A Message From Steve Sansweet About Change in Gala Plans for 2022

A Message from Steve Sansweet

Stuff does indeed happen. Despite our best intentions and plans, we have made the painful decision to cancel the Rancho Obi-Wan in-person 2022 Gala, which we had previously announced would be Aug. 20. Frankly, Star Wars Celebration sapped our energy, resources, and ability to arrange things in a timely or quality fashion.

But the good news is that we’re working to have something new and exciting online for mid-August. With the positive feedback from our joint four-collection display at Celebration, we’ve decided to provide an online look not only at usually hidden treasures of Rancho Obi-Wan, but also a virtual look at the collections of super collectors Gus Lopez, Duncan Jenkins, and Lisa Stevens & Vic Wertz.

We’ll be sending more detailed information closer to the date about how you can view the Rancho Obi-Wan Facebook Live presentation of Star Wars collectors’ heaven. It will be our gift to you, and we hope you’ll join us that day for the fun and information.

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.

Watch Time Lapse Video of Rare Star Wars Billboard Sheets Put Together!

1977 Star Wars Billboard

We took a deep dive into the loft area during our Rancho Obi-Wan Virtual Fundraiser Gala in 2021, and discovered rare Star Wars Billboard sheets from 1977!
There were 24 sheets with the date of 11/18/77 and we handled each with great care.

Watch the time lapse video of our team putting together this beautiful piece of Star Wars history!

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Virtual Gala October 23, 2021, 1-4pm Pacific Time

Join us here on the Virtual Museum to celebrate our 10th anniversary! Make sure you have a current subscription to the Virtual Museum in order to view the video stream.

  • If you joined us last year for the Virtual Gala you already have an account here, but you may need to add a Virtual Museum subscription. You can do that by first logging in to your account and then add a Virtual Museum subscription. Reset your password if needed to get in to your account.
  • If you have had a Virtual Museum subscription in the past and it is on pause or has been cancelled you can reinstate the Virtual Museum subscription from your account page.
  • If you did not join us for last year’s Virtual Gala and you do not have a Virtual Museum subscription, please sign up for a new account. You can pause or cancel anytime.

This year we’re going to spend a lot of time inside the museum showing you some of our favorite things. We’ll also show some typical behind-the-scenes projects.

Have a question? This week, please Tweet @RanchoObiWan your question using #askROW for a chance to have your question answered by the Rancho Obi-Wan team.

And let’s do a “reverse” scavenger hunt! Can Steve find it? This week, please Tweet @RanchoObiWan an item you would like Steve to find in the museum using #ScoutingWithSteve

There will be no auction this year, but we will have some merchandise available via CustomInk through November 1st.

Finally, this is a fundraiser and we really appreciate your help.
There are many ways to support us:

We’re super excited to share the museum with you. See you soon!

So much news!

Save the date, hints, exhibits and deep dive tours.

Thank you!

On behalf of everyone at Rancho Obi-Wan, THANK YOU for coming to see us at Star Wars Celebration Chicago. It was great to see so many friends and make new ones. Your support there was integral to our continued operation. If you didn’t get to Chicago, we hope to see you at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, August 27-30, 2020 where our exhibit will take you back 40 years to Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.

Continue reading “So much news!”

Rancho Obi-Wan Gala Huge Success


With a record 205 attendees, Rancho Obi-Wan’s fundraising gala, celebrating 40 years of Star Wars collecting, was a huge success.

Rancho wants to thank all the attendees, volunteers, and absentee bidders who made the Gala an exciting event. In addition, we want to thank our gala sponsors including Entertainment Earth, Pop Minded by Hallmark, Sphero, Funko, Topps, Cartamundi and Kotobukiya. Kudos to donors who contributed everything from original art and prints for the silent and live auctions. Rousing entertainment was provided by DJ Elliot Hansen and MC Mark Daniel.