Wow, 30 years of The Star Wars Collector’s Archive! That’s quite a milestone and a testament to the quality of the site that it remains a relevant and vital resource to the Star Wars collecting community, three decades after its founding.
When reflecting on this milestone for the Archive, I found that my experiences with the site divide pretty neatly along decade lines.
Decade 1 - Information Overload
I don’t recall precisely when I first discovered the Archive. Although I went to college from the early to mid 1990s, and certainly used computers in my studies, I wasn’t really a computer person. So, I missed out on the earliest online interactions. Then again, I was mostly a lurker throughout the later forum era.
I rekindled my interest in Star Wars fandom and collecting in 1994 and got online after purchasing my first personal computer in 1995. At the latest, I knew about the Archive by August of 1996, when I read a profile on Gus Lopez in Topps Galaxy Magazine, authored by Steve Sansweet. But more likely, I stumbled upon the Archive via a search on AltaVista (my early search engine of choice).
However I came to find it, what I discovered when I reached the Archive was a wealth of information to explore. While my personal collection is focused in very specific niche areas, I have a broad interest in Star Wars memorabilia, far beyond the confines of my own collecting pursuits. The early entries on the Archive definitely scratched that itch.
As the Archive expanded and matured throughout its first decade, some of my favorite early content included the following:
The Comprehensive Star Wars Cereal Box Checklist, authored by Gus Lopez. The earliest archived version that I can find on the Wayback Machine lists 124 Star Wars cereal boxes from just five countries. Gus still maintains a comprehensive list of cereal boxes in the Archive Database, currently standing at over 1,900 boxes from all corners of the globe.
The Special Features, authored by many of the Archive’s editors and other contributors. The Special Features provided detailed road maps to collecting in niche areas.
Relics of the Outer Rim, authored by Pete Vilmur. The in-depth articles featured there are an early precursor to what would come later in the Blog.
Looking back, it is truly remarkable how much content was added to the Archive during its first decade. Most of it has stood the test of time and/or been foundational for continued development of hobby knowledge.
Decade 2 - The Archive Database & The ‘Chive Cast
The second decade of the Archive saw the addition of the Archive Database as well as the debut of the Star Wars Collectors Archive Podcast (The ‘Chive Cast).
The Archive Database was added to the site in 2004, with a vast number of entries by Duncan Jenkins and contributions from many others. The Database provided a new way to navigate the Archive. More importantly, it significantly broadened the content of the Archive. Early in my collecting, I had relied on the two editions of Tomart’s Price Guide to Worldwide Star Wars Collectibles, authored by Steve Sansweet and T.N. Tumbusch. While price guides can be useful to see pricing to understand relative values, the real value to collectors is in the list of known products. The Database provides that information in an interactive, searchable format. I was able to leverage the data available in the Database to guide my own collecting pursuits.
The Database came online around the time that I emerged from collecting in a vacuum, started attending Celebration events, and began to make an effort to meet other collectors, including many of the major contributors to the Archive. Those early interactions grew into friendships, which would eventually lead to my own involvement with the Archive in the next decade.
The ‘Chive Cast hosted by Skye Paine and Steve Danley has been a wonderful audio companion to the Archive, highlighting both its content and contributors. Like the Archive itself, the ‘Chive Cast has matured over time and is quite a body of work in its own right. Some of my favorite recurring segments on the ‘Chive Cast are the Nugget from the Archive and the Unloved, which do an excellent job at spotlighting items from the Archive. The Archive Parties are always a personal highlight of Star Wars Celebration events when they occur.
Decade 3 - The Blog
It is hard to believe, but the Blog started a decade ago, coinciding with the Archive’s 20th Anniversary. Over the last decade, an amazing breadth of collecting knowledge has been shared via the Blog.
I would be remiss if I didn’t offer an appreciation for Ron Salvatore’s contributions to the Blog. As regular consumers of the Archive know, Ron has been a fantastic writer throughout his long tenure, from individual entries and Special Features to his many original contributions to the Blog.
With some encouragement from Ron, I’ve made my own contributions to the Blog, covering the strange corners of collecting that I inhabit. I was humbled to be added as a Blog contributor a few years ago. It’s been rewarding to give back to the Archive in a small way, after having been a consumer for so long.
I’ll close with a final note of appreciation for the Archive. In my experience, the Archive is a unique place built on the free sharing of information. It is the sum total of countless hours of work by many collectors. I’m not aware of anything that parallels it. Some of my hobby interests crossover with other fields of collecting, some of them quite well established. I’ve often lamented the lack of quality online (or even print) resources of knowledge for those other fields of collecting. This makes me appreciate the Archive all the more.
The Star Wars Collector’s Archive remains a vital resource today. While there is always room for improvement, I’m thankful for the ways that the Archive has organically expanded and evolved over time. I very much look forward to what the next decade will bring and look forward to continuing to be a part of it.
BONUS: Here is the profile on Gus Lopez from Topps Galaxy Magazine, published in August of 1996.
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