Star Wars Scrapbook: The Essential Collection

"You're a collector, all right, a dust collector!" said young Stephen Sansweet's mom, bemused by his horde of spaceship models. We wonder what she thinks of adult Stephen's vast, comprehensive, and... well, obsessive Star Wars memorabilia collection. Chronicle Books has teamed up with Sansweet (creator of the incredible Star Wars Encyclopedia) to give the rest of us a thrill: our own Star Wars stuff, gathered tidily in a sturdy, spiral-bound package. Darth Vader's ominous helmet opens to reveal page after page of reproductions of everything from fan-club newsletters and ticket stubs to your own real stickers and punch-out cards.

Why Star Wars? Sansweet explains in the introduction that it "literally changed my life, and I'm far from alone." He sees this collection as a way to share the fruits of his passion with less lucky fans around the world. And really, it's kind of nice to let him buy 50 bags of chips in search of unique Star Wars prizes inside. You'll feel as if you're being shown around a truly unique museum by a slightly wacky but really enjoyable friend. --Therese Littleton