Entertainment Earth
[TF.N Main] [Contact Us]
[Collecting - Main]
[More...]
[Rebelscum.com]

[R2D2Central.com]

[R2D2Central.com]

[Star Wars Poster Database]
[Collect To Collect]
[Popular Stories]
CEII: Jabba's Palace Reunion - Massive Guest Announcements

Star Wars Night With The Tampa Bay Storm Reminder

Stephen Hayford Star Wars Weekends Exclusive Art

ForceCast #251: To Spoil or Not to Spoil

New Timothy Zahn Audio Books Coming

Star Wars Celebration VII In Orlando?

May The FETT Be With You

Mimoco: New Mimobot Coming May 4th

[Jedi Council Forums]
Official ROTS Food related Promo Thread

Problems with ROTS Figures/Toys Thread

New Slurpee cups in hand......

SW Colector confessions; What's your worst secret? V#2

If you could have any SW toy that doesn't really exist...

Who on here has the best Palpatine collection?
[Poll]
There are no polls
currently operating
in this sector.
Please check
back soon.

View Poll Archives


Entertainment Earth

The Strong Wins Rancho Obi-Wan Auction

Posted By Dustin on December 12, 2012

This just in from Team Rancho Obi-Wan:

"An auction of one of the most complete collections ever offered of unpackaged, Star Wars action figures to benefit the not-for-profit Rancho Obi-Wan museum in northern California was won by The Strong, an educational, collections-based institution devoted to the study and exploration of play, in Rochester, NY.

The 10-day eBay charity auction ended on Dec. 9th with a winning bid of $11,500. The auction’s beneficiary, Rancho Obi-Wan, houses the world’s largest private collection of Star Wars memorabilia.

The auction included 1,950 different Star Wars action figures starting with the vintage line in 1978 and continuing through the beginning of 2011. The collection was built over more than 30 years by Fon Davis, a long-time ILM model maker and now owner of FonCoCreative Services, Lagunitas, CA. The figures make up about 85% of the total in the just-published book Star Wars: The Ultimate Action Figure Collection
(Chronicle Books) written by Steve Sansweet, who is chief executive of Rancho Obi-Wan.

“The auction had over 100,000 views and more than 40 serious bidders,” Sansweet said. “I’m thrilled that the collection will be staying together and will be housed at an amazing place like The Strong.”

The not-for-profit Rochester institution is home to the world’s largest collection of dolls, toys, and games. Curator Patricia Hogan said, “We are so excited to have won the auction for the Star Wars Ultimate Action Figure Collection from Rancho Obi-Wan. Although The Strong’s holdings include some of the early figures as well as later issues, this collection’s exceptional depth, breadth, and provenance makes it a wonderful enhancement to the museum, especially since Star Wars Action Figures were just inducted into The Strong’s National Toy Hall of Fame in November. We look forward to numerous opportunities to exhibit the Star Wars Ultimate Action Figure Collection for the almost 600,000 guests who visit the museum each year and to share them with a global audience via The Strong's website.”

The Strong® is a highly interactive, collections-based educational institution devoted to the study and exploration of play. It carries out this mission through five programmatic arms called “Play Partners.” These are the National Museum of Play®, the International Center for the History of Electronic Games®, the National Toy Hall of Fame®, the Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play®, and the American Journal of Play®. Independent and not-for-profit, the Strong is situated in Rochester, New York, where it houses the world’s most comprehensive collection of historical materials related to play. These enable a multifaceted array of research, exhibition, and other interpretive activities that serve a diverse audience of adults, families, children, students, teachers, scholars, collectors, and others around the globe.

The Rancho Obi-Wan Experience, a personally guided two-to-three hour tour of the collection by Sansweet, is filled with behind-the-scenes stories and anecdotes that give an insight into how Star Wars became such a major part of worldwide popular culture. Sansweet, the author of 16 Star Wars books, was a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal for 26 years before joining Lucasfilm Ltd. as head of fan relations in 1996. He left the company fulltime in April 2011 but continues as Fan Relations Adviser.

Rancho Obi-Wan, first established in 1998, was incorporated a year ago as a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization whose specific mission is to serve the public through the collection, conservation, exhibition and interpretation of Star Wars memorabilia and artifacts. The collection of about 300,000 items is used to provide meaningful educational, aesthetic, intellectual, and cultural experiences for a wide range of audiences. Money raised for or donated to Rancho Obi-Wan is used for maintenance, professional services, public outreach and related activities; none is used for acquisitions.

Visit www.ranchoobiwan.org and http://www.facebook.com/RanchoObiWan.Or follow on Twitter @RanchoObiWan."


Related Stories

July 8, 2013   Rancho Obi-Wan Celebration Europe Exclusive Patch
June 14, 2013   Happy Birthday Steve Sansweet!
December 9, 2012   Rancho Obi-Wan Benefit Auction Closes
December 8, 2012   Rancho Obi-Wan Benefit Auction Less Than 1 Day Left!
November 29, 2012   eBay Today 1288: Rancho Obi-Wan Benefit Auction
April 4, 2012   The Rancho Obi-Wan Online Store
November 8, 2011   The Grand Re-Opening Of Rancho Obi-Wan
March 31, 2011   The Library At Rancho Obi-Wan





[Collecting - News Archives]
eBay Today 1345: The Rarest Of Rare Kenner Action Figure
Posted By D. Martin on May 24, 2013:
eBay Today 1345: The Rarest Of Rare Kenner Action Figure

Sideshow Collectibles Deluxe Darth Vader Is Up!
Posted By D. Martin on May 23, 2013:
Sideshow Collectibles Deluxe Darth Vader Is Up!

[TF.N Newsletter]
Enter Email Address:
Find Out More...
[All Posters]
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Double-Sided)
AllPosters.com
Search For Posters, Cardboard Stand-Ups & T-Shirts!
[Rebelscum.com - Star Wars Collecting]
[TheForce.Net - FanFilms]
[TheForce.Net - FanForce] [TheForce.Net - Fan Art]
[More News...]
TheForce.Net - Your Daily Dose of Star Wars Entertainment Earth
THEFORCE.NET IS NOT ENDORSED BY LUCASFILM, LTD. PLEASE READ OUR DISCLAIMER. © 2024 COPYRIGHT TF.N, LLC
The Galaxy is Listening
Entertainment Earth
[TF.N Main] [TF.N FAQ] [Contact Us]