P. You're going to be Giving Away 25 pins bagged, 20 pins boxed and a sticker set each day, that celebrate the 30th anniversary of Micro Collection at Celebration VI?
R. Yes, the first 20 people each day will get a boxed pin and sticker set once there going the next 25 people will get a bagged pin and a sticker set. That doesn't mean come knocking on my door at 1am because you missed out on a boxed pin the day before. :-)P. Are you sure you're ready for the personal attention this will get you?
R. Yes, a big part of this hobby is meeting new people and sharing the info you have learned over the yrs to help others. There's a bunch of collectors I have never met face to face and this is a great way to finally get to meet up with the people I have emailed for yrs or may of walked by and few times at other conventions and never was able to put a face to the name.P. Tell me a little bit about your fascination with Micro Collection. Lifelong passion, or more recent?
R. Growing up in the 70's star wars toys were a big part of my life but I never had anything from the micro line. In 1990 I met Lenny Lee who at that time had a unproduced Hoth Bacta chamber he was missing the fx-7 figure. For some reason I figured how hard could it be to locate the figure so he could have a complete set. I started searching the toy shop mag each month and calling different toy dealers month after month trying to find this one piece. The first figure I found was a unpainted Bacta 3po and a few months later with the help of a friend I was able to track down a unpainted chewy, 3po and backpack from the torture chamber. At that same time an unpainted fx-7 with the arms, painted 21b and fx7 4up turned up. A collector named Greg Hanson picked them up. About a yr later I got a phone call from Greg looking to sell the pieces he had to help fund a movie prop he was working on. By this time I was hook. Needless to say I couldnt bring myself to sell the fx-7 to Lenny. (I was able to find him one a few yrs later) In 1999 I sold off all of my carded collection and proof cards and turn my focus to micro only. So for the last 22 yrs I have been picking up every micro piece I could find, with my main focus being the unproduced 1983 line. I’m to the point a toy line that only lasted 6 months has taken up 2 rooms of my house.P. What prompted you to come up with this idea?
R. The Kenner micro line was yrs before its time and never really got the shot it should of. In my free time which I don’t have much of I have been writing a book (with Josh Blake) that will cover the full micro line from how it started to where it was going with the 1983 canceled line and much much more. The book will be around 150 pages with a bunch of never before seen pictures. I wanted to have the book done for the 30th ann but seeing that it’s not ready I wanted to do something to celebrate the lines 30th ann.P. How did it come together?
R. One of the best parts about celebration is the fan made give a ways so this was a no-brainer.P. Did you have help designing the pins?
R. I contacted Jarrod Clark with an idea I had and he sent me back this design. I had him do 2 other designs I was thinking about and when all was said and done his first design was above and beyond the rest. At first I was just going to give the pin away but one night I had a dream about the pins being boxed. So the next day I drew something up and sent that to Jarrod and 2 days later he emailed me back the first draft of the box. With a few minor changes I was off to the printers with a micro styled box to show off the pins.P. Finally, where can people find out more about your generous giveaway?
R. I have a post in the Rebelscum Forums: vintage toy section telling people about the pins. To find me I will be helping out at the Hollywood Heroes Booth a few hours each day and I'm staying at the Rosen Centre hotel. I'll also be at the chive cast party Thur night and most likely the 501 bash Fri nite.If it's something you want to put on your must-have list from Celebration VI, I asked Rob for a photo of him to help fans out that want to track him down...
