So, what of substantial collectible value did you destroy or lose in the past?

[CaptainTypho]

Good morning,

yes, I must admit, sometimes I am not too careful. This is not so important if you deal with stuff of no value. But you know, this is about SW collecting...

Anyway, my first "destruction" happened early on in my collecting career. I had started to go through my old toys and had found the Star Destroyer Playset, complete in Palitoy box. It was still in the attic at my parents house. I was quite happy and must have been so that it clouded my judgment abilities, leading to perching it on top of the very slim railing that went around the attic hatch. I OF COURSE turned around just minutes later to accidentally push the playset with box off the railing. Yes, about 3,5m of falling height do not leave a plastic toy unscathed. To my utter horror I had to find the red holographic screen had been shattered into bits. Still need to replace it

Not too long after that incident I went to a collectors fair and acquired a German Darth Vader shop display head with light up eyes. I took it home and was happy that the light still worked (mind you, that was in the early 1990ies, so it was maybe 10 or so years of age for the lamp and electrical equipment inside), but something looked off. There was a cheap sticker on the front of the display, kind of faded, cheap gray paper and already starting to peel off on one side. Star Wars was written on the sticker, but the sticker was kind of awkwardly cut out. Well, naive and young me decided that the sticker... needs to go!!! I started soaking it in water and rubbing the paper off. Well, it came off pretty good and did not leave the plastic of the Vader bust too matte, I was quite satisfied. But only until the day that I got to know that I had removed an original sticker off that shop display. Well, live and learn... (I have learned though that a number of the display busts actually came without the sticker, but that is another story ).

Next on my list of horror stories is an item that cannot be replaced. I had moved my collection into another place and had to go through a heap of empty shipping boxes or items still in shipping boxes. I collected all the empty boxes in the hallway, went through them again and then put them into the dumpsters. Soon after that I realized that something was missing. The item I am missing was a VHS tape, allegedly (!) from the Star Wars Deutschland Show. I had intended to digitize it so I did not put it into a VHS recorder to watch it before to prevent further quality loss. It was the commercial tape that was shot for the Deutschland Show. This is a huge tragedy, and it left a huge gap in my collector heart. I have the very small hope that it may surface in the future when I can go through my collection again, hidden in some other boxes, but I am afraid that I just missed the tape and threw it away with all of the other cartons and boxes.

I had though that this would not happen again, but it almost did just a few days ago.

Going through packaging materials again I separated plastics from paper, and remembering that VHS tape I did so very carefully this time. I had already filled a huge plastic bag with plastics and went through paper packagings again when I noticed something, wrapped in kitchen paper towels. It looked like che cheapo filler stuff that people sometimes use (which I hate), and lo and behold!!! There was something in there, about the size of a golf ball, but much lighter. Damn, I thought, what is that? I unwrapped it, and a pair of familiar eyes looked at me! It was (drummrollllllllllll)

a doll head from the 1997 Kenner 12" series. A paint sample of Han Solo! I of course looked closer, because I still knew that I had acquired about three of those heads some twelve or so years ago, and then held Obi Wan Kenobi and at last Darth Vader in my hands.

You guys do understand my relief, right? On the other hand, I am so disorganized in collecting, I currently do not have the chance to actually actively go and look for items, so chances would have been that I had never noticed those pieces missing. I probably would have missed the pieces in the future at some point, but it is with a lot of stuff. It´s like Schroedinger collecting, if you acquired it at some point in the past but don´t see it in front of you right now you both may or may not have it.

But one save out of four aint bad, right?

 

[sith_rising]

Well, my friend and I used to throw our Shogun Warriors off of my roof and pretend they were flying. Given their value today, probably not the best idea lol.

 

[morrison2951]

Toys are meant to be played with, right?

I definitely played with my Evel Knievel action figure on his motorcycle jumping most obstacles in my driveway to the point there was very little left of either he or the motorcycle....

 

[miscus555]

dropped a sure bet AFA 95 or better MISB Wampa while packing it up for AFA. Big hole on the side. Still got an AFA 80 but not the same.

 

[Sharp]

I ran over a grocery bag full of ESB carded figures with my car once.

 

[bmarz1000]

I threw a blue Snaggletooth over the fence to my four year-old neighbor back when I was 12 (and "over" toys).

 

[Kenner76]

I lost my 1st childhood Walrusman after Sunday school one morning in the early 80's. It was one of my favorites figures and didn't get replaced for several years (Due to not being able to find it on the racks). It may not have been worth a lot to any other person, but it meant the world to me at the time.....

 

[BubbaVader]

I almost killed Mark Hamill once accidentally bumping into him on a stairway at DragonCon in the Wing Commander era. He even had a bodyguard, but he was on the wrong side.

 

[CaptainTypho]

A few of those posts make me feel a lot better

I almost killed Mark Hamill once...

ROFL! But almost does not count. Unless you can put a price on Mark Hamill´s head and give an estimate on how much that incident lowered Mark´s collectible value

 

[finestcomics]

I either watched an old Godzilla movie or I must have been the animated version of Stitch as a kid because I stepped on my brothers Evel Knievel playset soon after he performed a jump with the stunt cycle. Him being 5 years older was no help that day.

 

[keknivek]

I have the age old "my parents gave away my old Star Wars figures when I went to college" issue. They were seriously played with and not in any kind of valuable condition really, but I'm still sad they got rid of them. Had the Death Star playset and Millenium Falcon too...

 

[Alex_Miller]

Tucked my childhood Imperial Shuttle in my Mom's Attic for safe keeping. Great shelf -- right by the window.

Years later one side was still white and the exposed side was a nice Burger King burnt orange color.

 

[keknivek]

Tucked my childhood Imperial Shuttle in my Mom's Attic for safe keeping. Great shelf -- right by the window.

Years later one side was still white and the exposed side was a nice Burger King burnt orange color.

I say turn it around... a burnt orange shuttle might be kinda cool

lemons - lemonade???

 

[72skywalker]

I put my princess leia figure in my father's vice as a form of Imperial torture. I also hung my Obi wan Kenobi figure over the wood burning stove to"warm up" after playing in the snow outside. He fell onto the wood stove and burned his face off. I still have him though.

 

[BTD2]

squidhead and luke xwing had the holes in their hands to hold weapons better- and it also made for one hell of a zipline across my basement...well did anybody else use dads tools to drill holes thru multiple other figures???- I did

 

[darthsatan]

I've snapped the middle part of a double telescoping Vader saber, then superglued it all to my thumb in a botched attempt at a repair.

 

[redjacket3827]

Back in 1987, I still had most of my Star Wars card backs (not to mention GI Joe, Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, etc.), vehicle pack-ins like instructions, catalogues (mainly GI Joe and Star Wars), some boxes as well as sticker sheets. When we moved that year, I threw that box of gems away (I was a teenager and didn't want to be associated with "toys").

I still shake my head about that, thirty years later!

 

[dafunder415]

I've snapped the middle part of a double telescoping Vader saber, then superglued it all to my thumb in a botched attempt at a repair.

I'm sorry but that is flipping hilarious.

 

[jedikman]

I've snapped the middle part of a double telescoping Vader saber, then superglued it all to my thumb in a botched attempt at a repair.

Best one yet!

 

[Lobotscomb]

I killed em all, countless clash of the titans....12" ig88 fell down the stairs, 12" boba broke his arms on the first day christmas morning using the rocket pack fly away feature, countless figures shot from a cannon... and or with bottle rockets. all of my vintage lotr knickerbockers just fell apart due to bad sonic welding. kenner alien fell off the shelf in the 90's dome shattered and his head fell off. i am much much more careful these days. the way i look at it, i increased the value of everyone else's collection.... you're welcome

 

[Cyclone]

I lost the cape to my Vinyl cape Jawa. Still have the Jawa though and plenty of his cloth cape buddies. Not sure which of them is the original Vinyl cape one as their cloaks have been swapped around many times while playing with them all as a kid.

 

[jedikman]

I lost the cape to my Vinyl cape Jawa. Still have the Jawa though and plenty of his cloth cape buddies. Not sure which of them is the original Vinyl cape one as their cloaks have been swapped around many times while playing with them all as a kid.

you can tell by the coo marks! Pretty sure theres a pic in vinyl cape jawa sticky at top of page. K

 

[Kenner76]

Nothing too valuable, but a few years back I accidentally knocked a carded Ree Yees off my wall while taking a carded Admiral Akbar down. I knew I could only save one so I grabbed the Ree Yees as they were falling. Poor Admiral Akbar popped his head through the semi yellowed bubble. I put him back on display but eventually sold it because every time I looked at it, it reminded me of that incident.

 

[griss]

Aside from the typical story of my mother giving away all my Star Wars items (including my DS Playset) when I went off to college, I did something I really regret to this day.

I had a Vinyl Cape Jawa and was at a dog show with my parents. I was out on a playground with a bunch of kids and got to talking to another boy. He had just gotten the new Jawa with the cloth cape. I traded him my vinyl cape Jawa for his cloth cape variant

 

[LongPlayingTodd]

Same as a few responses on here, but getting rid of my childhood collection as a teenager, when I was too cool for toys was the worst thing I've ever done. It was so bad, I blocked it out, but my mother insists I was part of the discussion and agreed to let them go. I really don't remember that at all.

 

[ausXwing]

We lost our home due to a bushfire back in 2009, apart from the family momento's i lost all of my collections.
i didn't have a lot of Star Wars but i did loose two sets of 1st series trading cards, an Escape from the Death Star board game, some early posters,
also lost my comic collection (1500 issues), hot rod magazine collection (30yrs worth), 150+ model cars, my Coca Cola stuff, the list goes on.
One thing it did cure my OCD of collectin, now I only get a few items and actually display them ...

 

[Rolotomasi]

I kept my childhood collection star wars stuff almost intact, but lost the 12 inch "dolls" of Darth Vader, Luke and Stormtrooper. Also, lost several first run Transformers...including fav 911 Jazz...Scatman Crothers did the voice in original series and thought he was coolest...man I wish I had them!

 

[Abraxxus]

I think i answered one of these threads in the past, but anyways...
I had a Double telescoping lightsaber Luke as a kid...broke the saber tip off. My sister had a vinyl cape jawa. She took the cape off and threw it away and turned the figure into a keychain.

 

[Tobedesu]

Nothing of incredible value, more sentimental.
Got all my old stuff and this is what I've discovered:
My Dad stepped on Bossk when I was a kid breaking its head off. He did fix it a couple of times, but its in pieces now.
Lost/misplaced Leia's white gown which is a shame as the figure is mint.
Lost/misplaced Luke Stormtrooper helmet.
Lost/misplaced Leia poncho helmet and belt.
Lost/misplaced Yoda's jacket.
Both Ben's and Sand peoples cape is ripped.

Apart from Bossk (bought another off my friend) all pieces are replaceable, but I won't because replacements won't be my originals. I'm sentimental like that.

 

[patrickdurfee]

I was a little kid back in the very early 1980s. I got into Star Wars for the first time in 1983 when Return of the Jedi was in theaters the outdoors drive in theater pretty much. When I was 3 years old and got a little older at 4, I was rough on the figures I had back then. I would rip off arms off the stormtroopers figures I had and Id constantly lose the staff weapons of the Return of the Jedi figures even any helmets for Lando and Endor Leia back then. heck I still have a headless Tusken Sand person figure without the head. Dunno why I still have it these days lol

 

[faith4ever]

Well, I had both a DT Vader and DT Luke way back when. Being a kid, well neither saber survived. More recently though I think in a flurry of cleaning after moving into the house I'm in now I may have accidentally recycled an AT-AT Commander Revenge proof. That one still stings.

 

[CaptainTypho]

...
More recently though I think in a flurry of cleaning after moving into the house I'm in now I may have accidentally recycled an AT-AT Commander Revenge proof. That one still stings.

NOW you´re talkin´! THAT´s the kind of stories that make me feel a little better, because we all played and destroyed toys as kids, unbeknownst of their future values. But losing or destroying important pieces of a collection... well, at least I am not alone anymore as an adult destroyer of collectibles

 

[MakinWookie]

Well, I had both a DT Vader and DT Luke way back when. Being a kid, well neither saber survived. More recently though I think in a flurry of cleaning after moving into the house I'm in now I may have accidentally recycled an AT-AT Commander Revenge proof. That one still stings.

Funny you mention 'moving' and 'losing proofs' - something that sounds crazy right? I did the SAME thing when I moved into my house 8-9 years ago. I put the three I had 'in a safe place', and forgot completely where I put them. I cleaned my garage out one year, and threw out a bunch of old telephone books. After I threw them out, I was wondering why I kept them in the first place and was CONVINCED the proofs where in them as I threw them away without thumbing through the pages DOH!!

Well, about 2 years ago I pulled out an old family cookbook that was secured well in the bottom of a box. When I opened it, BAM! I found my three proofs- Not gonna lie, I cried a little and I rarely do that! Straight tears of joy, my wife cried too because she knew how long I lamented about them.

Sorry to hear your story. I know how you feel, I felt like crap about it for years until I was reunited.

Here's my babies!

 

[faith4ever]

That's great news that you managed to find yours after all that time! I imagine it had to be a bit of a weight off of your mind when they surfaced.

I did the same as you - I wanted to make sure both were protected and didn't want prying eyes seeing it and being all "ooo" and it growing legs. I thought I stuck it in one of the game boxes but after searching them about six times (the saying about repeating something expecting a different outcome comes to mind ) and coming up empty and searching everything I could find I gave up hope. I think when I was sorting through this pack of papers I'd seen what appeared to be one of those backing boards in a sleeve. I distinctly remember thinking "why would this be the only thing in here?" and dismissing it and putting it in the recycle pile. The kicker is I later think that I put a second backer in front of the proof so it would look just line the item I held. Maybe in another 3 years mine'll turn up too. I'm kinda hoping it does when I get around to remodeling the basement to build my collection room.

 

[faith4ever]

Oh, and those Leias - gorrrrrgeous!

 

[CaptainTypho]

Hey now, @MakinWookiee, no positiveness in this thread, please!!! It´s about sharing painful stories and collective moaning and grieveing!!!

But I totally understand your feelings, congrats I still have hope that my VHS tape with the German in-store video for the Deutschlandshow resurfaces and was not thrown out with dozens of (hopefully) empty boxes! My story about saving those three paint samples from the garbage bin at the very last minute is pretty close to your story, I guess, so damn me, I may have opened that gate for positive stories myself!

 

[RomanXKnight]

This popped up as a similar thread and I figured I'd share. The first one was my uncle, not me. When he was a kid, his uncle gave him his comic book collection. It wasn't huge, but he'd been collecting since at least the early 40s. My uncle collected until he went into the army in 1964 or '65. He loved superheroes and except for a few horror comics, that's all he had. He figured it was close to 1000 books, mostly Marvel, Timely and Atlas. My grandparents were poor and needed the storage space. What didn't end up as kindling was thrown out.

A few decades later when my grandpa died, we found that he'd had a Playboy subscription nobody really knew about. It ran from the early 60s through late 70s. Most of them looked like he hadn't even opened them. Seeing a potential goldmine, I asked if I could have them. My mother and aunts were furious with my suggestion and instead gave them to my much younger female cousins. Nobody could ever explain why. They immediately grabbed the scissors and...made collages? It was a massive WTF moment and I held a grudge for years.

Several years prior to that, though, was the toy disaster. My dad would buy a big bundle of fireworks each summer. The father of the kids next door would do the same. When I was 16 or so, each of us had a big stockpile of fireworks, as well as large collections of toys. Via trading, getting extras as gifts, and finding the odd figure at the playground from time to time, I had a fair number of extras. The kids next door had given up all their old "uncool" toy lines for Transformers and baseball cards. What to do with a boring summer afternoon when all the parents are gone and you have more fireworks and actions figures than you know what to do with? Blow 'em up real good.

For my part, the only ones I destroyed were duplicates, and at least a few of them weren't in perfect shape. My friends, though, decided to blast through all the toy lines they were now embarrassed by. These were toys they'd liked when they were younger but had outgrown, or ones they'd never really liked and saw as toys their parents had forced on them. They were from the South originally and, having found girls, they didn't like the whole redneck image, so the first thing to go was all the Dukes of Hazzard figures. The General Lee can get up some speed when you strap a dozen bottle rockets to it. Boss Hogg and Uncle Jesse were probably the most valuable casualties from that line. They also destroyed whole sets of MASH, the Love Boat, matching Morks complete with his egg, a bunch of Black Hole and Buck Rogers figures, and I'm pretty sure a Magnum P.I. This was in addition to countless Star Wars and G.I. Joe figures, plus a fair number of vehicles, and a few other lines I'm sure I'm forgetting. I did sneak their Twiki into my pocket, although I lost him at some point. When their mom finally got home and saw what they'd done, she sold everything else at a garage sale.

I reconnected with them a couple years ago and that day was all they wanted to talk about. They insisted the whole thing had been my idea, but that's not how I remember it, mainly because I'd really argued with them to let me pick through their toys before they destroyed them.

 

[Rebel Tom]

Mine happened about 3 years ago when I got back into Star Wars. I purchased a group of loose Star Wars figures at the local flea market. I think I paid $20 for 14 pieces. Most were warriors and I think I only kept 2 figures and all the weapons. Included in the group was a Hans Solo in Carbonite (figure and block). In my mind I was thinking it was the later edition due to the placement of the hands. Boy, was I wrong. I gave it and the remainder of the pieces to my niece. Some months later I realized I had given away a last 17 piece. I called her to get it back. Sadly, her entire collection of TWD, Star Wars, and Hot Wheels I had given her had been stolen by a crackhead.

 

[miscus555]

the only figures i destroyed were the figures i didn't actually like or they started bothering me. I remember ripping the arms and legs off of Lobot and Dengar because i didn't like them and then I'd throw the pieces in bushes or other peoples yards so my parents wouldn't see i was destroying my toys. They used to warn me not to do that or I'd get no more toys after I was caught taking a hammer to my Hotwheels because i was making them look like "crash up derby"

When I lost 2-1b's mask piece, he looked god awful so he was destroyed. I was kinda anal in ways with my toys but also destructive.

The good thing is, I did value my collections so never exposed them to fireworks, fire, or guns. When I got older and got into other things, I did clean up all my toys and stored them neatly in attics or other storage areas in the house. I was constantly asked or told "why don't you get rid of your toys" but always stood my ground and told people not to touch them. My friend and I, who shared the same interests got back into star wars a little in 11th grade (1991) and worked on finishing off the loose collection or replace some beaters. We also picked up some of our first carded figures. Once I had the car in 12th grade, we quickly went into hibernation til 1995 when the hasbro figures came out, we starting working on our vintage again.

my son is 13 and he has some nice items in his childhood collections but I'm constantly teaching him to just pack it up and forget about it for awhile. if they hang around, they become fodder for something whether he;s sells it off to make a couple bucks or uses them as experiments.

My friend and I constantly talk on how we should have chose buying this toy over that toy and how we were stupid but i tell him how our best choice was not selling or destroying our childhood toys. with out those, we possibly would haven ever collected as adults

 

[Tulgah]

My worst loss is ongoing. I just flat-out lost (misplaced, accidentally threw out, unconsciously stored wrong, etc.) a Droids Tig Fromm. Other than Sise, it’s probably my most valuable figure. Like, I simply lost a $900 figure. I’ve looked everywhere for it. Why couldn’t I have lost a POTF2 Nien Nunb or Commtech Stormie? It’s one of a small few figures I can’t afford to replace. .

Also, most of my childhood Last 17 figures have disappeared at various points, but have been replaced. My General Lando has survived like ten moves.