Massapequa Man's Dreams Come True with 'Star Wars' Book

A long time ago, in a galaxy not so far away, a 6-year-old boy from Massapequa made his dreams come true using the force of avid fandom, which led to the release of a new “Star Wars” collector book.

Titled “Star Wars: The Original Topps Trading Card Series, Volume One,” the book was released Nov. 2015 and is the first of four volumes released using contributions by Massapequa native, avid fan and collector Robert V. Conte.

Conte began collecting “Star Wars” paraphernalia after seeing the movie with his father and brothers at a drive-in movie theatre in May of 1977, at the age of 6.

“It was so bombastic,” Conte explained as the reason for his interest in “Star Wars” specifically. “I became a junkie. Anything ‘Star Wars’-related I bought with my allowance.”

For a kid with a $4 weekly allowance, the 15-cent packs of cards added up to quite a collection and eventually he completed five full sets of the Topps “Star Wars” cards, 330 cards and 55 additional stickers, Conte said, in addition to 16 promotional cards that had been distributed by Wonder Bread.

Conte stored two of the sets in shoe boxes in his garage and kept one set to read and share with friends and family, never knowing what those collections would one day lead to years later.

“This is such a wonderful opportunity to be involved in. An official ’Star Wars’ project that was right up my alley. It was just so cool,” Conte said. “I’ve been very lucky in that whenever I set my mind to something, I’ve been very fortunate to make these dreams come true. I always dreamt of working on an official ‘Star Wars’ project.”

As a youth, Conte frequented Te-Amo Imported Cigar and Stationary Store on Merrick Road in Seaford, where Herb, the store owner, gave him promotional materials.

“The store owner thought I was the biggest pain in the neck but he did something really cool for me, and I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time, but every time he was done with the boxes the cards used to come in, he would give them to me,” Conte said, in addition to promotional posters, which the book also includes.

The book is a compilation including the fronts and backs of all 330 cards and 55 stickers, movie facts, story summaries, actor profiles, and puzzle cards featuring all the classic characters and scenes from the very first ”Star Wars” movie, according to its listing on Amazon. It also features four bonus trading cards, as well as an introduction and commentary by Gary Gerani, the original editor of the Star Wars Topps series. Conte was chosen to write an afterward for the book.

Conte discovered the publishers for the “Star Wars” collector book idea at a Comic-Con event in San Diego in the summer of 2014.

“I approached the publisher with what I had and they weren’t aware of everything that was available,” he said, adding that after the meeting with the publisher, the book was released a year and a half later.

The next books in the series, “Star Wars Galaxy,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” and “Return of the Jedi” are due out in 2016, Conte said.

For Conte, “Star Wars” is not only a “bombastic” form of entertainment, and an obsession (he’s seen the new movie, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” three times), it is also a basic good vs. evil story with elements of redemption and the strength of the human spirit.

“The gist of the story is how humanity makes mistakes and makes bad decisions and does terrible things to each other, but at the end of the day if we want to find peace and forgiveness, that’s possible,” Conte said. “That’s really what the story is about — the test of humanity and the boundaries and strengths a person has, and how you may succumb to temptation or evil but the ones who surround you and love you can help pull you out of it.”

Ever since he can remember, Conte loved comic books, having read Batman, Iron Man, Archie and Mickey Mouse as a kid, he said. This is what led to his creation of numerous comic books. He wrote the stories, claiming that he “can’t draw to save his life, even today,” while collaborating with artists on the drawings.

“I was just so infatuated with the genre,” Conte said. “I was able to use my imagination. While reading the stories, I could picture these images in my mind, kind of like a cartoon.”

Conte worked for Toys “R” Us in high school and his second job, Collectors Kingdom, a comic book store, for four years. After graduating high school, he wrote the “Rock n Roll” comic books series, collaborating with his friend and artist Greg Fox, when he was 19.

“We used to work on the comics together in Huntington Station and be up to 3, 4 in the morning,” Conte said, noting that he gained acclaim with “Rock n Roll” series number 12 about New Kids on The Block, which sold more than a million copies.

“It was so successful, I was able to move from Long Island to Manhattan,” Conte said. “All of a sudden, my life totally changed.”

Conte not only accomplished his “Star Wars” dreams, but also worked on projects part of his other interests as well, including working with his all-time favorite band from childhood, KISS.

Conte wrote a comic book at the age of 19 about KISS, a band whose members from created their personas after comic book-style characters. Conte met the band at a signing event at Tower Records in summer 1993, which launched their working relationship.

“I showed Gene Simmons my comic book and he said, ‘You didn’t have my permission, but I like what you did,’ and we kept in touch and I started working for KISS in 1995,” Conte said.

Conte worked with KISS to remaster and repackage their albums and wrote liner notes for about 20 albums, he said, also putting together a compilation album, “You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best,” for which he received a gold award in addition to the band for its success.

Conte also collaborated with “Sesame Street” on a project after having religiously watched it from a young age. He helped package “Sesame Street Old School,” volumes one and two, each containing three remastered and repackaged “Sesame Street” albums from the 1970s, the graphics and elements from which Conte used from his personal collection, he said.

He also has a self-published autobiographical graphic novel and documentary in the works, which he has been developing for three years, titled “Rebuilding Robert.”

“When you believe in something, you’ve got to put 110 percent in it to show people why you’re so passionate,” Conte said. “The 7- or 8-year-old kid from Massapequa was involved with all this stuff. I was such an avid collector and enthusiast. I always wanted to know everything about the things I was interested in, and as an adult, I was lucky enough to get the right opportunities.”

For more information about Conte, visit his website here. To purchase the book, visit here.

[Photo 1: By Rahadyan Timoteo Sastrowardoyo. Robert V. Conte poses with his new book, co-authored with Gary Gerani, “Star Wars: The Original Topps Trading Card Series, Volume One,” during a book signing.]

[Photo 2: Robert V. Conte in a “Star Wars”-inspired trading card motif]

[Photo 3: Robert V. Conte as a child, around the time he first saw the original ”Star Wars” movie in 1977.]

[Photo 4: Robert V. Conte poses with KISS the day they hired him to oversee the KISS REMASTERS series.]

[Photo 5: Robert V. Conte works on his autobiographical documentary and graphic novel, “Rebuilding Robert.”]

[Photos courtesy of Robert V. Conte]