Steve Sansweet's Star Wars museum is big -- so big that it has wings. For example, there's the library.
"This is every licensed Star Wars book published in the U.S. and all variations." Authors sometimes pop by to make sure that Sansweet has both the paperback and hardcover versions of their books. They rarely leave disappointed. And then there are magazines as well. "I probably have about 3,000 magazines from around the world, from the very beginning, the very first reference in Starlog before the movie came out to the latest video game magazines, and all the comics as well," says Sansweet. He keeps LucasArts' video games in the library as well.
Sansweet separates the home video games from the arcade wing. This room is filled with the familiar digitized sounds of the Star Wars theme and muffled dialogue from the movies whose games filled arcades across the country in the early 1980s; Sansweet's arcade has all the pinball machines from the latest cutting-edge 3-D arcade games like the sit-down version of Episode I Racer and the Star Wars Trilogy game. But like every other wing in the museum, not everything in Sansweet's arcade is familiar. "Here's a German slot machine that I couldn't believe was licensed," Sansweet remarks. "And Darth Vader speaks to you in German. There's nothing more frightening than Darth Vader speaking in German."
As you move on to the Art Gallery, a familiar face cast in bronze greats you. "This bronze Yoda is from a great artist and sculptor, Lawrence Noble. He was inspired by The Empire Strikes Back, and Yoda in particular. Lawrence wanted to give George one of these as a gift, so four friends and I commissioned Lawrence so he could do six of them." One of these sculptures is now proudly standing in front of the main entrance at the new Big Rock Ranch complex [home to much of Lucasfilm], which is a source of pride for all those involved. Sansweet's gallery is filled with many fantastic Star Wars images; most are either licensed products or are fan-made pieces, but some are even made by the creators of the film. Some of the most interesting pieces are several concept drawings of Boba Fett by Joe Johnston, images depicting the bounty hunter performing actions that weren't seen on screen until Boba's father Jango came to life in Episode II. "There's a continuing theme in the collection," Sansweet points out. "I love fan-made pieces. I buy fan stuff. I really admire the passion that fans have for Star Wars."
When asked exactly why he has assembled this massive collection, Sansweet explains that his hobby is "not so much a goal of acquiring things so much as of displaying it and sharing it with friends and fellow collectors. The most fun of the collection is seeing the look on people's faces when they come to the top of the stairs for the first time and take the whole thing in." The joy for Sansweet comes from showing and sharing the collection he has worked so hard to put together with the people for whom Star Wars resonates, the ones who believe that, as Kenner's slogan once said, "Star Wars is forever." One look at Rancho Obi-Wan, and you know the truth of that phrase.
