You Get ONE Shelf…

If you only had space for one shelf/scene for your collection, what would it be?

I consider myself fortunate that I have a good amount of space to display my collection. I have recently invested in a custom built-in to showcase some of my favorite things. I'll get around to showing it off at some point when I'm done setting up my whole space, which requires careful planning (and which I pivot innumerable times searching for my perfect layout). This process got me thinking about what was my absolute favorite part of my collection, and at the moment, that's the Sail Barge. I specifically ensured that there was sufficient space in my built-in to accommodate the Barge, two skiffs, and the sarlacc pit.

I currently have it featured front and center in my display area. There are several reasons for this:

First, amidst all the ups and downs of my 3.75" collecting career, which is now over 25 years since May of 1999, the Barge campaign is the high point. Not only were Chris and I rendered dumbstruck when we witnessed the announcement in person at 2018 New York Toy Fair, but the campaign itself had so many in the community hanging on every update, every announcement, every uptick of the backer count for 45 days. The tension was unbelievable. It was a great time to be a collector!

Another thing is that we have so many unique characters that go with this scene. I've got 37 characters in this display. That number includes a second Gamorrean guard (I think there were more on board), both the short and tall Jawa from TBS, the POTF2 Ishi Tib standing in for Shasa Tiel, and a bonus figure: a spare Klatooinian Raider from the Mandalorian (Big whoop, wanna fight about it?).

And the final aspect that I love is that despite its size and diversity as a scene, it's pretty far along towards completion. Most importantly, we are missing 4 guards from the second skiff. We are also lacking 3 from the deck of the barge. And there are definitely a few from inside the barge as well (probably like 6 or 7), but their absence is less notable due to the confined nature of the shadowy barge interior. To be clear, I want all of them, I'm just saying we're amazingly close to a complete scene.

So 37 figures (for now) + The HasLab Sail Barge + 2 skiffs + the sarlacc make for my favorite display.

Close:
Jabba's Palace: This is a not-too-distant second place. It has something like 50 characters, and the throne room set plus the frozen Han Solo trophy wall make a really nice setup.
Mos Eisley Cantina: This is a distant third at the moment, but will zoom up to at least tie, and maybe surpass, Jabba's palace once the HasLab and associated figures are delivered.

Not quite:
Geonosis Arena: Despite the almost complete set of Jedi, Battle Droids, Clones, beasts, and Separatist leaders, the actual Arena Playset itself is pretty terrible when compared to the set pieces above.

So for me, the Barge scene is the one above all others that I would choose to display if that's all I could.

What would you choose? Would you do a shelf from a particular scene? Or would you cram as many figures onto a shelf as possible? Would it have a theme, like all the Jedi or everything from The Acolyte? Would it even be 3.75" Star Wars, or would you rather display some other collectible instead?

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