Star Wars: License To Thrill

There Have Been Thousands Of Star Wars-Related Items Created Over The Years And Steve Sansweet Has Them All

(CBS)  There aren't a lot of people lucky enough to work at their hobby as their job, and Steve Sansweet, who works for Lucasfilm in northern California, really loves what he does.

Formerly an award-winning reporter and editor for the Wall Street Journal, as well as an author, Sansweet parlayed his interest in and deep knowledge of the "Star Wars" franchise into a postion at the very company that has produced all six of the iconic science fiction films. His official title is Director of Content Management and head of fan relations in Lucasfilm's Marketing Division. In the latter role, he attends fan fests all over the world and is a semi-celebrity to every serious "Star Wars" fan.

Sansweet has a 100,000-plus item collection of "Star Wars" memorabilia, which he stores in a 5000-square foot warehouse on his property. And his collection is so notable - it's said that only "Star Wars" creator and director George Lucas has a larger one - that he recently compiled a book, "The Star Wars Vault: Thirty Years of Treasures from the Lucasfilm Archives," which looks back at the film series and the myriad products that sprung from it.

It's a book for the true fan. It includes removable reproductions of memorabilia, along with two CDs containing vintage radio ads, original cast interviews, George Lucas' commentary, and even Carrie Fisher singing in the "'Star Wars' Holiday Special." It looks at the development and making of the movies, and the huge cultural impact they've had.

In addition to hundreds of photos and pieces of artwork, the book includes fifty interactive, rare, and rarely-seen-before pieces of memorabilia, including the special questionnaire for the first and only test screening of the original "Star Wars" -- and the invitation to attend it; George Lucas' hand-written treatment for "The Empire Strikes Back"; Lucasfilm Christmas cards; an iron-on T-shirt transfer; the very first concept sketch drawn for "Star Wars"; blueprints of "Star Wars" vehicles and sets and original hand-written directions for the films' ground-breaking special effects.

When he visited The Early Show, he brought along some notable items from his collection, including a C3P-O hand, Carrie Fisher's gloves and belt, a Wookie cell phone with furry holster, pieces of the set of the original Death Star, even some action figures modeled after Steve himself (one has him grasping a light saber).

When Lucas was trying to sell the first "Star Wars" film, he had to persuade the studios to pick it up - and he ended up giving away a lot, except for one thing: the merchandising rights. According to Sansweet, Lucas "gave up an extra $100,000 as a director after the success of 'American
Graffiti' to keep the merchandising rights. He says the main reason was because he didn't want people to screw around with his property, but it's -- yeah, sort of sold a couple of things over the years."

Sansweet's favorite movie: "The Empire Strikes Back." And his (current) favorite bit of memorabilia: "Right now it's a fan-made pinata that won a first prize in a craft category in Mexico City. And it's shaped like one of the creatures from the original 'Star Wars,' this big, hairy bantha," native to the planet Tatooine.