Virtual Museum Tours For The #StayAtHome Geek

Like many people around the world, you might be stuck at home due to COVID-19 due to stay-at-home restrictions. Cabin fever might be getting to you.

Fortunately, there are a few great places to visit virtually from home for us geeks; some of which were previously only available for in-person visits before this. So it’s really great that these museums are now offering virtual experiences due to the situation.

Ghibli Museum

The renowned Studio Ghibli Museum showcases the iconic, whimsical work of Studio Ghibli, which you might know from their works like My Neighbour Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Grave of the Fireflies, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Howl’s Moving Castle. Tickets to the museum, however, typically need to be booked ahead of your visit and, given its popularity, you need to book way in advance. So, it’s not one of those places you can just decide to visit while you’re in Tokyo.

Fortunately for us, the museum’s decided to upload several short videos on their new YouTube channel, providing glimpses inside (and certainly ramping up the excitement to visit the place once they reopen!). This one, for example, is a brief look at their museum at night time.

Studio Ghibli at night, from the comfort of your own home.

Find out more by checking out their YouTube channel or visit their website.

Rancho Obi Wan

Rancho Obi-Wan is home to the world’s largest Star Wars memorabilia collection – certified by Guinness World Records in 2014. The collection of 500,000 unique items has been amassed since 1976 by Steve Sansweet, the owner and self-described “super collector” and “fan-ambassador.” It’s a small, independent museum which also serves as the Steve’s home – so only you could visit it through scheduled, guided tours.

However, for last week’s May the 4th celebration, the kind folks at the Guinness World Records, together with Steve Sansweet, created a 17-minute walkthrough of the museum:

Nerd out over the toys and other memorabilia collection from a galaxy far, far away you wished you had.

More info at Rancho Obi Wan’s Virtual Museum page.

Comic-Con Museum

While this technically hasn’t opened yet (it’s planned for a 2021 opening), due to the cancellation of this year’s Comic-Con, the organisers have created the Comic-Con Museum@Home experience.

The initiative will feature exclusive videos – both from past events (check out, for example, videos from Will Eisner Week!) as well as new video content which will be created exclusively for their Museum@Home program. They have also introduced their “Fun Book” series: downloadable PDF activity and coloring sheets which will be published regularly – ostensibly for children, but you know, geekdom is a matter of heart, not age. 😉