This past weekend was the annual Rancho Obi-Wan Gala, and ABC News correspondent Clayton Sandell was on hand for the event. He was able to talk to Steve Sansweet, CEO and president of Rancho Obi-Wan, home to the world’s largest collection of Star Wars memorabilia, and receive a tour. If you’ve never been to the museum, you’ll get a very good idea of the sheer scope of the collected items on display — from officially licensed to bootlegs, to folk art and handmade pieces — thanks to a video report filed by Clayton for ABC News.
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.
Check out the video, “Inspired by the Force of Imagination,” here: abcnews.go.com
You can also hear Clayton Sandell’s recent appearance on Coffee With Kenobi here.
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