The Fun is in the Finding
I have two main hobbies……I collect toys, mainly action figures, and those mostly dealing with "Star Trek". These are getting harder and harder to come by. I also collect thimbles. Yes, thimbles. That’s my "gay hobby", and I have quite a few.
But, I don’t collect just any old thimbles; I only collect souvenir thimbles. To be worthy, they must bear the name and/or image of a city, state or tourist attraction.
I like collecting thimbles. They’re fairly inexpensive, they’re small, and they last forever.
For example, I can go into an amusement park gift shop, buy a thimble for two or three bucks, shove it in my pocket and ride all day without thinking about it. If I got a stuffed animal, I’d be paying several times that, and have to lug it around, and then find a safe place to keep it while I rode. That’s a pain.
T-shirts aren’t as good as thimbles, either; they cost a fortune, and last what, a couple years, then they’re dust rags or maybe ersatz shammies for the car? I plan on handing my thimbles on down the line, if anyone wants them.
My action figure addiction is a little more fun. I shop flea markets and thrift stores. For the collector, the joy comes in being in the right place at the right time, and finding a treasure. For that reason, I rarely peruse eBay; it’s too easy.
The other day, my wife and I went to a flea market in Steubenville, OH.
There, just lying on one of the vendor’s tables, I discovered a Lt. Data figure, unopened and still sealed in the original blister pack, from the first line of NexGen figures put out by Galoob Toys in 1988. Molded PVC; no articulations, except for the shoulders and hips. Their phasers are also molded in their hands. No wonder they didn’t sell; for this reason, they didn’t last long.
I paid $6 for Data; those figures, unopened, are selling (if you can get top dollar) for around $70 dollars now.
Not too long ago, from the same vendor, I purchased a Tasha Yar figure, still sealed and unopened, from the same line and era for $12.
The Tasha’s are kind of rare, and she’d originally wanted $15, so I got a real deal there. I now have five of the seven figures of that line, though only these two are still in the packs; the others I purchased here and there----yard and garage sales and flea markets. I’ve been working on collecting that line for about ten or twelve years now, so to find these two so close together was….well…..a thrill.
From another vendor that same day, I bought a James Kirk figure from the "Generations" movie line put out by Playmates Toys in 1994 or 95.
Now, I’ve been after this one for a long time, too. This brings me to within four of finishing my collection of "Generations" figures. A good friend has two of them (still in the packs) that he says he’ll just give me (if he ever remembers), so I guess that just makes it two, Chekov and Scotty, that I still need.
This particular vendor has dozens of Trek figures on display, and more in storage, he said. My wife, after some negotiation, has agreed to me coming over every payday and buying one or two figures (what she failed to take into account, though, is that I’m starting a second job soon, and they pay every week! OOHH YEEEAAH!).
Damn….I’ll be like a crackhead! Jonesin’ for my Trek figures.
The guy in the next cubicle over from him has quite a few VHS episodes of the original series for $2 a piece! Less than 30 bucks and I could have all he’s got!
But my Trek toy addiction isn’t just limited to action figures; I also have the phaser, tricorder and communicator from each series, models of the ships----I even have the Barbie and Ken Star Trek dolls from the early 90s. Got them a few years back at a yard sale for 20 bucks; on the shelf, they sold for $75. The lady was selling her stuff for some stupid reason. I got quite a few good pieces there.
Now, my Holy Grail would be a well-preserved Captain Kirk doll from the line put out by Mego Toys in 1975. I have a friend who is a fellow collector, and he has the whole line of Mego dolls from that era, including the Trek series. I’m jealous.
He found a pretty well-preserved Spock from that line, and gifted it to me a few months back. It’s on display on the top shelf behind me.
I once found a dealer at a flea market in Indiana who had four of the Megos (Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Uhura) for $125. They weren’t in the best of shape, though. She wouldn’t come down. She knew what she had. Heck, I didn't have that kind of scratch, anyway.
I also collect superhero figures, though not as avidly. I concentrate mainly on Batman, Superman and The Punisher.
I even have a Superman figure, stretched out in flight, hanging from the ceiling of this room.
I have the entire series of 7 10" "Justice League" figures.
They took me over a year to find all of them. My wife finally picked up the last two I needed, Aquaman and Wonder Woman, and gave them to me about a year ago, as an early anniversary present. It’s funny; she used to just kind of patronize me about my hobby; you know---"oh, everybody collects something", that sort of thing.
She’s been understanding, and has never really interfered with me expanding my collection, but she’s gotten a lot more permissive (and even helpful) since I bought a Trek Collector’s Guide, and she discovered that my collection of Trek stuff is worth something over 2 grand as it stands right now.
I love collecting my crap. It’s a pain when we move, which we’ve done several times in the last two years or so, but it keeps me out of trouble.
I figure there are many things, many of them much, much worse, that I could be spending my money on. Happy collecting.