It’s admittedly in rough shape, but the weathered figure has a place of honor in Hickman’s “Dan Cave” with the hundreds of action figures the Jamestown resident has collected over the years. The collection’s start predates the Transformers mid-1980s heyday, dating back to the Star Wars action figures that accompanied the original film’s 1977 release.

“I started collecting Star Wars action figures when I was a young kid in the late 70s and 80s,” he said. “I still have about 85% to 95% of my original collection that I keep in my basement, which I’ve dubbed as ‘The Dan Cave’ after the ‘Bat Cave’ and I’ve got my dioramas and more modern collections upstairs in a room I call “The Geek Tower” after the D.C. Universe’s Watchtower which the Justice League resides in now.”

Hickman’s Star Wars figure collecting began with the advent of the three quarter inch action figures manufactured by Kenner Products in 1976 and continued until production ceased in 1985. In 2000 Hasbro bought out the company and merged it with its other toy lines according to Kennertoys.com. However, according to Medium.com, action figure collecting actually gained popularity in the 1960s with the original production of the 12 inch G.I. Joe figures

Hickman, by all accounts, has invested a significant amount of money into his hobby, but he’s balanced his passion with a common-sense approach — blended with a promise he made to his wife years ago.

Dan Hickman, a Jamestown resident, poses for a picture in his “Geek Tower” where he displays his assortment of action figures, comic book art and dioramas. Hickman has been collecting action figures since the 1970s and has amassed a large assortment of figures. Submitted photo

“I’ve invested a significant amount into my collections. However, I made a promise to my wife, Jen, years ago that I would pay all the bills first, make sure there was food in the kids belly and stick to one or two lines …with the occasional one-off purchase here or there,” he said. “I’ve kept my word, and my wife has been amazingly supportive of my hobby.”

Additionally, Hickman’s collection has covered a multitude of genres, fictitious storylines, comic books, movies, TV shows and cartoon series.

“I really was focused on Star Wars and G.I. Joe figures as a kid,” he said. “Around 2009-2010 is when I added and really focused on super-hero action figure lines. However, I do have some Robo Cop, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Transformer action figures, which I tend to keep in the ‘Dan Cave’ – I have my original Optimus Prime (Transformers) figure in there … he’s in rough shape, but I still have him.”

The comic book and superhero genres are primarily the intellectual properties of two major power houses in the entertainment industry. Marvel Entertainment which owns properties like the X-Men, Spiderman and Thor. The other major company is DC (Detective Comics) which owns characters like Batman, The Justice League and the Green Lantern have controlled the lion’s share of the market according to statista.com Marvel comics commanded 36.5% share of the market while DC came in with a close second with 25.5% rounding the total shares of the market at 62%. Thus, leaving six or more publishers a small 38% of the market share to divide up.

Moreover, Hickman has taken his passion viral and has social media platforms in which he shares on own web page called Dan’s Toy Box and a Facebook page where he shares his collections, passion and expertise with those who are interested in figure collecting and his various, unique and one-of-a-kind dioramas.

“The dioramas are some of my favorites. I’m not really good at them as compared to some of the others in this hobby, but I’m trying and learning,” Hickman said. “There’s a whole sub-genre of collectors that creates, paints and builds comic book based art called ACBA (articulated comic book art) and some of their work is amazing.”