The Saga Museum Blog!

Presenting… The Saga Museum at the Premier Collectible Auction, the Greatest Toy Auction on Earth. With over $2,000,000 of vintage toys, it’s an event not to be missed. Many of the production Vintage Star Wars toys in this Auction are from my personal collection. They are also the very same Star Wars toys that will be featured in The Saga Museum book.

We will have a display on the 9^th floor of The Bristol Hotel’s Starlight Lounge, the location of the Premier Collectible Auction. Steve Bruno – Photographer, Jeff Correll – Designer, Bill Wills – Editor and I will be on location next to the registration table before you enter the Auction room.

We will be projecting over 1,000 images from The Saga Museum Book on a Flat Panel HDTV that will showcase the incredible level of detail and quality. There will be many Sample Pages unveiled for the very first time at this event. Also, a free, attractive, two-page Brochure will be available to take home with your other SDCC swag.

For additional Premier Collectible Auction information, please visit: www.premiercollect.com

For additional Bristol Hotel information, please visit: www.thebristolsandiego.com

With over 40 large display cases filled with AFA graded vintage toys, all within a 4,400 sq./ft. room, it will look and feel as if you’ve walked into the Toy Smithsonian. We look forward to meeting everyone at this once in a lifetime event, so make sure you stop by and say hello to all of the people responsible for The Saga Museum book.

A Special Offer vehicle & playset collection is to Star Wars vehicles and playsets what a three-pack set is to carded action figures. It is simply one of the rarest and most highly sought after sets in the world. The term "Special Offer" refers to a sticker or printed offer added to what would otherwise be a standard vehicle or playset in order to increase its value and appeal by advertising that it comes with a free figure, figures, background, viewer slides or play mat. These toys were usually released in limited quantities and at select department stores between 1978 and 1982. Much like three-packs, they were so rare while in production that many people never saw them in the four years they were at retail.

This particular set offers a complete run of Special Offer items and I was able to put it together during a time when documentation did not exist. There are only two complete sets known in the world, with this being the nicer of the two. The Saga Museum will show each and every Special Offer item along with all of the different variations. Many first-time details will be released about the exclusive items that they came with to make them "Special."

I was the second collector to jump into collecting these extraordinary Star Wars Return of the Jedi 2-Packs. Once I started, it quickly turned into an obsession. There is such an unusual charm to the ROTJ 2-Packs that once you start, it is hard to stop.

Not only would I try to obtain every character ever found on a ROTJ 2-pack, I was determined to collect every different character combination that entered the market for sale.  I even managed to persuade a few unsuspecting collectors to part with 2-packs from their collections that they had no intentions of selling. I obtained over 200 ROTJ 2-Packs, 150 of which ended up being different character combinations. Of the first 77 Star Wars characters released, I was able to document 43 of them on a ROTJ 2-Pack. Many of the characters are extremely rare and there are about a dozen figures where only one or two examples are known to exist.

This book will be the first, and most likely the last, publication to take on the challenging task of showcasing every character known to exist on a ROTJ 2-Pack, with 150 different character combinations in vivid, breathtaking, color imagery.

There are many carded Star Wars figures which are quite rare to find in specific packaging or with a specific variation, but by far the rarest and most sought after action figure set in the world is the set of 16 three-packs from Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back. These toys were produced three per year in 1978, 1980, 1981, and 1982, with four produced in 1979. They were released in such limited quantities that most people today don’t ever remember seeing even one of them at a retail location while they were available. I know I never did. They are in fact so rare that only five complete sets of 16 are known to have been pieced together in the last 26 years.

Of those five complete sets known, the set showcased in The Saga Museum book is by far the nicest set in the world. We photographed every one before they were sent to Action Figure Authority (AFA) for grading where each and every three-pack recieved an AFA 80 to an AFA 90 and they are all unpunched. It is truly a feat to complete a set of 16 three-packs in any condition. The Saga Museum book is without a doubt, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view these rare items as if they were produced yesterday.

Steve Bruno committed to the challenging task of photographing over 6,000 items in my collection back in February 2007. He would set out to shoot the front, back, top bottom, left and right sides of every item for a total of over 20,000 images. Steve and I thought it would take about 60-90 days to complete and we laugh about that miscalculation today. With six 18 hour roundtrip travels to Florida, 5-10 days per trip, 16-18 hours per day shooting, 40 hours per week between trips of post production work and 16 months later, Steve is still delivering the job on a weekly basis.

Steve would average between 20- 40 minutes on each item that he shot. Some important items he would work on for almost 3 hours without getting the perfect (to Steve's extremely high standards) shot. Time spent adjusting strobe lights, removing all outside light and room reflections while using props such as black and white foam board, modeling clay, tinfoil, black bed sheets, etc. Needless to say, Steve has the highest level of patience during this torturous 20 - 180 minute operation that I could never have.

The following are examples of one Vintage and one Modern photograph for each chapter in the book. I believe that everyone will agree that there is not another Star Wars collectible book in existence that even comes close to matching the quality of the images that will be found in this book. The photographs are nothing less than spectacular and I am ecstatic at the direction that this book has gone.

Enjoy!

CARDED ACTION FIGRES - Vintage/Modern:

VEHICLES - Vintage/Modern:

CREATURE SETS - Vintage/Modern:

 MISCELLANEOUS - Vintage/Modern:

LARGE DOLLS - Vintage/Modern:

PLUSH - Vintage/Modern:

ROLE PLAY - Vintage/Modern:

PRESCHOOL - Vintage/Modern:

BAGGIE FIGURES - Vintage/Modern:

GAMES - Vintage/Modern:

VALUE PACKS - Vintage/Modern:

PLAYSETS - Vintage/Modern:

ROLE PLAY - Vintage/Modern:

DEPARTMENT STORE MULTI-PACKS - Vintage/Modern:

SCALED MINIATURES - Vintage/Modern:

CARDED MULTI-PACKS - Vintage/Modern:

ACCESSORIES - Vintage/Modern:

Bill writes...

"I have always been a collector.  I think it’s something you’re born with, and I definitely inherited the collecting gene.  As a kid, I collected stamps, coins, comic books, baseball cards, you name it.  But for some reason, I never viewed toys as a collectible until around 1993.  I remember paging through a toy price guide in a book store and being shocked to learn that a loose 12” Darth Vader was “worth” $75.00.   This prompted me to dig out all my Star Wars toys from my childhood that were boxed up in my parent’s basement.  I knew my 12” Darth Vader was buried somewhere in all those boxes. 

Nostalgia having piqued my interest, it wasn’t long after that I found myself looking through the pages of an Action Figure Digest and being completely blown away that unopened, original carded Star Wars figures were still in existence.  Seeing color photos of the first 21 figures in carded form brought back so many great memories that I knew I had to start collecting them.  The first figure I purchased was a 12 back C-3PO from The Earth around 1994 when they were a mail-order only company.  My original goal was to buy carded examples of the first 21 figures, and I didn’t care if they were on 12/20 or 21 backs.  That goal quickly went out the window as I soon found myself buying whatever I could find.  I spent hours poring through old issues of AFD, Toy Shop and the Tomart Guide to Star Wars Collectibles.  A whole new world had opened to me.

These days, my wife of 8 years and 3 kids (ages 6, 4 and 2) have forced a few priority changes, but I still love the hobby as much as ever and I continue to collect high-grade carded figures, baggies, displays, and 3-3/4” prototypes with Luke Jedi as my figure focus.

One of the things I admire about Todd is that whatever he decides to do, he does 110%.  He doesn’t do anything half way.  He doesn’t know how to cut a corner and he’s a true professional.  I had a great time working with him on the Baggie Feature for the SWCA, so when asked if I would be interested in helping him out on the book, I couldn’t say yes fast enough.  I can’t wait to see the finished product and I am confident this book will be the gold standard against which all other   Star Wars toy books will be measured against."

I met up with Shane Turgeon during the early dealer set-up at the Celebration IV in Los Angeles. He pulled a copy of his not-yet released Star Wars Tattoo book and gave me a sneak peek. Wow, was I amazed at the design element of this book. I quickly asked Shane who the designer was and he told me Jeff Correll. After seeing what an amazing job Jeff did on the Star Wars tattoo art book "The Force in the Flesh" last year, I knew I had found the right guy for my book project.

Some of Jeff's Star Wars design portfolio includes:

- Star Wars Celebration III -  designed set of 12 trading cards, exclusive set for the event

- Star Wars Celebration IV - designed 12 pewter exclusive collector medallions for the event

- Star Wars Celebration Japan - Teamed up with Mattias Rendal to design 12 pewter collector medallions, exclusive for the event

-  Star Wars book design - "The Force in the Flesh" by Shane Turgeon - 208 page, hardcover, coffee table art book on Star Wars tattoos and related artwork. Featuring 45 tattoo artists and collectors from around the globe. For more information and sample pages from this amazing project please visit (www.theforceintheflesh.com)

Jeff writes...

"Toy Collecting History:

I started collecting Star Wars toys at the age of 8 in 1988. I used whatever small amounts of money I had to search out loose figures and toys at flea markets and comic book stores and I had collecting fever even then. I kept my toys in a large trunk at the time but soon ran out of space. I bought stuff off and on when I could find it and filled up my closet once the trunk got too full. I got my first carded figure in 1992, which was a potf b-wing pilot for $15. When I was 13 in 1992 my family took a vacation to Florida. I looked forward to going to hunt for Star Wars toys more than anything. 

In 1995 I received my first potf2 figure as a gift from a girlfriend at the time, a Darth Vader on orange card with long saber. That started me down the path of modern toy collecting. I quickly ran out of space on my walls with figures pinned up all over the place. At that point, I decided to only collect vintage items. I boxed up all my modern toys and eventually sold them off.

After finishing up my college degree in graphic design and advertising in 2000, I took a dive into the realm of vintage prototypes. With my interest in design and toys it only made sense to combine the two together and make it a focus. I decided to focus mainly on Vintage Star Wars Micro Collection pre-production items and prototypes. Today this still remains my main focus point of collecting. I also currently collect a few other 1980's Kenner toy lines and prototypes. These include M.A.S.K., Centurions, and most importantly Silverhawks! I've also been known to pick up any type of internal Kenner item, service award or stuff that was meant to be in the hands of Kenner Employees."

I am proud to introduce Steve D. Bruno. With his commitment and passion for this project, he continually fuels my excitement and keeps me on track with his consistent delivery of superior quality photography. I am completely convinced that there is not another photographer on the planet that has the perseverance, patience and eye for perfection that Steve does. I am truly grateful that Steve arrived into my life at this perfect time.

Steve writes...

"I am a recent honors graduate of Gwinnett Technical College's Commercial Photography program. While at GTC, I won 2nd place in state in the SkillsUSA photography competition, was a member of the National Technical Honor Society, and graduated 1st Runner-Up for Best Portfolio in my class.  I also graduated from the University of Georgia, receiving a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism with a specialization in Photojournalism. I am currently shooting weddings as an associate of Climie + Co. Photographers in Atlanta.