help me rebel scum! you're my only hope!

[tosha]

does anyone happen to know anything about this? i picked it up in 97 at a random yard sale while on vacation and pretty much forgot about it until recently. i know it isnt an official star wars poster but thats about all i got. its really well done. it says star wars #1 on the left and robin wood 1977 on the right. any help on it would really be amazing!

[IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]

[rubberlike]

I can't offer any help but can say congrats on a really cool and interesting piece! I'll be watching this thread to see if anyone has any info on it.

[Dover]

Too coincidental to not be him.

Welcome to Robin Wood Fantasy Art, Books, Tarot Cards and More

Looks like a freelance artist into fantasy and Sci-Fi.

I'm sure u could contact him and ask.

[tosha]

thank you Dover! i contacted her and she said it most definitely is hers! she sent me a lovely e-mail about it. now that i know who did it does anyone have an idea of a value on it? we absolutely love it and its not going anywhere but its always nice to have an idea of worth on stuff like this. i know i have only seen one other one on e-bay but the sale was over so i didnt get much info and google searches yield no images of it at all...

[BradP]

can you share the story with us? Did she ever do any more Star Wars items?

[tosha]

this is the e-mail i got in return... im also adding on the second where i asked if she knew how many were printed since i have only seen this poster one other time.
Hi Tosha!
>
> If it's black and white, and looks like it was done entirely with a 0000 Rapidograph pen, it is indeed mine.
>
> There's no real story behind it. Star Wars was new, and a person commissioned me to make that poster. I had no clue, at the time, that I was violating copyright. (I was all of 23.) When he assured me that it was perfectly legal, I believed him.
>
> He gave me a bunch of stills from the movie to work with, and I got to work. He didn't have a picture of the Death Star, so that was done entirely from memory. Which is why it's not as good as the rest.
>
> I did the whole thing in stipple, with a very fine pen, and he published it and sold the prints (which was the agreement I had with him.) When my friends found out how little he paid me, they threatened me with bodily harm if I was ever so foolish again. So no, there are no others like that.
>
> That's pretty much the whole story. I loved Star Wars, of course. There was nothing else like it at the time, and I watched it as often as I could afford to go back to the theater.
>
> After that, of course, I went on to do a lot of book and magazine covers. You can find some of them on my website, where I'm guessing you got the address to write to me.
>
> Hope this clears up the mystery, and thanks so much for your kind words,
>
> Take care,
>
> Robin Wood
>
I have no idea how many were printed. I think it may have been a couple thousand, but I might be way off base. I also have no idea how many print runs he made. I never heard from him again after that first job. It was also long ago, so there's a good chance that most of the ones that were printed have met the fate of paper posters everywhere. I'd be pretty surprised if there were more than a hundred or so still in existence, but I've been surprised before.

[Scott_D]

Thanks for sharing the pics & backstory. An unusual piece of SW collectible history.

[BradP]

Thanks, that was pretty interesting..thanks for posting the email.

[HWR]

Great piece and very interesting background story. So great you tracked down the artist and got this information and story behind the piece.

[Todd_Chamberlain]

Great background info on the poster! As for value, it's not super easy to find, but also not a rarity by any stretch. I'd say $15-20 based on past listings I've seen (although one nut bought one from the Boba Fisher auction last year and wanted $1000 for it).

Todd