In the early 2000s, I started my journey into the previously uncharted territory of collecting comic and pop culture statues. I got sucked into it the very first year I attended the San Diego Comic-Con back in 2003, and I’m grateful for the opportunity it afforded me. The designer studio Gentle Giant had a fresh line of Star Wars Mini Busts they were promoting at the show, with a Blue Clone Trooper limited to 1000 pieces being sold as their show Exclusive.
I was immediately drawn to them and gobbled up several of those Troopers alongside a few of their new Boba Fetts that were selling like hotcakes. Snagging those pieces on that day jump-started a whole new world of collectibles for me.
In the years that followed, I became a Gentle Giant Star Wars completist. For years, I had every single Statue, Bust, & Maquette that they released under this specific line, including the super ultra-limited "Holiday" pieces only given out to friends & family...but that’s a story for another day. My point here was to paint the picture of how I got started in this nutty hobby.
Of course, it didn’t stop there. I collected lines from various manufacturers that include:
- Bowen Designs
- Sideshow Collectibles
- DC Direct
- Diamond Select
- Dynamic Forces, and more.
Eventually, I started flipping some of these gems to fund my own hobby and addiction, and before I even realized it...I had hundreds upon hundreds of awesome collectibles, sucking up every square inch of my house.
Fast forward 2 decades, and I’m a much more disciplined collector. I still own lots of pieces, although I no longer actively collect said statues. Many have been sold off throughout the years, my storage is filled with hundreds more, and some "choice" stuff sits in the showcases at my shop where they trickle out over time & at least get appreciated by nerdy, envious eyes.
In the wise words of Mr. Larry David...I was prettyyyyyy....prettyyyy good, at picking winners. Plenty of pieces I was able to hunt out that went on to become GRAIL pieces as they aged and ended up in their forever homes. I’ll toot my own horn on that.
Which brings me to the reason & meat of this write-up. As much as I’d love to dive in deeper to bore all of you with my glory days of collecting these resin treasures, I initially started writing this with the intent to show off a few super rare pieces that are quite simply...ghosts. What I mean by that is, if you were in the market to purchase the following few gems, you literally can't; there are ZERO pieces available on the markets. Maybe if you are lucky, one pops up every year or two on eBay.
I’m going to show off these images below, and tomorrow I’ll provide another informative and educational write-up on each of these rare treasures. I planned on doing this today but got a bit ambitious on the backstory...so my apologies for my mind wandering a bit. Funny to see I even lose my train of thought and ramble in my writings...
So check back tomorrow to find out the skinny on each of these coveted & valuable beauties.
Blewitt