Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15008 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 128 pages

Synopsis
When the first Star Wars film was screened in 1977 it changed the face of intelligent adventure blockbusters forever and defined the cinematic experience of a whole generation of moviegoers. The industry that followed - two sequels, three prequels, an entire book publishing programme, dedicated magazines and comic books; toys and figurines, plus sell-out conventions where fans could meet the actors, writers and film-makers - turned the Star Wars phenomenon into the most influential and commercially successful entertainment franchise of its kind; one, moreover, which is still going strong after 30 extraordinary years. Now, to commemorate its thirtieth anniversary year, comes the ultimate Star Wars collectible keepsake book. In these lavishly produced and designed full colour pages fans will find a treasure trove of never-before-seen letters, photographs and other material connected with the films each of which has been lovingly reproduced from the originals. In 30 years of Star Wars publishing there has never been a Star Wars book like this one - a must-have purchase for every Star Wars fan.

Customer Reviews

A celebration of popular culture!
Trashy but brilliant pop culture from the movies that inspired more merchandise from more diverse sources than you could of ever imagined. Sansweet gives us a complete cross section here, plenty of new material for the most hardened fan but fun and accessible for anyone into the bizarre and unusual.

This is the best value book I have ever bought. One turn of the page can maybe send you back to a fast food restaurant in 1977, complete with card novelties, the next to a premier in 1983 London. Complete with press pass! It is truly a marvel!

Unique!

Mixed feelings...
I'm glad I didn't pay 'full' price for it. It is a nice scrap book of all things Star Wars, but somewhat superficial, though I don't think it was meant to be an in depth coverage, rather a summary of the Star Wars phenomenon. Following is a short list of pros and cons, that describe my experience.

Good things:
- It's big and has a nice layout, looks good on the shelf.
- It was fun to turn the pages for the first time to see what kind of inserts it had (*)
- Fun and easy to read.

(*I got somewhat disapointed though, when I realized what it really contained)

Bad things:
- Not as original as I would have liked, in that CDs contain stuff from Hyperspace on starwars.com that I had heard before, and I've read much of the text in one form or the other.
- Some of the reproductions/inserts are of pour quality, both graphic wise and the actual selection of items. (IMO of course)
- Some of the inserts might have been great collectibles if you had the originals, like Sir Alec Guinness' invitation for a drink during shooting, which is just a simple piece of paper with text on it, but have absolutely no value as a copy. I'm not talking about it in terms of going out and selling it, but the fact that some of the inserts have a feel of being a picture that was cut from a book or a magazine and that makes it lose its value. It's just a fancy gimmic. Why not just leave it in the book as a picture...?
- Why on earth did the reproductions have "reproduction" written on the back of them? (I know the answer, but still...)
- I was hoping to see something worth collecting in it self, like a badge/patch of some sort. (there was a sticker on the last page though, that had some collectability to it. A Star Wars 30th anniversary fabric sticker)

In it's defence I still think the book has great layout and a great design idea, and I realize that it's really expensive to reproduce anything other than printed matter. But I do hope 'that' book will be made someday.

I'm glad I have the book, but would think twice about buying it had I seen it before I bought it. It is a nice addition to my growing collection of Star Wars books, but mostly because it's a novelty and has a popup-book kind of quality/surprice element to it.

Not as good as the reviews
At first this package looks very promising and quite exciting but on detailed examination it's style over substance. The printed items and the elaborate folio style book they're in look quite good but when you look at them closely many of them are less than dazzling quality but then neither were many of the originals. The basic problem is that the general content of the book and writing style isn't terribly interesting and it seems to me that either Lucasfilm think this is more interesting than it actually is or they've found a way to make a few more quid from stuff they've found in their archives.

Sansweet as an author can be a mixed bag, from 1992's excellent "Star Wars: From Concept to Screen to Collectible" which is a fascinating book to the truly awful "Star Wars Encyclopedia" from 1998 that I found piled high in a remainder bookshop for £2 a go. Lucasfilm really need to start making these books better and more substantial instead of trying to wring the last dollar out of fans - with the saga essentially complete the Star Wars marketing machine is living on borrowed time.