Just Another Manic Blogday
Welcome to a new week of Galactic Blogger, and we hope you don’t have a case of the Mondays today. Again, the format for GB isn’t fixed, so I’m going to shake things up here and there. I hope that more readers will get involved, send in display ideas, hunting tips, and anything else that can benefit other collectors.
One of my weird hobbies to try to spot Star Wars graffiti wherever it may be. This bit of graffito was fly posted on a 
power box thingie on the outskirts of my neighborhood in urban Atlanta. If you spot and snap any Star Wars graffiti in your area, send it in. I love to see our favorite movie becoming a broader and broader cultural touchstone. (Hrm… let’s see if I can work the word zeitgeist in here somewhere.)
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Be prepared. This is a simple suggestion for your hunting, but it’ll make things infinitely easier for you while you’re out a-huntin’. Keeping your information at your fingertips is important. Making note of Target DCPI numbers; assortment codes on boxes (Asst X, Wave X), and other vital information will help you stay ahead of the game. You can store it in your cellular phone, a notebook, or some gizmo that you keep with you (Crackberry users). Know and believe that your enemy (the scalpers) has this information, and he wields it with precision and consistency. You must learn to use knowledge as power, too. Wasn’t it our old friend, G.I. Joe, who taught us that “knowing is half the battle”? The other half is using that information to your advantage. With the vast power of the Internet at your fingertips, you can gather more information than store employees have, and you can use it to help them help you.
HUNTER’S HINTS: Handcrafted by the indigenous people of wherever, IKEA is your friend — get to know it. The store’s website is www.ikea-usa.com, and they’re a big multinational company with stores located all over the world (EVEN in Canadia!) for your shopping convenience. IKEA’s glass display cabinets ($59.99) are great for displaying Sideshow pieces, Gentle Giant busts, or for dioramas using our favorite Hasbro action figures. Reader and friend-of-Blogger Ki-Adi Randy used a JÄRNA glass cabinet ($19.99) to create a great diorama for his Cantina patrons. He painted the cabinet with texturized paint, added graphics from the Hasbro pop-up Cantina, and added a spotlight from IKEA. (Extra snaps for turning a shaving-cream cap into a Cantina table, Randy!) Most IKEA items can be ordered online, and larger orders can be freighted to your home (which is very affordable).
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For today’s Holy Grail, we once again trawl through the archives of (this site’s former incarnation) the late, great, but still here in spirit and archives, CollectStarWars.com to dig up a proposed Remote Controlled Landspeeder prototype from the Power of the Jedi era. Sadly, this piece wound up on the scrap heap of Star Wars history.
See more images below. (And, yes, that’s an Imperial Lander as the remote control. Who knows what the final product would’ve been?)
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July 10th, 2006 at 8:16 am
As someone getting ready to devote a room solely to display my SW collection (much to the wife`s dismay) the IKEA thing really hits home. The room I`m going to use is still unfinished and those little cabinets can be easily "bulit in" to the walls as I finish the room. And for the $$$ those and the glass cabinets look like great deals. Thanks for the tip. Nice display work by KAR as well. Nice to see some local (ATL) effort on display!
July 10th, 2006 at 8:42 am
Yes! Looks like I’ll be investing in some Ikea soon. Keep up the bloggin’
July 10th, 2006 at 8:44 am
I think its great that you mentioned Ikea. While there are some amongst us who feel the mega-stores product are cheap and difficult to use. I have enjoyed using items like the Billy Bookcase to display my Star Wars Collection. I think its important to stress the inexpensive nature of Ikea products as, Im sure most collectors would rather spend the extra money on their SW finds. Keep up the great work Adam!!!!!
July 10th, 2006 at 11:33 am
Oh my god, that Che/Stormtrooper was great! I love it! Does anyone know where I could get one? That would be awesome on a t-shirt.
July 10th, 2006 at 11:41 am
Dave – the only thing I can tell you is that it says "URBANMEDIUM" at the bottom, and this is their website: URBANMEDIUM.com
I don’t know much else, except I’ve seen the stickers as far away as New York.
July 10th, 2006 at 1:40 pm
Yep, up here in Canadia I used Ikea for collection-related displaying only a few months ago. I got these FABIAN shelves at 7 bucks a pop (unvarished, unstained wood with grey metal brackets measuring 27 and 1/2 inches X 9 and 1/2 inches so about 3 figure rows deep…and they are made from a soft wood so you can use a thumb tack and a twist tie to wire in an Obi Wan hanging over the edge firing up at a flaming General Grievous!). They work nicely in my display space: a large storage closet complete with water heater that is now my office since my daughter was born and kicked me out of the spare room. The difference for me between this and a Billy shelving unit was the flexiblity of putting the shelves anywhere and staining them different colors if I wanted to. These shevles won’t help keep the dust out of course – they’re just shelves after all – but they are cheap! Okay, the more I write the more I realise I’m bascially saying "wow, wooden shelves are an amazing invention" and that’s pretty obvious. Anyway, the enclosed glass cabinet thing seems like an interesting, if not a little more costly, idea. I like what he did with the backgrounds, really nice. Again, good collection pointers!
July 10th, 2006 at 3:15 pm
DCPI numbers have been v helpful….it would appear that target associates are more inclined to help when you can tell them a DCPI number…which makes sense of course….not everyone knows what General Grievous is….I store them in my cell phone which I carry with me all the time of course.I love those glass display cabinets from IKEA. And I have been searching for suitable "shadow boxes" for smaller scale simple dioramas. My thinking is something that can be mounted on a wall, rectangular, small enough that it would not look out of place, but just big enough to fit perhaps 2-3 figures. E.g. the death duel between Maul, Quigon, Obiwan at Naboo…
July 10th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
I’ve had mixed luck with DCPI numbers. Sometimes, even with them, the Target associate won’t get the toy for me, citing a vague "street date." Then, on the other end of town, a different associate will get me toys without hesitation. I swear I am just as polite with both people.
July 10th, 2006 at 4:53 pm
BTW, what the hay is that Imperial Sentinel Lander thingy below the landspeeder pix?
July 10th, 2006 at 6:39 pm
I confess that the concept of SW graffiti never occurred to me – perhaps because I live in the forrest and not in the big city. Still it is always cool to see SW art!I found a different set of risers, these are expandable to fit different sized shelves. I\’ll let you know what I think of them after they arrive. Keep up the good work!
July 10th, 2006 at 7:12 pm
Damien, that is the remote control for the Landspeeder.
July 10th, 2006 at 7:45 pm
Looks to me like the remote control is supposed to be a Skyhopper. So you can sit and play Skyhopper like Luke, and work the Landspeeder at the same time. Sweet!My Wife wanted me to take her to IKEA for her Birthday yesterday. We lead such thrilling lives.
July 11th, 2006 at 9:08 am
Thanks for the link for the Chetrooper. They do have t-shirts. Your blog rocks!