Tag: collecting

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Steve Sansweet’s Rancho Obi-Wan is victim of prolonged theft, asks for fandom’s help

There’s some truly bizarre and heartbreaking news from the collecting side of fandom today. Steve Sansweet and Rancho Obi-Wan shared that they’ve been the victim of long-term theft – and that the culprit is well-known collector, Carl Cunningham of Georgia. The culprit was discovered with the help of another fandom-prominent victim, Philip Wise of Rebelscum fame, and toy dealer Zach Tann.

Cunningham has been charged with felony grand theft, but is currently free on bail and awaiting additional hearings.

There’s a lot of questions in this case, and most strikingly is how exactly did Cunningham expect to get away with this? The world of Star Wars high-end collecting is not very big, and most of the big players know each other fairly well. And stealing from Steve Sansweet and his non-profit, of all people…

Steve and Rancho are asking for fandom’s help, and any tips of any further thefts or sales would be appreciated.

UPDATE: Steve has shared a list of the items that are still missing.

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Rancho Obi-Wan’s first book to highlight fan art and artifacts

Rancho Obi-Wan: Inspired by the Force: Star Wars Fan Artifacts & ArtSteve Sansweet’s Rancho Obi-Wan will highlight fan contributions to Star Wars fandom in their first book, Inspired by the Force: Star Wars Fan Artifacts & Art, which will debut at Celebration Anaheim in April. It’s intended to act as “an exhibit guide,” so the Rancho Celebration exhibit will also be fan-heavy this time:

The Rancho Obi-Wan Experience exhibit will feature fan objects and art starting in the late 1970s through today, from an airbrushed van tire cover and hand-tooled leather backgammon board to a Chewbacca tissue box cover and bird house, from amazing art mash-ups based on a print by Goya and a painting by Picasso to bizarre limited edition figurines made by urban artists.

The Rancho Obi-Wan exhibit at Celebration VI featured several fan creations – including one by a Jader – but this will no doubt be an even greater variety. I just hope they have more floor space this time!

In any case, the book will be $25 and pre-orders for pickup at the con will begin in March.

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Celebration Europe: Ian McDiarmid is a go

Ian McDiarmidGuests Today’s addition to the guest list is the Emperor himself, Ian McDiarmid. It’ll be his third Celebration; His first was the original Celebration Europe in 2007.

Attractions. Steve Sansweet, is another high profile guest, and he’s bringing the Rancho Obi-Wan Experience to Germany. The Experience was extremely popular at Celebration VI; We hope they get a bigger space at CE!

Panels. And, naturally, the collecting track is back!

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New Hasbro line gives action figures a growth spurt

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Since we’ve had every other sort of announcement lately, I suppose some toy news was inevitable.  USA Today got the scoop on Hasbro’s new Black Series, so named because the color somehow inspired their designers.  (It reminds me of Jim Beam bourbon, but to each his own.)  The big change here is that the line will contain a few 6-inch figures, in addition to the traditional 3¾-inchers.  Never before has six inches been considered such an enormous upgrade.

Hasbro hopes the new line will appeal to both new buyers and adult collectors, which makes sense since the larger figs are priced significantly higher than the regular ones.  They’re supposedly quite detailed and articulated, but I remember reading that the original Clone Wars line (based on the Tartakovsky series) didn’t sell because they weren’t the same size as the normal figures.  Have times changed?  Or are the clearance racks about to get a whole lot more crowded?

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Does the Disney deal mean no more Star Wars Happy Meals?

There is one side to the Disney deal that I haven’t seem much bandied about: It means there probably won’t be any more Star Wars Happy Meals. In 2006, Disney stopped their partnership with McDonalds, and they have in recent years done tie-ins with healthier options like Subway, which they have teamed up with for Brave and Frankenweenie. Head into a Subway today and you’ll see promos for Wreck-it Ralph. (Hat tip to CJer Rach for noticing!)

McDonalds has done Star Wars Happy Meal promotions based around The Clone Wars in 2008, 2010 and earlier this year. In 2005, Revenge of the Sith toys appeared at Burger King; Taco Bell had toys for the Special Editions and teamed up with corporate siblings Pizza Hut and KFC for The Phantom Menace promotions. (Attack of the Clones sat the fast food market out.) And the GenXers among us will remember Burger King’s Return of the Jedi glasses from 1983.