The Saga Museum Blog!

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

The set-up was Amazing! Some of the items went for insane prices while there were still many bargains to be had. To see a complete list of auction items that sold and the prices they realized check out http://www.premiercollect.com/final_bid_report.php

On with the tour:

Here I am getting out of the elevator into the administrative area:

Entering the corridor to the auction:

The auction room:

Row after row of display cases:

Detail shot after detail shot:

Well, what can I say? It was a once-in-a-lifetime event that will most likely never be duplicated. All of the Star Wars toys that you see in this museum style set-up are shown in The Saga Museum book along with thousands of other items.

-          Todd DeMartino

L-R:    Steve Bruno - Bill Wills - Todd DeMartino - Jeff Correll

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: