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We discovered a rare Star Wars poster in our collection!

Steve Sansweet with rare Star Wars poster discovered in our collection.

While cataloguing our poster collection, we discovered a rare Star Wars poster!  Watch the video below to see Steve Sansweet explain why this poster from The Empire Strikes Back  is so special.

Read more below about what Steve Sansweet had to say about this finding rare poster!

This is a pre-press color separation used to make the four offset printing plates that were used to print the Style A theatrical poster for The Empire Strikes Back. It’s also familiarly known as the “Gone with the Wind” poster since—at George Lucas’s request—it’s an homage to a 1966 re-release poster of that famous film.

The Empire poster is from 1980 and was painted by American artist Roger Kastel, who is also responsible for the iconic theatrical poster for Jaws.

There usually would only be one color separation made for each print location. It, and the first test proofs produced, would be carefully checked by the printers and the movie studio for any problems before proceeding to print several thousand copies to distribute to theaters.

I have no recollection of where, when or how I acquired this rare treasure. It’s not unusual for me to make the most amazing “finds” by searching through my own collection since I’ve been collecting Star Wars memorabilia for 45 years! – Steve Sansweet

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Rancho Obi-Wan Presents: The Saga Museum Vol 1

Rancho Obi-Wan presents The Saga Museum Vol 1 debuted in August of 2022. This was a live stream fundraiser event on our Facebook page that featured a deep dive into portions of the Star Wars collections of Steve Sansweet, Gus Lopez, Duncan Jenkins, and Vic Wertz & Lisa Stevens.
We are excited to now share video of The Saga Museum Vol 1 here in our Virtual Museum!

Continue reading “Rancho Obi-Wan Presents: The Saga Museum Vol 1”

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Do you remember the Star Wars 3D Sculpture Puzzles?

Do you remember the Star Wars 3D Sculpture puzzles that were briefly popular in the late 1990s?  We are fortunate to have the gray head prototypes of  Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Podracer Anakin prototypes in our museum collection!

These puzzle prototypes were sent to Lucasfilm Licensing for product approvals.

The pieces of each puzzle, on thin cardboard, had to be pushed out of their respective sheets and then stacked in proper order atop a thin plastic spindle attached to a plastic base. The pieces had small numbers on them (not in order of what needed to be stacked next) and a cheat sheet was included in the box for weary solvers.

Continue reading “Do you remember the Star Wars 3D Sculpture Puzzles?”

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Is this Darth Vader Lili Ledy Figure Card rare or a reproduction?

The Lili Ledy Star Wars action figure line from Mexico have unique features that make them interesting for collectors, and we were very interested to find out if this Darth Vader Lili Ledy Figure Card was a rare find or a reproduction?

We had to do quite a bit of research on this Darth Vader Lili Ledy figure card. If it were the genuine article, it would have been an extremely rare and coveted card. However, we determined that it is a reproduction. It is still a very nice reproduction and we are happy to have it in our museum!

See more Star Wars collectibles Inspired by the Force 

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A Visit to Creature Features!

Steve Sansweet with Creature Features

I got an invitation to visit Creature Features and share Rancho Obi-Wan with the denizens of one of the longest-running media enterprises in the San Francisco Bay area—and nationwide. Originally shown on local TV stations from the 1960s to the 1980s, Creature Features is now online, showing an often-cheesy cult Sci-Fi or Horror movie every week.  

The real treat of shows like this (I grew up in Philadelphia watching Shock Theater with host Zacherle covered in shoe-polish makeup) is watching the hosts interrupt the movies with remarks dripping with sarcasm or puns. The latest version of Creature Features is hosted by former heavy metal musician Vincent Van Dahl from the “haunted and historic Poulter Manor in Bodega Bay, California.”

Steve Sansweet with Creature Features

 

Vincent is joined every week by his very peculiar housemate Tangella and his loyal valet Mr. Livingston. But we got an unusual request. Could Tangella visit Rancho in advance to record a quick walk-through, which would be shown during the course of the movie? Of course we said yes!

You can watch her four-minute escapade here!

When I arrived at “Poulter Manor” I was escorted into a large and creepy room, and was greeted by Vincent, Tangella and Mr. Livingston. Everyone was very friendly and the movie screening on that show was a 1979 Italian psychotic nightmare called Star Odyssey, a dreadful attempt to recreate some of the thrills of Star Wars. About all I can remember are a pair of  lovey-dovey male and female duck-faced metallic robots. Oh. There were also cardboard laser swords covered with fluorescent paint.

 

In between the movie bits, which Vincent had great delight making fun of, we chatted about Rancho and other world-shaking issues. You can watch the movie and our chat!

After we recorded the show, I had more of a look around “Poulter Manor” (see the assorted oddities, portrait gallery and pipe organ photos below!) Then we all settled in for a tasty Italian dinner and great conversation.

Now I’ve got to see if I can convince a friendly R2-D2 Builder to create a duck-faced cyborg!

Steve Sansweet is owner and Executive Chairman of Rancho Obi-Wan, former Head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm and contributor to StarWars.com, and previously the longest-running Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal in Los Angeles.

 

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