Set Description:
A Long Time Ago,
In Springfield, Missouri...
I was two years old and my parents were attending college at Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State U.). My father came home talking about this movie his classmates were talking about called Star Wars. He loaded us up in the car and we headed to the drive-in. I was pretty hyperactive and so was bouncing around the car...
And then the music played.
The Tantive IV soared, life sized, overhead on the huge drive-in screen. pursued by the Devestator. I sat down and remained still the rest of the movie.
From that moment on, Star Wars loomed large in my young life. My first love were the Kenner toys. My collection was well-loved and played with.
But Marvel was there in the background. In Kindergarten I got my first 'novel'; the Marvel adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back in the form of a standard paperback novel. Shortly thereafter my family moved from the Springfield, Mo area to Bourbon, Mo.
And then I got the Marvel comic novel Star Wars 2: World of Fire. This was quickly followed by a copy of the Marvel Super Special adaptation of The Return of the Jedi. Along the way I was given the random issue. Then in the sixth grade (just in time to miss #107) I got into comics. So I started collecting the back issues; including a nice copy of #1 that is somewhere between a 8.5 and 9.2 (my goal is to get it signed and a spiffy gold label!).
And then I went to High School and temporarily put 'childish' things aside. But only for a little while...
In college in the early '90s there was the Star Wars revival and I got back into collecting. The Power of the Force 2 collection reintroduced the action figures to a new generation of kids (and their parents).
I took Star Wars with me into the Air Force. As I recovered from a serious bout of depression following the end of my first marriage it was Knights of the Old Republic that helped get me back on my feet.
Then the Kenner figures were re-leased by Hasbro on vintage cards and I once more got into serious collecting. A new wife, one who is a fellow geek, who is supportive of my obsessions helped me set-up my basement 'toy store' painting some store shelving.
But then Hasbro stopped the Vintage Collection in favor of the Black Series. I found the Black Series to be unsatisfying in scratching the nostalgia itch.
That is when I found CGC graded comics. And so a new adventure in collecting began. And so while deployed to Qatar I began collecting the slabs of the vintage comics. And so my goals are:
* Assemble issues 1-107 plus the annuals as 9.0 or higher.
* Assemble the 35 cent variants of any grade.
* Get my #1 graded 9.0 or higher and signed either by Stan Lee or the major cast members...with the gold label.
I am also writing about each issue; things I remember from my youth. I also include pictures of my books staged on vintage patterned cloth from the bedding sets sold between 1977 and 1983. Next to the book will be an action figure from my collection along with collecting information about the figure. The figure will be related to the cover or an important first appearance of a character not featured on the cover but in the issue.
I hope you enjoy; and if you have any advice please feel free to send me a message!
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