Hi,

I have collected, traded & sold Star Wars for years. Alot of seller's, like myself & alot of collectors', don't have big contracts like some of the mega powersellers, so I composed this little guide to help you out. Now before you think it's stupid of me to post this info, alot of sellers & collectors like myself, still can't & won't be able to find all of them at local store. Alot of people will tell you that when new ones come out that there are only 1 per case. For some stores that is true, but they get in way more than one case. The so called rare silver figures (vader, sandtrooper, boba fett) are still around oline at regular toy stores for regular prices, I purchased a Fett yesterday.

I live in a small town, so if your in one aswell this will help, also bigger citys will benifit easier.

1. If you have a KB Toys nearby in a mall somewhere or a few in a 30-50 mile radius this will help some. Go there & tell them you are a collector, tell them which toys you are interested in & ask to please be put on the list. Now the list is people who get to pick through the truck shipments before they hit the floor & they HAVE to call you first & see if you want to check them out. Now you must, even if you don't want any, atleast go look at some to keep in good standing & remember, your not going to be the only one on the list, so making a few friends in the store helps out aswell.

2. Wal-Mart Super Centers - I have over 5 in a 50 mile zone so, I usually go out at around 10:30 p.m. & hit the one farthest away. You can look through the pallets & the toy boxes always have the names wrote on them, they are somewhat hard to find sometimes but if you have the time & patience than you'll find them. If you find a box that you would like to go through, just ask the toy worker who is stocking that you would like them to open the box (as long as they dont have to go through 20 other boxes to get it at the bottom) they are still doing there job & it kinda gives them a few minutes break to open it for you so most are willing to help you out. Most of the time, showing up between 3-5am will help alot especially on sun-tue. You will see on the box something like "SW Character Assortment".

3. Online stores - you can easily find them online at almost any store that has alot of toys, I have found toys from years ago, that are still online at these name brand stores today at the same price.

4. Flea Markets & Yard Sales - VERY easy to find OLD figures that are opened, but a true collector doesnt mind opened ones, especially from a dollar under. Lots of flea markets hae people that have been sitting on them for years, you know who im talking about, the same ole person thats been sitting there every weekend since you where a kid, usually after so long, they will come down on the price. Just take a toy fare mag with you & show the value. Offer to buy a couple & if its near closing time, he/she would like some money, you may be able to buy alot real cheap. Then you can keep what you orignally wanted then re-sell whats left.

5. Put an add in the local paper (usually cost around 4-10 bucks a week, depending on your state) under classifieds, wanted to buy - Star Wars Toys. We have found some great collections this way & even some awesome ones for free just to clean all the junk out the peoples basement, pretty much to get it out of there way.

We don't have many stores, but it never hurts to ask people working 3rd shift stocking or managers about when shipments are expected, as long as it is not a PS3, Wii or Elmo TMX you'll usually find a nice person. We have found that you can call all you want & ask for the toy department to see what came in, the answer is usually always NO, I suppose they are supposed to tell you that to get you in the store, but several we call & show up 10-20 minutes later actually have the product.

Thanks for reading & good luck!!