There Can Be Only One: pick only one sixth scale figure to keep.

[Wor-Gar]

My very first Star Wars toy: Kenner 3 inch Darth Vader with telescoping lightsaber. Likely also the most valuable 'toy' I own.

 

[a-dev]

What's it gonna be, a-dev?

Haha, you need to reexamine my first post in the thread.

 

[ZE_501]

Haha, you need to reexamine my first post in the thread.

Surely there's ... something ... that stands out? One, perfect, sacred thing?

 

[BACON!]

My 1/4 scale terminator on a travertine column

 

[agonistes86]

Nice idea for a thread, and some very cool contributions so far!

I think the *idea* is more resonant than the thing,

I've come to exactly this conclusion for my own collecting habits as well, which makes this a difficult choice, because there's nothing "definitive" in my collection anymore. 5 years ago I would've picked something else, 5 years from now I would probably as well.

What does stand out to me immediately and which fits all the criteria is my custom 1:6 ESB Darth Vader. I started him in 2014 and went through several iterations over the years, with my last large overhaul being a couple of months ago.
Darth Vader is such a beautiful design and symbolizes SW for me (with the Sandtrooper being a very close second), which is the single property which has always followed me along my entire life since early childhood, and I have always collected in one form or another.
The figure is also 1:6 scale, my preferred form of collectible since the last 14 years, because it combines realism, articulation, and display space needed in a perfect balance.
Additionally, I get most enjoyment out of this hobby nowadays through customizing, and this figure is (currently) my crown achievement in that regard, mostly because of the end result, but also based on the work involved, with painting, sewing, body modifications, etc.

 

[Victοr]

I've been thinking about this since yesterday and, honestly, I don't have an answer. For all of my life of consuming, I don't actually own that much. At least not as much as most collectors. Before 1/6 I was into smaller scales, and I have a couple hundreds of them, but nothing that I'd care about keeping. They were just cheap enough that I was able to collect a lot of them. Living where I do, you couldn't even find nerd/pop culture merch easily. I've been collecting floppies for about a decade now, and even then there's only one series that I'd want to keep. The others range from stuff I liked at the time to things I don't even care for now. If I'm being honest, I'm just now trying to build a proper collection. The Omnibuses I want to get, the figures, all of that. I've trimmed down my wants over the years, but this venture is relatively new to me, compared with more longtime collectors. Truthfully, I kept up and consumed solely because of the internet. Those sites helped a lot... VideoGames were the one thing I could keep up with, as they were released woldwide and all I had to do was go down the videostore.

But even if I owned more things, it'd be difficult to narrow it down, mostly because I've gone through periods of obsession with a different new thing everytime. As a kid, if we're talking Capes, it was all about Spider-Man and Batman, because those were the ones playing all the time. One of my first costumes as a Batman one, and the 90s SM show was what got me into the wider MU. Then I found Ultimate Marvel, the first few capeflicks came out, Vertigo followed, and so on and so forth. I got into Iron Man through a random magazine compilation. I got into SW through the PT and all the vidya of the era. As a tween I got into all the Anti-Heroes, like Moon Knight, Spawn, Ghost Rider and all that. I was obsessed with Doctor Who for about half a decade. And so on and so forth. So many things, that most of them now feel as if they never interested me. My first HT was the SM3 Spider-Man, but sadly his ankle was ruined and I eventually ruined him by tying to fix him. So while I don't care for SM these days, maybe I'd buy a re-release of that figure. Or not. I don't know. It all feels so hollow, even though I cannot shake off this "gotta have it" mentality. And I end up with a list of 300 characters in my "to buy" list and then it makes all the ones I really want seem trivial and unimportant. Money and space aside, that's my biggest problem. If you end up with hundreds of characters, each of them 12" and costing 350 euros, what do they even mean? It's not a collection then but a pile of hoarded products.

So I don't know. I really don't. Every two years or so I was into something else. Do my childhood interests mean more than the ones in my teens? Do my "firsts" mean more than the ones that have endured to this day? The first things I remember were the Donald Duck comics that are so popular here in Europe, for example. I've been into so many things that I can't possibly represent them all, if we add movies, books, comics, videogames, everything. It's too much. The most pricey item I own is a Big Chief 10th Doctor with Tennant's Sig, and while I loved DW back then, I just don't care these days. It took me years to finish Capaldi's final season. So I can't in good conscience pick that to represent my entire collection. I find that most of the things I still like to this day are the ones tied to some sort of event in my life, even something as simple as the game I picked up after my Musical Exams. All the others were fads and periods of things I discovered on the net.

In the end, I have nothing as of now. Hypothetically speaking, if I could choose one thing to represent it all, I'd probably pick a Hot Toys Doctor Doom on his throne with a headsculpt and everything. I got into him through the 90s SM show, so pretty much as early as it gets for a non-A lister, and he remains my favourite because he's a mishmash of all the genres I love. He's a Supergenius Sorcerer King, he fits everywhere! He's Gothic, he's Sci-Fi, he's Alexander, he's Mordred, he's Scrooge McDuck and so on and so forth. He's a contradictory character that is whatever you want him to be, canonically too due to the Doombots. And that is the culmination of all that I like. Kings & Conquerors, Mad Scientists, prideful mortals suffering the punishment of the Gods, and so on so forth. From any fictional character I've come across, he comes the closest to covering everything I was, and still am, into. And also he's relatable due to his flaws. The pettiness, the fragile ego of a nobody trying to become a somebody, the hamminess that arises when he becomes frustrated, it all works together to create a pretty well-rounded character. I always judged a character's reletability by his vices and weaknesses, because that's what made them humans instead of idealized power fantasies. Apart from that, Vader would come in second, as he was the first character I was obsessed with purely due to my own "research" instead of just happening on something on the tv, and he covers most of the same bases as Doom too. So a hypothetical HT ROTJ Vader would work just as well. Maybe. I don't know, I'm rambling again.

But aside from the hypothetical, I can't answer this right now. I wish I could, but as of now I'm focusing on trimming down all the things I want to get and building my own little collection the way I want it. I don't do well with choosing, especially with things that aren't of utter importance and I can bend the rules a bit. I want it all when it comes to the temporary material.

 

[xipotec]

This thread will be filled with posts bargaining on an answer , trying to avoid the actual question.......

My answer has been an easy one always .....

PCS Kessler Wolf.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ZE_501]

[...] What does stand out to me immediately and which fits all the criteria is my custom 1:6 ESB Darth Vader. [...]

Great choice, and makes perfect sense. Such a great custom.

I've been thinking about this since yesterday and, honestly, I don't have an answer.[...]

Look at my answer as a template. Sure, some things evoke childhood, others evoke a specific era in your life or resonate on some level.

What's the thing that touches multiple reference points across time? For me, Spidey hits:

• Early childhood
• Childhood
• Early teens
• Late 20s
• Adult aesthetic sensibilities
• Pop culture

Do you have anything (or is there something about to come out) that hits as many criteria?

This thread will be filled with posts bargaining on an answer , trying to avoid the actual question.......

My answer has been an easy one always .....

PCS Kessler Wolf.
[...]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Decisive action.

 

[Otomofan]

Utterly impossible. I could never choose one TOY, but you're gonna make me choose not only toys but my comic books, posters, blurays, LPs, t-shirts, and all the rest??

I could MAYBE choose one of each of those things I like best, but no possible way could I choose just one. I can't. I don't have a wife or kids. This stuff is all I have. I really, really, reaaaalllly love this stuff.

 

[xipotec]

Utterly impossible. I could never choose one TOY, but you're gonna make me choose not only toys but my comic books, posters, blurays, LPs, t-shirts, and all the rest??

I could MAYBE choose one of each of those things I like best, but no possible way could I choose just one. I can't. I don't have a wife or kids. This stuff is all I have. I really, really, reaaaalllly love this stuff.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[choombaz]

If we are talking 1/6 probably HT Indy. There would be certain figures my kids would not let me party with: like Mando, John Matrix, Iron Man, War Machine.

 

[Zurdo95D]

I just can't

 

[TheDucky]

Utterly impossible.

 

[Otomofan]

Exactly. Utterly impossible. That's like having to choose between family members or something sick like that.

 

[matrix69]

There are lots of figures i really like but only a few i would find very hard to part with...But if push came to shove and i could only hold onto one, it would have to be the HT 1/4 scale Darth Vader.

As he's my favourite movie character and design this is the coolest looking version to have on the shelf and it also represents the only SW trilogy you'll ever need to see...

 

[ZE_501]

I just can't

I imagine yours would be easy, Ms. Larson.

 

[ZE_501]

There are lots of figures i really like but only a few i would find very hard to part with...But if push came to shove and i could only hold onto one, it would have to be the HT 1/4 scale Darth Vader.

As he's my favourite movie character and design this is the coolest looking version to have on the shelf and it also represents the only SW trilogy you'll ever need to see...

Fair bit of Vader so far ...

 

[Victοr]

Look at my answer as a template. Sure, some things evoke childhood, others evoke a specific era in your life or resonate on some level.

What's the thing that touches multiple reference points across time? For me, Spidey hits:

• Early childhood
• Childhood
• Early teens
• Late 20s
• Adult aesthetic sensibilities
• Pop culture

Do you have anything (or is there something about to come out) that hits as many criteria?

That's exactly the thing though; I don't have anything like that. Like I said, growing up where I did, I didn't have a lot of choice as far as pop culture was concerned. I took whatever I found and didn't really obsess over it because I couldn't find more material to feed it. I couldn't find Lego sets past the small ones, let alone licensed stuff. I didn't have an LCS or a place that sold EU Star Wars books. Basically all I had were the shows shown on tv, the random issue I came across, the movies and games. At least until we got the internet around my parts. And even then I mostly had whatever, uh, "scans", I could find. I started collecting that smaller scale I mentioned, and would buy random issues I'd find on random places but nothing in big enough amounts for me to consider myself a collector at that point; I just bought random floppies to pass the time at the beach during the summer months. Around my tweens/teens I started getting into a different thing every few months, but again, only through the internet, forums, sites, etc. I didn't have random DC Direct 6" figures or Hasbro SW figures or anything like that around me to buy. The majority of it all was through digital means. There were no physical collectibles around for me to get, and all I had was eBay and whatever I'd find. But even then, I didn't really bother with it all since I was content with that small scale I collected. I had all kinds of licenses, they were relatively cheap and I could make customs very easily. But beyond that, I had no action figures. By the time I was 12 or so they were all destroyed/lost. All I had were my Minimates. I had maybe 50 issues total of random Spider-Man/Batman/X-Men/F4/Star Wars series (mostly Ultimate). My major "timesink" hobby was videogames, since I could keep up (internet, magazines) and all the kids I knew played them so it was a shared interest. And with rental stores I could try literally anything as long as I had the system. Add the 'net and all of its wonderful posibillities, and I could have anything. But beyond my bought games and the stuff I mentioned above, that's as far as my physical collection went. So you can see that I really have nothing from that period that I could consider close to me, or a representative of all of my pop culture "relationships".

I wrote down a sort of "timeline" of all my pop culture consumption, periods and whatnot, but besides coming off as too much of a personal blog, it doesn't really matter. I started off with the entry points and by my teens I was deep into the majority of capes, imprints, indies, anthologies like 2000AD and the like. Spider-Man, Batman, X-Men, F4, Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider, Blade, Punisher, Spawn, Captain Britain, Iron Man, Hellboy, Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, Thunderbolts, Nick Fury, Starman, Sandman, the list goes on and on. I consumed whatever I found. Getting bored of one, moving onto another. Some I ended up not caring for, some I kept having some attachment to. Add to that all the various media and it becomes a huge list. I went from the stuff I saw on tv to B/C/D-Listers to Indies to doing Readathons of decades old characters. I've journeyed with tons of videogame franchises from beginning to end. At this point I can't even remember how many movies and shows I've watched. If I broke each "period" into 6 years or so, each one of them would be filled with a hundred different things. But where are they now? Some I care about still, some I don't. Some I've poured time, money and sweat into. Others I just checked out. And so it goes.

As it stands, I find that the things I remember most vividly are the ones tied to specific moments in time. The comic I was reading during my first 3-Day school trip. The first game I saw at some electronic store's window. The series we sneaked into a laptop to play at class. The random magazine I found one Christmas as the store was closing and I discover a whole new property. Those things. The rest were just stuff I killed time with. For a while I was obsessed with trimming it all down, but now... What's done is done, is the way I see it. At some point in time I enjoyed them all. Maybe I'll get a figure of X, Y, Z, etc, to commemorate that time. Maybe I won't. At the end of the day all of these figures, omnibuses and the such are utterly useless, so it's case of ranking one useless thing over the other. I won't lie, I have my priorities, but while I may not enjoy a certain comic/game/movie now, or care to re-read/play/watch, I may still find a cool looking figure that'd serve as a reminder. These days I actively engage with very few pop culture properties, not all of them coming out with new products, and I don't mind that. These properties are the ones at the top of my list, but I'm taking things as I go along.

To finally answer your question, I genuinely don't possess a single thing right now that would cover the entirety of my "journey". I have some things I dearly loved at one point, but nothing that is evergreen. If you put me on the spot and forced me to name the one thing that's always been in my life in some fashion, it'd probably be Star Wars. The PT, the OT reruns, the 00s games, the Dark Horse comics, GenndyWars, the Lego sets, in one way or another that was the only property that was present throughout my entire life thus far. And it is one of the few ones I still actively engage with, awaiting new material and going through the old again. Capes and comics in general gave way one to the other every month, so I'm left with few characters and titles I still love. Games I'm attached to concluded sagas. SW was always there, and I figure it always will be. There are others that I've poured money and time in, there are others I remember with nostalgia, there are others I straight up really enjoy. And it's all a cycle where I prefer one over the other. But SW has been the one constant, from the very beginning. I suppose that's a good enough choice. But having no wide array of merch, or any "Grails" yet, I can't actually tell you that I have one thing that I'd choose. Nothing sticks out. I have hypotheticals, but nothing concrete.

I'm sorry I couldn't come up with a proper answer, but I've always zig-zagged through it all... I'm just not good at letting go, so I keep it all equally close to me, even the things I don't care for now. Memories, attachment or just plain old selfishness, whatever it is, it makes it difficult for me to choose. My favourite books, my favourite games, my favourite comics, my favourite movies, my favourite shows, my favourite characters from them all. My favourite settings, which may not cross with my favourite IPs or my favourite characters. Who's to say what's more "important"? The hours I poured in the MGS saga? Or the ones over all of my Mass Effect playthroughs? Or maybe Halo? Maybe the sheer effort of trying to follow online guides for a chronological X-Readathon. Or the painstalking process of painting my Chaoz Spesh Maureen army. What "timesink" am I to hold to a higher regard? It's all too much. Too spread over the years, yet too close together, one after the other. I can make a "Top 10", but I can't choose one thing, especially when it doesn't, thus far, exist such a thing for me.

At the end of the day, something like The Young Pope touches me more than 95% of pop culture I've consumed throughout my entire life, "moments in time" and all. Whether I buy all the Jedi and Sith, or I complete an X-Team, even though muties piss me off these days, going by sheer nostalgia, is rather meaningless. Maybe I'll go back to painting WH40K models. Who knows. We'll see...

 

[ZE_501]

[...]If you put me on the spot and forced me to name the one thing [...]

Here we are ...

[...] that's always been in my life in some fashion, it'd probably be Star Wars.

It is. It's Star Wars.

So although you still don't have an answer, the field of inquiry has gone from being vast to just one property.

You don't have an answer now, maybe you never will -- but -- if there *is* one it's from Star Wars.

[...]We'll see...

Indeed.

 

[Preshea]

Worst thread ever. Lol.

It's literally impossible