Category: Behind the Scenes

By Michael McMaster

In early 2014 the R2 Builders Club began planning the photo op for the 2015 Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim. The original concept was a ten foot wide Sandcrawler tread section, with a few droids placed in front of it. I began welding the internal steel structure in the fall of 2014. The idea was to create the center of the Sandcrawler, where the large droid "suction tube" was located. By late December of 2014, I decided to go ahead and build one entire tread section, which was to scale with the original prop and stood 12 feet tall and 36 feet long.

No matter how small or large your collection, we all have the same problems: too much saved packaging, storage problems, rodent problems, projects left for later. Sometimes you just need to clean, clean, clean and feel good about it.

When we came up with the concept for a "wall of helmets" we didn't know exactly how to pull it off. I knew that our exhibit booth was made of slat-wall and I knew there existed hangers for baseball caps, but those hangers weren't long enough or tall enough and what if the weight of the helmets brought the wall down!?

The library at Rancho Obi-Wan is a favorite place for many. It started with the original novelization, then other stories. There are coloring books, guides, audio books, music, cook books, biographies, programs, scripts, trivia books, yearbooks and so, so much more. Below is just a little glimpse of the library's evolution between 1998 and today.

On November 5th, 2011 Rancho Obi-Wan officially re-opened after being closed for over a year and a half to construct an Expansion, but now as non-profit. See below for a selection of behind-the-scenes moments.