If you’ve been listening to our podcast Making Tracks (and if not, WHY NOT!) then you’ll know we’re halfway through a chat with the man behind Rancho Obi-Wan, Steve Sansweet. This past weekend saw the annual Rancho Obi-Wan gala and representing Fantha Tracks there was Martin and Emma Keeler, but another of the many guests was ABC’s Clayton Sandell who brings us this piece looking at Steve’s magnificent and ever-evolving collection.
When the original Star Wars hit theaters in 1977, Steve Sansweet was 31 years old. Like many fans, he said it changed his life.
“Star Wars just awakened the kid in me again,” said Sansweet, who collected baseball cards as a kid. “It was like, I can go into the toy store. I can buy stuff that as a kid, I couldn’t.”
And did he ever. Twenty years later, Sansweet has amassed the largest collection of Star Wars memorabilia in any galaxy — somewhere north of 400,000 items. He’s even gotten certified by the folks at Guinness World Records.
“We have things from all over the world,” Sansweet said, picking up a Chewbacca action figure from Japan.
