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.
![Image](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3235/2945724019_c0e76d6199.jpg)