My Mini Empire (Part 4) - Introducing Craig and his entire Corinthian Prostars collections

In my previous posts on my mini collections, I have provided some information on what are Corinthian Prostars, corinthian repaints as well as the interesting facts of corinthian cards.

So, the total number of the entire corinthian prostar series adds up to around 5,000 different figurines. Including both the rare and common figurines. So, have you started your collection?

Today, we are proud to feature one of our Corinthian Prostar collector Legend, Craig.

We are privilleged that Mr Craig had decided to accept our interview, and here are the highlights.

JD: So Craig, understand that you have completed your collection of figurines. What will be the networth of all your figurines?

Craig: It is hard to put an exact price on the collection, simply as I have never kept a record of my buying. Some figures have cost relatively little, others quite a lot. I suppose if you say £3.00 each and 5,000 equals £15,000. Then I have over 300 Master Models, again average price of £100 comes to £30,000, so added together it comes close to £45,000!



Part of Craig's Master collection

JD: Wow, thats awesome.  Do you have any regrets spending so much on these figurines? What will you have done with the money if you have not spent it on your awesome collections?

Craig: Do I have any regrets, let me think......erm NO!!! My collection has been built up over 20 years and along the way I have made many friends all over the world in many countries. I also have so many happy memories as a result of collecting, you cannot simply put a price on happiness or good memories. Had I not collected I have no idea what the money would have gone on instead, impossible to say.

JD: Nice,do you see this as an investment or a priceless collection that you will never sell?

Craig: I see this as simply a collection of mine and something I derive a huge amount of fun and enjoyment from. I never intend to sell it either.

JD: Just curious, which club do you support?

Craig: I support Newcastle United....TOON ARMY!!!

JD: Ok, Newcastle 1: Rest of the world 0

What is the 1 figurine you spent the most on?

Craig : The most I have spent on a single released figure is Stefan Schwarz Fiorentina, which set me back £150, and I must thank Lennnart Van Der Winkel for locating that figure for me and completing my collection :-) The most I have spent on a Master Model is tied between the Schwarz master and Emerson Middlesboro master, costing £180 each.

JD: Nice friendship built! So what is your favourite figurine and why?

Craig:  My favourite figurine is of course Ruel Fox, simply as he is my all time favourite player. Sculpt wise I love the Taribo West, definitely a unique hair style!

JD: With the uprising figurines such as kodoto and soccerstarz, will you be getting everything too?

Craig: I have ceased collecting Kodoto, the passion was never there for them like it was with Corinthian, however I love the new SoccerStarz and intend to collect all those, which presents me with a problem...where to display them haha!

JD: Ok, lastly, what will be your advice to all football figurines collectors?

Craig :Ok my advice to all collectors would be to simply collect for your own fun and enjoyment. Buy the figures you want and build a collection you are happy with, whether that is 10 figures, 100 or 1,000 every collection is unique and personal to the collector. Most of all enjoy collecting :-)



Craig was previously featured on Daily Mirror Newspaper for his great collection

  

Wow wow wow. It's really great to know among the collectors, there's someone who've got everything. Looking at his collections and i compared mine to his, i think i need to catch up.

Yeah, Evil bay (Ebay), here i come once again. Wishing me all the best to get my desired figurines at the best price! Oh well well well, nowadays the prices are sky high. Gone were the days where i can get 99p for a loose figurines.

I will not give up though =)

Witcast would like to thank Craig for his time in accepting this interview and would look forward for more of his amazing collection on facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/corinthian.archive

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Do you remember (Part 4)

Thanks for reading the 1st 3 parts of this series of memories

Today i will continue to do a recap of what most of us had done when we young.

1) Autograph book

Not sure how many of us owned one of these memories? The purpose of this daily look-alike book is to record bio-data of your friends, poems and even a message to you.

An example of such records might read as this

Name: John Chia
Class: 5DD
D.O.B 14 February 1984
Address: Blk 1000 Ang Mo Kio Street 89 #10-2548 Singapore 2056 (the postage code was only 4 digits)
Telephone: 2551021 (Last time no 6 in front )

Hobbies: Collect stamps, collect stickers, watch tv, sleep
Best Friend: DJ, Benny, Andy, Chang, Kang Jun
Good friends: All the rest of the class
Friends: Anyone except Laura

Poems:

Laura and Andy up on the tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g (meaning you spell the letters out when you recite the poem)

Roses are red, violet are blue, girls are pretty, what happened to you.

Message: Marry Laura !! Remember me! Etc

At the last few pages of the autograph book, there will be a section for your friends to sign off with their well wishes.

So, kind of brought back some memories huh? Yeah it does for me. Sadly, while passing my autograph book, it was lost in transition. There goes my little memories, however as you can see, i could still phrase out some details above, hence not too bad already. :D

So where your autograph book?

2) Buses

Back in the early 1990s, the buses that we took are all non-air conditioned. It will be super humid when the bus is not moving. That is the same for school buses, where everyone will be squeezing with each other. I can still remember there will be a strange rule that 3 school children = 2 adult. What's this theory man? I am glad they removed this rule. No one actually follows them though.

Since the buses were non-air conditioned, the windows can be opened for air/wind to enter. I can still remember the sign "do not extend your hand/head outside the window". For safely reasons thats for sure. But it does feels cooler and more stylish to put either your head or hand outside the window. Occasionally, when you want to disturb some passer-by, you can instantly shout out to them like some hooligan. Phrases like, "hello Chio Bu!" or Whistling  can be heard on a regular basis.

3) Cards

Lets see, the cards we used to play. There is the Dragon ball cards, idol cards and Magic cards.
Lets start with Dragonball cards. This is probably the reason why kids back then want to change their notes to 20 cents coin. Why? To insert to this card machine which will dispense cards. There used to be a saying that $2 will confirm you a "shiny" card. Yeah maybe true to an extend. The cards can be sold to shops such as World of JJ at Bishan Mrt back then. The rate could go from $2 to $20 depending on the condition and whether its a single, double or even triple gold.

Still have them? Maybe it's time you put them in an album and count how much you had spent on them.



Next, for the girls, it will be the Idol cards. The 4 heavenly kings, or the 4 small kings were all once well sought after cards. Similar machine as the Dragonball cards, the only difference would be these cards may include the autograph of their idols.

So who were the more sought after idols? No doubt it all boils down to Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok. Girls would go crazy over them, hence their cards are also something nice to have. Some girls would placed the cards in their wallet and adore like it's their boyfriend.

Lastly, Magic cards, the most expensive cards of them all. Unlike the dragonball or idol cards, these cards were not sold on the machines. They comes in a packet, which cost around $3.50. Which will contains random common, uncommon and rare cards. If you were very lucky back then to own a black lotus card, congrats you have just been richer by $300.

Magic cards can also be played with your friends, as long as you have a deck of cards. Comes in different colours, red, green, blue,white,black. All represent different sorcery. If you enjoyed this game, maybe you will go around challenging different players and may even take part in competition.

I hope this episode of memories had been a good walk down the memory lane. Stay tune for more.

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My Mini Empire (Part 3)

I wanna start off by thanking the viewers for your great support(Yes thats you!!) to the blog posts and remember to like the page =)

Today, after introducing Prostars. Headliners, Microstars, Soccerstarz and Kodoto, i will be sharing more on repainting of the existing figurines into your favourite soccer team player.



Picture from Andy Wolfe

So, you can't find your favourite player in your favourite team? Fear not, there are many repainters and remodel artists who can help you create the figure you always wanted. However, as these are custom made, you have to pay at a higher price.
So how much is a reasonable price to pay for a repaint figurine? Well, i can't put a price on them on a general basis. All i can say is, it has a broad range from as little as 5 pounds to more than 80 pounds per figure. The painting, the finishing, the resemblance of the player, the printed logo on jersey are all pricing factors.

Just type corinthian repaints on google image and you have a rough idea what i am talking about.

Personally, i have collected quite a number of repainted models. Reason for doing so? I believe i am paying for an art work done by a great artist. Money spent? Well, thats another factor. Repaint models dont sell as much as normal figurines in the resale market. So, it is really up to individual whether they want to have a piece of repaint or they would prefer painting it themselves. Having scored F for Art and Craft back in my schooling days, i better dont damage more figurines.

The next topic i will be sharing will be on the corinthian cards. What? Cards? Whats there to share? Yes, most collectors would just take their figurines out from the blister and dont even take a look at the card that were in the same blister pack. These cards gave us some insight on how rare these figurines exactly are. Information such as the total number of figurines released for this particular figurine can also be found.

In the above 2 cards, we can see Phil Neal seemed to be more rare than Inamoto. There were only 1,067 figurines produced for Neal while there are 16,564 figurines produced for Inamoto. However, in this case, the figurines demanded for Neal is relatively low, hence the cost of purchasing Phil Neal is still relatively cheap.

The above pictures shows the cerificate of authenticity for a team box set and an elite box set. Currently, the team box sets are selling at a rather high price as compared to the rest of the figurines. Box sets when displayed, seems nice and majestic, no wonder buyers would spend hundreds of dollars just to own a piece of their favourite team. For Elite packs, the volume produced are relatively low. It comes in only 750 or 1500 for the figures produced. Hence, the prices for some more famous players such as Maradona, Ronaldo, Zidane could go as high as 80 pounds. However there are some lower end players which can be sold for less than 10 pounds.

So, does that means the number doesnt really show which players are more in demand? Well, you got to see it this way, if there are 10000 Messi figurines in the market but there are 25000 Messi supporters who wants his figurine, do you think the price will go up? Certainly! Same rational for other lower produced figurines. Such as Zamorano Select 500 series, as the name goes, there were only 500 ever produced but maybe there are less than 300 collectors want this figurine, hence the price will still be relatively low.

Besides the rarity of the figurines mentioned, some cards such as the retail series would give some background of the player/manager.

For world club legend cards, the cards will also show why the player is worthy to be a legend. Information such as the highlight of his career and club statistics are written clearly on the card.

For Club gold world great series, besides giving information of the player and the collector number, the card will also gives information of the series that this figurine was produced.

There are some series where the card gives the owner some liberty of rating the player of their choice. It would be quite interesting to see how you friends rate your favourite player against your choice. 10 years on, you can take the cards out and see how generous you had rated the player back then!

Lastly, for the platinum figurines, their cards are relatively simple but classy. Not much of an information , only listed the series and the issue number for authenticity purposes. As compared to the same series non platinum version.

I am a fan of numbers, so i collect blister issued number 0001. However, it is also with a cost. Number 1 figurines are generally more expensive than lets say number 1234. Having said that, some collectors prefer the number which the player wore on his jersey, such as Robbie Fowler number 9 of liverpool.

Whichever preference you have, it is your collection. At the end of the day, be happy with what you have. Some sellers may sell at the market rate, while some will sell at below cost price(or what some of you called "blood deals").

By displaying the cards together in a collector's album might seem nice and most importantly, it saves you space. I have known collectors who dont collect figurines but only the cards. So, be it Prostars, Kodoto, Microstars, Soccerstarz, Headliners, Pocket Sport or even the cards, we as the soccer fans of the beautiful game, will always have something special to showcast to the world.

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Mcdonald - Fairy Tales Edition - 2nd Kitty, McDelivery Witch

I think this was a really witty marketing gimmick that expands on their delivery service. Neither the site nor phone call can convince the red-team on how badly you want to get your hands on one of these. Personally, a futile attempt was made for the delivery to my workplace and similarly, I have news from friends that their workplaces were also flushed out from Mcdelivery. It truly reflects our local delight on queueing and collecting limited edition plushies. On the hearsay, there was advance booking since 28 May where orders have been made to chope the Witch Kitty.

Beating the crowd, I still have my way. Thanks to my colleague, I managed to siam a round of calories gain and skip the air that this collection is running low on stock. Yes you hear it right, its running low and out soon. 

At their outlet, trended by a paradigm shift, I noticed there were more guys than ladies in their restaurant queueing up. They could notably be the representative of their wife(s)/girlfriends/parents/siblings to make this designated trip, unwillinglywillingly.

Nice on the front, wordless on the back. As hoping for a story like a the Oz, I was looking forward to a story on the Witch for a linkage with Mc but no, there wasn't any story as shown below. But still, knowing this is a pretty unique piece, it makes its worth.

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Mcdonald - Fairy Tales Edition - 1st Kitty, Wizard of the OZ

Mcdonald - Fairy Tales Edition

These kitties are purchase ($4.60) with purchase (not required to upsize your meal),

Date for collection
The Wizard of Oz – 30 May to 5 June 2013
Little Red Riding Hood – 6 June to 12 June 2013
The Frog Prince – 13 June to 19 June 2013
The Ugly Duckling – 20 June to 26 June 2013
The Singing Bone – 27 June to 3 July 2013
Witch – Available from 30 May 2013 via McDelivery

As a local, how can I not be Kiasu. And I did. So I went for an early lunch to avoid the anticipated queue to land my hands on this nicely packaged kitty. Being a guy, it is neither about unwrapping the kitty and cuddle it to sleep nor stroking its head in a MRT. Toys lovers and collectors will find the storybook-alike box noteworthy and make no second thought to put some extra calories on the purchase.

Proudly showcasing my first Hello Kitty Spree:

It is pretty matching to the actual size of the toy if you are maximizing your computer screen. Behind the box, it gives a short summary of the featured character which is to meant to be clearly unveiled behind these plastic wraps.

If you have friends like mine who has a mind for food, you may reach their services too =)



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Do you remember? (Part 2)

So, this post is all about guys. Beware, this post is not for the weak hearted. Enter at you own risk.
While the girls spend most of their time collecting stickers, the boys on the other hand, have more than 1 collection.

1 of which is the collection of country erasers.
So why do the boys collect them? It is more than the interesting picture, it is also more than recognising the names of the different countries. It is because they can form a part of a local school game - flipping the eraser game.
It used to cost us 10 cents per piece back then. After we got them, we will challenge our classmates in an eraser battle, a game where the players will use their thumb and flip the eraser, the winning player will need to cover the losing eraser completely in order to win (yes its a bit like wrestling less the 3 counts pin). Some of my friends will play the "real" games. Where the winner will get to take the losing player's eraser. If you dont wish to lose your dear piece of eraser, you can play "fake", where the losing player can still take back their piece. Do anyone still have them in your collection now?

Besides collecting and battling in the flipping of eraser, some geeky students prefer collecting stamps. Stamps collecting were seemed to be somewhat a higher class of collection, rather than flipping eraser. The cost of purchasing a stamp album back then was $1.50. And 1 whole page of stamps would cost the buyer around $0.80 minimally back then. That was quite alot of money for a young kid (whose pocket money ranges from $0.50 to $2.)

Just like the collection of stickers, this hobby is not solely meant for guys. Girls on the other hand can collect stamps too. So what types of stamps appeals to the little kids? I would say those which appears to be cuter or more colourful will attract the kids' attention.

However, being young doesnt meant the kid is dumb. For me, i have collected some rare looking stamps too. Secretly hoping one fine day, these stamps will bring me a good fortune and able to sell them off. In the picture below, it shows a few RMB$5 valued stamp. Based on the nice mountain(just like the paintings) in the stamps, it can pass off as a rare collection ? As i am unsure of the value, i chose to keep them.

Stamps can be collected not just by kids, but also adults and even old man. A walk down the Chinasquare central mall on Sunday afternoon and you can find senior citizens showcasing their stamp collection. Awaiting for buyers to take a look at their prized collection.

As for me, i am still collecting stamps till today. But most of the stamps i purchased are all overseas, be it Disney collection or the late Princess Diana. However, i do have a whole lot of free stamps which i received from opening snail mails in the office. Many of these cute looking local stamps looks good when displayed together.

Lastly, besides collecting erasers and stamps, there are some cool kids who thinks collecting fighting spiders are the "in thing" back in our Primary days.

So why do they collect spiders? Spiders are a different breed all together. They are alive, not dead. Once they are dead, you need to catch another one and discard the old.
                                   
Fighting spiders are the elite of spiders. They look different from those you find at your house. They are armed with the fighting instinct, so if you ever put 1 house spider(eg the long legged spider) in the fighting spiders' "cage", they will get killed by them easily.

So what do the collectors use to contain the spiders?

Collectors will trap the spiders in a casette tape box. And why a casette box? Cause it has a clear view of the spider, hence it is good for collectors.

So what do the fighting spider eats? Generally, spiders eat insects. We have realised their favourite food is actually the gold fly. So we will go to the school field and locate them. Normally found on the tree leaves, we will use another casette casing and catch them. After they are captured, we will put them as a prey to the Spider. Oh ya, dont kill the goldfly, fighting spiders loves to eat them alive.

So how we know whose spider won in a battle? The losing spider is the one who retreat from the attacker. Unlike the battling of eraser, we will not lose the spider even if they lose. It is only mere matter of glory. Sadly, the life span of Spiders are short. Hence lets just release them back to the nature and let them be happier. Rather than caging them up and forcing them to fight.

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Do you remember? (Part 1)

When we were young, we will often head down to our school bookshops to do our window shopping. That was probably the 1st window shopping we done besides our parents accompanying us. The girls would often spend on the interesting looking stickers, however collecting stickers is not limited to girls only.

In the past, there are those flurry type of stickers which comes in a set or what the kids love to describe as "family". A whole set of "family flurry stickers"would cost around $5 back in the early 1990s. That is quite alot of money for a Primary school kid huh? But magically, the sticker collectors would somehow still manage to get hold of them. Are they rich kids? Maybe. But one will be happy just to have a few family of flurry stickers.

Besides those flurry stickers, there are those stickers which can be bought from a local "mama" shop.

The difference between this kind of secret stickers and those normal stickers are the suspense that it brought along. The buyer would not know what will they get, just like those machines which accepts 20 cent coin for a card. However, these stickers are generally more expensive than those from the 20 cent machine. But the concept is the same, the buyer would want to collect everything and show off to their friends once they got the whole set of collection.

Lastly, there are also those "wood stickers"which is of course, made of wood.

1 famous sport among the girls during recess time would probably be the hopscrotch.

How to play?

1) Get a wallet/key/stone/whatever you can get hold on with weight
2) Get some kakis to play with u
3) Find a place or simply draw one on the sand patches in your school compound

Rules

1) Player needs to overcome every level of the game in order to win, the 1st one to return "home"wins
2) Everyone starts at level 0. when its his/her turn, he/she should throw the wallet/key/stone/whatever to the next level. If the object touches the line or outside the box, the player loses a turn.
3) If player lands the object safely within the box, player should hop over the stage where the object is placed to the next stage without touching the line.
4) Players needs to continue from the level to the next one using 1 leg for level 1,2,3,6,9 and may use 2 legs to land on level 4and 5,7 and 8. However if the level is occupied by other player's object, player will need to jump over it. Hence player may not be able to use 2 legs of 4 and 5, 7 and 8.
5) Once player had conquered level 9, player will need to get back to in a descending order.

Another famous sport among the girls (this 1 is strictly restricted to the ladies) is the zeropoint game.

How to play?

1) Form a group with 3 or more people
2) Get a lot of rubber bands and join them together to form a long rope.

Rules

1) Players will take turn to jump over the rope formed
2) The players will start off with 2 of her friends holding the rope(one at each side), starting at a low height, slowly increasing the height
3) Once the role is too high for the girls to hold, they can swing the rope and the player will have to jump over it.


How to win?

I dont know. Just have fun! Maybe... the one who can jump through the height and jump 10 times wins?

That''s all for now! Ok, i know this sounds pretty much for girls, hope the ladies enjoyed reading this post. Men would have a better idea of what girls do now. Please forgive me if i got some of the steps and rules wrong as these were the rules taught to me when i was little.

Part 2 will feature more boyish stuff! Stay tune!

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