Ok. So let's talk Star Wars posters. Why do I collect them, write about them, display them in my home, search for that ever-elusive, extremely limited 1977 Star Wars Marketing Convention poster that I just recently missed (for the second time) on eBay?

Star Wars posters, as all successful movie posters do, capture the spirit of the films in an instant -- they compress the two hour span of the story, the visuals, the adventure, the emotions, into a singular image that conveys the grand idea of Star Wars. The idea of Star Wars -- to me, this is the most influential component of Lucas' endeavor. It's what captivated audiences back in 1977 and continues to inspire some 28 years later.

Some of the modern day greats are to be found among the thousands of different Star Wars posters printed since the 70s -- John Alvin, Drew Struzan, Roger Kastel, Tom Jung, Jacob Erol, to name just a few. These are the illustrators whose work will be studied, emulated, exhibited, and collected in coffee table books for future days. They'll rest comfortably on the shelf next to the Rockwell compendiums, the Parrish portfolios, the Remington retrospectives, etc. And since I'm guessing Star Wars will remain in the public consciousness for some time, the poster imagery should remain timeless as well.

So anyway, Star Wars posters are cool, to get back on track. They've each got a story, with some real zingers thrown for interest. Charlie White III and Drew Struzan originally didn't intend for the "pasted-on" look of the 1978 Star Wars "D" -- that became a necessary modification when they discovered that the credit block wouldn't fit on the original. Lucas himself posed his hands for the Jedi Style "A" poster, although a university soccer coach's hands were also used in the final. Rock photographer Bob Seidemann, who shot the famous, or infamous, Blind Faith album cover (look it up), also photographed several of the early Star Wars retail posters for Factors, Etc. And did you know that Lando's head actually expanded between the printings of the Japanese Jedi Style "B" and the U.S. version?

Every poster's got a story, and in the Star Wars scheme of things, every story's got a poster. Even with the end of the filmed saga, TV and video games will be carrying on the Star Wars tradition (and some of the coolest untapped posters, in my opinion, are the video game posters that often contain different imagery across international markets). There are also some pretty cool posters to be found as magazine inserts, too -- they'll never be worth much, but a recent KOTOR II poster of a Sith Lord is downright gorgeous in a goth Star Wars kinda way.

Anyway, stay tuned -- I'll occasionally talk posters or whatever aspect of collecting, fandom, or the films I feel like ranting about. Oh yeah, I need to shamelessly plug a book I've co-authored with Steve Sansweet called The Star Wars Poster Book. Tons of posters, over 300 pages, and a checklist of over 2200 posters in the back. Check it out in September!