Cool & Collected

United States Mint image. 

The next time you come across one of the gold presidential dollar coins in your pocket change (ha ha, that would mean people are actually using them), take a close look at the edge of the coin. There have been a number of errors reported where the edge lettering on the coin was not struck. These error coins can go for hundreds of dollars on eBay. Not a bad return on your investment.

Lego Minifig wall in the Orlando, FL Lego store.

The LEGO® minifigure represents the world’s largest population of people! Over 4 billion minifigures have been produced in the last 30 years. 3.9 minifigs are sold every second. 

The Lego minifig turns 30 this week. People all over the globe collect these little guys and gals. Young and old alike play with them, pose them, make movies with them — you name it! Some of these collections are truly massive. Check out this assembly of 35,000+ stormtroopers, and these amazing custom minfigs.

A nice selection of vintage tin toys.


Robots! Even though they were reproductions, they were still fun to see.

 
Lots of Star Wars stuff. Of course, it wouldn’t be a toy show without it. 

 

I take the kids to this show every time it comes to town. This show wasn’t as good as previous ones, but there were some fun things to see.

I have always dreamed of having a vast model train layout in the basement but the hobby is just too expensive. The pre-built display above would set you back almost $5,000.00. If anything, these shows reinforce in my mind that in order to create the railroad empire I would want, I would need to sink thousands of dollars (and hours) into it. It’s really too bad the big companies in the model train industry don’t try to lower the financial bar a bit so that kids could enjoy the hobby. It seems like you need to be retired and fairly well off in order to take up the hobby. 

So for now, I will have to enjoy other people’s hobby, but one of those old Lionel locomotives would really look great on my bookshelf. 


(Even the model railroaders are getting in on the energy debate!)

One of my favorite places to browse on the internet is the “Collector’s Collections” section of the Rebel Scum web site. Star Wars fans from all over the globe post pictures of their (sometimes massive) hordes. A few impressive collections can be seen here, here, here, and here. Warning: These are sure to make your Star Wars collection feel inadequate.

Oh man, I am drooling. This statue is up for bid now on eBay along with a few other unique Halo statues created by Weta Workshop. Remember them? Does “Lord of the Rings” ring any bells?

The entire statue is plated in sterling silver and Master Chief’s arm and rifle are cast in solid sterling silver. This is truly a one-of-a-kind item for the distinguishing collector (with deep pockets). Rumor has it that these will eventually be available for retail sale. Sign me up now please. 

Check out the auction on eBay.  

Another one of my favorite local toy and hobby shops is closing its doors. While I certainly enjoy the opportunity to buy anything for 50% off, it’s not going to be very good in the long run since I have one less resource to purchase collectibles. Of course we all buy online and eBay is a great place to find anything, but I enjoy going to stores and handling the goods and being able to see what is out there. 

One of my collections is first edition books. Used book stores are dropping like flies as many dealers are taking their business online. The loss of these stores is taking away the thrill of the hunt to a large degree because if you are looking for something specific, you can almost always find it with a few clicks of the mouse.

The whole landscape of collecting is changing. Is the next generation going to collect anything? Digital music, movies, and games are great, but when everything is downloaded and there is no need for packaging, what are you left with? Are my hundreds of books going to just continue to take up space or will others still enjoy reading ink on paper over digital words on the Kindle or iPod? Are comic books going to survive the digital age? Are people going to want “antique” video games if there are no computers around with the capability of running them?  

 Josh Budich is a man with lots of spare time and an extreme passion for his collection. He created small pixelated images for each item in his collection. Click on the icon and a detailed page with photo and description of the actual toy is displayed in an elegant interface. Amazing! Check it out.

Time Out Chicago has a great article on how to display your collections, whether it’s toys, comics, or action figures. 

You’ve been spending a lot of time on eBay looking for a mint-condition Boba Fett, your mom just sent you a crate of Transformers and you’re running a four-digit tab at designer toy boutique Rotofugi. We know how it is. 

Read the article here.

A lot of people are snapping up copies of the Dark Knight movie posters with Heath Ledger as the Joker, but my money will be going towards this awesome one-sheet, showing Bat-Man in front of a burning bat symbol. I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these and see it in the home theater’s back lit frame.