Re: 1:1 Landspeeder Project - VIDEO on Page 18!!!
Not quite true--about the landspeeder...
There were two landspeeders that survived until 1987 when I arrived. One was hollow, used on the crane arm to simulate hovering; the other the one you see on display, intact with engine. One of the very first tasks I was entrusted with when starting at the archives (bear in mind, I was a model maker who knew about Star Wars and hired to clean up the archives) was to dump the hollow version to make more room. I personally oversaw a teamster crush it beyond recognition with a forklift and haul it off to the dump. Two things survived: The windscreen and an engine...I was able to keep those.
In honor of it's fallen comrade, I personally restored the remaining landspeeder, making sure it had all its parts. It went on display at the Marin County Fair in 1988, and to Japan in 1993.
When the call came for props for Episode One, I had already left the archives. Nothing was sacred...for instance, all the R2s were shipped off, and even the working ones were pulled apart, reconfigured and repainted. The landspeeder was no different. I could tell you stories that would curl your
*insert body part here*.
It took a long time to convince the powers that be that these things are more than props--and what convinced them the most was the ticket sales from exhibition tours.
Yes, the archive staff comes from a museum background. However, just like scores of museums around the world, the artifacts are treated better when traveling then they are when sitting in their facility--simply because they can insist that the responsible touring group do so. Believe me, there are many treasures still rotting away.
--Don
The LFL archives have real archivists on staff like a museum (they have degrees in preservation). They treat everything like historical pieces when on tour - white gloves, intricate packing crates and custom displays.
I'm really surprised at the treatment of the landspeeder as well.
The Death Star was thrown out after ANH was finished before there was any idea how big the movie would be. The landspeeder was refinished for Ep1 after LFL had already started museum tours of the props as historical film artifacts.
