The Saga Museum Blog!

Another Chapter Added to the Mix!

Your DisplayName here! — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 14:59:38 GMT

We have added our 20^th chapter with the separation of the Kenner/Hasbro coins from the action figures chapter. The action figures section was just too massive with almost 500 pages to do these little coins justice so I gave them a well deserved chapter of their very own.

“Chapter 10 - Collector Coins” will have everything Kenner with the original vintage 1984 - 1985 silver Power of the Force, bronze Ewoks and gold Droids coins and even the modern 1997 silver Power of the Force 2 millennium minted coins.

Hasbro will contribute with their throwback to the originals showcasing the 30^th Anniversary silver, gold and black coins.

You will also see the Vintage individual mailer envelopes, 62 coins set mailer and executive 124 double framed set as well as the Modern coin album, Toy Fair promotion, mail away promotion and convention exclusives.

This chapter has a lot to offer with almost 200 coins shown just a bit under their original 1:1 size. Sorry prototype collectors, no UDE coins.

- Todd DeMartino

Printing Proof

Your DisplayName here! — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 02:42:27 GMT

We ordered a Page Proof from our printer, Palace Press International http://palacepress.com/. This is very exciting because it means we're getting close… well, closer! The proof is comprised of four of our most challenging 9 ½” X 12” pages to print for this project. The goal is to make sure the photographer and designer have everything just right, so we chose pages showing Baggie Figures (transparent), Plush (fur - die Ewoks, die!), Action Figures (details through plastic bubbles) and introductory text over pastel colors.

This proof will be 27” X 40” and will contain all four page samples. This will take about a month to get back from Hong Kong and will be the exact same size as a modern Movie Theater One-Sheet Poster. I will be sure to post a picture in this blog once we receive it from the printers.

Palace Press is no stranger to high quality Star Wars books, including the following two fantastic Self-Published books:

John Kellerman’s Star Wars Vintage Action Figures (now a collector’s item of its own) http://www.frontbackbooks.com/

Shane Turgeon’s The Force in the Flesh - (the one and only Star Wars tatoo book) http://www.theforceintheflesh.com/index.php >

Additionally, Palace Press has done many licensed Star Wars Lucas Film books including:

Dressing the Galaxy http://insighteditions.com/product_info.php?cPath=18&products_id=96

Sculpting the Galaxy - (my favorite $400 book) http://insighteditions.com/popup_image.php?pID=97&image=0

The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed http://insighteditions.com/product_info.php?cPath=18&products_id=72>

Since I am self-publishing this book with DeMartino Publishing, LLC (I know, how original), I spent many years researching and interviewing printing companies and found that Palace Press produced the extremely high level of standards this “discerning” publisher was looking for.

- Todd DeMartino>>

Variations, variations and more variations!

Your DisplayName here! — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:41:12 GMT

We all know that the Kenner and Hasbro Star Wars line generated plenty of packaging variations to keep OCD “completist” collectors like myself extremely busy over the years. From major and minor variations to unproduced packaging variations... it is all here!

Some variations were very exciting to uncover, especially those that had never been documented. Others took some major perseverance to track down, while others would wreak havoc on my bank account once I was lucky enough to find one for my collection.

Here is a sample page spread from Chapter 7 - Vehicles. This 2-page sample (out of 11) documents all known variations of Star Wars Kenner Mini-Rigs. 3-backs, 5-backs, Special Offers and Rebates: it covers every release from The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and The Power of the Force.

In The Saga Museum book, there are a total of 38 production mini-rigs with 14 unproduced (Revenge of the Jedi & alternate artwork) Mini-Rigs, for a total of 52 in the Vintage Star Wars line alone. Some of these variations are quite rare with only a handful (3-5) currently known to exist.

Adding variations to my collection always gave me a sense of accomplishment...well, not always. Sometimes I did it to add to the hobby and document an unknown item, while other times I did it out of pure and utter boredom.

Whatever the reason, at the end of the day, it was all about the thrill of the hunt.

- Todd DeMartino

>>> >>>>

It’s all about the details!

Your DisplayName here! — Mon, 25 May 2009 19:31:15 GMT

I thought it was very important to show in great detail any special contents other than the normal toy, inserts, instructions and product booklets. Most of the items in this book are mint in sealed box but I was still able to pull off showing you all of the special contents by purchasing many of these items separately over the years.

Many collectors have asked: “How is this item different than a regular version?” or “What is special about this item?” This book will answer those questions by showing all of the details of the variations next to the item.

Below is a sample page spread of Chapter 8 – Playsets. This page gives you examples of the special contents for the Cantina Adventure Set and the Action Figure Display Stand.

The Cantina Adventure Set shows close up details of the 4 baggie figures and their boxes. Please take notice of the Snaggletooth action figures… the Blue Snaggletooth comes in the exclusive black text box while the Red Snaggletooth comes in the exclusive red text box.

The mail away premium Action Figure Display Stand and the photo box Action Figure Display Stand both came with exclusive sticker sheets. The mail away variation came with a long sticker strip that names the first 12 characters. The photo box variation came with a rectangular sticker sheet that names the first 21 characters.

Other examples of detailed contents are found in the Early Bird Envelope, all Special Offer items with Baggie Figures, Carded Figures and Backdrops, all four 3-Pack Backdrops, $1.00 and $3.00 Rebate Offers, Jawa/Sandperson/Stormtrooper Cash Refund Flyers, Imperial Troop Transport Comic, Yoda Backpacks and AT-AT Survival Kits, exclusive Sticker Sheets, etc, etc, etc…

I hope this gives everyone a good idea of the type of detail that is going into this book project while still maintaining the Mint in Box standard.

- Todd DeMartino

"Size Matters Not" ...it does in this book!

Your DisplayName here! — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:10:38 GMT

Picture quality and completeness are the two main areas in which The Saga Museum will shine brighter than any previous Star Wars guide.

To date, most Star Wars collectible books have provided an abundance of content while the accompanying images seem to be dragged along as an afterthought. With manufacturers pouring as much thought, time, and money into sensational package design as they do into the product itself, it is easy to see why many collectors are drawn to Mint in Sealed Box (MISB) and Mint on Sealed Card (MOC) items. Star Wars packaging uses a host of visual stimuli such as shape, color, character/accessory placement, eye-catching text, and exciting movie stills to tantalize the eyes of consumers. Unfortunately, prior volumes' minute reproductions of this packaging have done an injustice to both the collector and the collectible itself. You simply cannot enjoy the stunning presentation and detailed character sculpts to the level they were intended when you have to strain to look at them. If you cannot enjoy the visual impact of the piece, then your journey thumbing through a collectible book could be very disappointing, leaving too much to the imagination.

Images shown in previous guides share many of the same problems: oddly-skewed perspective shots, dark imagery, blown-out (bright) imagery, multiple light glares, deep shadows, strong yellow or blue tints, or boring, non-descript black-and-white. It is also not unusual to see images crooked, blurry, over-cropped with edges cut off, or under-cropped with distracting backgrounds (wht/blk/gry foam core, shag rugs, bed sheets, wood/tile floor, towels, etc.). In addition, many show only 40% - 60% of the items categorized in the text. Sadly, this has become the accepted norm in our niche of the hobby. The Saga Museum, however, promises to spoil readers with more than 99% of every item ever made pictured in large, breathtaking, full-color images. This book guarantees not to tease you with an item listing and category number only to leave you frantically searching for an image that is not shown.

Since the beginning of this project, it has been my belief that a new level needs to be attained visually for Star Wars enthusiasts. Collectors and fans deserve to be treated to the gorgeous presentation of these items as the manufacturer originally intended. The Saga Museum will not follow in the footsteps of earlier guides. Rather, it will introduce the Star Wars collecting community to a new "coffee table" standard in picture quality, making the illustrations of its predecessors a painful eyesore.

Below you will see a typical thumbnail-size image in proportion to the gloriously large example that will grace this book:

Vintage - Outdated Thumbnail-Size Image...

...Updated The Saga Museum Image:

Modern - Outdated Thumbnail-Size Image...

...Updated The Saga Museum Image:

- Todd DeMartino

>>>>

Shutter Clicks - From RAW to TIFF

Your DisplayName here! — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:37:02 GMT

I knew my number one challenge would be getting the images out of the camera to the level that I envisioned (which was/is set extremely high). I was not prepared to give this project the green light unless I was able to achieve the Professional Photo Studio high standard that I needed to make this book something special.

Back in 2002, I met with another collector that published a successful Star Wars book. I walked away from the many conversations thinking that I only needed to spend a couple of weekends, a few thousand shutter clicks and out of the camera the final images would emerge. I was under the assumption that the only post-production photography step needed would be to delete the backgrounds.

When Steve, the photographer, was asked what post-production steps he takes to deliver the final images to the designer, his response was the following:

“I start up the hard drive, open up photoshop, open up the raw file and set my initial exposure/color temperature, straighten the image according to a grid overlay, check various points in the image to ensure accurate color rendition and remove any color shifts, check the levels for correct density in light and dark areas, make a selection around the item and delete the background, save the layered file as a master psd file, flatten the file and add a mild amount of sharpening, and save the finished file as a tiff.”

From Steve’s response above and as you can clearly see from the images presented below, a lot more work is involved than originally anticipated to achieve, what we hope, to be a new standard in photo quality for Star Wars collectible books. >

Vintage Example - RAW to final TIFF:

Modern Example - RAW to final TIFF:

From the before and after examples shown above, I want everyone to get a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes once the pictures exit the camera. The above examples are only 2 out of over 10,000 images that we shot so Steve has been extremely busy over the last 2 years. He is scheduled to finish the post-production photography in about 4 - 6 months.

- Todd DeMartino

Estimated Time of Completion

Your DisplayName here! — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 05:27:08 GMT

Happy New Year everyone and thank you for your continued interest and support for our cutting edge book project!

We are working tirelessly to put together the finest Star Wars book ever published and have made a decision to add hundreds of new items, charts, matrices and catalog scans that go far beyond the amazing scope we had originally planned. These additional enhancements, while fantastic, have increased both the size of the book and the time involved in getting it to the printer.

We’re managing 10,000 RAW images and converting them to the final published TIFF files by adjusting levels, deleting backgrounds, and making other color enhancements to provide quality which is truly unparalleled. To put it simply, the photographs in this book will look far better than anything the Star Wars collecting world has ever seen before. The sheer size of this project, while constantly expanding, and never sacrificing quality, has proven to be a much larger task than originally anticipated. Like a major movie production, we are periodically going back and doing re-shoots of items to get different views or shots that we feel will aesthetically enhance the design of sections throughout the book. The result is nothing less than spectacular, so we’re happy to spend the extra time to accomplish the closest thing to visual perfection humanly possible.

We’ve also added another chapter to the book by separating action figures from other types of figures. We now have an "Action Figures" chapter exclusively for 3 3/4" articulated figures and a "Figures" chapter for 5" and up figures with limited articulation. All of the items are listed by order of release and sorted by the assortment number printed on each package in order to provide an easy chronological flow to the book’s chapters. Each chapter also has its own designated color scheme for easy location, as well as matching charts, matrices and catalog product scans at the chapter end to provide quick reference guides.

Please visit the SAMPLE PAGES section of our website to view recently added page samples from ROTJ 2-Packs, Multi-Packs, Role-Play, Bagged Figures, Vehicles, Department Store Multi-Packs, and Large Doll chapters. Stay tuned as many new sample pages will be available shortly!

Our estimated time of completion is now Fall/Winter 2009 with an expected ship date of around Christmas or just after the New Year, based on the return of our limited run of books from our printer overseas. We will email new information as it becomes available, and will notify all subscribers to our newsletter when this wonderful book is available for pre-order once again. We suggest you plan to order your copy without delay once we begin accepting pre-orders again. This will occur after the book has been submitted for final proofing, and we expect a sell-out based on initial commitments from both collectors and book dealers worldwide.

Please be sure to enter your email address on our PRE-ORDER page to receive future updates and new information as it becomes available.

- Todd DeMartino

Flowing from the Bathtub into the Book

Your DisplayName here! — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:34:11 GMT

This will be the first time anyone has attempted to picture all 90+ documented Department Store Multi-Packs from Sears, Montgomery Wards, JC Penney, Alden’s and Spiegel in any publication.

Due to my love for this niche area of collecting Star Wars, we are spending a tremendous amount of time showcasing every known Department Store Multi-Pack in its best light.

With all of the great previous books that have been released on the subject, none have ventured this deep into the Department Store Multi-Packs and we are devoting an entire chapter to them.

I believe that the other publications avoided showing these plain brown box items because of the challenge of making them look colorful and appealing in print. From dark shadows to nasty baggie glare, they just turn out looking awful on the page. Well, here is my personal best attempt. Ouch!

And after many, Many, MANY hours of trial and error photography, we decided to shoot them as separate entities (box, catalog and individual baggies) on a light table. Once we put the pieces back together we came up with this as the final Masterpiece.

This is one example out of almost 100 of them going into the book from 2-Packs, 3-packs, 4-packs, 5-packs, 7-packs, 8-packs, 9-packs, 10-packs, 12-packs, 14-packs, 15-packs up to this 16-pack.

Please check out the SAMPLE PAGES section to view a Department Store Multi-Pack page sample.

- Todd DeMartino

A Scary Halloween Sight

Your DisplayName here! — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 06:27:24 GMT

Ok, if you are a Vintage (1977-1985) only collector then you most likely just hurled on your keyboard but...

We have shown a lot of Vintage items in the Blogs, especially coming hot off of the Vintage Premier Collectible Auction, so I think it is time to show some Modern (1994-2008). Since Kenner/Hasbro has produced a couple of items since 1994 and The Saga Museum book has a few sprinkles of Modern throughout, here goes:

Pictured above is just a storage room with my extra Modern items of doubles, triples and quadruples.

I know, I really need help!

- Todd DeMartino