What Was Your Favorite Star Wars Line to Collect?

TVC is king of 3.75" lines. It's the ultimate throwback. It's the line that unifies the 3.75" Star Wars world under one banner, and has brought the line some closure after years of meandering through different looks - sometimes rather confusingly and haphazardly. I ranted about it back in 2018 just as TVC 2.0 was starting to gain some traction. I'm happy to report that 6 years later, TVC rose above the madness and continues to be the unifying look. "TVC" has kind of taken on being the generic name for the hobby, as people tend to use it as a catch-all term for figures in the scale. Collectors know that there's more nuance to it, but I kind of like that "TVC" is the go-to brand name for all modern Star Wars 3.75" figures, kind of like "Band Aid" or "Scotch Tape."

Every once in a while, some knucklehead awesome member of the community mentions that it would be neat if we had alternative 3.75" lines for figures of lower articulation or animated styling, or just some alternative "budget" offering since TVC continues to increase in price. That would be nothing short of devastating to the line. Or maybe not. Maybe it would just jettison all of us troublesome old curmudgeons, and reshape the consumer landscape and thrive in a new paradigm! Nah, it would be the first thing.

But all that is not to say that over the years there weren't some really great lines. Everyone probably has their favorite, and it could be for a multitude of reasons. Each look has some place in my collecting heart, although to different degrees. I started collecting in 1999 just after Midnight Madness of the Episode I line. But if I recall correctly, the first figure I bought was a POTF2 Darth Vader, because I couldn't find Darth Maul, which was all I wanted, so I grabbed it out of desperation. I didn't even know there were Star Wars figures after Kenner, so I was completely unaware of POTF2 when it was active. I was shocked to find that Vader, because I assumed that Star Wars figures were just making a comeback with TPM. In fact, I wasn't even aware that the line old Kenner line had continued past 1983. I never even knew there were Droids and Ewoks cartoons at all, let alone more figures and toys were made after ROTJ in the POTF, Droids, and Ewoks packaging. But my collecting became official the day I decided to load up on a bunch of Episode I figures that were on sale, so the E1 line look holds a special place as I went to TRU, Walmart, and Target almost every day and thumbed through the Maul cards looking for what I wanted.

I missed POTF2 for the most part, but still have a cool memory of the time I stumbled unexpectedly into the Great Toys R Us Warehouse Blowout of 2000. I picked up all manner of otherwise expensive (found on Ebay) POTF2 items like the AT-AT and the Falcon at 75% off. That was a blast, going to the checkout line with a shopping cart full of toys. I don't think I'd ever felt more like my kid self when I spent hours in my apartment opening all that stuff.

POTJ was the line that was on the pegs after I exited the Army and left El Paso to return home to New York. So I remember seeing those figures in my hometown stores for the first time, and they were super cool character selections, aimed at collectors, with some really deep cut figures and improved sculpts over previous efforts.

"Blue Saga", as I like to call it, was a mixed bag, but was cheap and had a lot of offerings from the OT and the first 2 PT movies. They tried a bunch of gimmicks during this time, like removable lightsaber blades (fail), magnets (fail), and lots of blast/energy/force effects (mostly fail). The first real challenge for me as a collector was finding all the Microseries inspired Clone Wars figures/toys. And as we've previously written about in a Pulitzer winning piece, that CW sub-line had the grandfather of all Super-Articulated Star Wars action figures.

Interestingly, one of the more forgettable lines for me was OTC. Not sure why, but this line did nothing for me. I think the figure choices were weak and the vehicles were limited and uninspired - with the exception of the VOTC sub-line. That was awesome. But it was almost like a pause before ROTS assault, which also offered a ton a deep cut figures from the film - but I kind of hated the bubble shape of the packaging. I was happy when we moved on to The Saga Collection. Chris (R.I.P.) will tell you that this was pretty much the beginning of what we would consider the modern line, as it introduced some great sculpts, and some increased articulation. I was obsessed with collecting everything at this time, so I was constantly hunting for the UGH variations, as well as making sure I had every red, blue, and silver hologram - even though they were stupid.

The Thirtieth Anniversary Collection was my second favorite line (and my favorite up to that point) because I enjoyed the weird angular packaging, I loved collecting all the coins, and I felt the figure selections were great. This line had some crazy accessories packed in those bubbles, a trend that lingered briefly into The Legacy Collection before getting the cost-cutting axe.

The Legacy Collection was my favorite line of all time. I liked them both, but preferred the red over the blue. This line had some great character selections, some awesome multipacks and vehicles, and had the best pack-ins: the build-a-droids. Almost every previous pack-in was just some nonsense side collectible, but the BAD parts allowed you to put together an extra droid with every wave. Awesome.

I should mention that while I loathed the animated figures during this time, the Shadows of the Dark Side line had some really great vehicles to supplement your collection, and were available right at the time that TVC launched. TVC was awesome because it seemed to bring the line home. Sadly, it only lasted about 2-3 years because Hasbro shot it self in both feet by not only doing the horrendous TPM 3D line at Walmart, but also introducing 6" figures in an attempt to destroy everything we loved! No, but it was a terrible period. The Dark Times followed, and it was tough to be a collector.

Hasbro got back on track with TVC 2.0, and we're home again. TVC has had its ups and downs, but there is no doubt we have gotten consistently the highest quality and most outstanding figures, vehicles, and environments in the history of the line - as it should be.

What was your favorite line and why? Was it the quality of the figures? The selection of characters? The packaging? The pack-ins? Did it represent the time you started collecting? Was it because of something memorable happening in your life at the time?

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