Owner of world’s largest private ‘Star Wars’ collection seeks return of stolen items

The owner of the world’s largest private “Star Wars” collection is calling on the Force for help in locating more than 100 pieces of rare memorabilia that were recently stolen.

After a fellow “Star Wars” collector and close friend was charged with stealing his prized artifacts, Steve Sansweet of Petaluma, Calif., announced Monday that he now is looking to find the memorabilia, most of which has been resold.

In a letter to “Star Wars” fans and collectors posted on his website, Sansweet said vintage items valued at more than $200,000 were purloined in late 2015 and 2016 from Rancho Obi-Wan, his museum on a rural property in Sonoma County where he stores the valuable collection.

“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,” he said in the letter.

Among the stolen items were boxed action figures, which Sansweet described as “rare and important pieces.”

If it weren’t for a fellow collector who was trying to track down his own rocket-firing Boba Fett action figure after it was stolen, the massive theft at Rancho Obi-Wan might not have been discovered.

That collector posted news of the theft of the action figure on his website, according to Sansweet.

A toy dealer who had purchased the Boba Fett figure saw the post and came forward with a detailed list of memorabilia he had bought from Carl Cunningham, Sansweet’s friend. The list included a large number of collectibles from Sansweet’s private collection.

Sansweet said that without the dealer’s help, “we might still not know of the theft or its extent.”

In March, Cunningham, a 45-year-old Georgia resident, was charged with one felony count of grand theft, according to the Sonoma County district attorney’s office.

After an arrest warrant was issued, Cunningham turned himself in on March 24 and posted $25,000 bail, said Sgt. Spencer Crum, a spokesman for the Somona County Sheriff’s Office.

Cunningham stole the items during three visits to the museum in 2016, Crum said.

During the investigation, detectives found emails between Cunningham and Sansweet describing the theft, Crum said. In them, Cunningham agreed to return the stolen items to Sansweet, he said.

Detectives also discovered that Cunningham had created PayPal accounts and posted several advertisements offering Sansweet’s collectibles for sale on “Star Wars” memorabilia websites, Crum said.

“He did sell a bunch of the memorabilia,” the sergeant said.

Sansweet said Cunningham sold all the items. He said Cunningham sent him lists of what he stole and approximately when the items were stolen. Cunningham also apologized, Sansweet said, and told him, “he’d try his best to make it up to me.”

Cunningham could not be reached for comment.

According to Sansweet, Cunningham is a fellow “Star Wars” collector and R2-D2 builder. Sansweet said he had known Cunningham for many years and “considered him a good and trusted friend.” He said he frequently hosted Cunningham at his home.

“I, and the staff at Rancho Obi-Wan, are devastated that he is the alleged perpetrator of the thefts,” Sansweet said. “Not only have important items been stolen from the collection, but also our time, energy and ability to trust unconditionally have taken a blow.”

Sansweet, who retired from Lucasfilm in 2011, has been collecting “Star Wars” memorabilia for more than 37 years. With more than 93,000 items audited and catalogued, his collection has been featured in Guinness World Records as the world’s largest “Star Wars” memorabilia collection since 2014. Overall, Sansweet said, his collection has about 400,000 items.

The year that Sansweet retired, the museum also became a nonprofit corporation. It provides guided tours for “Star Wars” enthusiasts.

Anyone with information about the stolen items is urged to contact the museum at tips@ranchoobiwan.org.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA

UPDATES:

2:30 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from the Somona County Sheriff’s Office.

This article was originally published at 1:25 p.m.