Where Science and Imagination Meets Brats of All Ages

If there was one thing that Celebration IV was missing (besides the orginal cast) it was PROPS! I turn into a four year old at the sight of any cool scaled models, and I was really looking forward to seeing the original ILM props at CIV. Apparently, they forgot to bring them.

To their credit, there was a small room with a smattering of concept art, various versions of Vader's lightbright chestplate and a few random costumes. The highlight of the room was a voting booth that allowed you to cast your vote as to what color Han Solo's parka was in The Empire Strikes Back.

Next to the voting booth was the parka. I think the results may come back somewhat skewed.

Luckily, there's an exhibit touring the nation that brings the props to the fans. It's called Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination. In my case, the tour has a scheduled stop about five miles from where I work. Fort Worth isn't the biggest city in this part of the nation by a long shot, which is why I live here, so I was pleasantly surprised that the tour made a stop here.

The exhibit was fantastic. It had the Tantive IV, the Millenium Falcon, the X-Wing, and every other prop you could hope to see. Check out my pics to see more.

Celebration IV

WOW!!!!

I've just returned from the biggest Star Wars geek-fest EVER! Celebration IV in Los Angeles. It was fantastic. Check out my pics here.

Five days of Star Wars is enough to overwhelm even the strongest Sci-Fi constitution, but I endured, and I WANT MORE!!! I was fortunate enough to meet Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Don Bies, Lorne Peterson, Jay Laga'aia, Seth Greene, Seth McFarland, and so many more.

CIV was nothing like I expected. I thought the participants were all going to be the ubergeek type and the event to be disorganized and difficult to navigate. The folks at GenCon (although not the friendliest people) were very organized and efficient and the fans were a BLAST!

My favorite part of the event was the part I thought I'd like the least. That would be the Q&A panels for the celebrities (like Carrie Fisher). The actors were all very funny and personable. They answered even the most absurd questions, and were a genuine treat to see and meet. I only wish I could have made it to more of the panels, but I had to choose between Droid Building 101 and Carrie Fisher. (Don't tell the droid builders, but there's really no contest.)

I even got to see some exclusive footage as well as props from the upcoming Robot Chicken Star Wars Special as well as the Family Guy Star Wars Special.

My only lament is that I didn't get the exclusive I wanted (Yoda and R2 Maquette). For three days in a row, Gentle Giant sold out of them WHILE I was standing in line. After that, I decided EBay would have to do (even if it means paying twice what the damn thing's worth.) Oh well, such is life