Hi Coombes,
As Paul has said the OSWFC is a great area to collect because there's a lot of affordable stuff out there. I joined the fan club quite late on just before ROTJ was released but loved getting the newsletter every quarter. It had some great merchandise like posters and clothing but it was also useful for finding out information. I regularly contacted the club to ask questions. It was also good for exclusive deals like tickets to the first ever Star Wars Triple Bill at Leicester Square which was shown the day before the premiere of ROTJ.
In terms of merchandise, here's some of the things I can remember off the top of my head:
The first 4 issues of the Star Wars newsletter were not known as Bantha Tracks. It became Bantha Tracks at issue 5 and continued on until issue 35 (Winter 1987). These first 4 issues are generally more expensive and a little harder to find. There was a compilation issue released which contained the best articles from the first 4 issues. Issue 34 was released with a 7" plastic single so it was a square shape rather than the typical A4 shape.
The following membership kits were released (these are the ones I can remember or have and are not an exhaustive list, sorry):
OSWFC Kit
- Luke X-Wing Pilot Photo Card
- OSWFC Charter Member Card
- Luke over Yavin Sticker "Star Wars" (McQuarrie)
- Official Star Wars Fan Club Patch
- Luke, Leia, Chewie & Han Colour 8x10 photo
- X-Wing Iron-On Transfer
- Book Cover
ESB Membership Kit (early 83 - when I joined)
- McQuarrie Bounty Hunters Decal
- McQuarrie Yoda Decal
- The Empire Strikes Back Heroes Colour Photo
- The Empire Strikes Back Star Destroyer Colour Photo
- The Empire Strikes Back Yoda Colour Photo
- The Empire Strikes Back Darth Vader & Boba Fett Colour Photo
- The Empire Strikes Back Luke & Han Colour Photo
- The Empire Strikes Back Luke & Darth Vader Colour Photo
- The Empire Strikes Back Pencil
- Vader in Flames Decal
- The Empire Strikes Back Patch (Kenner style)
- Star Wars Fan Club Membership Card (Hoth)
- ESB Poster based on Style A one-sheet
- Welcome Letter
ROTJ Renewal Kit (circa 84)
- Star Wars Lobby Card - Leia & Luke
- The Empire Strikes Back Lobby Card - Darth Vader & Luke
- Return of the Jedi Lobby Card - Leia & Luke
- Raiders of the Lost Ark Lobby Card - Indiana Jones & Cobra
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Lobby Card - Indy & Machete
- George Lucas, C-3P0 & Ewoks Colour Photo
- Star Wars Phrases Sticker Set
- Return of the Jedi Motion Postcard - Darth Vader & Luke
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Patch
- Star Wars Fan Club Patch
- Star Wars Fan Club Membership Card (Endor)
- Welcome Letter
As I say this is by no means an exhaustive list. I'm not sure of the renewal kits between 1979 and when I joined. I also don't have the ROTJ membership kit as I joined before that was issued so I got the tail-end of an ESB kit and my next kit was in 1984. I also don't remember much about the renewal kits after 1984. When I finally get all my stuff out I'll see what I can hunt down.
There are also various flyers advertising the membership kits.
One of the coolest Fan Club merchandise items (as far as I'm concerned) was the ESB Marketing Art Portfolio which was sent to distributors ahead of the release of the film. The Fan Club bought the overstock on these and sold them on a first-come-first-served basis. It's a lovely piece. The portfolio is housed in a black cardboard outer envelope and is sealed with a pewter Darth Vader medallion.
On the flip side, the most notorious item sold by the Fan Club was the Star Wars Style A Tom Jung One-Sheet. Again, the club managed to obtain what it believed to be overstock items but it turned out that they were very good fakes. A dubious dealer had obtained the original printing plate. If you bought one of these posters through the fan club (as I did) then it's a fake. You can tell if it is fake because there's a hair on Luke's belt and this hair was introduced during that print run.
Well hopefully this'll give you something to go on and I'm sure they'll be others who know a lot more than I do
