Introductions

[MattG]

Introductory posts are not compulsory, but they certainly help us get to know each other, and get a feel for those who share the same Star Wars hobbies and interests.

If you want to get the ball rolling on your post count, do so here by telling us about your Star Wars collection and passions.

[Reverend Strone]

Hey there Matt and everyone, Daniel Falconer here, or as I go online, Reverend Strone (named after an old SW RPG character I had favoured back when I first started getting involved with forums). Anyways, it's nice to be here and I look forward to chatting and connecting with some fellow Kiwi collectors. Good on you for the initiative Matt.

Hmm, maybe this should have gone in the introductions section... oops!

edit - edited for spelling, and see if the edit feature works right. Looks like it does.

[Reverend Strone]

Oops, probably ought to have posted my intro here so here goes, take two:

Hi folks, my name is Daniel Falconer. I'm a Wellington based collector and I go by the handle Reverend Strone online - the name of a character I created for the SW RPG a few years ago now. Since a SW RPG forum was the first online community I signed up to, it made sense to use that handle and I have used it everywhere ever since.

I'm primarily a 3 3/4" collector but have some other smaller SW collections as well, including some miniatures to go with my SW RPG books and a handful of Sideshow items like the 1/6th scale Jabba and life size Salacious.

I look forward to meeting some fellow NZ SW collectors here and discussing the state of our hobby.

[MattG]

Hi Daniel; thanks for coming on board.

[Reverend Strone]

Thank you for going to the trouble of beginning the board Matt. I hope others sign up and we get some good local SW collecting and creating discussion going.

[Anaria]

Hi, I'm Kristy

I go by 'Anaria Zar-Rel' online, a name I made up for my Jedi costuming. I've been a collector since 2002, mainly action figures, Gentle Giant and SW Art, but have quite a variety in our collection (together with my husband, MattG).

I've also been creating Star Wars costumes since 2004, including jedi, twi'lek, Barriss Offee, Imperial Officer, Padme' and Leia costumes.

[MattG]

Here's my brief introduction.

I saw Star Wars in 1977, and first began collecting in 1978 when merchandise started to become available in New Zealand. First, I had the SW novel, some Marvel comics, and a stormtrooper "mini-action figure". Other favourites from that era include NZ-exclusive promotional items like the R2-D2 Space Ice stickers and the Allens & Regina bubblegum cards (the NZ edition of the Topps cards).

It wasn't long before I had all of the available action figures, was getting the Marvel comics on a monthly basis, and had generally become a hoarder of all things Star Wars.

During the late 80s and early 90s, I'd hunt out the scarce Star Wars products as I could find them, collecting up the West End Games reference books, relishing the Timothy Zahn novels that became available in 1991, and loving the fact that the early Dark Horse Star Wars comics were drawn by my favourite 2000AD/Judge Dredd/Rogue Trooper artists. When Kenner revived the action figure line in 1995, that became my addiction... I eventually found a cure to that affliction in the form of replica lifesize prop and costume building/collecting. Unfortunately, although I have weaned off action figures a bit, I haven't ended up saving any money because of this change in focus.

[Archon Revuge]

Hi Matt, Kristy and Daniel.

Coincidently, I’m another Wellington-based collector called Dan. I first saw Star Wars in 1996 and have been an avid fan ever since. I’ve amassed a bunch of collectibles since then covering a variety of different categories of merchandise.

Unfortunately due to the space constraints that come with being a flat-dwelling student my collection remains in storage in my family home back in New Plymouth.

The long-distance relationship is a hard one, but we manage to cope.

Thanks for setting this up Matt. It’s fantastic to see a New Zealand based Star Wars forum going live!

[MattG]

...
The long-distance relationship is a hard one, but we manage to cope...

LOL. I went through a pretty long period as a student with collectibles in storage. Fortunately, comics and paperbacks are pretty easy to keep on hand.

I get the feeling that Wellington is a pretty good place for a collector to be based. Auckland's comic store heyday of the 90s is well passed, with but a few stores in scattered suburbs. Albany is our best bet for reliable action figure hunting, but my favourite comic stores are on the other side of the harbour bridge, in the complete opposite direction. Thank goodness for the internet and online shopping.

[Archon Revuge]

Yeah, Wellington isn’t bad for Star Wars collecting. There are a few specialist comic and collectable stores, but these can be rather pricey at times. I certainly get jealous when I see what some Star Wars comic books go for in the US compared to what we get charged for them over here. I assume that’s due to the lack of a good New Zealand-based distributor?

Unfortunately we suffer from a severe lack of second-hand stores in the CBD (though if any Wellingtonian wants to correct me on this, I’d be happy for the heads-up). Call me old-fashioned, but I think there’s nothing better than coming across a bargain vintage figure buried in a box of second-hand kids’ toys.

You’re right that online shopping still seems the best way to go for both new and old items however.