Steve Sansweet starts this special series talking about his overall journey from growing up in Philadelphia to Montreal to Los Angeles to Petaluma, California. In future episodes he’ll talk about his three careers: as a newspaper journalist, Head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm and finally, CEO of Rancho Obi-Wan.
Scouting the Galaxy with Steve Sansweet
And besides ice cream flavor, this episodes questions for Rancho Obi-Wan:
- Are there any countries that you know had a Star Wars product but you don’t have at least one item from that country represented in your collection?
- What Star Wars character do you relate with and why?
- Of the many Star Wars food promotions they’ve done over the years, which one is your favorite and why?
The ROW Experience: Smiles, Games, Stuff
What is the Rancho Obi-Wan Experience? It’s more a feeling. It’s nostalgia, excitement, joy, fun, unique. When you come to Rancho Obi-Wan we welcome you to our home. We introduce you to our animal-friends. We walk to the back barn and look at the rolling hills; and a few outdoor Star Wars things like a full-sized Jawa Sandcrawler tread. But it really hasn’t changed over the years. Steve set the tone from the very beginning.
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Behind-the-Scenes: The Beginning in Petaluma
In the beginning—July 1998 when I bought the property—Rancho Obi-Wan was 2 1/4 acres with an updated farmhouse, three large former hen houses and overgrown fields with a junked car, part of a truck and half-buried containers of who-knew what. The first order of business after moving in was to clear the fields, find temporary housing for the collection and figure out next steps.
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Happenings: Dallas Fan Days III October, 2009
Before Dallas Fan Days (the big con) there was was Dallas Fan Days (the teeny con). Fan Days was often held at the small community center in Plano, Texas. During this time Official Pix, the show producer, was holding the Official Star Wars Fan Club Breakfast. Looking back, it seemed so calm and quaint.
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The Power of the Patch
The Star Wars collector community knows no bounds. People collect everything from action figures to autographs, art prints to coins, but my favorite of all the collecting genre is patches. If you weren’t a patch collector before reading this, I hope that by the time you’re through you might want to snag your first. After all, patch traders are nothing without people to trade with. So what is it about patches? Well, it’s not just one thing, it’s many.
Lucasfilm and Pinewood Studios Propshop Launch New Line of Screen-like Prop Relicas
Unveiling Finn’s helmet—from the most authentic line of prop replicas ever made. Rancho Obi-Wan is proud to take part in the unveiling of a new line that comes as close to screen-used props as possible. Thanks to Lucasfilm, we’re excited to add to our collection this incredible FN-2187 Stormtrooper helmet with bloody handprint, part of the Star Wars Collectibles: Ultimate Studio Edition line. It’s as close to a screen-used prop as you can buy.
A Great Year to Celebrate a Decade at ROW
Last year I wrote a blog celebrating my ninth year here at Rancho Obi-Wan. All of a sudden another year has swept past and now I’ve been here a full decade! And what a year it was! With the anticipation and build-up to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rancho Obi-Wan had more than a few irons in the fire.
Throughout the year we hosted more than 100 tours of the museum that included friendly folks from Lucasfilm, Disney, retailers and licensees, Forbes, ABC News, Agence France-Presse, CBS Evening News, KNTV, MTime China, B Magazine Korea, Santa Cruz Skateboards, Space Channel Canada, NHK Japan and five local schools. We contributed tours as prizes for local charities to auction off. And Steve gave scores of interviews to both U.S. and worldwide media.
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Rancho Obi-Wan with a side of Mac & Cheese
Rancho Obi-Wan was thrilled to participate in the KRAFT Star Wars Macaroni and Cheese commercial! Watch the :30 commercial “Can’t Play”
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Topps Digital Star Wars Cards: A Surprisingly Fun Experience
I have to admit that at first I was dubious. I’ve been collecting Topps STAR WARS™ cards since the first set started showing up with slabs of gum in 1977. My love of cards goes back even further to collecting baseball and non-sports card when I was growing up. But buying and collecting digital STAR WARS cards from Topps?
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