My Top 5 Collecting Eras In The Modern Star Wars Line

I recently lamented the retirement of Tom Brady. The GOAT has been spinning the pig skin for more than half of my conscious (not chronological) life. Now that he will no longer be taking the field, it's like a small part of my life is going away. Well, take that concept and square it, and it describes Star Wars collecting. Except for a nine year hiatus, I have been a Star Wars collector for the entirety of my conscious life. Seriously, some of my earliest memories involve Star Wars toys. It is my identity. It's why when there is any threat that the 3.75" line might go away, it almost becomes an existential crisis for me. Chance are the same holds for most of you reading this.

The vintage Kenner era will forever be the greatest of Star Wars collecting times. I pity anyone who did not get to experience at least part of it. The "wall of figures" was a very real thing, and a sight to behold. It was almost overwhelming, but there have been times in the modern line where the butterflies from the vintage era were awakened. Unfortunately, none of them coincide with the Vintage Collection. TVC 1.0 suffered from the pile up of waves 1 and 2, as well as the infamous 2012 Phantom Menace fiasco. TVC 2.0 had the problems of the 2018 launch wave and all of 2020. But some other eras were magic. Let's look at them.

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STAR WARS FIGURES ARE BACK! STAR WARS FIGURES ARE BACK! It was almost a "pinch me" moment. I remember going into Kay Bees and looking at the loathsome Star Wars Bend-Ems and wondering how they had a place in the market, but actual Star Wars action figures didn't. A year later, and that conundrum was resolved. The Power of the Force "2" line was launched and it contained almost the perfect formula to spin collectors into a frenzy. The line itself was ubiquitous, but certain figures were initially scarce. You could go into any toy or department store and find Vader, the TIE Fighter Pilot or C-3PO, but the Stormtrooper, Princess Leia and Lando were de facto chase figures (at least at first). It all evened out eventually, and ultimately, nothing was really rare. The reason for this era being the lowest on my list is how bad and ridiculously proportioned the figures are, and that's not in hindsight. It was distracting even in the moment.

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The OT is the best T. Don't get me wrong. I love all of Star Wars. Well, I don't love the ST, and don't get me wrong with that statement either. I didn't say I hate it. I just don't love it. It's like the DC Extended Universe. It's fine, and entertaining for a watch, but ultimately destined to be utterly forgotten. So, once again, the OT is the best T. That is why the Original Trilogy Collection (OTC) was exciting. In 2004, we were ensconced in a two trilogy world, but Hasbro decided to pretend for one year that only one trilogy existed. The problem was that the line was almost entirely a repaint/repack line, but it did give us a few new figures, including our first ever modern Bespin Leia**. At the time, I decided that acquiring a mint set of carded OTC figures would be my collecting swan song. The previous statement proves that I have no willpower.

** As BiMonSciFiShawn pointed out in the comments, there was a Bespin Leia in the Princess Leia Collection subline of POTF.

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The "Freeze Frame" line was so great for two reasons. First is that Hasbro finally course-corrected from the ridiculous "buff" proportions of the early POTF2 line. Second, and more importantly, is that the character selection was absolutely inspired. This is the era that would give us our first ever removable helmet Darth Vader and our only ever Original Trilogy-based Mon Mothma figure. We also got our only Ishi Tibb, Pote Snitkin, and Ewok Village Leia. My GOD, what a line this was. If Hasbro repeated this lineup in the modern Vintage Collection, I'd plotz.

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2005 was EPIC. The basic figure lineup was SIXTY EIGHT FIGURES. SIX-TEE-MOTHER-LOVING-EIGHT!!! But that's not telling the whole story because it was a time when Hasbro's factories could manage running changes, so some of those 68 slots were doubled up. With intentional running changes, there were actually 72 unique figures. Add in the significant blue saber Palpatine variant, and you can push the basic figure count to 73. Next, throw in several store exclusives, Evolution sets, and Battle Packs, and you have the biggest year ever for Star Wars collecting by a wide margin.

Hey, if any of you photogs have any advice on how to photograph these AMC Pacer window bubbles on ROTS figures without getting glare from the lighting source, I'm all ears.

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1999 was absolute magic. I didn't go to the midnight madness because sleepy central Massachusetts didn't rate a midnight madness event. I used good old fashioned strategery on launch day, and went to an out of the way Walmart. This store in particular is almost tucked into a residential neighborhood in a failure of zoning laws. The "wall of figures" was back, and I was one of the first non-employees to set eyes on it. I was already a Darth Maul mega fan from the trailer, and that was the one figure I bought. I put my Maul on the CommTech chip stand and rested it on my dashboard for the ride to work. I only bought one figure because I was trying to be an adult and practice financial responsibility. That restraint lasted roughly four hours. I bought more at a different Walmart near my office during my lunch break. A lot more. I went back to the initial store after work, and the stock was ravaged. I ended up grabbing Gasgano. GASGANO WAS A LAUNCH FIGURE! The Episode I launch definitely had all the imagination and wonder of the vintage line.

The best part is that just like the vintage Empire Strikes Back era, we would only have to wait a month or so before new figures started showing up. I was on Cape Cod. To give you some perspective, Massachusetts natives think that Cape Cod is the Eden described in Genesis. 50,000 obnoxious New Yorkers invading every summer prove we can't be wrong. So I'm in the perfect place, in perfect weather, and I head into a K-Mart (when K-Marts were still clean and organized) to see the "new" sticker on the bubble of the Coruscant Queen Amidala. For someone whose entire existence revolves around Star Wars collecting, it was the perfect moment.

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