If you’ve ever been to one of the larger cons or toy shows, you’ve likely spent time wandering the Sideshow Collectibles booth and, in those wanderings, you’ve no doubt found something (or many somethings) to covet. Some of Sideshow’s most beautiful, and most popular, pieces to date have been items from their Star Wars collection (looking at you, Asajj Ventress sixth scale in Sith Padawan robes) and, indeed, “For more than a decade, Star Wars has been a cornerstone of Sideshow’s production lines.”

Sideshow recently released a book (from Insight Editions) following the company’s journey through the galaxy far, far away and it is gorgeous. Star Wars: Collecting a Galaxy: The Art of Sideshow is no mere catalog, however.

Sideshow was originally known for creating historically accurate military figurines from various eras. In the 90s, they began to expand their brand with 1:6 figurines from horror properties such as A Nightmare on Elm Street and Buffy the Vampire Slayer along with fantasy properties like Lord of the Rings.

With the release of the Star Wars prequel films, however, and the success of the relaunched Hasbro sixth-scale action figure line, Sideshow found a new market: adult fans of the original trilogy who had graduated from wanting toys to wanting art. To be successful, the company knew, it was going to have to offer something no one else did: a focus on “meticulous detail” and “greater articulation and poseability.”

Photo from Sideshow

And thus began the design process for Sideshow’s first Star Wars collectibles.

Collecting a Galaxy is a fantastic resource for anyone who’s ever wondered, “How do they do that?” while walking between the rows of offerings at a show. I certainly have. (And I flirted with the idea of bringing a $900 Swamp Thing home from San Diego Comic-Con a few years ago. No, I am not kidding.) The book walks readers through the design process for each style of collectible, highlighting the most noteworthy pieces in each category (I say “most” because, let’s be honest, they’re all noteworthy) and laying out the artists’ thought processes and challenges.

It seems pretty much universal that the most difficult part of any figurine is the clothes because, on the articulated figurines, they need to move naturally and, even on those that aren’t poseable, people might not notice the presence of a tiny detail, but they will notice its absence. For such beloved characters as Captain Rex, for example, you get to see the evolution of not only the initial mock-up and mold but the ways in which painting techniques and features like eyes have become more lifelike as technology improved.

Other pages show original sketches beside finished products so you can see how the final product differs. Some of those entries also discuss why certain changes were made between steps and how they improved the aesthetic. Want to learn how they did the shading on Savage Opress’s horns? How they convinced his robes to lay properly? It’s all in Collecting a Galaxy. If you take a look at the Mythos line, it’s so detailed that the artists have included the cracks in the Gamorrean guard’s teeth (I couldn’t even get snake scales to come out properly last time I sculpted with clay), the way muscle shifts on Darth Maul’s neck, the smallest of the objects Obi-Wan brought with him when he fled to Tatooine after the Emperor enacted Order 66.

If you’re a cosplayer, Collecting a Galaxy is a fantastic resource for you as well, with planning sketches and close-up photos of details you may want to include but not be able to find good shots of elsewhere. (I say this as someone who has looked at a million blurry action shots of Thor’s back and Red Hood’s boots.)

I will never own all the Sideshow pieces I’d like to have – hell, I may never own any. If you ever wondered at the price point, though, flipping through Collecting a Galaxy will help you understand that these figurines are art. Buying one of them is like buying a painting or an antique or anything else that’s worth the investment. Some people might sneer at the idea of fandom as art, but I even if you take the girl out of the geek, she’s still going to want that Ventress Mythos sculpture for her 42nd birthday.

Star Wars: Collecting a Galaxy: The Art of Sideshow is available now from Insight Editions.