Hello Trilogo.info, it’s Sweden calling! Another day, another Swede and yet another great collection! This time it’s Tommy Svensson’s turn!
Trilogo.info- Hi Tommy, welcome to Trilogo.info! Tell us a little about yourself!
Tommy- Hi, Joe! Thanks for having me. My name is Tommy Svensson and I’m 41 years old. I was born and raised in Sweden and have lived in Gothenburg for many years working for Volvo Cars. I’ve just recently moved back to my small home town in the countryside which is in the southern part of Sweden.
Growing up, my entire childhood was basically Star Wars, computers and watching sports on TV! I found the passion for collecting Star Wars action figures back again in July 2005 which was just after the release of Revenge of the Sith. The spark ignited a few years earlier actually when I was at a Sci/Fi convention in Gothenburg and happened to see some of those beloved Star Wars action figures from the good old days. I saw lots of toys there that I didn’t have as a child that day and thought to myself that it would be great to pick them up, but it wasn’t until 2005 that I got back into collecting. I’m very lucky as I still have all of my vintage action figures from my childhood and they are all in mint condition except for one or two. I had 70 of the 96 you could collect!
Trilogo.info- I’m really glad to have you on the site for an interview Tommy because I’ve been following your Trilogo collection with interest for a few years now. Last November you gave us some updated collection shots in the Facebook group and I was really pleased to see your progress! Do you remember when you started picking them up?
Tommy- I got my first Trilogo figure in 2007 and that was Dengar. I bought it on a whim really as I was more into collecting all Kenner carded lines at the time. After receiving it I remember deciding that I didn’t want to collect Trilogos as I didn’t like the design! It wasn’t until 2010 or 2011 that I had a change of heart, mostly for nostalgic reasons. The more I thought about it the more I remembered going through loads and loads of carded Trilogos as a child to find a new figure I didn’t have. The card design has slowly grown on me over the years and nowadays I really appreciate the Trilogo design on the packaging.
Trilogo.info- Since then have you been purchasing Trilogos on a regular basis or have you had breaks from your Trilogo collection from time to time?
Tommy- Yes, I’m a collector who collects in periods and then takes breaks. I can be out of collecting for like 6 months without any problem. Depending on my job situation, personal issues, training and everything else in life I am not always able to collect or interested in looking for items to add to my collection.
Trilogo.info- How many Trilogos do you currently have and where do you see your collection in the next 5 years?
Tommy- I have 79 Trilogos which means I am missing 13 if my calculations are correct.
Trilogo.info- Actually there are only 90! 84 “True” Trilogos and 6 Hybrids 🙂
Tommy- Ah! OK then I need even less than I thought haha! Well, I might pick up one or two over the next couple of years, but the ones left are somewhat hard to find and some are really, really expensive like the Boba Fett, the Jawa and of course the very rare General Madine. At this point I don’t see myself ever finishing the set because I will never pay the amount of money needed for those particular figures.
Trilogo.info- Were you ever aiming for a full set?
Tommy- At the beginning yes, but there are limits as to how much money I’m willing to pay for figures so I’ve since decided that I’m still happy even if my set remains incomplete.
Trilogo.info- If money was no object would you attempt to finish your set?
Tommy- Oh of course! Haha! I would love to have all the figures available on Trilogo packaging as well as all the vehicles, creatures and playsets!
Trilogo.info- Which Trilogo figure is your favourite and why?
Tommy- It’s hard to pick just one so I have to go with three if I can? Firstly I have to say Yak Face, followed by Leia Hoth and Tie Fighter Pilot.
I’ve chosen Yak Face simply because it’s a fairly expensive and elusive figure and the other two because of the alternate art work on the packaging.
Trilogo.info- Which is your least favourite and why?
Tommy- I don’t have one 😉 A vintage MOC is always a great collectable.
Trilogo.info- In your opinion what is the best thing about Trilogo collecting?
Tommy- Well, contrary to my original feelings, it’s actually the logo. As I said earlier, I really didn’t like it at first, but it has really grown on me and now I really like it because it stands out from everything else. It’s really a cool logo and it makes me want to buy more boxed Trilogo vehicles and playsets!
Trilogo.info- Not sure if you remember but a couple of months back we had a fun conversation about high prices (or at least high asking prices!) and I was trying my best to reassure you that bargains were still out there. I know you felt a little frustrated with things back then so I’m curious as to whether or not you still feel like that now? I remember having a laugh to myself because no sooner had you complained about how expensive things were you picked up a really, really nice TIE pilot for a great price! Have you had any other good purchases since then?
Tommy- Well, I still feel the prices are too high haha! From what I’ve seen they have gotten even higher after the release of The Force Awakens but you were right, there are still good deals out there. I picked up that Tie Fighter Pilot you mentioned and I also picked up a nice Leia Hoth for very reasonable prices but I think those were the last Trilogos figure I bought. I have checked every now and then but asking prices on eBay are crazy.
Trilogo.info- If I’m not wrong you decided to go for the POTF Trilogo figures when you started didn’t you?
Tommy- That’s correct I went for the last 17 figures first when I decided to concentrate on Trilogos. Looking back it was the right thing to do because of how the prices have changed over the years, I bought my Yak Face Trilogo for about 3000 SEK which was probably around £250-300 at the time! Seems cheap compared to what people are paying for them now.
Trilogo.info- You mentioned boxed items earlier on and how you would like to add more to your collection. Which ones do you own at the moment?
Tommy- I know I have the Endor Forest Ranger and the Max Rebo Band in Trilogo packaging and I think I have one or two others, but I don’t have them displayed since my Star Wars room has turned into more of a storage room than a display room at the moment.
Trilogo.info- You also have a focus on Luke Jedi right? Do you venture into Trilogo variations for your figure focus?
Tommy- Yes, I do have a Luke Jedi Knight focus and I have a few different LJK Trilogo MOC’s, but I’m not sure if they are different really. I know I bought one of them just because of how LJK was packaged inside the bubble haha! The figure was all covered by his cape and only his face was visible. The figure isn’t usually packaged that way and it looked cool & different so that’s why I bought it. I haven’t investigated the different Trilogo versions and for now I don’t think I’ll be venturing into them although I think it’s great that some people do.
Trilogo.info- Have you had any success with purchasing Trilogos locally? A lot of cool Trilogo stuff comes out of Sweden so you should keep your eyes open!
Tommy- The only local Trilogo stuff I bought from Sweden is a cardback with a Swedish price sticker on it. That’s it sadly! Still a cool piece to have in the collection though, it’s the original Leia from Star Wars and a really nice piece!
Trilogo.info- Have you got any Swedish import stickers in your collection? Or any other non toy related Swedish Vintage pieces?
Tommy- Yes I have a few of the Swedish “Figures not included” stickers on one boxed AT-ST and on one boxed X-Wing. I also have all three Swedish theatre posters for the original trilogy. On these posters they translated the movie names into Swedish which is why I like them so much. They are also really hard to find. The Empire poster is not so uncommon but the other two are really, really tough to find.
I also have the poster that Brio Playmix produced.
(Image courtesy of Mattias Rendahl)
Brio was the importer of Star Wars action figures related stuff for Sweden. They made a poster that was only released in Sweden and I think there are somewhere around 15 known examples of that poster in existence. I also have a Swedish lobby card from Star Wars.
I also have a complete set of the Nelba collecting cards. They are small cards that were produced and released only in Sweden and they came in packages of 7. I think all in all there were like 100 cards or something like that. I also have some in the original packaging. Not sealed though.
One more thing I just recently picked up which I’m really stoked about is a Swedish rental copy of The Empire Strikes Back. The ones they had in video stores back in the 80’s. I have never seen anyone in any collection so that is a really cool piece. There are still stickers on the box and VHS cassette as to which video store it belonged to. It belonged to a video store in Solna which is a part of our capital of Stockholm. I’ve also got a complete set of Swedish Star Wars comics. They were the same as Marvels but translated into Swedish and they put two Marvel issues into one Swedish issue. It didn’t run for a long time so there are only like 30-35 different issues.
Trilogo.info- Which other Vintage items interest you and what else do you collect when you aren’t hunting down Trilogos?
Tommy- My main interest is action figures and action figure related stuff but I also like posters and autographs. My collection is mostly toys though, I’ve got a lot of Kenner boxed and carded toys.
Trilogo.info- Slightly off topic but what is your opinion on the way the hobby has moved from the forums to FB groups?
Tommy- I think it’s both good and bad. Good that it’s easily accessed and more popular but the conversations are sometimes hard to follow and I don’t think the depth is there any longer, not like how it used to be on the forums.
Trilogo.info- What are your plans for the rest of the year? Are you hoping to pick up more Trilogos? Are you planning on attending Celebration Europe in July?
Tommy- Well, I think I’m going to lay low for awhile. I have no tickets booked for CE at the moment so I don’t know if I’m going. I do have money set aside for it, but I haven’t decided either way! Whatever I decide I hope everyone that visits London has a great time!
Thanks for your time Tommy, it’s been great chatting to you. Hopefully we can catch up in London!
