Archive Lexicon
Maintained by Chris Georgoulias and Isaac Lew


ar·chive (îr-kiv')
   n., tr.v. archived, archiv·ing, archives
     1. A place or collection containing records, documents, or other materials of historical interest.
     2. A repository for stored memories or information: the archive of the mind.
     3. The world's leading authority for showcasing and describingthe very best of Star Wars collecting.

lex·i·con (lek-si-kon')
   n., pl. lex·i·cons or lex·i·ca (-k). Abbr. lex.
     1. A dictionary.
     2. A stock of terms used in a particular profession, subject, or style; a vocabulary: the lexicon of surrealist art.
     3. The nitty gritty terms for understanding just how cool some collections are.

Terminology and knowing how to use it is the key to being a great collector, but alittle common sense and rationalizing can go a long way also. In the world of toy production thereare all kinds of terms that have to be familiar to a collector. Since so much of what is showcased on the Star Wars Collectors Archive is pre-production and prototype material, it is important forreaders and collectors to fully understand what they are looking at. And if someone wants to ventureinto collecting these types of things then he needs to be informed so that he doesn't get burned. With the proliferation ofonline (and relatively anonymous) auctions the con-men have found a haven for the uninformed. As fellow collectors we hate to see our brethren get taken to the cleaners just because they want to have a go at some of this stuff also.

Included in the Lexicon are other terms and words surrounding Star Wars and even generaltoy collecting that may not be familiar to the beginning or the casual collector. We hope that by spreading this type of knowledge we will make smarter and better collectors out of everyone. When it comes to collecting, knowledge is definitely power.


Prototype Terminology
4-up
Acetate
Bench Shot
Carded Sample
Color Bars
Cromalin
Dumpster Diving
Dynacast
First Shot
Hardcopy
Kit-bash
Paint Master
Paint Swatch
Pattern
Photoart
Plastic Master
Plastic Swatch
Proof Card
Proof Sheet
Protomold
Prototype
Sculpting
Softcopy
Spec/Product Sheet
Squeezing
Styrene Model
Test Shot
Tooling Master
Vendor Supplied Prototype (VSP)
 
 Star Wars Specific Toy Terminology
Double-Telescoping (DT) Lightsaber
Micro Collection
Vinyl Cape (VC) Jawa
Vlix
 
 Toy Manufacturing and Production Terminology
Die
Electronic Discharge Machining
Painting
Paint Mask
Pantograph
Plastic Injection Molding Process
Plastic Injection Molding Equipment
Silicone (RTV) Molds
Sonic Welding
Steel Molds
Vendor
 
 Foreign Toy Companies
Clipper
Glasslite
Harbert
Lili Ledy
Mecanno
Palitoy
Popy
Takara
Toltoys
TopToys
Tsukada
Uzay
 
 Store Display Terminology
Bin
Hanger
Header Card
Point of Purchase (POP)
Plan-O-Gram
Shelf Talker
 
 General Collecting Terminology
Bootleg
Cardback
MIB, MIMB
MIP
MOC
Mail-away
NRFB
Sansweet, Stephen J.(Steve)
Toy Fair
UP, P
YB, SYB

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