There are Star Wars fans, then there are BIG Star Wars fans! And there’s a good chance that those big fans have a huge collection of toys, collectibles and memorabilia. But only one can make the coveted Guiness Book of World Records for the largest Star Wars memorabilia collection. Well now it’s official who the biggest fan of George Lucas epic film franchise is, none other than Steve Sansweet!
Building a collection since before the original 1977 film even was released, Steve continued adding to his collection over the years until it reached it’s current proportions! In 1998, Sansweet purchased the Petaluma Hatchery, a former egg-producing/chicken farm. The 9,000 square foot building that was once home to over 20,000 chickens is now the home to Sansweet’s Star Wars Museum. As the the former Director of Content Management and head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm, Steve Sansweet had a dream job that immersed himself directly in the world of Star Wars until 2011, when he retired from the company.
With a private collection of over 300,000 items, Steve’s Petaluma, California museum he calls Rancho Obi-Wan, is a place where anything and everything related to the Star Wars universe can pretty much be found here. Click ahead to check out a video of Steve discussing his entry into the 2014 Guinness Book of World Records, congrats Steve! Hmmm, maybe if the force is strong with us, we’ll have to come up and do a Beyond the Marquee web-series there soon!
“I’m delighted with the recognition from GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS, which for years has been the authority in these matters,” said Sansweet, president and CEO of Rancho Obi-Wan and Fan Relations Adviser for Lucasfilm Ltd. “I don’t have the world’s longest fingernails, shortest dog, or largest collection of vacuum cleaners. But, according to the globally-recognized authority on such things, Guinness World Records 2014, I have amassed the “Largest Collection of Star Wars Memorabilia” in the galaxy. But who knew that would be such a big deal?
Take a peek into the Guinness World Records 2014 book:http://smarturl.it/GWR2014