Celebration VI (Sun)

by Darth Danno
on 2012-10-10, 07:33:03

For whatever reason, Barry didn't sleep well that night, so he opted out of going back on Sun. He said to be back by 3 as the shuttle was picking us up at 4, I wanted to be back by 2:30, so that was alright. Sean and Lisa took Alfie and Ian to the airport already then were going straight to the Con, so Cris and I headed off for the final day.

 Alfie had an Exhibitor badge that he left behind for us to use, so with that I was able to get into the convention at 9:00. We got in line at the Hallmark booth, but they wouldn't start selling the ornaments until 9:30, when the people with Jedi Master and Jedi Knight badges could get in. They of course had priority and were bumped to the front of the line. Cris gave me money to buy the ornament and headed off to see what the line at Lego looked like. I got the ornament for him and also a cool Santa Darth Vader pin which was free and I kept that for myself, then it was off to Matt Busch's booth.

By now, the Convention was open to everyone, so people were filing in by the hundreds. But I was able to get in line to grab on of the 50 “Dark Empire” prints for the day. Then Cris texted me to disregard coming to the Lego booth as their exclusive was already sold out. While waiting, Barry texted me for Sean's number, which I gave him, then a few minutes later he texted me for Lisa's. I gave him hers as well, then he texted me a third time asking for Cris' number. Not sure what was going on, but I'd figure that out AFTER I got my poster. As I was standing there, David Acord walked past, heading to the autograph area. He was very nice and let me take his picture. Would have liked to have chatted with him, but I knew he had things to do as did I.

Once Matt had signed my print, I headed off to the Topps booth and grabbed their exclusive card for the day. Then headed to Cartamundi.

The line was ENORMOUS!! It stretched past the Hasbro booth, Gentle Giant, Lego, and Acme. I got in line thinking by the time I got up to the booth, they'd be all out of the cards. I was halfway there when Cris called and told me I needed to meet up with himself, Sean, and Lisa to resolve Barry's issue. It turns out the fire alarm went off at the complex. Barry evacuated, but when they got the “all clear” and everyone could return their rooms, the key card Barry had wasn't working, denying him access into the suite. Neither he nor I were listed as guests in the room, so security wasn't allowing him back in. So reluctantly I got out of line to meet up with everyone, even though I wasn't sure exactly what I could do to help the situation.

After that was resolved, Cris gave me a big stack of “TFWU” postcards to distribute on the tables in the eating areas. I headed off, still trying to figure out how to get back to Cartamundi and also to get to the Celebration store to pick up the Sunday's exclusive maquette: “Zombie Stormtrooper”. It was the only one of the four I really wanted, but I also didn't have the $60.00 to buy it!

While tossing the cards on the tables, I noticed a plastic bag sitting on a vacant table. Looking around I saw no other bags or anything lying around it, either on the floor or the chairs. Inside the bag was a plain white box. I opened the box and whatever was inside it, was encased in Styrofoam. The foam was taped shut, so I searched through my pockets, trying to find something to cut the tape. Finding nothing, I thought about what to do next when I spied a small slip of paper lying at the bottom of the bag. It was a receipt from the Celebration store...for a Zombie Stormtrooper!!!

My eyes grew as big as the Death Star when I realized what I held in my hands. I quickly looked around to see if anyone was coming my way, making motions stating I was holding their bag. No one was, so I quickly put the Styrofoam back in the box and the box back in the bag and was out of the food court at lightspeed. I found and hugged Cris for sending me off on this errand and told him what I found. He offered to buy it off of me at cost considering he wanted one and had found out the store was now sold out of them, but I wanted my prize too badly to part with it.

I went back and threw more postcards on the tables, went downstairs and peppered the tables there with them as well. Then headed back to Cartamundi.

The line was about half what it was before, so I patiently waited until I got up to the front and presented both Barry's and my programs. I was rewarded with two cards of each: the King of hearts (Obi-Wan) and the Ace (Qui-Gon).

Following that, I headed off into the artist area and got Chris Trevas to sign my badge and Tom Hodges signed my book, then took in Rancho Obi-Wan.

The line was long, but moved at a nice pace. Upon entering, I started filming what there was to see with my phone. Then I glanced to my left and who walked past me but Ian McDiarmid! They closed the line down after he came in so he could get a private tour, but as I was already in, I got to stay. I bought a little key chain, and got some nice video and pictures of the exhibit. Steve Sansweet was at the end, talking to fans and posing for pictures. Let me tell you, he was the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet! I got him to sign my badge as well and got a picture with him. Talked to him for a few minutes, then headed off.

Went and looked at all the helmets they were auctioning off for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Got some great photos of many of them. Would have loved to bid on some, but knew even before checking online that the prices would be waaaaaaay out of my budget. Saw Tom Spina and Jon Berg walking through the area as well. Mr. Spina had a helmet his company did that was part of the auction. I took a picture of the two of them, then was off again.

By now it was after two, so I tracked down Cris and told him it was time to go. We headed out to the car only to find it was pouring rain! We waited a few minutes for it to stop as I didn't want all my new-found treasures getting soaked, then jumped in the car and departed.

Cris dropped me off in front of our building. I gave him a few bucks to help cover the cost of him having to pay to park again. We said our goodbyes and I headed up to the room as he headed back to the Convention Center.

It was 2:45 as I got back in the room, started trying to pack all the new stuff I had obtained, but no matter how hard I tried, the Blue Snaggletooth was too big to go into any of my carry-ons. I wasn't about to put it in my suitcase, so I'd just have to carry it separately. So I had that and my black duffel bag which had my autographs, Stormtrooper, and pretty much everything else I got at the show. The only thing that went into the suitcase was my Mos Eisley pint glass and the patch.

Barry called down to the front desk to have someone come and pick us up and take us up to the front desk. We boarded the bus and soon were standing outside the entrance to the resort, waiting for the shuttle to pick us up to take us to the airport.

The shuttle picked us up around 4:15, we were dropped off at the airport, went through security, then stopped for lunch at Burger King. While waiting in line for food, Barry was talking to someone who stayed for the closing ceremonies and that's when we found out about Celebration Europe II in Germany next year.

Boarded the plane and got back into Chicago around 9:30 CST. A friend of ours whose husband is a TSA officer offered to pick us up as she had to pick up her husband that night anyway, so I finally got back home @11:00. Didn't spend any time unpacking as I had to be up early for work the next day, so I just got ready for bed, dreading how much work was waiting on my desk. But all in all, it was a very enjoyable trip!