Stephen J. Sansweet

Stephen J. Sansweet (born June 14, 1945) is the chairman and president of Rancho Obi-Wan, a nonprofit museum that houses the world's largest collection of Star Wars memorabilia. Prior to his retirement in April, 2011, he was Director of Content Management and head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm Ltd. for 15 years, and remains Fan Relations Advisor for the company. He is author or co-author of eighteen books, sixteen of them about Star Wars. After Sansweet relocated to Northern California to be closer to his new office at Skywalker Ranch, he bought a former chicken ranch and refurbished its barns to house his collection. The property was renamed Rancho Obi-Wan.
==Biography==
After a long and successful career in journalism, Stephen J. Sansweet made a leap of faith in 1996 and followed his passion to become Director of Specialty Marketing at Lucasfilm Ltd. His title later changed to Director of Content Management and Head of Fan Relations. Sansweet turned his love of the Star Wars saga into a second career, acting as Lucasfilm's liaison to fans worldwide, and their liaison to the company. He did presentations at well over 100 conventions in the U.S. and many more internationally from the U.K., France, Spain, and Germany, to Australia, Japan, Mexico, and Finland.
He appeared on more than 50 hours of Star Wars collectibles programming on QVC in the last half of the 1990s, and has amassed the world's largest private collection of Star Wars memorabilia, housed in a 9,000-square-foot (840m square) converted chicken barn in Sonoma County, California. Not abandoning his love of writing, Sansweet has eighteen books to his credit, sixteen of them on Star Wars, including the 1.2-million-word Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia in 2008 and 2012's Star Wars: The Ultimate Action Figure Collection.
It was announced on October 20, 2010, that Sansweet would be stepping down as Head of Fan Relations effective April 2011. He stated via press release: "Nearly 15 years ago I left my post as Los Angeles Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal to follow my bliss and take a 'one-year job' as Lucasfilm's Star Wars ambassador. Now it's time for another change and new challenges, while still maintaining an active role in the Star Wars fan community."
==Works==
===Bibliography===
Title 	Release date 	Notes
Star Wars: From Concept to Screen to Collectible 	1992 	
"I'd Just As Soon Kiss a Wookiee!": The Quotable Star Wars 	1996 	
Star Wars Encyclopedia 	1998 	
Star Wars Scrapbook: The Essential Collection 	1998 	
The Pocket Manual of Star Wars Collectibles 	1998 	
Anakin Skywalker: The Story of Darth Vader 	1998 	
C-3PO: Tales of the Golden Droid 	1999 	uncredited co-author
Star Wars: The Action Figure Archive 	1999 	
Star Wars Roleplaying Game Revised Core Rulebook 	2002 	forward
Star Wars Chronicles: The Prequels 	2005 	co-authored with Pablo Hidalgo
The Star Wars Poster Book 	2005 	co-authored with Pete Vilmur
The Star Wars Vault 	2007 	
The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia 	2008 	with six co-authors
Star Wars: The Complete Vader 	2009 	foreword
Star Wars: 1,000 Collectibles: Memorabilia and Stories From A Galaxy Far, Far Away	2009 	
Star Wars: The Ultimate Action Figure Collection 	2012 	
Star Wars Widevision: The Original Topps Trading Card Series, Volume One 	2017 	afterword
Star Wars Insider 	"Scouting the Galaxy" section in every issue/multiple collecting columns	
Star Wars Galaxy magazine 	multiple collecting columns 	
Star Wars: The Official Magazine 	issues 51 & 66 	
==Filmography==
Title 	Release date	Notes
Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace 	May 19, 1999	Naboo courier (uncredited)
R2-D2: Beneath the Dome 	2001 	The Mayor
The Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards 	2002 	very special thanks
Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy	2004 	fan relations: Lucasfilm
==Sources==
*Star Wars Insider 11
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*The Secrets of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
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==Notes and references==
==External links==
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*Official Rancho Obi-Wan
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Category:Non-fiction authors
Category:Reference work authors
Category:Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace actors