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$200,000 of Star Wars memorabilia stolen from museum

A world famous ‘Star Wars’ museum has lost $200,000 worth of items.

That is, after one visitor turned to the Dark Side.

The world-renowned Rancho Obi-Wan has specialised in ‘Star Wars’ memorabilia since 1998, and contains the world’s largest privately-owned Star Wars collection – collected by owner and curator, Steve Sansweet.

It’s taken 37 years of collecting… and now it looks as though it’s been subject to a huge scale theft, totalling $200,000 worth of items.

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Here’s an official statement from Rancho Obi-Wan:

“In February we at Rancho Obi-Wan found out that we had been the victim of a major theft that surreptitiously took place over many months in late 2015 through 2016.”

The largest private collection of Star Wars memorabilia in the world - Credit: Rancho Obi-Wan
The largest private collection of Star Wars memorabilia in the world - Credit: Rancho Obi-Wan

“There were more than 100 valuable items stolen, the majority of them vintage U.S. and foreign carded action figures, many of them rare and important pieces. Most have either been resold or professionally appraised for a total of more than $200,000.”

A group of visitors tour the museum - Credit: Rancho Obi-Wan
A group of visitors tour the museum – Credit: Rancho Obi-Wan

Apparently, the theft came to light after another major collector reported a major theft from his collection in Texas – the almost-mythical prototype rocket-firing Boba Fett action figure. A respected toy dealer was convinced he was offered the item in a recent sale, and was able to help pinpoint the culprit – Carl Edward Cunningham.

A prominent collector and R2-D2 builder, Cunningham seems to have gained the trust of major ‘Star Wars’ collectors… while dipping into their collections behind their backs.

“Carl surrendered on an arrest warrant from the Sonoma County, California Sheriff’s Department at the end of March and was charged with felony grand theft. He is currently free on bail with additional hearings in the case scheduled.”

But it seems many items are still missing.

“If you have any information about Carl Cunningham’s activities or items that he has sold please write to tips@ranchoobiwan.org. If you think you may have purchased a stolen item, please be patient while we work through this process.”

Having met Steve Sansweet and interviewed him a number of times, it’s extremely distressing to see Rancho Obi-Wan a victim of theft.

“It is our goal to resolve this situation as quickly as possible and to continue to use the collection at Rancho Obi-Wan to “Inspire through the Force” despite the destruction caused by one person.”

Here’s hoping Steve and the folks at Rancho Obi-Wan get everything back to normal as quickly as possible.

May the Force be with them.

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