This is not just an average Star Wars poster now hanging in the expansion at Rancho Obi-Wan. This is a 1977 Factors Hildebrandt Star Wars poster that was recently rediscovered amongst other framed art pieces here in storage!
And it’s not just a 1977 Factors Hildebrandt Star Wars poster… it’s a printer proof sheet copy! (note the color bar on the left hand side). Printer proof sheets are rare, but what makes this piece really unique is that it’s a proof sheet on mylar that has been permanently mounted to a backer board. Normal proofs would be on regular white poster paper. When a photo of this poster was shown to Star Wars poster collectors group, they agreed that none of them has seen one like it before.
Rancho Obi-Wan Board member and Senior Writer at Lucasfilm, Pete Vilmer said, though none like this one have surfaced before, he has Lucasfilm documentation dated June 1977 requesting a mylar poster be made . So this poster proves at the very least an attempt was made to fulfill that request. Why it was never mass produced is still a mystery. Pete suggested the mounting of this poster may have be done as presentation piece to Lucasfilm or within the Factors company, but there’s no confirmation of that.
Perhaps more information will come to light on this piece, and if it does we will update this post. For now, We are just excited to be able to now share this special Star Wars poster in the museum for all to enjoy!
Special Thanks to our docent, Dwayne Smith, for looking into the history of this Star Wars poster.