Christmas time always seems to bring them out in forces. Today Sarah and I decided to get up early and see if by chance Target had gotten in a shipment of Star Wars figures. Most people that know me well know that I mostly collect the original stuff from the 70’s and 80’s, but this year Hasbro has done about 12 figures based on original concept drawings before the original movies were even made. I decided to limit myself to collecting only these figures this year, so my office doesn’t look too much like a modern toy store (only vintage 🙂 ).Anyway Target didn’t have anything, but while we were leaving I saw a guy open up his trunk. He had some of the Target exclusive vehicles that were just released and a bunch of figures in there. Another person was with him that was pulling out some money. You would think a drug deal was going on or something. A 3rd person, who I have met before, with a scalper reputation also joined with them. I understand with our economy that we have the opportunity to buy something and resell it at a higher value, but I also feel these people are not true fans even though they say they are. I refuse to buy items from scalpers, so I do not fund there little side business of hoarding all the toys and reselling them. I also limit myself for the most part to just one figure although I do have a weakness for multiple stormtroopers and clones.Luckily in Utah we have a message board for collectors. When these figures first started hitting a local collector picked up some of them for me at cost and another time hid them for me at a nearby Wal-mart. I only have 2 more to go to finish the set and have never paid more than retail for them. I even have one of them coming direct from hasbrotoyshop.com that I was able to get with a 20% off coupon and free shipping. I could have easily purchased more than one and resold them, but I want to make sure my fellow collectors get a chance at figures they want. The funny thing is that after the year is over these figures will sell on ebay at very close if not sometimes less than retail value. Everyone moves on to the next thing.The only figures that seem to hold there value are the originals although I have never collected for value. It has always been the nostalgia factor because I have so many great memories playing with these things as a child. I want to keep a piece of those great times and it is a hobby that I still enjoy after almost 15 years in collecting.Here is a quick pic I snapped of the deal going down.