The four largest private Star Wars memorabilia collections are ready to combine and create a new museum, hopefully in San Francisco, according to a new report from The San Francisco Chronicle.
What’s Happening:
- San Francisco could become the new home of four of the largest private collections of Star Wars memorabilia in a new museum that would display the items to the public for the first time ever.
- Currently titled the “Saga Museum of Star Wars Memorabilia,” this super collection would be a combination of four private collections from around the country – Petaluma’s Rancho Obi-Wan, Kansas City’s Sithsonian, and two collections from Seattle, the Bobacabana and the Imperial Archives.
- Rancho Obi-Wan Owner Steve Sansweet estimates his collection at over 400,000 movie relics, including original set pieces and concept art, which would be the anchor of the proposed museum.
- Imperial Archives, owned by Lisa Stevens and Vic Wertz, includes unreleased and highly-valuable items, including three extremely rare and never released Boba Fett figures, complete with rocket firing action.
- Bobacabana’s collection, owned by Gus Lopez, even features the iconic metal bikini that Leia wore in Return of the Jedi, as well as the original model of the Death Star used in the films.
- Duncan Jenkins and his Sithsonian Collection includes everything from concept sculptures for Star Wars toys and even branded Star Wars TV Dinners that date back to the 1970s.
- The idea to combine these collections into one museum stemmed from an idea that was born out of the global pandemic, when Sansweet and the other collectors pondered over how people would see their collections after they were gone.
- San Francisco was selected as the best location for this museum, as the Bay Area is home to Lucasfilm, Skywalker Ranch, and where the entire Star Wars series was conceived, with Sansweet even calling it the “spiritual heart of Star Wars.”
- The four collections and their owners have been fundraising, with a goal of $2 million that will be needed to identify a home for the massive collection, to hire a museum design firm, architects, and take on a capital campaign to fund the construction.
- The group is still scouring the country for the right fit, with the intent of sending out requests to cities this year, with the hopes of having an official location identified by the middle of next year.
- While San Francisco seems to be their top priority, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, and New York are all locations that the owners are considering.
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