Chic, IL Now that it's 4 moths away, andyone thinking of SWC IV?

I will not be able to atttend c4 - I wish I could but just cannot swing it.

This link was in the latest starwars.com Delta Source:

http://www.starwars.com/community/event/celebration/news20070509.html


I could not help but recognize our own Rancor Keeper featured prominently.



"I regret to say that we of the FBI are powerless to act in cases of oral-genital intimacy, unless it has in some way obstructed interstate commerce."
J. Edgar Hoover

 

So who all will be there? I'll be around, mainly doing crowd control most mornings. I will get away to see PotC:AWE Friday morning at 5, and maybe a trip or two down to Anaheim when I'm off.

Dartha- you are set for your bust-ups, right?

I will provide my usual succinct recap come a week from Tuesday or so.

They are still working out the hotel lists for staff!

Can't believe those 4 "moths" have now become one week...

If there is anything anyone wants to know, let me know.

I know nothing (not even where I'm staying!), but I wonder about Dartha's theory. After all, Indy 4 is in pre-production...

 

Well...
have fun!

and..
give us an honest evaluation of how GenCon handles THIS one...

I dunno....have heard of some screwed up things already...

 

I am all set, Shiny, thanks. Nalan, you still up for this? Again, just lemme know, and I'll paypal you cash in advance...

Too bad I don't still live out there, Shiny--we could hook up in Anaheim again.

I'm in Orlando now, though--lemme know the next time you come down this way.

 

Nice.


...And so many nice pictures taken by one very well-connected Scott Ruether.

 

The only thing that looked interesting to me is the Vader Head project (starting here). I have to admit that that is way cool and actually original. The rest just looks like same ol' same ol'.

D'
"The float stuff is semi-cool too I suppose."

 

The archive stuff is pretty cool. I notice they are trotting out the pre-pro stuff now presumably because everyone has seen the rest.

The rest I've seen before.

 

All I was really commenting on was the really lame photo-op picture of Dan. But yeah, some of the other stuff is cool too.

 

Oh that was cool no doubt!

I'd like to know more about the X-Wing. Was that the same one from C3? I believe it was a Star Tours one at 1/3 scale or something like that. It'd be even cooler if that were an X-Wing from The Archives.

 

C4 updates from the CF attendees?

 

They're probably too busy standing in line.

D'

 

I'm pretty disappointed with the lack of pics all over. Most forums I visit usually have a ton of "con in progress pics" that people upload from laptops and such. This time, no such luck.

 

Here's the Official StarWars.com CIV Blog. Here's the entry on the Opening Ceremonies, although some fans had a different experience. The official statement on the brouhaha.

Phil

 

Some dude dressed his toddler daughter as slave Leia??? How incredibly distasteful! Watch the video of the Leias around Jabba at just over a minute in you see this guy and his daughter cross in front of the camera.

I be he is waiting in line for the Bratz movie.

 

I just read some of the stories about the mysterious "bomb package" and the semi-evacuation. Honestly, it's no surprise. Something always seems to go wrong at these Celebrations that dissatisfies mass amounts of fans.

At Celebration III, people were C3-PO'd. (Thank you, femme.)

I guess, at Celebration IV, it was all due to supposed C4 in a satchel.

 

Yeah, more than anything else, I'm stunned by the near-silence on the intarweb regarding this event. Other than fans bitching about the bomb scare (I like the folks who want a refund--terrorism FTW), not much of anything has surfaced, and certainly no big news breaking, other than the short trailer for the Clone Wars animated series.

And no ANH cast reunion. Damn.

 

The cast reunion would have been something worth seeing IMO. That is a huge missed opportunity I'd say.

From what I've heard the con went pretty smoothly, bomb scare aside. There were not lines like at C3 but that was due to lower attendance and better layout of the convention center. The vibe wasn't nearly like C3 in that there really wasn't much to see.

I'm also told that Lucasfilm pulled a fast one in the archives exhibit. Apparently there was a ton of Vader stuff that was supposedly screen used. It has been determined, by nerds, that only a single helmet was actually film used. The rest was replicas either made by LFL for some traveling dance thing or Star Tours. The stuff, again according to nerds in the know, was NOT film used.

To me that is a huge insult to the fans that paid good money to see that stuff. At least TRY to bring some stuff that is what you say it is.

 

That's especially remarkable when you consider that with the proliferation of fan-made costumes for Vader, the props they were presenting were basically barely a step up (stored in Lucas' garage) from something you'd see on a fan walking around the convention itself.

 

Ha! Sithy gots jokes! Here's some other funny ones (which I ripped from Fark regarding the C4 bomb threat):

"Was it pants? I bet it was pants. It was pants, wasn't it? *damn PANTS! When will people wake up and realize the danger they're in?"

"Well, it's a good thing Star Wars nerds have no lives... nothing to watch flash before their eyes."

"Well, to be fair, the clothes were recently laundered, so the Star Trek [sic] fans couldn't be expected to recognize them as clothing."

"Right, cuz when the terrorists come, they're coming for the nerds first."

Bosh

 

Sithy gots game, Bosh. Sithy gots game.

 

And that game...Pong.

 

indeed...things seem to be rather ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

But I await the official results from our CF'ers who went....

 

Well, this was the first Celebration that I actually got to see (volunteered for II & III and didn't see much of those.) Found out I really didn't miss too much. As usual the real fun is seeing old friends again & meeting new ones. That and occasionally getting free food. I hate LA, the McDonalds are all hidden and closed after 6pm and weekends and holidays.

Best con experience? Sitting in the fan club lounge with "Kit Festo" having a couple of drinks. (he was, I had just donated blood) Now that's the way a con should be.

 

Report from the trenches.

As you may know, I worked C4. Even got a room at the fancy-smancy Millennium Biltmore all to myself (very beautiful - customer service is awful!).

I started working the store, as they were expecting hordes. As it was, on Thursday )Fan Club day) many opted for the general admission line. Turns out the store line (when they found it wrapped around the back of the con center) would have got them into the con faster! Gen Con took the Howitzer to kill a mosquito approach, and built a store that probably could have handled everyone who went to the convention at once. Miles of queue, 50 registers. The only lines were the first hour of the first day and the last day during the 50% off sale (Action Figures excluded).

If you stood in line for the opening ceremonies, you probably stood near me for a moment, as I was "THE END OF THE LINE." I did my best to amuse those waiting.

The line started moving in and then about 8PM (1/2 hours after the scheduled start), it stopped. Suddenly in front of me, people started leaving the line en masse. Others streamed out of the convention center. Unfortunately, no one thought to tell me what was going on.

I did my best to pick up on the official word and started directing folks in my stentorian voice (all that acting paid off - from the diaphragm!).

I found out much later, the 1st 4,000 or so in the 6,912 seat hall saw the ceremonies as if nothing went on (secret insider tip for you - they missed a very special guest from, oh, San Francisco via Marin County, who was the first removed from the building).

Right before the "all clear" the con center staff tells me that the LAFD told him that if we felt a pressure to "hug a column." Nice. Thankfully, the next thing I heard seconds after that was "All clear."

Shortly after, as I was finishing directing the last few folks that they could return to the building (and their cars, many of which were parked in the garage under the hall), I heard someone talking about waiting in line for one of the films on Ohio Street in Chicago - Destiny! Great to see here! I saw a few other CF shirts during the con (about 10 or so), and wore mine a couple days (sometimes under my staff shirt).

Hard to gauge the number of folks - the place was really spread out. I started working the store line (which never materialized). At first, some were perturbed they couldn't bring in packages, as the nearest bag check was upstairs and away from the store. Later,they just put the bag check in the hall.

After the store needed less help, I worked the line for the Petree stage, which ad such hits (and actual new content) as the Robot Chicken panel with Seth Green (great skit they showed taking place during a Star Wars con), Family Guy Star Wars special preview with Seth MacFarlane, and the always popular One Man Trilogy. The One Man Show was about the only thing we had to turn folks away from at that stage (which seated 1,700).

Never got into the Vader helmet display, but the Archives were cool (and different than C3). Heard the Clone Wars panel was great (understand the trailer is online). Snagged the Lego exclusive (which is going for crazy prices on eBay already). Also never got to the collectors' panels who were randomly giving away these coins (dealers were paying $20 each for them).

The space made a big difference. Still a lot of folks not knowing where to go. I think they should get at least their schedule with the badge (and to my mind a free copy of the program too).

I rented a car which turned out crazy expensive (more to park than the rental!), but it was a godsend as there was little in walking distance. Took a couple of trips in my time off to Disneyland (even got a very appreciative couple from staff in for free (I know a few cast members there)- he had never been and loved it!). Saw Pirates at the El Capitan Hollywood at 5AM Friday. Very cool. Ate lunch in Little Tokyo (beat the $11 for a soggy tuna sandwich and a drink in the hall!).

Much better than C3, I think.

 

I'm just curious what your ballpark cost was for the trip (not including merchandise purchases).

D'