My California Trip - Rancho Obi-Wan and Endor!

TK-7785

Jedi Master
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Mar 16, 2017
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My girlfriend and I just took and amazing trip to Northern California and Oregon and I obviously had to make the trip to Rancho Obi-Wan and make a visit to the Redwoods where I hoped to track down one of the filming locations for Endor in Return Of The Jedi, the Speeder Bike chase backplate footage shot by Dennis Muren and crew at Owen Cheatham Grove about 45 mins south east of Eureka, CA.

Firstly, Rancho Obi-Wan. Wow! If you have the chance to go you really should. What is on display is just a fraction of Steve Sansweet's collection. It is jaw dropping, impressive, inspiring and I'll admit...a little envious. :wink: The volunteers giving the tour were great with a fantastic knowledge and really engaging. The tour was far more hands on than you'd expect for both a valuable collection and a private one at that. It speaks volumes to Steve's love of Star Wars, his passion for the collectables and his desire to share this with the fan community. The chap even made an appearance to have a chat with us and I managed to get my copy of Tomart's Price Guide To Worldwide Star Wars Collectables, which I've had since '94 and is very well thumbed and still referenced today, signed by the lovely man himself. He was a little surprised to see a copy after all these years. I took a number of photos but will just show a few to give a taste as I wouldn't want to spoil the experience for anyone. But in all honesty, I'm not sure that's possible!

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TK-7785

Jedi Master
Joined
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Messages
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And then there's Endor! This place, actually Owen Cheatham Redwood Grove near Eureka, CA, is breathtaking the scale of these trees is like nothing else. I guess that's why old smarty pants Lucas chose the location. :lol:

Pictures can't and don't do it justice. Given that Jedi is my favourite of all the films and the Endor battle sequences my favourite within that, this place is like Graceland to me. :lol:

Whilst there I wanted to try and hunt down some of the specific locations that the SPFX crew filmed back in '82 to create the backplate footage for the Speeder Bike chase sequence.Obviously a lot has changed since then, nature has a funny habit of changing landscapes over time, but enough of the iconic shots were still recognisable to be able to try and match them up to stills I took with me. So here is a sample of what i managed to capture along with some then and now movie comparison shots.

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TK-7785

Jedi Master
Joined
Mar 16, 2017
Messages
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And here are some more general shots I took of the forest; my ever supportive and beyond tolerant (of my obsession) girlfriend is visible for scale in this first photo. This place is magical and I will admit to pausing a few times in the hopes I would hear an Ewok battle cry or AT-ST in the distance. :D

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Yub Nub! :D
 

Nita Nitro

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Feb 9, 2016
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Scotland
Awesome pictures - I'm heading that direction next month and have a visit to Rancho Obi-wan booked for the day after my trip to Endor, so seeing your posts has gotten me a little more excited for it :D
 

TheJabbaWookie

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That's amazing Chris. Thanks for sharing. The scale of Endor is staggering. Seeing these photos of Rancho Obi-wan and being able to see Gus Lopez's and Duncan Jenkins' collections recently on JC on FB is also somewhat mind blowing... the sheer scale of them too :shock:
 

stu70

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Apr 23, 2016
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Thanks for sharing the pics, amazing collection, can just see a couple of boxed Lili Ledy 12" figures sneaking into one of the photos 8)
 

Robstyley

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Oh man, that is so cool! You lucky bugger. I've seen videos of Sansweets collection but I bet it's nice to see in person. Endor looks great, amazing how much it does still looks the same. Great thread, thanks :D
 

Mini99

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Some amazing pictures Chris, so glad that you had a great time.
Having been to some Californian Redwood forests a bit further south than where you were, I can certainly vouch for the almost mystical feel of the forests and the sheer size of the trees, it really does take your breath away.
Really makes me want to go back...
Ranch Obi wan looks chaotic, with bits and bobs everywhere, and everything easily accessible, not what I had imagined.
Those Vader helmets and collectors cases are something else, particularly love the "Red Baron" type one!
Pleased that you both had a great time and I'm sure planning the next trip... :wink:
 

Clarkspie&chips

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Apr 27, 2014
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What a fantastic trip and thanks for telling the story.
Were those Endor spots easy enough to find or were you wandering around for hours trying to match up random trees? :lol:
 

Palifan

Sith Lord
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Oct 28, 2012
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4,902
hat a jaw dropping trip you just had :shock:

Thanks for sharing the photos, truly amazing!!!

Ian
 

theforceuk

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Wow! Trip of a life time. Some choice pieces you are photoed with. Thanks for sharing your pictures.
 

Ruby2511

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What amazing places to visit, sounds like you had a great time 8)

Thanks for sharing :D
 
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