January 3rd 2016 - The cinema, the wife, Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma yet again !!

January 3rd 2016

OK, it's the wife's last day off before she goes back to her 6 day a week school job tomorrow, so a day doing something that she wants to do - watching 'Daddys Home' at the local (10 baht, 20p - 5 mile away) cinema - Seacon Square. I can't complain really, she's a lovely person and puts up with my occasional collecting eccentricities, and besides I wanted to pick up another of the four piece Star Wars Force Awakens promotional cups from the cinema before the promotion ends. 

I feel I really need to mention here that collecting anything is a real high sometimes for a lot of people (me included), but I have to say having someone loving with you when you do it is much better - unless of coure you are trying to hide the price from her !! Inwhich case you jut identify it and do it when she is at work !!

These cup sets are not cheap, retailing at 350 baht (£7) each  - 1 cup, 1 bucket, popcorn and coke - and I am trying to do it on the sly by gettng one every time we go there. She seems OK with this - especially after I showed her someone flogging the set at £60 a hit plus postage on Ebay  !!! There is some other promotional stuff there, but that's for another day and another day out. So, now Kylo Ren joins Captain Phasma on the shelf - or in the case of the pictures below the top of the fish tank !! First word of warning here - a lot of the Ren's lightsabres are bent, luckily this one is fairly straight. Second word of warning - each cup topper has its own designed cup - so if buying, ensure cup matches top !!

Note : picture of cups are real cups bought. As is the wife stuffing her face after the movie in McDonalds and  who seems to be able to go into a burger joint and eat fried chicken !

January 2nd 2016 - Finding Captain Phasma - again !!

2nd January 2016 

So after spending yesterday opening boxes in Toys R Us looking for Captain Phasma in Central World, I decided when the wife was at work to get the 3 baht (6p) ferry across to the local Robinsons store. Robinsons  is pretty much we would have called a department store back in the day and sells just about everything - bags, clothes, sportswear, baby stuff, cushions, etc, etc, but luckily it does have small toy department.

The toy department in the one near us (Saphan Taksin BTS), you could probably walk around in less than a minute, and sells very few action figures and things I would even be interested in, never mind buying. Funny enough it has two isles of Lego that would seem to have been priced by a drunken sales department manager in Harrods London ! Lego is priced so far out of anyones price range here that it makes fakes a better option - afterall my wife works an entire 6-day week month as a school teacher for less than £300 a month and a nice sized Lego set can pretty much use up her entire months salary !! I can, and have bought fakes* here at probably a tenth of the price.

*I use the word fake meaning 'copy' - not fake product. No fake Lego coming out of China - Decool, Sheng Yuan, LeLe, etc - as far as I know is or have ever been stamped with the word Lego on them. And the boxes do not state Lego either.

I seem to be gettnig of subject somewhat.

I have been to this shop on numerous occasions. Bought a few Hero Squad (real ones) sets for my two boys at sales prices, but never really seen anything SW I wanted. Well, that said, there are a few sales items in the sales bins I will get later, but that's for another day - unless my dissapearing figures comes back to haunt me again (like Phasma).

Anyhow, there seemed to have been a new delivery of the Star Wars Black Series Force awakens 6 inch figures just come in. And sat in the front was dear old Captain Phasma ! So, not taking any chances of it vanishing in my absence - apart form a visit to the ATM - I took it to the cashier.

Now, I did get worried here. First the lady behind the counter said that the barcode would not read. She took it away and stood talking to another person with it for a while. I hate that, someone walking off with my toy ! I had a vision of her selling it to someone else - serious Toy envy !! It took a full 15 minutes to find someone to get a barcode reading for it !!! Second, whilst I am trying to pay for it, the girl behind the counter is flicking the hangar on the top of the box back and forth ! This was not danging from a hanger, so the hook was flat in the box. Flick, flick, flick. I must get my Thai wife to teach me the words for 'Just leave the bloody thing alone'!!!

Paid, bagged and back on the 3 baht ferry. And hello again to the ferry Pig !

Note : Picture is Yahoo file picture - not actual goods. Pig is real Pig though !!

January 1st 2016 - Finding Captain Phasma !!

1st January 2016.

One thing that I have learned from the past and I am sure it is nothing new to toy collectors - or most savvy collectors everwhere - is that some companies (Hasbro especially) make variants of toys and other products, so having access to a mobile or a good memory can be an essential asset if you are wanting to make sure you are looking at something particular. (Yes, I know good old fashioned pen and paper works too)

I regularly browse ebay searching with the words Star Wars Variant - not only is it a good tip off for a variant that mght be around, but it may give an idea to the value of it.

I had known for several months the locations of Toys R Us shops in Bangkok - usually about a 40 baht trip away (80p ish), and had visitied a few to browse. I had been looking for a Captain Phasma standard action figure from the new movie - daftly I had seen one and gone seen a movie and when came out it was gone. Just buy it you damned fool !!! (We've all said it !!!)

I will mention here that when someone (Thai guy) saw me rummaging in the Star Wars section and came up and asked if I was looking for a Phasma and offered it at a much higher cost I politely said I already had it !! (Liar, but I'm not paying extra for something probably still on the shelves somewhere - not yet anyhow). I searched many other shops - all missing it. I got the feeling the staff in the shops were probably removing them from the boxes as they put them on the shelf - or tipping off their friends. Then again maybe dealing with too many unscrupulous vendors has made me too sceptical !! 

I knew there was a variant of this figure (ebay ref) - one figure having a black pouch and another a silver one. I had done my homework. To be honest - I would have settled for either until today !

So, as luck would have it, at the back of the Toys R Us in Central World Siam, there is a second Star Wars Display - much smaller than the shop fronts promotion of the movie - and today next to the display were some sealed boxes of the Force Awakens figures. Quick nail along the tape when no-one looking and viola ! Three Captain Phasmas in the box. Not only that, but two were the silver pouch and one the black variant. 

No mucking about this time. Bought the two on the spot (475 baht - £8.90 each). Idiot Buy it now price on ebay at time or purchase - £20 each ! 

Note : pictures are for reference only and off Yahoo, not actual items bought.