My husband, who shared (and possibly unduly influenced) our son's admiration of Star Wars, always made sure to save the packaging for every single Star Wars anything that he received.
"Why are we saving the boxes?" I would ask cluelessly.
"Because...without the box, the (insert Star Wars item here) doesn't have as much value," he would reply, looking at me as if I were from another planet. I mean, really...how could I NOT know that? (And here I thought the value of the toy was the joy that came from playing with it. Silly me.)
"So we are really going to save all of those cardboard boxes?" I questioned again.
"Don't you worry about it. I've got this under control," was his quick response, as he whisked away the box and any accompanying paperwork to his secret Star-Wars-box-secret-hiding-place before I could grab it and recycle it.
Fast forward 10 years...
My son is now 16 and no longer plays with Star Wars toys. This past weekend, my husband went into his Star Wars-box-secret-hiding-place and brought out all of the boxes, along with the totes that were storing that Star Wars stuff.
Then my son and husband began the task of matching each Star Wars item with its box, carefully reassembling the box, and packing it away again in a plastic tote. Surely, the next time that these things will see the light of day is when my son either sells them on Ebay or takes them out for his own child.
I didn't realize just how bad it was until I made a trip to the basement.
WOW!
There was Star Wars stuff EVERYWHERE!
Where did all of this come from??? When did it get to be so much?
This picture represents only a tiny portion of his collection. Like I said, it was everywhere!
So it seems like maybe my son's Star Wars collection turned into a Star Wars obsession.
I wonder what my husband's role was in all of this....
Sounds like your son got a lot of joy out of these toys before someday making some cash from them. I'm hoping instead that he passes them along to his own son. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI used to do this with my girls' Barbie dolls...I'd call it an obsession :)
ReplyDeleteI could so relate to your post because some years ago, I got the very same "education" in why carded figures were so much more valuable than loose figures. My husband was even a member of a local SW collectors' club.
ReplyDeleteWhat an organizer! My brother has an antique store, says the old toys like the Star Wars ones are very popular. We gave all my son's away long ago to his cousin, but did save matchbox cars with boxes. Hope the saving helps with selling!
ReplyDeletenot just boys ... my fellow over the hill grad school best hangout friend, collects and saves (I got the box lecture too) although her focus might be just a tad different (Look at my Liam Neeson with his light saber..wicked grin)
ReplyDeletenot just boys ... my fellow over the hill grad school best hangout friend, collects and saves (I got the box lecture too) although her focus might be just a tad different (Look at my Liam Neeson with his light saber..wicked grin)
ReplyDelete