Vintage NEAR MINT 1978 Star Wars Fan Club Cantina Poster

Vintage NEAR MINT 1978 Star Wars Fan Club Cantina Poster. ULTRA-RARE Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina poster from the original artist! I only have 1 poster left in NEAR MINT condition. My name is Bill Selby and I'm the artist that painted the Original Star Wars Cantina Band poster.

I was commissioned to paint the poster when I was art director and principal artist of Factor's Etc. Back in January of 1978.

This was the very first STAR WARS FAN CLUB POSTER and it was commissioned and approved by George Lucas himself. I pulled and kept around one hundred posters from the printer in 1978 to give to friends and family. This has got to be one of the most difficult to find, officially sanctioned STAR WARS posters, especially ROLLED in NEAR MINT condition - and from the original artist to boot! What I'm offering is the 1978 ORIGINAL printed 38 years ago. Check out the JUNE/JULY 2003 ISSUE #68 of the STAR WARS INSIDER for an article and PHOTOS about the creation of this ULTRA-RARE poster!

The poster is also given a full-page in The Star Wars Poster Book (Chronicle Books hardcover, 2005). THE STORY BEHIND THE PAINTING.

At the time I created this poster I was painting covers for FAMOUS MONSTERS of FILMLAND, HEAVY METAL, and other magazines and paperbacks, in addition to creating Factor's T-Shirt line. The film had been out for eight months when I did the painting, and I was provided with 35mm color slides for reference. The assignment was simple: put all of the aliens that were in the cantina sequence into one grand scene.

Once Lucas approved my rough color comp, I began painting. The deadline was tight just one week but I opted to do the painting in oils. Even though I used heat lamps to speed drying time, I wound up finishing the painting in acrylic.

The original was 2 1/2' x 3 1/2' and painted on gessoed Masonite. When the painting was completed, I crated it up - a flat plywood crate around 4 inches thick - and flew to Los Angeles to get it approved. It was the dead of winter, and I had to change planes in Chicago. While standing inside the airport observation deck watching bag handlers remove luggage and the crated painting from the plane, I looked on in horror as the crate slipped off the baggage trailer and onto the icy tarmac. Zooming tow tractors and trucks came within inches of smashing the crate.

The crated painting was finally rescued by a mechanic on a cigarette break. In Hollywood, I delivered the painting to a white, nondescript office trailer on the Universal Studios back lot. A kewl logo on the trailer's side said Black Falcon Ltd. (this is what Lucas was calling his company then).

I waited inside the'living room' area of the trailer while a secretary took my painting to a room in the back for Lucas's approval. The secretary emerged with the painting in less than one minute.

"It's approved, " she said. And I never even got to meet George. The poster has never been folded.

It is 20" x 28" in ROLLED, NEAR MINT CONDITION. If you would like me to sign the poster in silver metallic pen, I'll be happy to do so. I'll also include a signed letter detailing the story of the painting. Contrary to rumor, THIS POSTER WAS NEVER CENSORED by George Lucas or anybody else. The poster was withdrawn from circulation at the end of 1978 and all remaining copies were destroyed.

Please note that this image was also scheduled to be on the cover of the 25th Anniversary Issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, issue #192, back in 1983. Unfortunately, Warren Publishing went out of business before the magazine saw print. Well, it's taken 3 decades, but FM #192 was finally published as a special'retro' issue with my original Star Wars cantina painting! Check the Famous Monsters web site for details! _gsrx_vers_335 GS 5.5 (335). The item "Vintage NEAR MINT 1978 Star Wars Fan Club Cantina Poster" is in sale since Sunday, April 10, 2016. This item is in the category "Collectibles\Science Fiction & Horror\Star Wars\Products, Non-Film Specific\Posters, Prints". The seller is "mantium" and is located in San Francisco, California. This item can be shipped worldwide.

Country/Region of Manufacture: United States