Conduzimos com Stephen J. Sansweet, em exclusivo, uma entrevista no passado mês de Outubro conduzida por e-mail no dia 15.
É com todo o prazer que aqui a divulgamos, depois de recebidas as suas respostas ontem. Propositadamente (nesta fase) manteremos todo o texto em Inglês, dado que a intervenção do Steve é de interesse para toda a comunidade e não apenas Portugal. Desfrutem, então, daquilo que o membro VIP/Honorário do clube SWCP teve para dizer ao repto que lhe foi lançado o ano passado:
SWCP: First of all, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to concede this interview as an honorary member of our club, the first and only STAR WARS collectors’ and fan club instituted in Portugal in 30 years, the SWCP, STAR WARS Clube Portugal.
Steve Sansweet: It is my pleasure!
SWCP: Your STAR WARS memorabilia collection is, hands down, the greatest and best of all (no, no, don't be shy). Did you ever consider making it public, moving it to a museum, for instance? I mean, who wouldn't love to be able to see it?
Steve Sansweet: Having it in a real museum and available to see by the public would be great! I just doubt that will ever happen. It takes a lot of time, a lot of planning and a lot of money. I do have some occasional visitors to Rancho Obi-Wan, but I cannot do tours because of the local regulations—and also because I have so little free time.
SWCP: Which item(s) would you select as having the greatest personal value to you and why?
Steve Sansweet: I judge items by what they mean to me, not how much I could sell them for at an auction. Among my most precious items are those made by fans who having enormous skills that they combine with their love of Star Wars: a hand-painted “galactic” chair, a Bantha piñata, a fan-made Wampa costume—they are all just amazing pieces.
SWCP: And the strangest STAR WARS collectible you've ever seen?
Steve Sansweet: I once saw — and didn’t buy — a “portrait” of Chewbacca that someone had made out of men’s hair swept up off the floor of a barber shop! Yuck!!
SWCP: How do you keep track of your collection? If we were to ask for item such-and-such, could you find it in short notice?
Steve Sansweet: I’d say about 40% of the collection has been inventoried to date by my friend and collection manager, Anne Neumann. Everything already inventoried has a special place where it lives, and that is also part of the record. So if I go into the database and call up an item, it will tell me exactly where it is located: which room, which shelf unit, and which specific shelf.
SWCP: In terms of collectibles which item hasn't yet been produced that should, in your view? Given the richness and different story arcs conveyed in the Expanded Universe which item would you most eagerly expect to come out from an official licensee?
Steve Sansweet: I’m still waiting for a one-to-one scale dejarik holochess board with all of the holomonsters!
SWCP: The promotion of Episode 1 saw a lot more merchandise in the stores than the following two movies of the prequel trilogy. Would you say that there is now a greater emphasis on merchandise quality as opposed to quantity?
Steve Sansweet: I think that Episode I merchandise was high quality; there just was far too much of it produced. Retailers just ordered far more than they realistically could have sold over several years, and manufacturers just kept pushing the button rather than turn down orders. Everyone learned a lot from that. But speaking to the quality issue, the merchandise just keeps getting better and better as the market gets large for higher-end replicas.
SWCP: In all the years dealing with both, do you believe there are any discernible differences between a “STAR WARS Collector” and a “STAR WARS fan”?
Steve Sansweet: There are fans that don’t collect, or at least don’t consider themselves collectors. But every collector I know considers himself or herself a fan.
SWCP: Besides a collector, we cannot forget that Steve Sansweet is also known for his contributions as a STAR WARS writer. Some of your books are either sold-out or difficult to find. Can you give us an idea if there are any plans to release revised editions of works like the "STAR WARS: From Concept To Screen To Collectible", (1992); "Tomart's Price Guide To STAR WARS Collectibles", (1994, revised 1997), "STAR WARS Encyclopedia" (1998) or "STAR WARS: The Action Figure Archive" (1999)?
Steve Sansweet: All of my books are available somewhere if people really want to find them. As for the Star Wars Encyclopedia, Pablo Hidalgo and I are currently working on a completely revised and update version.
SWCP: When researching for your new book "The STAR WARS Vault" in the Lucasfilm archives, were you surprised by any information/memorabilia you hadn't known about before? If yes, what and why?
Steve Sansweet: Yes, several things! Read the book and guess! :) That’s part of the fun playing in the Star Wars galaxy; just when you think you know most stuff, you turn over a rock and make a new discovery!
SWCP: 2007 saw the first official STAR WARS convention outside the United States, the Celebration Europe in London. Can we expect a second edition? Which countries would most likely host such a major event in your opinion and when?
Steve Sansweet: All I can say right now is stay tuned! We realize our fans want to see Celebrations continue, and we are working on a global strategy to serve our fans’ needs.
SWCP: Was there a "best" or "worst" at CE? Compared to the US Celebrations’ conventions, how do you figure CE went?
Steve Sansweet: From the standpoint of fans and the general public, as well as positive media coverage, we couldn’t have been happier with the way that CE turned out. We attracted an amazing number of families and younger children, and it was really great to see how excited they were!
SWCP: At our club we sometimes get newer members asking "Where do I start collecting STAR WARS?", or "Which Items should I get first?" If they were asking you, what would you say to them? What advice could you share with new collectors?
Steve Sansweet: Buy only what you really like! Nothing more…nothing less. But be sure to pay the cell phone bill and the rent first!!!
SWCP: One last question. We also consider STAR WARS to be "Forever". Being a Lucasfilm "insider" (no pun intended) is there any bite of information you can reveal our club members and readers about the future of the STAR WARS saga?
Steve Sansweet: This is going to be an amazing year for Star Wars, some of which we’ve already talked about and some of which we’ll be talking about soon. With The Force Unleashed coming to next generation gaming platforms and Star Wars: The Clone Wars on television, 2008 is going to be another amazing year. And there’s plenty more to come!
SWCP: Again, we thank you as our honorary member for this little chat and wish you all the Force in the galaxy to continue to inspire us collectors and fans with your knowledgeable experience and contributions toward the expansion of the STAR WARS phenomenon. On behalf of the SWCP, it was our pleasure to have you with us.
Steve Sansweet: And it was my pleasure to take part. Someday in the not too-distant future I hope to visit Portugal and spend time with my fellow Star Wars fans.
