Recommended music: KC & The Sunshine Band – Keep It Comin’ Love
On this #WhateverWednesday, we won’t let our well run dry, as I’m still going through photos from my California trip from last year. I’m now at part 11 of this series, and I’m still loving revisiting these pictures.
Over the weekend, I took about a thousand photos. A few show my Star Wars Legacy Collection R3-A2, but for most of my visit to Rancho Obi-Wan in Petaluma, R3 stayed in my pocket. Steve Sansweet founded this nonprofit museum, and Guinness World Records says it’s the world’s largest Star Wars memorabilia collection. 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. Honestly, I’ve already forgotten more Star Wars things from that night than I can remember.
A giant Jabba the Hutt sits on his throne with Salacious B. Crumb, watching over you as you walk through the store at Rancho Obi-Wan. The room also had a bar and special raffle prizes for the fundraiser.
This is a full-size R1-G4 droid from A New Hope. Roger Christian designed it as a tribute to Chris Foss’s artwork on the cover of Isaac Asimov’s 1973 book The Naked Sun.
I finished my food and drink pretty quickly and headed back in to take another pass through the museum. Here is an AT-AT stuck in oil or something. I’m not sure where the artist was going with this one.
This looks to be the full set of 15 vintage Japanese Popy Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back figures. Released in 1980, these rare boxes were distributed by a Bandai division called Popy and contained original Kenner figures repackaged with unique Japanese branding. These figures are considered rare and typically command prices ranging from $400 to $500 each.
The 1978 Kenner “small head” Han Solo figure is the original and rarer version, with more accurate proportions. Later that year, the “big head” or “large head” variant came out to improve the likeness, but many people find it looks less natural or even a bit comical. Most collectors prefer the small head version.
Rancho Obi-Wan has the legendary ‘Blue Stars’ Uzay figure, and Steve also owns the Imperial Gunner with a calculator on the card. These unlicensed bootleg Star Wars toys were made in Turkey in the late 1980s. Since official Kenner action figures were hard to find there, a local company made their own versions, often using unusual designs and sometimes copying molds to create these unique and sought-after Star Wars collectibles.
Back in 1983, around the release of Return of the Jedi, George Lucas talked in a Rolling Stone interview about swapping Wookiees for Ewoks and the criticism that might follow. He said, “Well, they evolved and started getting cute. Dare to be cute. The worst we could do is get criticized for it.” Over 40 years later, I still think Ewoks are adorable, and I would never criticize them.
Another look at the main room
An actual prop door for exterior shots of the Mos Eisley Cantina.
The exterior scenes for the Mos Eisley Cantina were filmed on the island of Djerba in Tunisia exactly 50 years ago tomorrow. A piece of the set, which once served as a goat fence, is now on display at Rancho.
A nice collection of merchandise featuring Grogu, also known as sweet baby Yoda, who will be hitting the big screen next month!
Here’s one last photo for today. It features a collection of helmets from The Vader Project, each with its own unique style.
I planned to finish this series by the end of last year, but “Don’t tell me there ain’t no more, don’t stop it now.” I’ll have more Rancho coverage for you next week, so stay tuned. In the meantime, take a look at what they’re all about at https://ranchoobiwan.org/thesagamuseum/
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Dale's Toys 