“Holy cow! I’ve got to have it! Gotta! Gotta! Gotta! But where on earth am I
gonna put it?” Those words are becoming quite common in veritably every pop-culture
collecting circle these days. Whether it’s Gentle Giant’s Star Wars statues, Sideshow
Collectible’s 1/6th scale military figures, ToyBiz’s Marvel Legends sculpts or Mattel’s
Hot Wheels cars that tickle your collecting fancy, space always seems to be at a premium
for collectors. Most collectors have had to ask, “How bad will my mom/dad/husband or
wife kill me when they see the size of the box the UPS guy is trying to cram through the
front door?”

When my collecting habits were sparked anew back in the mid-nineties with the
release of Hasbro’s Power of the Force 3 ¾” Star Wars line, space was the last thing on
my mind. I was just worried about finding every figure and scooping up vehicles and
playsets galore. But soon enough, closets were filled, display shelves were lined and
garages were stuffed to the brim with my collection. Thankfully, I got married and
bought a bigger house, which certainly alleviated my space concerns for quite some time.
But suddenly, I found myself getting right back to where I started – packed to the brim
with stuff. Due to the impending birth of our daughter, my wife and I remodeled our
home a year ago – more than doubling it in size. Once again I have oodles of space, but
at the pace I’m going… not for long!

Even the king of all Star Wars “super collectors” faces the great space issue.
Head of Fan Relations and Director of Content Management for Lucasfilm, Steve
Sansweet tried to solve his space dilemma (and a big one it was) by converting the five-
thousand square foot barn of a chicken ranch up in Northern California into his toy
empire. Based on his cool series of webisodes entitled “A Visit to Rancho Obi-Wan” on
starwars.com, it appears that Mr. Sansweet might have to buy another chicken ranch
pretty soon. Simply amazing!

In my case, just as in Mr. Sansweet’s, the space concerns have been driven by the
mother of all toy lines – Star Wars. And nobody releases more Star Wars merchandise
every year than Hasbro. Their 3 ¾” Star Wars line has certainly reached an
unprecedented maturity since it found its legs back in 1995. With hundreds of figures
released - along with dozens of vehicles, beasts, multipacks and playsets - the line is
becoming a behemoth for collectors to try and house. With Hasbro desperately
attempting to capitalize on the license’s current post-film popularity with children and
collectors, Star Wars enthusiasts should expect a continued flood of merchandise over the
next couple of years. Creating the biggest headache for many Hasbro Star Wars mint on
card (MOC) completists, is Hasbro’s continued practice of rehashing already released
products in new packaging. Some in the collecting community have dubbed the company
“Re-Hashbro” due to this very phenomenon. No doubt, much of the angst for collectors
comes not only from the drain on their pocketbooks, but from the fact that it’s just getting
impossible to find space for all these re-released items.

As the second trilogy of Star Wars films swept the universe and my Hasbro
collection ballooned to the size of a Super Star Destroyer (weren’t those midnight
madness sales a blast), so did the number of companies making licensed products. Just
like so many other diehard Star Wars fans out there, I was a child when the original
trilogy was launched; but now I’m a thirty-something with a real job and real money. It
was only natural for Lucasfilm to want to cater to my “maturing” tastes and for amazing
companies like Gentle Giant, Master Replicas, Kotobukiya and Sideshow to swoop in
and meet the demand. Suddenly, Hasbro wasn’t the only game in town, and my
collecting habits swelled to include all this great new swag.

Similar patterns have emerged with most other major pop-culture and fantasy
properties. With the success of such films as “Spiderman” and the “X-men” franchise -
not to mention “Smallville”, “Battlestar Galactica” and “Buffy” on the small screen –
fantasy and science fiction are once again en vogue no matter where your eyeballs
happen to be focused. And toy and collectible manufacturers could not be happier –
always a quarter step behind, producing everything our hearts desire from our favorite
live action franchises. No one has been more successful with live action film franchise
toys than Todd McFarlane; his “Movie Monsters” line is a staple of many collections
around the globe and has collectors scrambling for space to display their prized
McFarlane wears.

Toy lines based on cartoons – both modern and classic – have also enjoyed
unparalleled success lately. Palisades’ Muppets line, Mattel’s He-Man line and Hasbro’s
Transformers line have all gone through the roof in recent years. Playmates has done
unbelievably well with their Simpsons line since its inception – creating an endlessly cool
supply of the denizens of Springfield. But where are we as collectors putting it all? And
how much longer can we keep scraping and clawing for inches of collectible real estate in
our homes and apartments? Can we really afford to move again to get that bigger place?

The fight for space has really become quite pronounced due to the relatively
recent emergence of many of the aforementioned “high-end” players in the collectibles
world. Quality comes at a price for collectors – not only a monetary price, but one of
space as well. Bowen Design’s mini-busts are certainly larger than Hasbro’s 3 ¾ inch
figures, and Kotobukiya’s vinyl models are certain bigger than the Bowen mini-busts.
And Sideshow’s ¼ scale statues are certainly bigger than the Kotobukiya models! And
have you seen the dimensions of the new studio scale Millennium Falcon from Master
Replicas? It’s an exact copy of the miniature used for filming - 32” x 24” x 6”! While
the quality and detail of the piece will make your jaw drop to the floor, enclose the
Falcon in the appropriate acrylic display case, and you’ve got one gigantic show piece.
Speaking of gigantic, I hear the 1:1 scale Clone Wars Wars Yoda Monument from Gentle
Giant is dominating a few living rooms these days!


Not only have the number of companies producing quality products grown over
the last half decade, but the number of products those companies are producing is still
ballooning. Most collectors just can’t resist going along for the ride; some are even
selling their “old” collection to build a new one. Let’s take Gentle Giant, Ltd. for
example. Along with Bowen Designs, they are quite possibly the most respected and
talented company in the statue and mini-bust business today. When they gained the Star
Wars license and launched their flagship line of Star Wars mini-busts in 2002, most
collectors had plenty of room in their display cabinets to gobble up Obi-Wan and his pals.



While the pace of release for their Star Wars mini-busts has continued to climb as
the popularity of the line has exploded, Gentle Giant quickly announced they were
creating a line of Star Wars statues to execute pieces that were not aesthetically
achievable as mini-busts. A natural fit into the marketplace, collectors rejoiced when
they heard the news; but the attic - where all the empty boxes began going - didn’t!

Because they are dedicated to quality, it is no mystery why Gentle Giant soon
won the rights to make products from “The Matrix” franchise, the “Harry Potter”
franchise and now “The Lord of the Rings” franchise. They wowed collectors with a line
of maquettes from the Clone Wars series and then spun that success into a similar line for
the original trilogy characters from Star Wars. Soon “Lord of the Rings” maquettes will
also be hitting shelves. If the trend continues, how long can it possibly be before
collectors run out of space?

From the perspective of all these toy and collectible companies, they are merely
making product to fill demand, and they have been amazingly successful in doing just
that. They realize that if they fail (or even wait) to make a product they believe will be
successful – that someone else certainly will. This ultra-competitive environment has
spawned an exaggerated “get in while the gettin’s good” business model. But will the
fight for shelf space in their fans’ display cases eventually lead to a “crash” in the toy and
collectible market? Will collectors begin to feel burnt out and scale back their collecting
habits because they simply just don’t have the space for more stuff? Will all of this lead
to a massive sell-off of no longer must-have items? If the answer is yes to these
questions, some of these companies will inevitably feel the economic sting or even go
defunct.

Toy and collectible manufacturers are certainly aware of the issue. Gentle Giant
has launched a wildly popular product called Bust-Ups in their Star Wars, Corpse Bride,
Hellboy, Harry Potter and Simpson lines. Scaled down versions of characters that stand
two to three inches tall, Bust-Ups are affordable to all collectors – including those that are
“space impaired”. Hasbro has responded by converting their popular seven inch
“Unleashed” line of Star Wars figures into a much smaller miniature series. Meanwhile,
miniature figure games such as Heroclix only continue to grow in popularity.

What’s the answer to the great space race? Well, that seems to vary from
collector to collector. In the short term, many collectors merely get creative in the way
they store and display their items. From stashing things under the bed to hanging
pegboard on the garage walls to buying special display cabinets that are designed to
conserve space – collectors have done it all. Some even rotate what they display and
what gets packed away from month to month. Many have resorted to paying a monthly
fee to warehouse some of their collection in public storage. This drastic measure can
hardly seem appealing - not only do you have to pay the monthly mortgage on the rental
space, but enjoying your collection becomes nearly impossible. Not to mention heat,
moisture and theft concerns become factors with public storage.

Others have long since abandoned the idea of being a “completist” for some or all
of the lines they collect; happily cherry picking only those pieces that are worthy of their
coveted shelf space. Some collectors have given up certain franchises altogether –
sticking with only their favorite due to space concerns. Yours truly will only allow Star
Wars items (okay, an occasional “Clash of the Titans” or “Lord of the Rings” item also –
but those are the exceptions that prove the rule) into the house for that very reason. Some
have moved into ever bigger houses – loading up moving trucks every so often to gain
that showroom they’ve always desired. Most though just continue to jam and cram
things into the attic or basement.

Unfortunately, some collectors have even executed “Order 66” and dispatched
their collection altogether just to stop the madness and reclaim their domicile. “You
really know someone who’s done that?” you ask. Nah… and I hope I never do!

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