Episode VII Countdown

[Julius Sedaire]

So, i'm sure many of you, like me, are eagerly counting down the hours, minutes, or day or so until you can see the premiere. I've been leafing through old Convention photos and eagerly awaiting it. I thought to pass the time, a fun thing to do in between posting is to share those memories that cemented you in the fandom, so to speak.

Many of mine are lost to time in the younger years (or, thanks to WONDERFUL parenting decisions, the few I have of young Jedi me have a mullet, and will NOT be shared).. However, i'll kick us off with my ABSOLUTE favorite picture involving myself and Star Wars.

This is me meeting Jeremy Bulloch... And in his hands is the chest diamond to my Legacy Era armor I had literally made just days before the convention... In another life, I was a founding member of the Mandalorian Mercenaries Costume Club clan up here in Michigan. The second to ever sport the iconic 'Legacy Era' armor (not picture here are numerous upgrades made post con). Also the one who helped formalize and draft the templates that are floating around the internet now to make your own.

I had made the typical Fett style plates, and to put it bluntly, they SUCKED with as big a guy as I am. So in the week leading up to the convention, I managed to obtain rough made templates from a member in California, personalize them and draft them all into blue-print form, and craft an entirely new chest piece and rigging system. Which is harder than you think when you're a full time dad with a part-time job and an ill wife.

Why is this pic so influential? Besides the funny that I had asked him to sign a gauntlet or shoulder pad (Daniel Logan had signed the chest diamond earlier in the day) and he proceeded to tell me 'No, if little man signed this, I am' and took my chest diamond to sign, it was the conversation prior to the opening of the con one day. We were talking shop on mobility in armored costumes, heat exhaustion, etc.. He had complimented me on several design quirks that were more 'behind the scenes' (including how my codpiece was attached so I could use the restroom without removing half the costume). And he actually said 'Well that chest piece is just brilliant, I love it'...

To me, that was when I went from a 'regular fan' in my own eyes to a little more dedicated...

So go on, share your favorite story or pic! Lets forget the Map Game or Spoilers or Angst filled moments.. What brought you into this fandom?

 

[Sinistra]

I've been a Star Wars fan since I was 5, and I remembered wanting to marry Han Solo because he was the most handsomest man my little face had ever seen. There are lots of things that come and go, but a love of Star Wars over the years has remained. A couple years ago, some girlfriends and I made the trip down to Florida to Celebrations 6. I got to meet up with RPers I had known for years in person, we saw some wicked fantastic cosplay, lots of celebrities and we generally had a blast.

As we paused to take a picture of muppets in stormtrooper armor, Seth Green darted under my friend Rob's outstretched arms holding his camera, snapped a picture and darted back out. There was a huge group of people and only like 2 people noticed what he did.

I got to watch a panel with Aaron Allston, right when Mercy Kill hit the best seller list. He talked about his writing process and it was amazing. It was sad to hear about his death a short time later.

The first day of the con, they were having a special screening of the movie Fanboys. We were tired, we'd been up early and hadn't slept so we decided to queue up early and relax. We ended up being the first in line for the movie. We're standing there chatting and this guy walks up and asks if we are in line for Fanboys already and we all agreed, hell yeah. He smiled and said, "I'm Ernie Cline and you guys are awesome."

The way my best friend tells it, I immediately sucked all the air out of the room and made a sound that only dogs can hear. She then snapped this picture of the look of pure joy on my face.

That look is what that con was, what Star Wars means to me. It's this thing that inspires others to be creative and still come together to love something universal.

May the Force be with you.