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Star Wars Celebration 2015 Coverage
A Geek Dad’s One-Day Whirlwind Experience...
It’s probably hard to find a geek out there who DIDN’T see the Star Wars news coming out of Anaheim, California this past weekend, but for those of us in town it was all about Star Wars Celebration. Not quite an annual experience, the all-Star-Wars-all-the-time convention has brought together fans and storytellers since 1999 in Denver, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, London, Chiba, Orlando, Essen, and now Anaheim. I was lucky enough to attend Celebration IV in 2007, and it was really interesting to see the difference between that show and 2015’s as Disney’s steering of Lucasfilm and the upcoming new films made it a global extravaganza. Normally I would have been at the convention all four days checking out absolutely everything there was to do, but I’m the proud father of a 7 month old son and that dictated a lot of my schedule this time around. As such, I was only able to hit up Celebration for one day to check out the Exhibit Hall and the grounds, and that’s what you’ll learn about here. However, there was SO much more to Celebration including the panels, announcements, trailer premieres, and more, and hopefully you’ve been keeping up with all of that through live streaming and videos.
Have you been to a large-scale convention like an official “Comic-Con,” Gen Con, CES, or the like? Imagine that size exhibit hall, that number of booths, but EVERYTHING is Star Wars. With my family in tow I got to the convention center just after it opened on the first day, which was one hour after the big panel with J.J. Abrams and the premiere of the new Force Awakens trailer. Even though it was a Thursday, the crowds were massive as fans packed the Disneyland-adjacent show to buy, look, and be seen. While the hardest core convention-goers had been there since the night prior, the mood of everyone flooding into the exhibit hall at 11am was excited and ready to shop. Cosplayers were everywhere featuring the usual assortment of Jedi, Sith, Mandalorians, and every kind of trooper plus all manner of aliens and even non-Star Wars characters from properties like Doctor Who and Frozen.
Inside the massive exhibit hall was absolutely days’ worth of fun to be had for attendees. One entire corner was cordoned off for the official Star Wars Celebration Merchandise Store, jam-packed with dozens of exclusive items from t-shirts to toys, knick-knacks, baby items, and more. Nearby, attendees could check out amazing works of art in the Art Show/Artist Alley and Ink Fusion Tattoo Festival. Sights and sounds met convention-goers in the form of multiple photo opps ranging from replica film sets like the Millennium Falcon to famous locations like a Moisture Farm, a giant Rancor, the Cantina, and more. These had long lines at the beginning of the day, but later on crowds thinned out and it was easier to hop in for a cool pic.
In addition to the dozens of cool booths offering every kind of collectible, toy, comic book, etc., etc., the exhibit hall brought out some of the best Star Wars licensees with huge names like Hasbro, LEGO, and more. Make sure to check out our photo gallery to see what unique presentations we saw including the reveal of the Star Wars Rebels Ahsoka Tano figure from Hasbro, character-themed headphones from SMS Audio, the Pangea Brands Darth Vader helmet toaster that brands bread with the Star Wars logo, and all of the Star Wars games from Fantasy Flight Games. LEGO had a huge compound with activities for kids, a store, and display cases showing off new sets coming out this year. BAIT offered Star Wars-themed shoes and unique figures, Bluefin Distribution had new figures on display (Egg Attack characters, 12 inch Tamashii Nations C-3PO, Movie Realization Ashigaru Foot Soldier Sand Trooper), and there was American Tourister luggage, novelty items from Underground Toys, apparel and more from Her Universe, and the list went on and on and on with other exhibitors like Gentle Giant, Funko, ThinkGeek, Hallmark, EA, and lots more.
Allied and honored Star Wars organizations of course showed up, with the 501st hosting kid’s events, costume displays, and more, alongside the R2 Builders Club, Rancho Obi-Wan, San Diego Star Wars Society, and others. These and more provided attendees with interesting presentations, things to do, organizations to join, and fun to have. It’s always awesome to see all of the astromechs and amazingly costumed troopers walking around a convention hall. Of course there was a big focus on kids at Celebration, and the back of the hall held several play areas, photo opps, activities and crafts, and even the Jedi Training show from nearby Disneyland! Companies like Hasbro and LEGO had even more for the kids to do in their booths.
As I said, all of this and tons more only scratched the surface of Star Wars Celebration 2015 in Anaheim, CA with a focus on goings on in the exhibit hall. Outside was a full programming schedule of panels, film/TV/video game presentations, collectibles, autographs, meet and greets, and everything else you’d expect and want from a big time geek convention. One of the more unique elements to this year’s show was the pin trading. Multiple booths had exclusive pins for trade and attendees showed off their collections proudly and traded amongst themselves in the time-honored tradition. With all of the fun at the show itself and the announcements and trailers being shared around the world this year’s Celebration was a mega hit for Star Wars fandom no matter where you were. But if Celebration ever comes to a city near you make sure to sign up and join in the festivities!
Photos and words by Scott Rubin
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