THE ULTIMATE TOY ROOM
(A tour of the Sansweet collection)
One of the greatest
joys Shane, Darren, Justin and I experienced whilst
holidaying in America, was the opportunity to stay with Steve
Sansweet for a few days. Besides living in a very comfortable
and inviting house set on the side of a hill, overlooking a
large part of Los Angeles, it is also the home base of the
world's largest Star Wars collection.
Steve has been
collecting memorabilia since the earliest days of Star Wars,
and in that time, he has amassed a collection so immense, one
cannot help but be overawed by it. Anything and everything
related to the films can be found in Steve's possession. In
the time we were there, we were able to have a really good
look at all the things that were marketed for the Star Wars
movies. It really doesn't occur to you just how much there is
until you see it all brought together like this. You see, the
collection resides primarily in one long room under the main
house. The "Toy Room" as it is more commonly known,
is chock full of stuff, and once you have gotten over the
shear immensity of it all, one can do some serious digging
and find some really neat things. Such as: all the large
action figures mint in boxes, complete rolls of every type of
Star Wars wall paper around, all the model kits (including
some of the forgotten ones like the Darth Vader and Artoo Detoo/See-Threepio
Chevy vans) still shrink wrapped, every Star Wars rip-off and
compilation soundtrack album as well as all the different
books and novelisations you can think of, and literally
stacks and stacks of T-shirts, bed sheets, pillow cases,
mugs, games, belt buckles, badges, patches and novelties, all
mint and unused. There were also enough different cardboard
display stands to fill an exhibition, every piece of Star
Tours and Skywalker Ranch merchandise you can imagine and
hundreds of mint packaged action figures and toys from all
over the world. It has to be seen to be believed. Despite the
fact that a portion of it is currently in storage, the list
cracks the million mark and accounts for about 96% of every
piece of memorabilia (whether it be authorised or not) ever
created for the Star Wars saga.
But it doesn't stop
there. Among all the commercially available material lies
some of the more exclusive items. Like some original movie
props: See-Threepio and biker scout helmets, a couple of gun
turrets from the Death Star as well as various Death Star
sections themselves, some Imperial Officer insignia, the
original Darth Vader costume, and two of the original chess
pieces from the first film. Apart from owning an original
piece of Ralph MacQuarrie artwork, Steve has also been very
privileged to have received a number of gifts from ILM, such
as a very large AT-AT model, a large snowspeeder, a TIE
fighter model (in scale with the commercially released Darth
Vader one), and an X-wing fighter as well, all presented in
their own individual perspex cases. A couple of other very
exclusive items consist of a gold album presented to John
Williams for the Star Wars soundtrack music, a prototype
Academy Award in the shape of See-Threepio which were going
to be presented as actual Oscars at the 1977 Academy Awards
but were abandoned, a Revenge of the Jedi paperweight, large
prototype See-Threepio and IG-88 action figures, original
sculptures from a couple of the micro figurines and the chess
set, and every variation of Star Wars poster you can conceive
both official and unofficial including a rare Star Wars marque
poster personally autographed by George Lucas himself (Shane
and I who are dedicated Star Wars movie poster collectors
were simply stunned by what we came across). Ironically, Lucasfilmhas
acknowledged Steve's Star Wars poster collection as being
more complete and concise as their own. This just went to
prove that Steve Sansweet is no ordinary Star Wars collector.
Steve, is in fact a
lot more than just a collector, he has taken his passion for
Star Wars a few steps further and made a name for himself
promoting that which he loves. In his book: Star Wars: From
Concept, to Screen, to Collectable, Steve was able to
interview George Lucas to give his work a greater air of
authenticity. The result is a book which is not only great
reference material, but is a brilliant insight as to how the
Star Wars magic touched so many of us, both through the
cinema as well as the department store. (George was so
impressed by Steve's work he gave a copy to all Lucasfilm
employees.) The recently released Star Wars Galaxy Topps
trading cards were created with Steve's input and he is also
assisting in the production of a second series due to come
out soon. He also had a hand in the full colour book of the
various artworks used in the cards as well, which has since
been made available. A couple of other projects in the works
will require Lucasfilm's direct involvement. Next to that he
plans to release the most comprehensive Star Wars collector's
price guide in existence. This has already been endorsed by
Lucas Film, and will virtually serve as the Star Wars
collector's bible. Recently Steve was asked to become a
regular feature writer for the official Star Wars Fan Club in
the USA. All of Steve's efforts have not gone unrewarded. He
is officially recognised by Lucasfilm Ltd as having the most
comprehensive collection of Star Wars artefacts in the world,
and is a regular visitor to Skyforce Ranch to further
research these ongoing projects. (Make no mistake, Steve is
going to be a name to remember in Star Wars' future. Not bad
for the editor of the LA Wall Street Journal, hey.)
Steve Sansweet was
very kind to let us practically take over his home and freely
tour his collection (he honours as many requests as he can
for this, happy to share his passions and fortunes with
fellow Star Wars fans). One cannot resist playing the fully
operational Star Wars pinball machine and video machine
arcade, or to flick through the immense badge, patch
and swap card collection whilst constantly discovering that
forgotten collectable you remember from your childhood.
Steve's enthusiasm
for Star Wars has placed him in a unique position where he
can almost sustain a living from it. He has progressed to the
stage where an enjoyable hobby has turned into something far
more productive and rewarding, with lots of great things
still to come which will benefit all the Star Wars fans like
you and me. It is also clear to see that he shall go a long
way with each new idea he pursues, which should put a smile
on every fan's face, particularly considering it is all
coming from a man who still considers himself to be just
another fan.
D. Maxwell
- Just before this article was written,
an earthquake hit LA. We were told by Steve that
although the house shook violently, the damage was
minimal. A lot of things were knocked about and many
collectables were thrown to the floor, with the worst
casualties being some of his ceramic Star Wars
pieces, which were smashed. Steve himself, and
everyone else in the house were shaken but OK.
-