Michelle Principato is another Vintage collector from the Rebelscum forums.
Michelle posts on RS under the name “Mish” and you may know her from the boards. Through various different chats and posts I realised she had an extensive Trilogo collection as well as her US carded collection so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to interview her about her Trilogos!
Trilogo.info – Hi Michelle, thanks for accepting the interview invite! So let’s get started, when did you get into collecting Vintage in general and why did you get into Trilogos?
Michelle – Hey! Well, I started collecting Vintage when ROTJ figures hit the shelves actually. I kept the ones I bought carded and did the same with the POTF figures when they came out. I also had all of the SW and ESB figures loose and I even kept the boxes for most of my playsets and vehicles.
Around 1990-1991 I decided to get rid of all my loose figures and playsets in trades for carded figures. That was when I picked up my first Trilogo (Yakface on a Spanish card with the Tusken raider weapon).
After that I started collecting more Trilogos because of the different photo art used on the cards and I really liked the way figures looked on them.
Trilogo.info – Wow, so you have been collecting for a long time! What do you enjoy most about Trilogo collecting then Mish?
Michelle – I love just how many different variations of cards and bubbles there are for some of the figure, it’s almost never ending!
Trilogo.info – Trilogo collecting really is rich for variations isn’t it? Now, I know you have a pretty impressive Trilogo collection – could you tell us which five Trilogos are your favourite and why?
Michelle –Well, if I had to choose from my own collection it would be:
- Jawa (because of the card and bubble both are in excellent condition)
- Amanaman (Again the bubble is in perfect shape)
And then Luke Hoth, Leia Hoth and the Tie Fighter Pilot (Just because!)
Trilogo.info – OK, so if you were collecting back in the 90’s you must have had some great bargains over the years! What was your best Trilogo bargain buy?
Michelle – You might hate me for this but…Yak Face for $80 (with a dent free bubble too!).
Trilogo.info – Wow..$80 for a Trilogo Yak Face, you were right I do hate you! Any more stories from the 90’s?
Michelle – Well the 90’s were great for bargains and great deals, Vintage collecting was still kind of new to people back then. I picked up my Emperors Royal Guard (often said to be one of the top 10 rarest Trilogos) with some other figures in a trade for some boxed Dewbacks would you believe.
Back in the early 90’s a lot of foreign dealers were on the hunt for Dewbacks and blue Snaggletooths and other stuff that isn’t as popular as it is now.When I was getting rid of all my boxed vehicles and play sets I met a guy at the Kane county fairgrounds toy show and he had a bunch of Trilogos that nobody at the show wanted. I traded him a few boxed Dewbacks for a carton full of Trilogos and the ERG was one just sitting in the box.
He was a nice guy too, I have to say I miss the old days of the hobby when you could make nice trades face to face.
Trilogo.info – I love stories like that, the early days of the hobby may well be long gone but definitely not forgotten by those that were around back then. I bet it was a lot of fun!
So what are your plans for the collection in the future, are you concentrating on a certain area or going into variations perhaps? Also, I forgot to ask..do you have a full set of Trilogos at the moment?
Michelle – Well, I will defintely keep picking up variants whenever I can. As for a full set, not quite but I am only missing Madine (of course)
I’d love to complete the set but I am really concentrating on variants right now, there are so many out there with different cards, different bubbles and from different countries that sometimes it seems like I’ll never own them all but that’s what makes collecting fun!
Trilogo.info- Awesome! Good luck on the hunt for more card variations Mish! What is the Trilogo figure you dislike the most and why?
Michelle – Actually I like them all! I think even the most plain figures (Madine, Klaatu,Weequay, Ugnaught, Lobot etc) look better on Trilogo cards.
Trilogo.info – I agree to an extent, I do love Trilogos but..Ugnaught? Really?? 😉
Ok..Moving on, if you had to choose one Trilogo that really stands out for you as the best Trilogo of all time which would it be?
Michelle – Oh that would definitely be Boba Fett! He isn’t everyone’s favourite figure for nothing!
Here is mine!
Trilogo.info – Good choice but stop showing off! What was your first goal when you started collecting Trilogos and what were some other memorable moments on your journey?
Michelle – I guess the first goal I had was finding all the figures with different card art. I really enjoyed hunting down the photo art variations, that’s a real fun run to complete and they look great on display especially next to the US versions.
Finding an Amanaman with a dent free bubble was another great hunt, just because he is so hard to get in pristine condition! Oh and also I once got in touch with a guy who had a bunch of Trilogos that were on French cards, some with the Macao stickers and round hanger tabs-.I ended up cherry picking the best ones he had (he had a few with cracked bubbles so I didn’t take them).
Trilogo.info – Great stories Mish! So finally whats the hardest thing about collecting Trilogos in your opinion?
Michelle – Easy..on Trilogos the hardest thing is good bubble condition, I have some with dents of course that comes with the territory but the ones I have that are dent free seem that much nicer because of it.
Trilogo.info – Who would have guessed – bubble condition! haha – Well thanks Mish its been a pleasure!
Michelle – No problem , thanks for the invitation!
Cherry picking Meccano Trilogos, $80 Yak faces and mint Amanamans – what more could you want? Check back each month for more collector interviews on Trilogo.info!