should be no surprise that the market is seeing a continued upward trajectory along the lunatic fringe that has been representative of the last year. Sellers are selling, buyers are buying, and things are fairly harmonious in the market. As a result, we were able to bring up some great items this month for the MarketWatch. Some of these are appearing for the first time on our little blog given their overall rareness, and some are staples of the hobby that are just great talking points for how the market is shaping up during this post holiday period.

It should be noted that the months of January and into early February represent one of the most robust time periods for the hobby on an annual basis. Whether it’s due to some pent up demand of people during the holidays or it’s just a great time of the year for people to clean out their closets, this is one of two golden seasons for collectors, the other being the summer months. So given that we’re in a high point for the hobby and that it’s an "up" season in the year, things have definitely gotten interesting in the past few weeks.

  

January/February Auctions:

Our first two auctions are really two peas in a pod; both unique, both first timers on the MarketWatch and both replacement based. As many know, Kenner set a strong standard in the toy industry via their warranty and repair programs. The company employed a customer service team earlier than most toy manufactures to take care of the ongoing needs of their customers. One way they approached this was by supplying repair and replacement kits in certain situations. Someone would inquire with the company about damaged or missing parts, and Kenner would respond in kind through the mail. Here we have two great examples still in mailer envelopes from Kenner -- one a replacement parts and decal kit for the Millennium Falcon and the other a bag of lightsabers.   

The Falcon kit is quite unique in that it has a mix of several parts including: decals, landing struts, ramp, radar dish, guns, and even the force training ball (it seems that even in the early days this was a key part that people needed). This was a great way to get an aging and beaten Falcon back to factory-new condition as we all know the accessories were the first thing to go missing on these beasts.

Star Wars Kenner Millennium Falcon Care Package Mailer - $691.06

Kenner Falcon Care Package

Like the Falcon Care Package, the second item in this duo helped out kids who lost the key accessory for three of the original figures out there: the extending lightsabers for Ben, Luke and Vader.  Although I’m not sure what kid had four Vaders, three Lukes and three Ben Kenobis, it’s still a great piece because of the spirit of the item. Who knows, Kenner may have assumed that kids that lost these would probably lose a few more over time.

Star Wars Lightsabers in Mailer Bag - $903

Lightsaber Mailer

Up next is a grouping of items we talk about somewhat regularly on the MarketWatch: a Revenge of the Jedi proof card. Now there really wasn’t anything particularly interesting about our friend Walrusman that made me include him this month, however he helps spark a dialogue I’ve been meaning to have here for some-time -- that being the explosion in prices of Revenge proof cards.   For those that don’t know, this is a small focus of mine in the larger world of being a Return of the Jedi focus collector. I’ve seen these items sell from $50 to $5,000 over the years and what’s interesting about this current day and age is how consistently they sell and the average prices you see on these in a given day. That being said, let’s talk a bit about the current market and try to summarize a few buckets of characters and what they’re realizing in prices. Although the coin “categories”  are based on releases, availability and perceived quantities, a 5-tier classification works well for Revenge proofs when looking at them strictly from a price perspective.

Tier 1 - $800 and down. These would be the background characters, no speaking parts, not even a growl in most cases. Some of the usual suspects would be the Bespin Guards, Ugnaught, and others that more than likely weren’t going to be voted most popular in high school. Although most proofs in today’s market in this group will sell for close to the $800 mark consistently, there are still the occasions where some of these can be picked up for under $700 as well.

Tier 2 - $800-$1,200. This category would include a lot of background characters, but also some main ones as well such as Lando, Chewie, and the alternate outfits for Luke, Han and Leia.  Mix in some key characters like the Cantina crew, and the rest of the 2^nd release of figures from Star Wars, and you have the largest segment of the tiers encompassing roughly 60% of the proofs in the run.

Tier 3 - $1200-$1,800. This segment of proofs includes some of the higher demand characters and some of the unique one off proofs only made in this series. The list includes the original Leia and Han, as these characters will always be in high demand. Others of note in this segment include the "Blank Card," R2-D2 original, Ben Kenobi, and the Rebel Commander.

Tier 4 - $1800-$3,000. This segment of the Revenge line includes the same amount of characters as our top tier segment -- two to be specific. Through the years I’ve seen the characters show all kinds of signs of different demand based on the prices they’ve realized, however there have always been four total that bock all other trends in terms of price, the two that are part of this segment include the original Luke Skywalker and Yoda. Both have gone up and down and in some cases over the years you could get one of these characters for as much as many of the other original twelve. However, because of the general popularity they have a tendency to attract a lot more than there peers. Recent auctions for Luke showed him selling for upwards of $3,000 and in the case of Yoda, $2,000. Thus these two stand alone in a very wide price band.

Tier 5 - $3,000 and up. Something about the villains in the Star Wars universe resonates with the fans, and in the case of proof collecting and Star Wars collecting in general there are two names that should literally translate to cash in the Urban Dictionary: Vader and Fett. The two most notorious bad guys in the original trilogy continue to be the most expensive to acquire. Stating a price of $3K and up for these bad boys doesn’t do them justice, specifically in the case of Fett who for years has demanded the $3K mark for collectors looking to get the man in Mandalorian armor. Vader’s high value has been a more recent occurrence, this past year seeing prices that reached this band, but for many years being as attainable as some of the other original 12.     

Thus in the world of Revenge proofs things continue to look up and up and far away from the $2-300 price points many collectors paid in the late 2000s.  In the case of this Walrus Man proof, he actually went for a fairly good price with sellers asking upwards of $1,000 on Facebook for him.

Walrus Man Revenge Proof - $731

Walrus Man Revenge of the Jedi Proof

Putting this blog series out on a regular basis, I get a lot of feedback from collectors and internet trolls about the items I feature. It never really bugs me as I typically get generally positive feedback on the posts -- except for Steve York, who tends to hate everything, but he’s my boy nonetheless…

One thing I heard a lot about this last year was the number of catalog mailer auctions that I featured.   People would say, "Oh well, here’s another MarketWatch with two mailer auctions featured in it," and yes I feature these regularly. Why you may ask? First, because it’s a growing niche in the market. Second, because a lot of these truly are rare in comparison to what we saw on store shelves. And third, they’re freakin cool! So in that fashion here’s two more to look at!

This past month we got a treat with several different mailer auctions including a few 15-packs, some really rare 4-packs from the Jedi line and even some great deals on items from Star Wars. Two that really caught my attention are featured below.

The first is the Star Destroyer 4-Pack from The Empire Strikes Back. This is a great collection of villains and one of the most popular catalog mailers from the original trilogy. The price on this one was right on, as it actually turned out there were back-to-back auctions of this pack from one seller. It wasn’t a duplicate as you could see variation from the two sets, however this lead to the market getting two chances at a piece that only comes around once in a while. There was a big increase on both of these in price from the last ones seen during the Summer of 2015, with both of these heading north of $1,500 and the last ones prior to that not even breaking the $1,000 mark.

ESB 4 Pack - $1,575

ESBStar Destroyer 4 Pack Mailer

The next mailer is essentially the holy grail for mailer collectors. Although I’ve seen several over the years and no examples of others found in the Kellerman matrix, I still think this particular piece is of grail status in the hobby. The 15-pack line art catalog mailer is essentially a small 1"x3"x5" inch box. It was released fairly widely across several different time periods and retailers. This 2^nd cousin of the set fits into a sub segment of catalog mailers with only a few others to be released in a line art box. The line art boxes are collectible by themselves as they are very unique and detailed in a way that no other mailers were.  

Although this set had several ink marks on the box, it had near perfect figures that were pulled together by a thorough and very bald collecting friend of mine. Without the pen markings this set could have gone over the $5K mark easily, and even with the pen marking it was still very impressive in terms of the dollars it demanded.

ESB 15-Pack - $3,412

ESB Line Art 15-Pack

The last item of our update is truly a sight seldom seen in the hobby. As the hobby has grown so have the tastes of collectors across the board. Those who reached their collecting goals have branched out into other segments like proofs, prototypes, special editions, and foreign items. Our last item encompasses several tangible aspects of all the aforementioned items: for most of us it’s foreign, there were no domestic or European equivalents, and like many items released by Lili Ledy it’s fragile. This is the Lili Ledy 12 Inch Tusken Raider from Mexico, complete and in impeccable condition.  

These figures are extremely hard to come by in general, with incomplete versions selling in the $500-$700 range. To find a complete figure in great condition is a miracle unto itself. As I mentioned, these items are extremely fragile. The bodies of the figures aren’t built like most of the US releases from the 12 inch series. Their heads and limbs have a tendency to pop off and are uniquely built. The accessories are delicate, with the gown and cape being made of extremely light material. Thus it was no surprise to me when this particular item sold for nearly $4,000 dollars, which I personally thought was light given the current market.   

Something we don’t see often, however more may come out of collections in the coming year given the success of this particular auction.

Lili Ledy Tusken Raider - $3,919

Lili Ledy12 Inch Tusken Raider

That concludes our coverage for the start of the new year. Check back with us regularly for other updates and look for figure focuses on the TIE Fighter Pilot and others from Brisbane-Brisbane Mike.

Wampa Wampa,

Pete

June 2015 General MarketWatch

Pete writes:

Happy June Space Freaks! Summer is here and along with it comes all types of SW related fun. Whether it’s more auctions on eBay, toy and comic shows, or having time to finally catch up on displaying your collection, this is truly the best season to be a collector.

Over the past few months we’ve had a lot of great fodder on eBay for our monthly updates. During this time a question has come up around including Facebook and Rebelscum transactions in the monthly MarketWatch. Let me be clear that I think that this is a great idea, and fully support it. However the reality is this, this article comes under a great deal of scrutiny every month, whether through the Facebook page for the Archive, direct emails to me or PMs on one of the boards I get chopped up all the time about what I included, why I included it, and in some cases the possible legitimacy of some of the items I list. A lot of this is just talk and banter that comes with the hobby. However I’ve tried to ensure that everything that I put in these posts is verifiable and indisputable when it comes to a listing ending and being sold definitively. When it comes to FB and RS posts there are some verification challenges with this. To be straight forward there’s no way for me to prove that a transaction went through other than the people’s word who were involved in it and the status on either of the sites. On eBay I have the auction webpage as a verifiable source, I can go back and look at items that are classified as sold as well. Does this mean the transaction was completed? No, but it does show that the auction ended a certain way and I can verify that beyond the shadow of a doubt.

Someday maybe we’ll be able to change this up, however for now I’m going to continue to use the source that I have, that is most representative of the general market, that being eBay.

This month we have some fun items to cover so let’s get into it.

ROTJ Ewok Plush Line Hang Tab Proof - $139.50

This is a pretty fun little item. There are so many 2D prototype collectors out there that I’m surprised by the end price on this item, especially given the end price of another Ewok related item in this post. Here we have the proof sheet for the hanging tags that were attached to all of the plush Ewok toys. Now the plush items are really on the border of being included in the vintage toy line, however they were produced by Kenner and were usually found alongside the vintage action figure line at retail, which gives them just enough proximity to be included here. 

Ewok Hanging Tab Proof Sheet

Boba Fett POTF Mail Away Coin AFA90 - $780

One of my favorite coins in the Power of the Force series is also one of the most expensive to find, but then again anything Fett related is high priced these days. A great example of an AFA graded coin, this particular piece was definitely above the current market with this piece going for rougly $400 consistently on eBay. However this does have the AFA90 grade to it and that does crazy things to prices on virtually any item.

BobaFett POTF Coin

ROTJ Catalog Mailer 4 Pack - $1,326

My personal favorite of this month’s update is also one of the rarest of all catalog mailers out there: a MISB ROTJ Mailer including Boba Fett, Luke X-Wing, Yoda and Darth Vader. When it comes to character value you really don’t get a more impressive foursome anywhere is the catalog mailer world. This piece in particular hasn’t come up in several years and to see one in a sealed box is pretty unique... well at least we thought, until a month later when the seller listed a second one. This isn’t that uncommon as many who have sealed mailers have a few of them for some strange reason. While most ROTJ mailer sets go for around $400-700 depending on condition and character assortment, this particular piece hit the $1,300 mark, with the second auction going for over $1,600, showcasing the pent-up demand for an item that is about as rare as they come when you talk about production pieces that weren’t in some type of unique short run situation.

ROTJ4 Pack Catalog Mailer

ROTJ Ewok Combat Glider Cromalin - $1,396

Our next item could be the rarest of this month’s update. Here we have a Cromalin for the Ewok Glider from the Return of the Jedi release. One of the few new releases for small items in the ROTJ toy line, this piece has a special place in the series. Like most large scale packaging prototype items, you get the visual of all 6 sides of the original boxed item with this. However, that creates some challenges in displaying, as it’s impossible to get a matting for this and when graded it’s extremely heavy.  Thus, a lot of people stay away from these large sheets. Given that, it was interesting to see an Ewok-oriented piece go for over $1,000 in an auction setting. The seller should be quite happy with the final price as it was well over market expectations even in the crazy market we’re seeing today. A great item and one we may not see come up again in the future.

ROTJ Ewok Glider Cromalin

Millennium Falcon – ROTJ AFA80  $1,675

The next item is one of the most famous vehicles from the Original Trilogy and one that is sure to make an impression on a new generation with it being featured in The Force Awakens. The ROTJ version of the Falcon is my personal favorite. It has a great image and features a scene that was ultimately cut from the movie. The Falcon always brings a hefty price when it’s up on the market, regardless of what banner is featured on the box. With an AFA grading cost of over $100 on the piece it’s not hard to see one go for over $1,500, which is right on the mark for where they have been selling historically. The ROTJ run of this vehicle is the shortest of any in the vintage line, given that there were several other large scale vehicles and playsets such as the Imperial Shuttle, Ewok Village, and AT-AT that were taking up the premium retail shelf space. 

 

ROTJ Millennium Falcon

ESB Yellow 6 Pack AFA80 - $4,456

Featured several times before, it’s hard not to showcase these Six Packs when they come up on the market.   This example of the Yellow ESB Six Pack is in great condition and rounds out our listings for this month.    Much like the red counterpart, these pieces demand extremely high prices regardless of market conditions.  In this case (the less rare of the two), we saw an incredible price realized of over $4,000. Even for a piece like this that’s an incredible price, not only over historical prices, but because these tend to be a bit more niche then a lot of the mainstream items. In the past 5 years we’ve seen examples from $1,800 to $2,400 and thus a $2,000 increase over historical performance is quite impressive.

ESB Yellow 6-Pack Sealed

That wraps of the coverage for this month. Join us next time as I take a look at how the hot Summer season has affected prices in an already hot market. 

Until then...

Wampa Wampa,

FB24