Recommended music: Eminem – Lose Yourself
If you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip? This #WhateverWednesday, I’m still sorting through photos from my California trip a few months back. I’ve reached part nine of this series, and I’m really enjoying looking at all these pictures…
Over the weekend, I snapped about a thousand photos. A few of them show my Star Wars Legacy Collection R3-A2, but for most of the night in Petaluma, R3 stayed tucked in my pocket at Rancho Obi-Wan. Steve Sansweet founded this nonprofit museum, and Guinness World Records says it’s the world’s largest collection of Star Wars memorabilia. Altogether, the museum and its storage rooms hold about half a million unique Star Wars items.
I can’t describe every detail in the photos because the whole night was a blur of Star Wars excitement. I’ve already forgotten more Star Wars things than I can remember from that night.
Some excellent artwork here, with customs incorporating wood, like this potentially life-size Yaddle.
Randy Martinex created the sculpture Sgt. Lucas, drawing inspiration from the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was featured as the main artwork for Star Wars Celebration Europe in 2007.
I remember seeing these big Clone Wars statues at Star Wars Celebration during the peak of the Clone Wars era, along with another huge STAP.
Standing 8 feet tall and stretching 15 feet long, this might be the world’s largest Star Wars oil painting. First shown at Star Wars Celebration 2015, it features many vintage Star Wars action figures and vehicles, and plenty of hidden details in its colorful, tapestry-style background.
I’m not completely sure what everything is here, but I do recognize the 1986 Winnebago Chieftain motorhome on the top shelf, also known as the Eagle 5, which Lone Starr and Barf used in Spaceballs.
You can spot Max Rebo, Yoda, and a few Ewoks, but this skate deck seems mainly inspired by George Lucas’s Japanese Panasonic ads from the 1980s.
I think that’s an original crewmember jacket from when they filmed The Empire Strikes Back, and it’s surrounded by some great art from both the prequels and the Original Trilogy.
More great art.
A funny Chewbacca as Count Chocula custom.
Might as well also have Darth Vader as Frankenberry.
And R2 as Boo Berry for good measure.
One last photo for today: here’s another awesome collection of helmets from a galaxy far, far away. The Vader Project reimagined the famous Darth Vader helmet by featuring 100 unique designs. The collection appeared at eight exhibitions, including several Star Wars Celebrations, across three countries. Afterward, the helmets were auctioned and ended up with collectors around the world, including many now residing at ROW.
I meant to wrap up this series by the end of last year, but the beat goes on, da-da-dom, da-dom, dah-dah-dah-dah. I’ll have more Rancho coverage for you next week, so stay tuned… In the meantime, check out what they’re all about at https://ranchoobiwan.org/
@ranchoobiwan
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