Recommended music: The Whispers – And the Beat Goes On
It’s #WhateverWednesday, and I’m still sorting through photos from my California trip from a few months ago. I’ve reached part seven of this series, and Sundays are getting a bit crowded, so I’ll share the rest of these photos on Wednesdays instead!😄
I took about a thousand photos over the weekend, and while some of them pictured my Star Wars Legacy Collection R3-A2, for the rest of the evening in Petaluma, R3 stayed in my pocket at Rancho Obi-Wan. Steve Sansweet founded this nonprofit museum, and Guinness World Records lists it as the world’s largest collection of Star Wars memorabilia. Together, the museum and its storage areas hold about half a million unique Star Wars items.
I can’t comment on every detail in the photos because the night was such a fun blur of Star Wars excitement. Honestly, I’ve already forgotten more Star Wars things than I can remember from that night.
This display features a variety of beer cans from microbreweries and other alcoholic drinks, so all are unofficial, fan-made items. I remember giving Steve a label I designed for a made-up “Boba Fett Beer” to add to the collection in 2015. It wasn’t included in this display, but seeing the real products made over the past decade was much more fun than just looking at a label on paper. 😄
Star Wars-themed food collectibles are always a treat to find. Over the years, I’ve attended several panels at Star Wars Celebration that focused on these items. Along with the Pepperidge Farms cookies and the small boxes of C-3POs and Frosties, my favorite is the oversized plastic puzzle piece. These 3D “Star Pics” came in Frito-Lay snack bags to promote Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones in 2002.
Here are more food collectibles, including a store display featuring the infamous Jar Jar Binks Tongue Lollipops.
Here are a few more unique items, like a life-size Cleveland R2-D2 modeled after his appearance in the Family Guy Blue Harvest episode. There are also tauntaun and bantha rocking horses—or maybe I should call them rocking creatures.
From left to right: a nearly life-size Artoo and Boba Fett built from LEGO, a life-size Star Wars fan (not made of LEGO), a life-size Jar Jar, and a Queen Amidala costume.
There’s a life-size DUM-series pit droid here, keeping watch over some rare clothes. I’m curious if Steve would swap his orange Star Tours Cast Member costume top for my blue one.😛
Here are a few busts and concept maquette replicas featuring characters from the Original Trilogy.
I’m not completely sure, but I think these are parts from the actual model used to film the Death Star.
These are custom dolls and My Little Pony horses, each dressed up as Han, Luke, and Leia.
Ceramic collectibles go beyond cookie jars and salt and pepper shakers. This display includes a ceramic snowspeeder and the well-known Sigma C-3PO Tape Dispenser from 1982. 😆
This George Lucas sack puppet was made before Star Wars Celebration IV in 2007. As for the Death Star Glass Bong, I have no clue where that came from.
Along with a great custom figure of the Mos Espa Arena Characters from The Phantom Menace, made from painted Q-tips, and the prototypes for the Legacy Collection Yarna d’al’ Gargan figure, there are also the original unproduced Kenner Star Tots figures from 1978. I always enjoy seeing these at Star Wars Celebration because they inspired a whole line of 2D metal collectibles with the same look.
I’ve always enjoyed seeing the different versions of the Kenner Rocket-Firing Boba Fett prototype. Even before this rare figure—maybe only 100 exist—started selling for a million dollars, it was already a collector’s dream.
The Gentle Giant statue of Rancor and Malakili is impressive, but the framed display of original Ewok fur from Return of the Jedi is almost unbelievable.
There are many impressive LEGO versions of the Millennium Falcon, but this one stands out because it is modeled after the real wooden film set.
Here’s one more picture for today. I’m not sure who made this amazing piece, but it looks like it’s about 1/18th scale. It really reminds me of the Star Wars: Incredible Cross-Sections books, which show detailed cutaway views of vehicles like the Millennium Falcon.
I meant to wrap up this series by the end of last year, but there were just too many great photos to choose from. We’re now more than halfway through. I’ll have more Rancho coverage for you next month, so stay tuned. And the beat goes on… In the meantime, check out what they’re all about at https://ranchoobiwan.org/
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