Star Wars Super Collector’s Wish Book, Vol. 1, 2nd Edition
A fully redeveloped edition of volume 1 of the longest produced, most in-depth Star Wars collectibles guide in print, this comprehensive collection provides identification, pricing information, and photos of the 35‑year pre‑Disney era of Star Wars collectibles and merchandise.
Over the past two decades the Star Wars Super Collector’s Wish Book series has brought knowledge and joy to tens of thousands of collectors. This comprehensively updated second edition to volume 1 provides a thorough survey of the non-toy merchandise and collectibles produced from 1977 to 2012.
Author: Geoffrey T. Carlton
Publication date: 28th October 2025
Page Count: 496 pages
ISBN-10: 0764369695
ISBN-13: 978-0764369698
For anyone who grew up in the golden era of Star Wars fandom, collecting was an inseparable part of the whole experience. In a way the saga quietly took over every corner of everyday life, from bedsheets and mugs to school supplies and home decor. At least that was the case if you didn’t spend your early childhood on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain. For me and my friends in Bulgaria things were quite different. We wouldn’t know anything about the 70s and the 80s waves of licensed products. Not until the mid-90s, with the introduction of the Internet and the rare first imports of action figures and playsets, which used to cost a fortune. I still have much catching up to do when it comes to my knowledge about the various Star Wars products throughout the decades. So I reached for Geoffrey T. Carlton’s expanded second edition of the Star Wars Super Collector’s Wish Book Volume 1, published by Schiffer Publishing.
This is a massive, lavishly produced monument to the Star Wars licensing phenomenon. Spanning nearly 500 pages in a large format hardcover, this comprehensive volume acts as an archive of non-toy merchandise produced between 1977 and 2012. Star Wars Super Collector’s Wish Book Volume 1 serves as a vital historical record that proves George Lucas’s galaxy lived not just on cinema screens, but in our homes and just about every aspect of our daily routines, way before the pre-Disney era. The book covers probably any area of merch you can and cannot think of. The scope is astonishing, documenting over 20,000 items and featuring more than 15,000 color photographs (even though most of them are thumbnail size), with over 8,000 new entries added to this completely redeveloped second edition.
Carlton notes, an informed collector will want to keep both editions on their shelf for total visual identification, as the selection of photography differs between prints. As I do not own the original edition, I cannot really compare the two, but if I am to choose one of the two editions, I assume I’d rather stick to the expanded one. The volume is exactly what the cover states – it is an expansive wishlist, very usable is its rigorous, systematic classification across an alphabetized category index that covers dozens of distinct departments. It bridges everything from publishing and print (such as fiction, activity and educational books, comic books, calendars, postcards, and posters) to apparel, personal care, home furnishings, housewares, kitchenware, media, electronics, novelties, patches, pins, PEZ dispensers, trading cards, and promotional items. You name it, this book has most probably got it.
As a long time book collector, I found myself drooling over the the visual some of the highlights in that section, such as the Spanish-language coloring books from Gaviota and educational workbooks by Random House and Golden Books designed to teach young readers spelling and math alongside C-3PO and R2-D2. But the sheer diversity of item types cataloged within is truly enormous and full of curiosities – international rarities like Japanese Bandai phone charms, 2-inch PEZ non-dispensing charm straps, sculpts of classic characters, and regional Boy Scout Camporee badges from 1979. Carlton’s catalogue captures promotional items from Kelloggs, Del Monte, movie theater release events, Disney Parks exclusives, celebration pins, theatrical release posters, mail-in premiums from Dixie and Northern Inc., Japanese retail prints, backlight artwork by Gentle Giant Studios, and rare international promotions like commemorative coin sets from Indonesia distributed in blind packs, demonstrating just how global the brand’s reach became.
Beyond its utility as a price guide and identification directory, the book carries a genuine heart when it comes to the brief textual part. It is underscored by personal reflections from collectors like Cole Houston, who captures the precise emotional weight these objects hold: “As memories rise to the surface of merchandise that was important in my youth … most prominent was the original Don Post Studios Darth Vader Helmet… It was a major investment for a twelve-year-old…” Houston’s narrative reflects the universal truth behind this encyclopedia, showing how every item listed within its pages, no matter how obscure or commercial, served as a tangible link to a galaxy far, far away for the person who owned it. I wish the book contained more such pieces and stories around the listed merch, as well as larger photographs of some of the items, but hey, that would have probably made the volume impossible to lift… or buy. Still, if an item tickles your curiosity, the book is a great stepping stone and you can always do some research on the particular objects that interest you.
Schiffer Publishing and Geoffrey T. Carlton have delivered an indispensable reference work featuring clear layouts, categorization, and imagery that makes navigating decades of merchandise effortless. Will you find in the Star Wars Super Collector’s Wish Book Volume 1 each and every item produced between 1977 and 2012? No, but the majority is there. We all know that Star Wars merch is a bottomless well, and if one dives into regional markets, exclusives, variants, prototypes, fan made creations, bootlegs… it will be truly an endless galaxy of products. I for one noticed the absence of some obscure Bulgarian items. But that’s irrelevant. What matters most is that whether you are a curious novice, a nostalgic fan looking to spot the Darth Vader slippers or Return of the Jedi drinking glasses you had as a child, or a hardcore archivist tracking down an elusive chase item, the Star Wars Super Collector’s Wish Book Volume 1 belongs on your bookshelf.