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CLL #23 - Con Crazy!!
103 Plays2 years ago
Captains’ Logs and Lightsabers is back again with another comparison episode! But this time, it’s not about the shows and films…but the fan experience! Chris and Jonathan have both attended mega-fan events like Star Trek Las Vegas and Star Wars Celebration, as well as other fan-centric events! Listen as they recount their exploits, share panels attended, cool cosplay, and more!
This episode of CLL features a way for you to get involved in the show. If you’ve ever been to a Star Wars or Star Trek fan event (convention, cruise, etc., we want to tell your story on a future episode! Email us using the address below. Also, CLL has scored a deal for you to get discounts on some tattoo aftercare products! See the links or use promo code CLLPOD when you shop at Mad Rabbit each and every time!
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
2:30 HDYGTW
7:18 News
14:35 Feature Discussion Introduction
17:25 History of SWC/ST Cons
29:40 The Look of a Massive Fan Con
46:14 Cool Cosplay
54:29 Panels We Attended
1:06:14 Activities Attended
1:18:19 Celebrity Experiences
1:27:00 Moichandising!!
1:30:51 Wrap-Up and Outro
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Captain's logs. On the prologue. I'm Captain and the Millennium Falcon. This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship Enterprise. I already have one message from Starfleet coming in on secured channel.
00:00:28
Speaker
You're listening to Captain's Logs and Lightsabers, part of the Geek News Now Podcast Network. Hey, Captain's Logs and Lightsabers listeners. Got tats? Love your ink? But are you worried that your art will fade over time and the cost to keep it looking vibrant and fresh gets to be too much? Well, that's where Mad Rabbit comes in. After just one use, you'll see how Mad Rabbit is effective on old and new tattoos. All natural ingredients are used to keep this from feeling oily or greasy.
00:00:57
Speaker
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Episode 23 Overview: Star Trek and Star Wars
00:01:14
Speaker
Hey there, welcome to episode 23 of Captain's Logs and Lightsabers.
00:01:20
Speaker
We are the podcast on the Geek News Now network that discusses both Star Trek and Star Wars and compares the two. Stick with us as we kind of run through the top of the show and what we always do in every episode. So my name is Jonathan. I am one of the hosts here. Let me introduce my co-host, Chris. How's it going? I'm good there, Jonathan. How are you doing? I'm good, man. I am really good. It's been not, well,
00:01:50
Speaker
A little while since we last recorded, I guess, huh? Yeah. It's been, I think, uh, three, three and a half weeks, maybe. Yeah. Something like that. So, uh, that's right about on pace with us, with our normal release. Pretty much. Yeah. Unfortunately being in our, we, our adulting takes up too much of our time to have fun. Very true. Very true. So, um, anything exciting happened with you lately since we last recorded?
00:02:16
Speaker
To be honest with you, not really. So basically the only way I guess this could kind of segue into how did you geek this week? The only thing I do is I used up the last of my Amazon gift card. I just bought a Star Trek Picard hat that I'm going to start wearing on Sunday since it'll be the week that the season premiere of Picard comes out. I also got a brand new Star Trek ring with a Starfleet Delta symbol in it and a circle.
00:02:42
Speaker
It's a black ring. It's not the most expensive ring in the world, but it does the job that shows I'm a big Trekkie. So it's nice. I might have to take it back, though, and get a different size. I got a size 12 and it's a little loose. So I might have to go back and get like an 11. But other than that, I love it. It feels great. Yeah, I used to be a size 12 ring as well. I'm now down to a size 11.
Rocky Franchise Discussion
00:03:05
Speaker
So that's funny.
00:03:06
Speaker
yeah absolutely absolutely so so really that is all i've done since we've last talked except c family how about you kind of the same i've just been doing my work stuff and you know catching up or keeping up with all of the shows and stuff that we watch on you know disney plus and and everything um over the past couple weeks i actually
00:03:28
Speaker
filled in a gap in my film-watching history and completed the Rocky franchise. I had never seen Rocky 2, 3, 4, or 5 prior to a couple weeks ago, and I watched those four movies, so I've now seen every Rocky movie so far. I haven't started the Creed franchise yet, but I'm getting there.
00:03:51
Speaker
Okay. Okay. Well, did you, did you really enjoy what you watched? Oh yeah, absolutely. Uh, I mean, Rocky two was incredible. Of the four that I watched, I would say Rocky two was my favorite. Three was my second favorite. Four was my third favorite and five was my least favorite.
00:04:09
Speaker
Okay, most people seem to say Rocky V was the worst. It was bad. I mean, really, really, really bad. That's what my dad used to watch those movies when we were kids. And he always said, Rocky V stinks, Rocky V stinks. And I'm like, okay, all right, we won't watch Rocky V then. Just keep watching four. He seemed to like four.
00:04:31
Speaker
See I didn't like for as much as everybody seemed to Really enjoy it. I don't know. I just thought it felt way too over-the-top way to 80s like it If you want a perfect snapshot of what the 80s was like kids go watch rocky 4 that's that's a pretty accurate Path of that decade. Oh, there you go. That's good. That's good. Well, yes, they were Brigitte Nilsen's in it and
00:04:58
Speaker
Is in it, who the heck say it? Who played Ivan Drago? Was that Dolph Lundgren? Dolph Lundgren, yeah. Okay, okay. And isn't that the one where they had the robot going around? Yes. There you go. Okay, now that is definitely Quintessential 80s.
00:05:13
Speaker
Yes, very much so. So now, yeah, I've seen every Rocky film so I can kind of feel accomplished with that. And that's kind of geeky in a way. Sure. Absolutely. It's a franchise. Yeah. And that's what we do here is talk about franchises. Very true. And then I guess the other really quick thing that I want to discuss, you know, kind of, you know, on the same line as you with a couple cool purchases. A couple months ago, I got a new pair of glasses.
00:05:40
Speaker
from this online site called Pear Eyewear.
Star Wars Themed Custom Eyewear
00:05:43
Speaker
And the thing with Pear Eyewear is you pick a base frame and they have about 10 different ones that you can choose from for men and an equal number of frame options for women. And you pick a base frame, you pick a color of the base frame, but then they have magnets on the temples where you can buy tops that adhere magnetically to the glasses. So it kind of changes up your look.
00:06:06
Speaker
Okay, you can just swap out the tops because it's just a simple magnet that holds them in place so there is a huge huge community of top creators on Facebook on Etsy and all those places and I ordered myself a custom set of Star Wars tops with the Ahsoka like her her silhouette basically with her Montrell's and her facial markings but I got that pattern on on a set of tops and
00:06:36
Speaker
Uh, the other pattern that I got was a Star Trek pattern, which I sent you in a message and it's got the, uh, the comp badges and the, you know, and they represent the different departments. So command engineering and science. Oh, nice. So that's what those were. I couldn't, they looked like, it looked like wrapping paper to me the way it came in. I'm like, okay, why is he sending me pictures of nerd wrapping paper? Now it makes a little more sense. As I told you, it would. Yes. Yes. Thank you for the clarification.
00:07:06
Speaker
I told you it all makes sense once we started recording. Absolutely. Good, good, good. Alright, so that's kind of our geekiness over the past three and a half weeks, I guess, right?
Star Trek Updates
00:07:17
Speaker
Absolutely. Move the ship out of the asteroid field so that we can send a clear transmission. Captain.
00:07:24
Speaker
incoming message. So Chris, um, I know that kind of Star Trek news is a little light at this point, but you kind of find something interesting to talk about, right? Yeah. The one thing that I found right now, uh, obviously the big news right now is we're what eight days away from the third season premiere of Star Trek Picard. So that right now is taking up all the news focus on Yahoo news and all of the different things.
00:07:52
Speaker
What I found today, just kind of scrolling through Twitter, Star Trek Strange New Worlds, the first season, at this point, we already know that it's coming out on Blu-ray, DVD, and limited edition Blu-ray Steelbook. Those are supposed to be coming out March 21st.
00:08:07
Speaker
The fans seem to be asking about what about a 4K Ultra release? So there was news on Twitter today that the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray edition is actually going to be coming out on May 16th and it will come wrapped in a fancy steel book of its own. So I saw a picture of it. I think really what it is is just like the cover. If I remember correctly, it's just the cover. It's the one poster I think where
00:08:31
Speaker
Pike was on the horse and the enterprise was overhead. If I remember correctly, that's the picture that's going to be on that that release. I think the one. Yeah, I think with the regular release, it's just the enterprise and all the main characters in the front on that planet. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah. So really beyond that, that's all the Star Trek news that I've seen.
00:08:52
Speaker
Gotcha. That seems a little weird that they wouldn't have just automatically released a 4K Ultra HD home version because that's how the show airs on Paramount Plus if you have a compatible television. It's automatically in Ultra High Def, right? Right. That's what I thought. Yeah. So yeah, you're right. It is a little weird that they decided to kind of split the releases. But hey, I guess fans just have to wait two more months, but they're going to get what they they've asked for.
00:09:20
Speaker
Right, right. And, you know, if you've been holding out so you could see the beautiful man that Anson Mount is, I mean, he's a pretty good looking dude, let's be honest.
00:09:34
Speaker
Yeah, he's definitely a manly man. There's no denying that, you know. The hair flip is unique. The memes of that that came out with it growing like, you know, like Marge Simpson's hairstyle. Those were pretty funny last year.
00:09:50
Speaker
Yep, absolutely. So on that note, I found a couple little Star Wars bits of news to talk about.
Star Wars Announcements
00:09:59
Speaker
All right, we'll kind of start with the kind of for me, what's kind of the most devastating in a way. And I get why it's going to happen. But, you know, the the Star Wars Jedi survivor game that's coming out that was supposed to come out March 17,
00:10:15
Speaker
Which you know, it's that it's the game that I've been really excited about the sequel to Star Wars Jedi fallen order that came out in 2019 and was one of my favorite Star Wars games of all time The sequel is was supposed to come out on March 17th, but unfortunately it's being pushed back by about six weeks to I think April 28th or very beginning of May something like that the development team wants to make sure that
00:10:43
Speaker
They released a quality product and they wanted the extra six weeks to really kind of refine everything and make sure that when it launches, the game is going to be as smooth as it's intended to be.
00:10:56
Speaker
from time to time, game companies will do this, but it's still kind of disappointing because you look forward to a game release and then it gets pushed back. It's disappointing, but I get the reason why they want to do it. Sure. Absolutely. I guess it's what we call in the therapy world, delayed gratification. We all want our immediate gratification, but then we have to
00:11:24
Speaker
just kind of suck it up and wait. So hopefully that'll be worth the two months or month pushback. Yeah, absolutely. I hope so. And you know what? I will just be patiently waiting and it's just going to build up that sense of anticipation a little bit more, I guess.
00:11:41
Speaker
Oh yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. The only other piece of Star Wars news that I was really able to locate for this was the announcement of the second season of Star Wars Visions and it's going to be released on May 4th of 2023. So that's how we get to celebrate May the 4th be with you this year is with a new season of Star Wars Visions. All
00:12:03
Speaker
nine episodes are going to be available same day. So you won't have to wait week to week for the series. And what and if you don't really remember or you don't have Disney Plus or you didn't watch it Star Wars vision season one.
00:12:16
Speaker
was a compilation of nine shorts by nine different Japanese animation studios. And it's kind of the Japanese take on Star Wars. Well, none of the episodes are canon or anything like that. It's just fun shows to watch and just see like how Japanese really take to Star Wars and how they interpret it because George Lucas was very much inspired, of course, by Japanese culture and samurai culture and especially the films of Akira Kurosawa.
00:12:45
Speaker
So it's a nice little pat on the back for both. But season two is kind of broadening the horizon of Star Wars Visions. And there are going to be nine new shorts, but they're going to be from animation studios from around the world. So we're getting a short from an animation studio in Spain, in Ireland, in India, South Africa, and there's going to be a lot more.
00:13:09
Speaker
One of my favorite, or one of my most anticipated shorts that's part of this Visions season two collection is by the studio called Aardman. And they're a United Kingdom based studio who specializes in stop motion animation. And they've done like the Wallace and Gromit series, Shaun the Sheep if you've heard of any of those.
00:13:32
Speaker
And I mean stop motion Star Wars we haven't seen that since a lot of the you know, like the Some of the battle scenes, you know in Empire Strikes Back were done with stop motion Sure, wasn't um, also the rank or in return of the Jedi was that the same as well? I believe that was stop motion as well. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. Okay Yeah, I can always see the matte lines when he's going after Luke down in the cave. I
00:14:00
Speaker
Yep, yep. And it kind of breaks the immersion a little bit with our 4K technology, but it looked amazing.
00:14:07
Speaker
on a standard type of, you know, standard definition television back in the eighties. Oh, absolutely. Without a doubt. So yeah, that'll be really cool. I have, I have not checked out Star Wars visions yet. I think it's on Disney plus, right? It is. Yeah, it is. I'll have to check it out then so we can trade notes for season two. So I did not put it together that it was May 4th when that was coming out. So thank you for that. Yeah, no problem.
History of Star Wars and Star Trek Conventions
00:14:32
Speaker
All right. And I think that kind of covers the news, right?
00:14:49
Speaker
OK, I thought so. So with no more news to talk about and with how did you geek this week in the books for another episode, I think we're going to move on to our feature discussion. And Chris, once again, this was a brilliant idea that you had for an episode. So I'm going to let you take it away with an introduction when you're ready.
00:14:59
Speaker
Sounds about right to me.
00:15:08
Speaker
alright i will thank you so basically what i thought about for this episode was. I was looking online and i just happen to notice on facebook that somebody mentioned star war celebration so star war celebration for those of you who don't know is the basic.
00:15:25
Speaker
large Star Wars convention for fans and it's usually once a year. It hasn't happened for a couple years because of COVID, but Star Wars Celebration is going to be in Europe this year and it's going to be happening in London, England from April 7th through April 10th.
00:15:41
Speaker
So that's going to be exciting for Star Wars fans. But as also as fans know, Star Trek has a long history of having its own conventions, with its biggest conventions actually being through creation entertainment. As many fans know as well, Star Trek has its own history of having conventions.
00:15:59
Speaker
And the biggest one that's actually out there now is through Creation Entertainment in Las Vegas, which is Star Trek Las Vegas, which typically takes place at the Rio All Sweets Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. And it is scheduled to occur from August 3 through 6 this year.
00:16:17
Speaker
so unfortunately jonathan i'm sure as a star wars fan you would love to go to celebration as much as i love to go to stlv for sure now obviously you and i are not going to either one of these this year but for those of you who don't know
00:16:32
Speaker
Jonathan has attended a Star Wars celebration in the past and I went to Star Trek Las Vegas three different times. Once in 2012, once in 2016 and one in 2019. So we've got to experience these base humongous conventions in person. So I thought with Star Wars celebration coming up very shortly, why don't we talk about conventions and a little bit of what they're like and what our memories are of those so maybe you guys can enjoy it.
00:17:01
Speaker
Yeah, and I appreciate you coming up with this topic. I think it's going to be a really fun walk down memory lane for both of us to relive the convention experience. But also, I wanted to kind of use this time to talk about the history of these fan conventions because, you know,
00:17:23
Speaker
Big gatherings like this weren't always a thing within the fandom communities. They often started out very small, very grassroots before they blew up into the celebration that we know and love today. And before the conventions kind of morphed into these major gatherings like they are today for Star Wars Celebration, Star Trek Las Vegas, they kind of started out much smaller and much more fan-driven, much more intimate.
00:17:48
Speaker
As far as Star Wars Celebration is concerned, it's not something that is relatively new. It's just only grown in size year after year after year. There have been about 15 official Star Wars Celebration conventions so far, and the first three were all timed to
00:18:09
Speaker
occur right before the release of the prequel movies. So Celebration 1 occurred a couple months before the release of Star Wars Episode 1, Celebration 2 before Episode 2, and Celebration 3 before Episode 3. And then they just kind of became the official fan gathering from Celebration 4 forward, and that's when they started occurring
00:18:34
Speaker
all throughout the United States and the world. And even in Japan, there's been a Star Wars celebration. Wow. Right? That's wonderful. Yeah. So that's kind of the history of the official Star Wars convention. There's a lot of smaller fan run conventions that attract a lot of Star Wars guests. I mean, we have our own local cons here in the Pittsburgh area, like Steel City Con.
00:18:59
Speaker
Columbus has a pretty big Comic Con and there's Wizard Comic Con and they all kind of attract people from Star Trek and Star Wars both. But then you've got some of the bigger conventions throughout the United States. There's a really big, like basically it's all fan run, all fan organized. It takes place in downtown Atlanta and it's called Dragon Con. It always takes place over Labor Day weekend of every year. And it attracts a lot of
00:19:28
Speaker
Star Wars and Star Trek guests, but it's all like fan driven fan run. It's not put on by any one official Like licensed con putter on her
00:19:41
Speaker
organization or whatever. Absolutely, absolutely. So I was always wondering if there were more Star Wars conventions outside of Star Wars Celebration, because I've never heard of Star Wars conventions like you hear about Star Trek conventions. Right, right. And yeah, I don't really think there are a ton of ones that really get a lot of attention at least.
00:20:04
Speaker
I mean, you kind of get a little bit of Star Wars every time that Disney has their D23 convention, which is kind of on a biennial cycle. It happens once every two years in Anaheim. You get a Star Wars and Marvel and Disney presence there.
00:20:20
Speaker
And then you have a lot of other official Star Wars events like Disney Cruise Line used to do Star Wars Day at Sea cruises kind of in January through March, which was kind of a way to attract people to cruise during those slower times by having these themed cruises.
00:20:38
Speaker
Okay, okay. Well, that's really cool. That's really cool. I didn't know about that. So that's that's really that's fascinating You know, so I know with if you know words Star Wars convention don't really sound normal together But basically by this point after 50 years the term Star Trek convention is basically a part of every lexicon I can't tell you how many people come up to me and go have you gone to those conventions?
00:21:02
Speaker
Absolutely, I did growing up when I was when I was little but the ones that came out here into the Pittsburgh area or through creation Entertainment who is still running a lot of different conventions they unfortunately at this time they don't have the official license for The kit for Star Trek Las Vegas and when they used to now read pop has it read pop had their their first. Oh, you don't like read pop
00:21:25
Speaker
They're a mess. I mean, they run Star Wars Celebration, but I don't work for Reid Pop. I don't work for Lucasfilm, so I can feel free to express my opinion. They're a bit of a disorganized mess, which makes sense why they decided to cancel Star Trek missions to Seattle, because they probably didn't have a clue what they were doing.
00:21:45
Speaker
Exactly. And my fingers are so crossed that that creation is going to get the license back eventually. And they can have the official Star Trek convention in Vegas because I see I haven't gone to any of the conventions that are now they're just referred to as like the 55 year mission. This one's obviously going to be the 57 year mission, but they're not allowed to have any authorized like sets and props and stuff. I mean, when I was there, we were at Quark's Bar and the Borg Alc. I mean, just tons of stuff.
00:22:12
Speaker
You know, and I think that's sorely been missing from what I've seen of the other of the Vegas conventions in the last, I say, two years, three years, you know, but who knows anything's possible. So that could happen. But what's really cool about Star Trek conventions is the first one that was that was actually held, it occurred from January 21st through 23rd of 1972 in New York. That is actually what is considered to be the first true Star Trek convention.
00:22:41
Speaker
And it wasn't some big organization that got it together. It was actually a small group of Star Trek fans that were referred to as the committee. And several members of the committee were, there was a woman named Joan Winston, and she actually, I believe, wrote a book about the first convention in a book called Star Trek Lives. It came out sometime in the 1970s. But there were, she was, her main responsibility was to basically watch the dealer's room and give detailed accounts of the first convention.
00:23:09
Speaker
Other members that were a part of this committee included people named Alan Asherman, Eileen Becker, Elise Pines, Steve Rosenstein, and Al Schuster. And you would think back in the 70s, if you imagine it was probably there was no internet, there was no way to really quickly connect with Star Trek fans. So they had to basically just type out letters and flyers and send them out.
00:23:30
Speaker
So, and this was actually talked about in the documentary Trekkies. So apparently they were thinking that only like 300 guests were going to actually show up to this show. Well, actually several thousand turned up by the end of the convention. They actually had to turn people away or keep people waiting outside for that.
00:23:48
Speaker
So some of the things that they actually did at this very first show was they had a costume contest at an art show. They had some sort of NASA display. And of course, they had the dealer's room. You can't have a Star Trek convention without a dealer's room. You know what I mean? They also screen some some of the 16 millimeter prints of the videos. They actually showed the pilot episode, the cage. And my favorite part of every Star Trek convention, the blooper reel.
00:24:15
Speaker
Absolutely. It's not a Star Trek convention to me until I see that blooper reel on on screen. You know, it's a must. So they had some guest speakers. You know, Gene Roddenberry was there. Major Barrett, DC, Fontana, Isaac Asimov was there. That was a good get.
00:24:33
Speaker
And I think there was also a Desilu executive, Oscar Katz, I believe. He actually, that was actually his only only Star Trek invention he went to. And he was also there with his colleague at the time from Desilu Herb Solo. So after that, it proved to be such a success that they started having annual events. So it actually started to spread out. So you'd actually have the official Star Trek inventions that were basically through Creation Entertainment. But there were a lot of smaller ones as well.
00:25:02
Speaker
But getting back to creation entertainment so creation entertainment was founded in nineteen seventy one and they produce basically what were called traveling star trek convention all over north america and in great britain so at the height of star trek popularity which was.
00:25:18
Speaker
Early to mid nineties around nineteen ninety four when generations came out so creation was actually organizing around that time a hundred and ten conventions per year sometimes three in actual actually in one weekend so like i said there were a couple creation.
00:25:33
Speaker
Conventions that came out here to Pittsburgh. The first one I went to was in January 1989. I was in second grade. I was eight years old and Yeah, James Duhan was there and I remember him I remember it was really weird because I remember him talking in his normal voice without a Scotty accent I'm like, why is he talking so weird? You know and so and I remember him wearing a white sweatshirt that's the one of the only things I can really remember and
00:26:04
Speaker
Unfortunately, I actually found some footage of that on YouTube about a year or two ago. I haven't really watched it. I saved it, but I'm going to go back and actually try to watch that. Also, when I was in graduate school, the lady that I was studying under for my MSW, she was a big Star Trek fan, and she apparently was at that convention, and she actually gave me the picture that she had of Scotty, and guess what? He was wearing that white shirt.
00:26:28
Speaker
There you go. I was like, okay, so my memories are sticking out here pretty good. And we went to a couple other Star Trek conventions. They were in Monroeville at what used to be, not the Monroeville Convention Center, but I think it was the Monroeville Expo or something like that. So we saw Mark Leonard at the next one we went to, and then we saw Nichelle Nichols. Then we didn't go to any Star Trek conventions. They just started to disappear in the late 90s. Nobody came here to Pittsburgh.
00:26:53
Speaker
You know, and then I got to be fortunate enough to go to Star Trek Las Vegas those three times, you know, but there are also other conventions out there, too. There's FedCon, which is your largest annual sci-fi convention. It's usually held in Bonn, Germany. It started in 1992 as it was primarily a Star Trek convention. Yeah, there's also another one that's fan run that's called Shoreleaf, and it's somewhere in Maryland and it happens every year. I believe Shoreleaf 43 is happening this year.
00:27:23
Speaker
I've never been to Shore Leave, but I printed out their flyer today and I said to my wife, I said, we got to go. Right? That would be great. Yeah. And then I think that's really about it. There's also, well, there's Destination Star Trek. That's also, that's the official European Star Trek convention. That's happened in London twice, Birmingham twice, and in the city of Frankfurt.
00:27:46
Speaker
And then the other one, the last one I was really going to talk about is where we're called Vulcan Conventions, V-U-L-K-O-N. So they began running conventions in 1987 in places like Orlando, Cleveland, Houston, and Atlanta. Normally two Vulcans
00:28:01
Speaker
conventions were held each year in Orlando, Florida, one in the spring and one in the fall. Usually have been had about 1500 to 2000 people. But unfortunately, in late 2008, the company filed for bankruptcy and it was dissolved. So that's just a basic little
00:28:17
Speaker
history of some of the Star Trek conventions. They're a blast. I hope you get to go to one someday. I would love to. I just have to find the time and, you know, that's the trick. There's only so many weekends, you know, you can do stuff. Absolutely. Yeah. Again, back to that having no adult first before we can have fun. Right. Right. But, you know, at the same time, Star Wars conventions really wouldn't exist if it hadn't been for all these early pioneers in
00:28:44
Speaker
Star Trek convention. So the fact that Star Wars Celebration is what it is and why it's so...
00:28:50
Speaker
being such a popular event that attracts people from all around the world is because of Star Trek Conventions. Absolutely. Absolutely. And then now you think about it that now we got the Doctor Who Conventions and Supernatural Conventions, and then you have the little miniature comic cons where now it's a little mix of everybody. So yeah, I think those pioneers, as you call them, basically they did set the tone for all this, so we're very lucky for that.
00:29:16
Speaker
Right. So I think that was a very, very detailed history of fan conventions. So thank you for putting all that together for us, Chris. I know Star Wars really doesn't have as robust a history, but again, that's because of the love that Trekkies have for the franchise and cared enough to have conventions.
00:29:39
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. I thought before we kind of get into our individual experiences at Star Wars Celebration in Star Trek Las Vegas, I thought we'd kind of talk about the overall layout of a fan convention that we go to. And I'm pretty much, while I've only been to one Star Wars Celebration, they're all pretty much organized the same way, just the venue changes. You know, you've kind of got your main stages for panels or main rooms for the panels.
00:30:08
Speaker
you know, that's where all the major panels take place. Sometimes depending on the size and the need, you know, they have multiple areas of multiple sizes that can accommodate big productions and heavy, you know, number of audience members. You've got a lot of, you know, and usually these conventions take place in a pretty large convention center. So you've got a lot of smaller rooms and smaller areas and different sections where a lot of the fan
00:30:36
Speaker
created content can be. You've got the costuming clubs like the 501st Legion, the Rebel Legion, the Mandalorian Mercs, they always have their little rooms that they have in the convention center where you can go visit and talk and see all the work that these people put into these costumes to make them 100% screen accurate. That's a big deal in the Star Wars Costuming Club Committee is
00:31:03
Speaker
I mean organizations rather is how screen accurate they are. Your costume gets graded based on how close it is to the actual on-screen product.
00:31:13
Speaker
Wow, that's it. That's incredible. And you know, you're right. I mean, and they, they are very accurate. If you, you know, you've, I think you've been to Steel City Con, right? Yeah. The 501st is there at every single comic on there. And they're, I mean, they're, they look like screen made or screen used outfits. That's how good they are. You know, I had heard that they were pretty, they were pretty hardcore about that. Very much.
00:31:37
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, you have to petition to become a member. You have to show pictures of your costume from every angle. It's it's crazy. The amount of detail that has to go into your presentation to to be officially recognized as a member of one of these costuming clubs.
00:31:52
Speaker
So obviously the fandom there, the 501st, they're a big part of Star Wars Celebration. What else do you notice about the way it's laid out?
Star Wars Celebration Details
00:32:00
Speaker
I guess one of the biggest attractions of any con is always the show floor, right? The show floor is kind of where you've got all of the vendors that are selling their merchandise. You've got an artists section where you can buy custom art pieces. You've got some
00:32:17
Speaker
booths from all of these major companies that have the Star Wars license and create stuff. So there's always Lego presence. There's always a Hasbro presence. There's high-end furniture, high-end collectibles. There's a company that will design custom furniture that's inspired by Star Wars. You don't want to see the price tag on some of those pieces. I would imagine.
00:32:40
Speaker
And then the high-end collectibles, the really detailed busts from companies like Gentle Giant, they always have a huge presence on the show floor. Funko is always there. On the show floor, you've got a stage where you'll have some really energetic hosts that will kind of
00:32:59
Speaker
Interview stars after they've been in panels, you know, they'll bring them down to the show floor and they'll interview them on the stage They'll have crowd like costume contests and all kinds of stuff like, you know on this main stage They'll have like fan engagement events. They'll have like a t-shirt cannon a lunch, you know t-shirts and stuff out into the crowd, you know, it's kind of like the
00:33:21
Speaker
the hub of where you go to watch the panels if you don't actually get into the room where the panels are occurring, you can watch the panels on a closed-circuit television feed right on the main stage.
00:33:35
Speaker
I guess there's artists that have their custom art pieces up for sale. And every single Star Wars celebration that I can think of, at least in recent, you know, maybe past 10 of the 15, there is an entire area staffed by Lucasfilm licensed tattoo artists where you can go and get a Star Wars tattoo at Star Wars Celebration.
00:34:01
Speaker
Oh, that's really cool. And it's all officially recognized like they have to basically they are licensed to do Star Wars art by Lucasfilm. So they have to be like the cream of the crop to be in this section.
00:34:14
Speaker
Oh, wow. So you're not just getting somebody walking off the street and saying, hey, can we work at your show? Right. Exactly. That's that's pretty cool. So they take it pretty seriously. Wow. Yeah, I will. I don't know a whole lot about Star Wars Celebration, but I will tell you what I love about it. I've never been to one, but I love that they live stream.
00:34:33
Speaker
You know, I'll sit at work I'll for four days I'll sit there at work when I'm in between clients and I'll sit there and watch the panels or whatever they're doing You know and it feels like it's wonderful because you get to be there without actually being there You know, and I don't think the Star Trek conventions have done that yet So no, no, not not nearly to the level that they'll you know The the official Star Trek YouTube channel will put like highlights up, but they won't do a live stream. Yeah. Yeah
00:35:01
Speaker
Right, exactly. So I'll give kudos to them for that because, I mean, it's really, it's wonderful. And, you know, to be fair, if you do go to a Star Wars Celebration, you can see a lot more stuff than what they show in that live feed, you know? Like, they'll have the big panels. But, you know, for example, if you are at the Star Wars panel for the Mandalorian at Star Wars Celebration,
00:35:28
Speaker
you might get to see an episode before it airs on Disney Plus. But basically the live feed will cut before the episode airs so that the audience, the people watching from home don't get to experience the same stuff that the people attending Celebration are. So there are definitely advantages to actually being there in person that the live stream just doesn't show.
00:35:53
Speaker
I mean, let's be honest with you here. The cosplay, you have to see that in person to get the full effect of it. I mean, you can see it on a screen, but to actually be there in person and maybe even get a picture with it or even be allowed to touch the costume, you know, you get permission. I mean, you can't beat that.
00:36:08
Speaker
You know it's nothing like it's like going to see a star wars movie on either the big screen or
Star Trek Las Vegas Experience
00:36:13
Speaker
watching it on your tv at home you know it's a totally different experience you know screen you know exactly so how is how's the typical creation starward star trek las vegas.
00:36:28
Speaker
Convention organized is it similar to Star Wars celebration in any way where they're broken up into little? segments like that or or you know to Star Trek Las Vegas have a lot of fan run content and
00:36:43
Speaker
I don't think it had a whole lot of fan run content. There was definitely a lot of official stuff. Usually it's at the Rio and there's like a convention area in the back. You go through the casino and you head back down this really long hallway and then you round a bend and you go down this like little ramped floor into like a main entrance area where you get your tickets and other little things or your programs, stuff like that.
00:37:10
Speaker
There's a main theater that's where basically all the action happens for panels and talking to the celebrities. They called it the Gene Roddenberry or Gene and Major Roddenberry Theater, I believe is what they called it. Then what you would do is you would walk away from that room and then you'd make a left and there's this really long hallway.
00:37:31
Speaker
And they're going down there. They would have it littered with pictures of different cast and characters and places where you could get photo ops. You know, they said like STLV 2019 or whatever, that kind of stuff. And there was a secondary theater, which they called the DeForest Kelly Theater. And that's where you would have maybe some of the more like the Star Trek guest stars or more of like the like the panels talking about science and philosophy, things of that nature. And then so you would walk down the hall.
00:38:01
Speaker
a little bit, then there would be an intersection. At that point, they had, if I remember correctly, they had three Borg alcoves that you could actually stand in and get your picture taken in for free, which was really cool. I mean, it looked just like it did in the shows, even with that green light, that like electric light in the back. I mean, it was wonderful. I got my picture taken there a couple of times. Then in the same hallway, they had a section that they made called Quark's Bar.
00:38:27
Speaker
And literally, they dressed it up like it was Quarks from Deep Space Nine. There were a lot of places you could sit down. They had Quarks bar signs. They had models of the Enterprise-E that some fans had created at one point. For 2016, they had a cloth backdrop of the original Enterprise bridge.
00:38:48
Speaker
And a replica of Captain Kirk's chair, you can sit in it and actually get your picture taken there for free, which was really cool. And then they had a little side area where they did little smaller panels of stuff. I think the one time they were talking about when MeeGo came back with Star Trek figures, they did those kind of things. They had, I think, Chase Masterson, who played Lita on Deep Space Nine, did a singing show there at one point. Nice. Just little small things. And then,
00:39:15
Speaker
If you left that corridor, if you went down a little farther and made a left, that's where the dealer's room was with a whole bunch of different Star Trek stuff. So in some years it was bigger than others. And basically, like I said, it was all Star Trek.
00:39:31
Speaker
Related merchandise I know in 2016 they had Star Trek had some sort of license with Mac cosmetics and They actually had some models there Dressed up as like data and counselor Troy and they were putting different makeup on and showing people what it was going on ironically the guy who was modeling the makeup in
00:39:53
Speaker
for Data. Actually, he played the Android was at F8 in the first season of Star Trek Picard, and then he played
00:40:03
Speaker
the Android named Harvey that was working for Picard with the Confederation. Same actor, that was really cool. But they had that. I know in 2019 when I went, there was a Star Trek simulator, virtual reality ride, some sort of thing. And since we were, what was it, copper package, we got to actually go and do that the day before the convention started. Oh, that's awesome.
00:40:28
Speaker
Yeah, so my wife and I and two others boarded and it took place in the Kelvin timeline. So they put these things on and we were seated in this like thing that would rock around and stuff. Basically what we were doing was we were fighting Klingon battle cruisers. And then we were all scored. I won. Go figure, right?
00:40:46
Speaker
You know, so I did. I was kind of proud about that. But I mean, that was a big thing. See what else there was all in 2016. They took a picture of me in front of this green screen. So they made it actually where I was able to transport away and then come back. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, I don't know if I still have it or not, but it was it was really neat. And then one year, I think it was in 2016. It was so big that actually they had to set up a little side room for extra vendors.
00:41:15
Speaker
which was really nice. Also in that hallway, there was a model of the original enterprise transporter. So you got to get your picture taken there for free. One year they had the agonizer booth from Star Trek Discovery, which was really cool.
00:41:34
Speaker
The last year that I went in 2019, if you went all the way down to the end of the hall, there was a room where they had a whole bunch of stuff like different storyboards from Star Trek The Motion Picture lined up that you could look at and then there was some sort of other VR thing going on.
00:41:52
Speaker
And I was actually in line for it. And all of a sudden, Aaron Eisenberg, the actor who played Nog on Deep Space Nine came in to check it out. And he got priority to use it. And I'm standing there going like, okay,
00:42:07
Speaker
Hey, this is cool. I get it. Nog needs, you know, he gets special treatment. I'm like, but I've been standing here for how long waiting to get my turn. You know, but you know what? It was no big deal. He actually, he unfortunately, he died a month after that happened. So I actually think it was cool to get to see him doing that with my own eyes.
00:42:24
Speaker
Yeah, you know, and then the last thing also was a few months before Star Trek Picard premiered and they had this big Captain Picard traveling museum that was in there with all these different things from all from the next generation and a lot of the props that were going to be used in Star Trek Picard. And I got to actually tour that take pictures of everything and make video of it.
00:42:46
Speaker
So it was so cool. And then it's just not the convention that you go to. Fans actually link up on Twitter and on Facebook and connect with each other and set up little parties and gatherings throughout Vegas during the four or five days the convention goes on. So it's like, it doesn't stop. And it's so much fun because you can actually walk through the convention and into the casino and everything. And sometimes you walk right by the actors. I walked by George Takei, John Delancey, Kate Mulgrew,
00:43:15
Speaker
There was one guy who played, what the hell was his name? He was one, Lieutenant Leslie, he was like a background character in the original series. And by then, it was in 2016, he was in a wheelchair and he was right behind me in line to go into a burger place. And I just figured, you know what, I'll be nice, I'll let him go ahead of me. I said, you can go ahead in front of me. He goes, oh, well, thank you. Nice, nice.
00:43:42
Speaker
Yeah, so there's a lot that goes on at the Star Trek conventions. Nice. So I gotta ask you now, since it takes place in Vegas at a casino, do you ever see the celebrities and the stars playing slot machines or table games?
Cosplay Highlights
00:43:58
Speaker
I might have once or twice and I just don't quite remember. I know that in 2019, Brandy and I, my wife and I went to, there was a Chinese restaurant and Gary Lockwood, who he guest starred in the second Star Trek pilot is Gary Mitchell. And he and another Star Trek actor came in. They sat at a table, like two tables away from us. And I'm sitting there pointing at my wife and going, Hey, just so you know, that's the guy from where no man has gone before. And then from the movie, 2001.
00:44:28
Speaker
She had no idea what the hell I was talking about. It was that kind of little stuff. You had no clue where they were going to pop up. It was just the coolest thing. I could go on for hours about it, but that's the basic gist of it. Yeah. I got curious, just as you were talking and I was listening, I got curious to know what the average attendance is at Star Trek.
00:44:50
Speaker
in Las Vegas versus Star Wars Celebration. The average STLV attracts about 15,000 to 18,000 people. Star Wars Celebration tends to have about 60,000 people in attendance or more.
00:45:06
Speaker
Wow. Okay. Yeah, I thought STLV was big, but man. So it's hard to believe, but technically, STLV is a more intimate convention experience than celebration. I would have never thought that. That's wild. Okay. Well, go. I'm glad you looked that up. Yeah, I was just curious. I knew that Star Wars Celebration attracted like 40,000 or more people, but I didn't realize that STLV was
00:45:34
Speaker
under 20,000 for most years. Wow, that's incredible. That's incredible. Certainly didn't feel that way. Yeah. A little bit of behind the scenes trivia there for those wondering what the attendance is like for both. Cool. Awesome.
00:45:55
Speaker
where really the fans, the people that listen to our show really want to know is what our experiences at these cons has been like. Some of the things that we've personally experienced as far as panels and what we've done on the show floor, any activities, any cool cosplay, I think that's really the big reason why people go to these conventions is to see all of that stuff. So I thought, why not talk about our own unique experiences at all the cons.
00:46:22
Speaker
Chris, I know your experience and the number of cons you've attended vastly outweighs mine, but I thought that would be a fun little way to end up this episode.
00:46:33
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. So the cosplays that people came to there were just were beyond creative. I'm trying to remember all as many as I can. Obviously, you had your typical people in their Starfleet uniforms. You know, you can't have that. But I remember one guy was dressed up and I got a picture with him. He was dressed as a Zindy reptilian. That was really cool. Let's see what else did people dress up as. There was one lady who dressed up as
00:46:58
Speaker
If I remember correctly, she designed a big poster of like a postcard and said, welcome to Ryza. And she dressed herself as like a hula girl. You know, that was a really cool one. I think somebody at one point dressed up as the crystalline entity. That's impressive. Yeah. I don't know if that was at one of mine or if I just saw a picture of it, but I've saw it somewhere. Let's see. I think there were some people dressed up as like the women from Mudd's Women.
00:47:28
Speaker
See who else there were there's just there were just so many good I mean you have your typical you have your Andorians you have your Klingons you have your Romulans ah there were there were there was Lursa and Bator Okay, and a couple of them. I actually did Klingon karaoke with them
00:47:45
Speaker
I will. If we have time, I'll tell you about Klingon karaoke. That was a freaking blast. Both of them. All right. But yeah, Lurso and Beethor saying, let it be in Klingon. Nice. He had somebody dressed as Commander Selah. Somebody was dressed as Ardra.
00:48:00
Speaker
See who else oh my gosh, I'd have to go back through my pictures and look but they were just it was just Phenomenal the convention in 2012. I dressed up. That was the only year I dressed up in a costume because I could still fit in it and So basically we were going for the Guinness Book of World Records the most trekkies together We didn't make it but it was still fun
00:48:22
Speaker
to be able to do that and keep that little card that said what number we were. So that was fun. So yeah, there was there was that. What else did you want me to tell you about? Yeah, well, let's kind of break it down individually. You know, let's let's break it down by category. So, you know, we kind of you talked about all the different cosplay that you saw. So yeah.
00:48:42
Speaker
I'll kind of jump in here and let you, you know, talk about my cosplay experience at Star Wars Celebration. Cool. So I am not a costume person, like I just, you know, I'm the guy that wears the Star Wars t-shirt every single day, wears a different t-shirt, you know, and it goes to the convention, right, which is exactly what I do. But I certainly appreciate a good cosplay. So on day one of Star Wars Celebration in 2017, I remember seeing
00:49:09
Speaker
this group of people in cosplay, they were all dressed up as Muppets crossed with Star Wars. Oh, cool. So there was Darth Gonzo. So it's Gonzo and Darth Vader as a mishmash. Then Sam Eagle, Rolfe, Kermit, and Dr. Bunsen all were wearing Stormtrooper gear. Wow.
00:49:35
Speaker
And my favorite, my absolute favorite by far, Statler and Waldorf as Imperial officers wearing like the black tunics. They would be perfect for those rules. Right? Definitely. Yes. It was really, really good. So then a couple other really cool cosplay things that I want to talk about. And this is something these next two are kind of occur at every single Star Wars celebration. So
00:50:02
Speaker
Do you remember in Empire Strikes Back, the scene where they're all evacuating Cloud City and you see this guy dressed in like an orange and like cream-colored jumpsuit type thing running in the background carrying what looks like an at-home ice cream machine?
00:50:20
Speaker
I don't remember seeing that, but I'll look for that the next time. Yeah, so next time you're watching Empire Strikes Back, look out for that guy. But yeah, basically what we now know as a Camtona, which if you remember from the episode of The Mandalorian, Mando got that container that had all of the best car in it. Yes. So that container that was given to him, that's the same container that this guy is running with in the background.
00:50:48
Speaker
of Empire. But every single celebration, there is a group of people who would all dress up as this character, and his character is named Wilro Hood. At some point in the canon material, they gave him a name, and they called him Wilro Hood. But there's a running of the Wilros at every single Star Wars celebration, where they will
00:51:09
Speaker
all these people dressed as will row out carrying these ice cream makers and cam tonos will just, just run safely down the hallway in between, uh, like show floor rooms and stuff. It's kind of fun to watch. Oh, that's neat. Did they have video of that on like YouTube? Oh, absolutely. You can definitely find a bunch of videos called the running of the will row hoods or something like that.
00:51:34
Speaker
Um, and then kind of inspired by the running of the will row hoods. Um, do you, did you watch the episode of, uh, SNL that was hosted by Adam driver, like shortly after the force awakens came out?
00:51:50
Speaker
I didn't watch it live, but I did watch clips of it on YouTube. So do you remember the undercover boss skit where he is Adam Driver is Kylo Ren, who's going undercover as Matt the Radar Tech? Yes. Okay. So there's a gathering of Matt the Radar Techs that always happens at every celebration. Everybody dressed up as Matt the Radar Tech just kind of groups on the show floor so that they can all take pictures with fans and pose for pictures together.
00:52:19
Speaker
Oh, wow. Okay. It's just a fun little experience that, you know, that fans get to see at celebration anytime they go. It's just, it's, it's one of those, like, you have to see there. You have, you have to be there. You have to see it. You have to, you know, you really can't, it's really hard to envision it, you know, without actually having seen it, but it's great. You can find it on YouTube as well. Just, um, Matt, the radar tech celebration, you should be able to find it.
00:52:49
Speaker
Oh, sounds good. I'll look for it. And then the year that I went to celebration in 2017, it was the year after we got Rogue One. Okay. So we got Rogue One in 2016. And, you know, being that it's Star Wars Celebration, you know, a lot of people, you know, a lot of women will dress up as Princess Leia.
00:53:14
Speaker
So the year that I went, it was the year after Rogue One premiered in the theater, there was this little girl dressed as Jin Erso from Rogue One, and she had the plans to the Death Star as little cardboard business cards, and she would go and hand them to all the women dressed as Princess Leia.
00:53:35
Speaker
Are you handing off the death star plans to the to all the layers? Oh, that's too cute, man. That's great. So adorable. Oh, my goodness. Oh, wow. Did she get recognized for doing that? Like, like by the the people who organized it? I don't know. I have no idea. Wow. Yeah.
00:53:56
Speaker
But that is really cool. Did she give you guys? Was she only given out to Princess Leia? Yes. Yeah. She was only given out to anybody dressed, cosplaying as Leia. All right. Well, yeah, she took that. You know, so seriously, man, I loved it. It was so adorable. That's probably one of my favorite memories of all the panels that I attended, all the stuff that I saw. That was probably one of my favorite things. Oh, perfect. Now that's special. Definitely. Yeah, for sure. So
00:54:23
Speaker
I that's really all the major cosplay stuff that i've seen i mean you know you've got your characters you know people dressed up as as all the characters from all the star wars i mean there are so many different unique people roles that people can play there's uh it's just insane to see the level of detail and creation that goes in you know the time and that goes into this the creation of these things it's yeah
00:54:45
Speaker
Like it's incredible. Sure is. So why don't we talk about some of the most memorable panels, like official presentations and panels that we've seen.
Star Trek Las Vegas Panels
00:54:57
Speaker
So Chris, why don't you tell us some of your favorite panels from the STLVs that you've attended.
00:55:02
Speaker
Okay. Well, from the very first convention that we went to in 2012, Grace Lee Whitney was on stage. This was a year or two before she died. So I got to hear her talk about her memories of Star Trek, and she actually told everybody about what actually happened with why she was let go of the show. I don't remember all the specific details, but I'll just put it this way. You know,
00:55:28
Speaker
If you've ever seen the show Mad Men, how these higher up executives would treat their female employees, I think you know where I'm going with all that stuff. And back then, that was the men got their side was always told. So it was sad to hear it, but it was interesting to hear it from her own words, what happened. I assume that what you mean, this is like a me too.
00:55:53
Speaker
instance right something like that yeah okay or maybe not to that severity but close enough but just enough that it was you know it was part of it was just the way it was back in the 60s unfortunately you know so that was a good that was a really good one to see who else did i ever did i ever really see that i enjoyed
00:56:14
Speaker
I remember Scott Bakula, I believe he was on stage at the 2016 one at the 50th Star Trek Convention. I didn't get to meet him, but he is one of the nicest people on the planet. Really? He was just so graceful and just so kind to the audience. He would run back and forth because there were two sides to the stage, people asking questions. He'd go to every other question, he'd run all the way across the stage and slide.
00:56:40
Speaker
You know, it was really cool. I hope to get to meet him someday because he just seems like a genuine, like you can tell when somebody's genuine and when they're just faking it, you know, he's not one of them. He was definitely was not one of them. In 2016's conventions, again, since it was the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, Whoopi Goldberg came.
00:56:58
Speaker
which was really amazing to me because will be goldberg's my favorite actress and so to get to hear her talk about star trek and everything i thought was really wonderful occurs the alley also came to her very one and only star trek convention.
00:57:11
Speaker
I've loved Kirstie Alley since Cheers. I was a big fan of the Look Who's Talking movies when I was a kid. Now, to me, when I think of Savick, I don't necessarily think of her because my first Star Trek movie I ever saw was Star Trek III. So Robin Curtis is what I think of when I think of Savick.
00:57:30
Speaker
But I loved Kirstie Alley and Cheers and her, you know, just her comedic timing and things of that nature. I know some people don't like her because of her politics and stuff. But there was just, I just think she's, I just always thought she was hot as hell. And just, I just, you know, I had a thing for her. And so to get to see her at her one and only convention was really cool. Yeah, that had to be a great experience for you. Yeah, absolutely. So any other panels?
00:58:00
Speaker
Oh, well, they had it when in 2019, they were prepping Star Trek lower decks. So some of the people who were making the show, the producers actually came and started giving like behind the scenes stuff, and what we were to expect. So that was really cool. I got a lot of pictures and stuff of that. See,
00:58:19
Speaker
else. Panels, there are so many good panels. William Shatner's panels, of course, are always a treat. But what's interesting about William Shatner's panels is he doesn't necessarily talk a lot about Star Trek. He comes on and he just starts talking about life in general. It's just it's kind of like he's been like, I've Star Trek out with all these conversations. Yes, I'll answer questions about it from the fans. But really, I'm here to talk about
00:58:43
Speaker
my current life. So that was pretty interesting. There were a lot more. I just can't remember every single one, but there are a lot more activities. And we'll get to that in a little bit here. Yeah, absolutely. So I very distinctly remember almost all of the panels that I attended at Star Wars Celebration in 2017.
00:59:07
Speaker
The biggest one that I attended was the Star Wars 40th anniversary panel. Because 2017 was the 40th anniversary of the release of the original Star Wars, they were able to have every single actor that portrayed a role. Like, I mean, you had Ian McDiarmid, you had
00:59:26
Speaker
You had Anthony Daniels, you had Billy Dee Williams, Harrison Ford was there, Mark Hamill was there. I know in 2016, of course, was when we lost Kerry Fisher in December of that year and celebration 2017 was in April.
00:59:51
Speaker
She had never missed a Star Wars celebration. She was at every single one, and I know she would have been there for that had she not left us so early. But yeah, there were all those stars there, and they were just talking about the memories of filming, and George was having a conversation with them, and it was so much fun. It was so enjoyable.
01:00:13
Speaker
george luke seeing george lukas there you know five years after he sold lukas film to disney having that having him come back for the fourth anniversary panel was huge i bet and that wasn't even the biggest surprise that panel,
01:00:31
Speaker
Right towards the end of the panel, the lights in the auditorium went dim because they were showing a video package tribute to Carrie Fisher. And at the end of the video package, you start to hear Leia's theme being played, but it's not a recording. In the auditorium, there was a floor to ceiling curtain, and behind that curtain was John Williams,
01:01:01
Speaker
in the Orlando Symphony Orchestra playing Leia's theme live. Whoa. As part of the video tribute package. Oh my gosh, man. That's intense. And I'm not going to lie. I cried. Oh, I don't blame you. It was so beautiful. So beautiful. And after that,
01:01:23
Speaker
They finished the tribute package, and then the orchestra then played a lot of the other Star Wars themes from that first movie. You had Obi-Wan's theme, which became the Force theme, and you had a couple of the other memorable tracks from the original soundtrack that they finished off the panel with. It was really, really cool.
01:01:47
Speaker
Oh, that's wonderful the fact that they managed to get John Williams there with an orchestra to play that right? Yeah, I right. Yeah, you picked the right year to go Denying that You know, wow. Yeah, it was it was very cool. Very cool to see that indeed and then I guess one of the other big panels that I got to go to was the Star Wars Rebels panel
01:02:09
Speaker
It was shortly after season three had finished airing and season four we knew was coming.
Star Wars Panels and Surprises
01:02:16
Speaker
Dave Filoni was on stage. He had a lot of the stars. Freddie Prinze Jr. was there.
01:02:25
Speaker
I'm blanking on his name that he plays Darth Maul Sam Witwer in the animated stuff Ashley Eckstein Vanessa Marshall was there who played Harrison doula Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka, you know, they were all there talking about Star Wars rebels and they announced that that was going to be the final season of Star Wars rebels was season four they had
01:02:52
Speaker
One of the most memorable things about that panel was, you know, Dave Filoni loves to play tricks on the audience and play tricks on the fans. So he started the panel wearing this black t-shirt with white lettering that says
01:03:06
Speaker
Ahsoka lives with a question mark at the end and that's not the first time that he'd worn that shirt Okay, he'd worn that shirt ever since You know multiple times since season two of Star Wars Rebels ended with you know Ahsoka's fate very much undecided because she was fighting Darth Vader in the Sith Temple and
01:03:30
Speaker
At some point in the presentation, probably about the midway point, Dave Filoni had walked off stage and come back, but there was a subtle change to his t-shirt. Okay. The t-shirt said, Ahsoka lives with an exclamation point at the end. Oh wow. So of course, you know, speculation went wild, what the heck that means.
01:03:55
Speaker
And of course, you know, we would find out later on in season four, there would be that episode where Ezra utilizes the world between worlds and is able to go back to that battle and essentially save Ahsoka and rescue her and pull her into the current time. Mm hmm. Yes, man. Wow. You got your money's worth for sure. I can't believe. Yeah, that is some good stuff.
01:04:24
Speaker
Right, right. Yeah, man. What other panel did I attend? I attended the Women of Star Wars panel. That was a panel with Ashley Eckstein, Tia Sircar, who was the voice of Sabine and Rebels. Daisy Ridley was there.
01:04:42
Speaker
And Dave Filoni was there. And the panel was moderated by Amy Ratcliffe, who has written quite a few Star Wars books. Not fiction books, but she wrote a nonfiction book called The Women of Star Wars. She has written a couple mindfulness books, I think, as well. Like she's basically, you know, she's become a Star Wars author, but she's more in the nonfiction realm.
01:05:08
Speaker
She moderated the panel and they talked about how it was, you know, how all these strong female characters that we've seen throughout Star Wars history inspired these women to, and then when they got the, you know, the call that they were being cast to play female characters in Star Wars, what that was like for them. It was really fun to hear all those stories. Nice. But that was a much smaller panel then, of course, the first two that I attended.
01:05:36
Speaker
Oh, sure. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And I know I haven't attended quite as many conventions or celebrations or the STLV equivalent as you have, but I did get to see, or I actually got to go to D23 2019 and saw some cool panels, which is kind of the official Disney convention, but there's a Star Wars presence there. Sure.
01:06:03
Speaker
I also got to take two Star Wars day at sea cruises on Disney cruise line back in 2016 and 2017 and they had an entire day dedicated to Star Wars and it was kind of like a mini celebration there too. So all kinds of cool stuff that you know, while I haven't had the traditional con experiences often, I've kind of had some pretty cool fan moments either way. Oh, that's great. That's wonderful. Thank you for sharing those memories. Yeah, of course.
Star Trek Las Vegas Non-Panel Activities
01:06:33
Speaker
What are some of the non-panel activities that you've done at Star Trek Las Vegas?
01:06:39
Speaker
All right, so there was, in 2012, as part of our captain's chair package, we were able to go to a midnight Sunday party. So I guess they had like a big Sunday bar and something, and fans just kind of got to go and have dessert. That was nice. Let's see here. At the end of every Star Trek Las Vegas, the last night, they closed out the convention by having a show from what's called the Star Trek Rat Pack.
01:07:08
Speaker
And that's a bunch of different Star Trek actors like, uh, see, uh, Armin Shimmerman, Max Grodenchik, Casey Biggs, Vaughn Armstrong. There might be another one or two I'm missing. The one in 2019, uh, the one that was there surprise, as a surprise was Nana visitor from deep space nine, which was really cool. So basically they just sing like,
01:07:34
Speaker
songs kind of like from like the the 50s era kind of like the with like Frank Sinatra things like that but they're all Star Trek themed and those those are a lot of fun a lot of people look forward to that at the convention let's see what else did we do
01:07:50
Speaker
another panel. Oh, there was one time I actually got to meet some of the producers of some of the of the Star Trek that I grew up with. So obviously, a lot of the actors, you have to pay for their autographs or pictures. Well, these people actually would give their autographs complimentary. Nice. So I got I took the
01:08:10
Speaker
The program from Star Trek 2016 that's all I had for them to sign I had them all sign it and one of the one of them was iris steven bear and Talked a lot about a little bit about how you know great deep space 9 was and he actually signed my thing to Chris DS 9 rules iris steven bear nice
01:08:28
Speaker
Yeah, and then I got to talk to bran and braga as you know A lot of people beat down on him for you know, star trek dying i'll be honest with you I was one of them who did it and I actually got it published in a star trek communicator Went back when I was in uh in 19. No, no, no spring 2000. I was a freshman at cal you at the time I was upset about how void your sixth season was. I thought it was full of mistakes and errors and I kind of let
01:08:54
Speaker
but let them have it and told them that they failed. I was 19 at the time, so I regret what I said now, but it was cool to get it published. So I talked to him a little bit about how I felt Enterprise got the shaft.
01:09:10
Speaker
And, you know, he talked a little bit about how he felt about that as well. Right. You know, so and look, I'm glad to see enterprises starting to get its popularity now, you know, back. Yeah, you know, absolutely. I mean, it's definitely one of my favorite. Yeah, series. Right. Oh, it's excellent.
01:09:26
Speaker
You know, and there were two others. I think there were Renee Echeverria, I believe was one of the writers or producers. I think I got his autograph and there was one other person. I can't remember who it is. I actually have it framed in my man cave downstairs. I guess I'll have to look at it again and see who the other one was. But that was a really cool panel. The thing that I probably enjoyed the most out of it wasn't in 2012, but 2016 and 2019, they had Klingon karaoke.
01:09:53
Speaker
And it was an evening event that was in the room next to Quark's bar. And it was hosted by, at one point it was hosted by Robert O'Reilly, who played Goweron, and then J.G. Hertzler, who played General Martauk. And they were in Klingon makeup. And in 2016, they were in Klingon makeup, but they were in civilian clothing.
01:10:17
Speaker
And if you wanted to, you could sign up and get up on stage and karaoke with them. And it was a freaking blast. I didn't go up and go, I'm too chicken to do that. But I sat in the front row, got some great pictures. At one point,
01:10:32
Speaker
Gauran looked at me and it was I was so early on when people were coming in and he saw I was filming and he goes remember everybody What happens on in Kronos days on Kronos and I was like, oh shit He just saw me filming and he's probably like ticked off now, you know
01:10:50
Speaker
But he was cool with it But I know he was talking to me because I was in front row and he saw I was one of the few still Already there. Mm-hmm. So I guess that that was kind of cool, but I it was fun General Martauk would grab like a broom or a mop and he'd use it and pretend it was a guitar while he was actually Singing along with the fans. So that was great. That was fun and then halfway through Connor Trenear
01:11:14
Speaker
Anthony Montgomery and Dominic Keating from Enterprise came out and they kind of took over. What was really fun in 2016 and 2019, we got to sing the Enterprise theme song with them. Oh, that's awesome.
01:11:30
Speaker
mind-blowing. It was incredible. Let's see what else. In 2019, Gauran and Martok were back, but at one point, I don't know if Gauran was drunk or not, to be honest with you, but he was having a good time. Let me just say that. At one point, he threw his costume glove
01:11:50
Speaker
out into the audience. It landed right next to me and I froze for a second. I was like, oh my goodness, somebody's going to go grab this. Nobody really even saw it. So I grabbed it and I still have it to this day. I was going to give it back to him. Genuinely honest to goodness, I was going to, but by the time I was able to get up to see him, he was gone.
01:12:13
Speaker
So I got this nice little collectible now that I actually got to put on my hand and stuff. I was blown away. And then afterward, we went back to our hotel. We stayed at the Gold Coast across the street from the Rio. And on our floor, I was just talking to some fans and then all of a sudden I run into a mega fan. I don't know if you remember Gabriel Corner.
01:12:36
Speaker
He was he was in Trekkies and Trekkies to really big he's in like visual effects and stuff like that So I got to shake his hand and have a little conversation with him, which I thought was really cool Oh, that's really cool. Yeah. Yeah, so I mean I got to have that kind of stuff and then also in 2012 because the we were sent to STL V that year by my in-laws is a gift and They actually for the people for our package We got to go on top of the Rio and there's a lounge there called the voodoo lounge. Yeah
01:13:06
Speaker
And we got to have a nice prime rib dinner and all that kind of stuff. They had a Star Trek ice carving and everything. And J.G. Hertzler was actually, and Robert O'Reilly were actually in a band and they were singing. Oh, that's fantastic. And we got the party, you know, like the 118th floor, you know, until over after midnight, it was the coolest thing.
01:13:27
Speaker
Yeah, so I mean those were some probably some of the biggest highlights cling on karaoke I will I will never forget you can go on to YouTube and actually watch some of that stuff You know so what about you any special? events that you had uh so yeah, I
01:13:46
Speaker
I didn't really attend anything like after the convention, really, because I was so tired, so exhausted by the end of it that I just wanted to eat go eat dinner, get back to the hotel and just crash. So I do a whole lot of
01:14:02
Speaker
after celebration activities, but some of the things I did while celebration was going on, just in and around the show floor and the convention center, I went to a few different podcast show or podcast stage shows that they had basically, because store celebration has a huge fan driven fan run component to it, podcasts and YouTube and content creators, they can basically apply
01:14:31
Speaker
to get a space at Star Wars Celebration to kind of host a gathering of fans of their product. Sometimes they'll do live episodes, sometimes they'll perform a radio drama live that a fan wrote.
01:14:52
Speaker
and they'll have actors performing all the parts and everything as a dramatization. It's really cool to see something like that. Some of them will have bands or other musicians. Some of them will even feature
01:15:08
Speaker
authors and actors and stuff. If they have a big enough following and a big enough relationship with Lucasfilm, they can get some of these actors and stuff to be at the podcast recording. The live podcast recording is pretty cool.
01:15:25
Speaker
I did a couple of those, went to a couple of those. Those are a lot of fun because you're just around a bunch of fans of a product. Yes. It's kind of like box within a box. You've got fans of Star Wars themed
01:15:41
Speaker
fan created content like podcasts and YouTube channels at a Star Wars convention. It's pretty cool to do all that. And then one of the most memorable things from the show floor that I got to see. So have you ever heard of Rancho Obi-Wan? Yes. Okay. So, you know, Rancho Obi-Wan is like, it's owned by Steven Sandsuite.
01:16:02
Speaker
He used to be the director or the head of fan relations for Lucasfilm back in the 90s, but his claim to fame now is that he runs Rancho Obi-Wan, which is a private museum up in Petaluma, California, which is very close to San Francisco and very, very close to Skywalker Ranch up in Northern California.
01:16:25
Speaker
He now owns Rancho Obi-Wan and Steve Sansweet is the Guinness Book of Records world record holder for the largest collection, the largest private collection of Star Wars memorabilia. Oh, wow. And he displays it all in this museum and most of the stuff he purchases with his own money. He, you know, like the museum gets donations and stuff, but he never uses the donations to buy stuff. It's always out of his pocket.
01:16:53
Speaker
And so every celebration, they kind of have a mini Rancho Obi-Wan exhibit at Star Wars Celebration on the show floor. And the year that I went, the theme was what it would be like to have a kid's bedroom completely decked out in Star Wars memorabilia.
01:17:17
Speaker
Also, they had a bed and had sheets of bedspread. There were posters and all kinds of stuff all over the walls. There were toys throughout the room. It was really cool to see this little exhibit. And then the rest of the exhibit, it was kind of walkthrough and all this stuff was in display cases, but it was all
01:17:32
Speaker
kind of stuff that you would see in a kid's room. So like, you would see all kinds of Star Wars clothing, you would see undergarments like under brews and all this kind of like wearable Star Wars stuff. And then you would see like hygiene products like Star Wars toothbrushes toothpaste, mouthwash,
01:17:51
Speaker
dental floss, like all kinds of body washes, soaps, you know, it was all kind of like the stuff you might expect to see in a bedroom or a bathroom. Okay. And it was a really cool experience. And then at the end, you could get Steven Sainsweet's autograph. Oh, nice. Yeah, because he was, you know, he would sit there at the table with his administrative assistant that kind of runs a lot of this stuff for he, you know, she runs a lot of the Rancho Obi Wan administrative stuff.
01:18:21
Speaker
He was there with her signing autographs. It was cool. Nice. So that's kind of the two cool fan experiences that I got to participate in at Star Wars Celebration.
01:18:33
Speaker
Oh, that's wonderful. Good memories. Yeah, for sure. On that note on kind of meeting people, let's talk about meeting actors or celebrities or people that have acted or been involved in Star Wars. Do you have any cool stories or experiences to share there?
01:18:51
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. So at 2012, I got to meet two actors. The very first Star Trek celebrity I ever met forever was Martha Hackett. And she played Seska, the the the Cardassian villain who betrayed Voyager to the Kazon during the second season of Voyager.
Star Trek Celebrities and Photo Ops
01:19:10
Speaker
Well, she was always my favorite villain of all of Star Trek.
01:19:14
Speaker
And so to actually I got to meet her briefly, I think it was just for a photo op. She she was really nice. She was like, hi, you know, and it was like I walked over, she leaned in close to me, got the picture. That was the first time I've ever been starstruck in my life. So I'd say about for five or six minutes, I kind of walked around in a daze, you know.
01:19:35
Speaker
And I was like, here's this woman that she played my favorite villain. And now I'm getting to stand right next to her. And she's like, got her hands on my back. You know, it's like the coolest thing. And the next day after that, I got to meet Connor Trenear briefly and got my photo with him. That was officially where my
01:19:51
Speaker
PhotoOps, Star Trek PhotoOps collection started. In 2016, we'd spent quite a lot to go and I wasn't able to pay for any photo ops. I wanted Whoopi Goldberg and Kirsty Alley, but again, that didn't work out. But I did, just like in 2012, I participated in an activity and I won something.
01:20:14
Speaker
So in 2012, I participated in a discussion about the most meaningful episodes of Star Trek. And I got a Star Trek watch, which was cool. I did Star Trek trivia in 2016. I was actually the very last contestant. And I won. And I got a photo op with Robert Duncan McNeil. Nice. So I got that. Tom Harris himself.
01:20:36
Speaker
Yes, so got my Tom Paris part of my collection. Now, we weren't going to go back in 2019. The only reason I went is because right around that time, Nichelle Nichols got diagnosed with dementia, and I knew that she was going to be leaving the circuit of conventions very soon. So I said to my wife, if I want to get a photo op and meet her, this is it. We have to do it. So she actually did. We went to the 2019 show, so I met her.
01:21:05
Speaker
She was very weak at the time. People had to walk with her and sit her down. And I got my picture with her, and we did the Vulcan salute together. And I told her, I said, I love you. And she very quietly said, thank you. And her voice was mostly gone by then. And then the next day after that, I met my favorite Deep Space Nine character, Nana Visitor, Major Kira herself. And so that was a dream come true. And after the picture, I said, I love you. And she goes, well, I love you too.
01:21:33
Speaker
So I thought I was like, that's really cool. And then I got to add on somebody that I wasn't expecting. And thanks to my wife, but Jerry Ryan. Nice. And so I was I was not nervous to meet Michelle Nichols. I was not nervous to meet a visitor.
01:21:49
Speaker
When it came to Jerry Ryan, I was the biggest geek on the planet. I was nervous like you wouldn't believe. And if I'll show you the picture sometime, I hate the way I look in the picture. You know, she had a beautiful smile and everything. She's touching my back. And I'm just I'm like standing sideways, like with this weird grin on my face. Right. You know, but so that was really cool to get to meet her.
01:22:12
Speaker
You know, I mean, the thing is, though, that's genuine, right? Yeah, that's a genuine moment. And yes, as disappointed as you are in your appearance, you were just in the moment and you were just you were just start struck and that's okay.
01:22:27
Speaker
Yeah, I was a little nervous. Yeah, so that. Yeah. But those are those were the celebrities that I met. And then in addition to those those people that I told you that the producers that those people, you know, my my collection of Star Trek photo ops has grown over the years. But that's because of Steel City Con and Wizard World Comic Con. Right. Right. Oh, oh, oh, wait. Never mind. I met Terry Ferrell at another creation event, not MLB. OK. Gotcha. Yeah. Gotcha.
01:22:55
Speaker
I didn't really spend a whole lot of time meeting celebrities like I didn't I don't know I just. I'm not really a big autograph and photo op kind of guy like it just I mean it's not even the money it's that has nothing to do with it I just feel like.
01:23:13
Speaker
It's not an organic enough experience, right? It's very staged, very formal. Like, yeah, you get to kind of geek out a little bit, but what, I mean, at most, depending on who you're standing in line for, and generally it relates to the more money you spend, the less time you seem to get with a celebrity. Yes.
Organic Fan Experiences
01:23:33
Speaker
Like, you know, Mark Hamill, you might get one or two minutes with him, you know, for $300 or whatever.
01:23:40
Speaker
but you know somebody like uh i don't know sam wetler will use him as an example yeah he's done a lot of voiceover work for star wars but you know you probably spend a lot more time with him for a fraction of the cost so i just i would i like much more organic experiences and um so you know like
01:24:02
Speaker
I'll chat people up in the hallways, I'll start conversations or I'll be in conversations with other fans like I just from voice alone and seeing pictures of some of the podcasts that I used to listen to that, you know, some of them aren't even recording new episodes anymore.
01:24:19
Speaker
but i recognize the host and i would hang out with them and just spend time talking to them and chatting star wars because you know we're sharing that that fan experience much more intimately than say you know meeting somebody who acted in the movies yes i guess the most famous person that i really met at star wars celebration
01:24:40
Speaker
was probably Timothy Zahn, who is the author that created Grand Admiral Thrawn. So of course, Thrawn had made his debut in Season 3 of Rebels, and he was really popular. So I got to chat up Timothy Zahn about what it was like to see Thrawn kind of be brought to life in a different medium. And that was a lot of fun. And then he signed one of my books.
01:25:04
Speaker
Nice. Yeah, so that was a lot of fun. And that was a free autograph. He was you just had to wait in the line at the del Rey books booth that celebration. And then earlier that year in 2017, you know, earlier in the year that I went to celebration, I went on one of those Star Wars day at sea cruises. And the special presenter that we had
01:25:28
Speaker
on that cruise. His name is Matt Martin, and he's an executive on the Lucasfilm Story Group. So he did a presentation on Star Wars Day at Sea that I attended. And he was kind of having a Q&A session. It was really cool, really fun. They had it in one of the theaters on board. But what was cool about Matt Martin is not only was he kind of our special guest, but every night on the cruise,
01:25:56
Speaker
you have the same dining time and you have the same table number in every single restaurant, right? And Disney has you rotate between restaurants, but you keep the same table number and you keep the same waitstaff for every restaurant that you visit no matter, you know, and they you're basically your waitstaff follows you restaurant to restaurant to restaurant.
01:26:13
Speaker
But because you have the same table number, you often sit next to or around the same people. So our table in the dining room was almost always positioned right near Matt Martin and his fiance's table. Nice. And it was kind of fun. We would chat with him during meals. Of course, we wouldn't bother him while he was eating. He wouldn't bother us. But as we were
01:26:40
Speaker
in between courses or whatever, you know, we might chat and it was a lot of fun. He's a cool dude. That's awesome. Very, very down to earth, very, very much a Disney fan and a Star Wars fan, which, you know, fits in very well with the company now. Oh, well, good. Right. So that those are really
Convention Merchandise and Memorabilia
01:26:57
Speaker
the only fan experiences that I've had with celebrities or people that I consider celebrities. Yeah, you've got the actors, but I kind of like the people that work behind the scenes because I love picking their brains.
01:27:09
Speaker
Well, great, that's awesome. I'm glad you got to have that. Yeah, so I think we're getting ready to wrap up because we have already gone an hour and a half. This is going to be an extra long episode. I know, but let's really quick. Let's talk about what everybody goes to start Star Wars and Star Trek cons for his the merchandise. So Chris, why don't you tell me the coolest piece of merchandise that you either bought or somehow else acquired or at a Star Trek Las Vegas?
01:27:37
Speaker
All right, so I didn't really spend a lot on like big collectibles. I couldn't afford it, but I got a bunch of little things. I ended up getting a winter coat from Next Generation's 30th anniversary, which was really cool. I still wear it to this day. I bought it at a four extra large because I was super heavy at the time, not knowing that a year later because of Keto, I'd be 90 pounds lighter.
01:27:58
Speaker
You know, so even to this day, it still swims on me. I'm going to keep wearing it. Of course. Got that. In 2016, I got a Star Trek stuffed animal of Scotty, which was really kind of neat. So I have him and over the years I've gotten a couple more of the characters. But that was a neat find. At 2012, I got a Star Trek The Next Generation 25th anniversary hat.
01:28:23
Speaker
And then in 2019, I missed getting it in 2016, but they had summit the 19 convention. I got a Star Trek 50th anniversary hat. And I still wear that one to this day. The next generation one got ruined. See, got an enterprise necklace for the enterprise A and 25th anniversary deep space nine water bottle 30th anniversary and next generation coffee mug, which is one of my favorites. So some really cool stuff. Those are those are some of the basics pretty much.
01:28:51
Speaker
Yeah, I'm kind of the same way like I didn't purchase any major like expensive things. A lot of my memorabilia that I bought, I got I got a t shirt, I got a commemorative pin. I think I had. So I had tried to get
01:29:11
Speaker
like invited to stand in line at the Funko booth, but I didn't get it. But one of my friends that went with us got it. So he was able to stand in line and get me the one pop vinyl I wanted from that year was Grand Admiral Thrawn as he appeared in Rebels. So I got that pop vinyl because there was no other way to get it. Like if you didn't get a spot in the lottery, you couldn't
01:29:33
Speaker
wait at the Funko booth at all. So
Encouragement to Attend Conventions
01:29:36
Speaker
I was very lucky to get that piece of memorabilia. But other than that, I did pre-order an Ahsoka art by this artist named Danny Haas. Ahsoka is a very common
01:29:51
Speaker
subject of his paintings. It's a limited edition, only so many prints. It's individually numbered and it has Danny Haas's signature on it. I have that framed and it's framed and hanging on the wall
01:30:10
Speaker
in our stairwell up to the upper floor of our house. Okay. We got a Star Wars the Last Jedi poster that we that Kylie and I framed and we put our celebration lanyards our badges in with the Last Jedi poster. Cool. And yeah, so that's those are kind of the things that we
01:30:33
Speaker
had collected, so more of our collectibles were just stuff that was handed out for free, but we kind of made it personal, right? Yes. It was a lot of fun to look back, and every time I go up and down the stairs, I can look on this. Okay, well, good. That would be really cool to look at, definitely. Yeah. Didn't you also say you got a Carrie Fisher poster? I did. I sent you that Carrie Fisher poster. Yes. They gave us that because anybody who attended the 40th anniversary panel got that poster as well.
01:31:02
Speaker
Nice. And that's on display in our house as well. Oh good, good. That was a nice poster so I can see why you displayed it. Alright, so I think on that note, we are done sharing our personal experiences with Star Wars and Star Trek conventions. I think the purpose of this episode really is just to encourage anybody that listens to our podcast to really don't, you know,
01:31:28
Speaker
take the leap, go to a Star Wars celebration, go to a Star Trek convention, you will have a blast. Without a doubt, you'll make the most amazing memories, believe me. Oh, absolutely. So if you have the opportunity, even if you go to a small regional con, just to kind of start out, do it and then go to Star Wars celebration.
01:31:49
Speaker
and enjoy just the total immersion in the fan experience. Absolutely. And anybody who has attended a Star Wars Celebration or Star Trek Las Vegas or any other Star Trek convention, why don't you email us logslightsaberspod at gmail.com as our email address. Tell us about your experience at Star Wars Celebration. Absolutely. We'd love to hear it.
01:32:13
Speaker
Alright, on
Episode Conclusion and Announcements
01:32:14
Speaker
that note, I think that is going to do it for episode 23 of Captain's Logs and Lightsabers podcast. We hope that you enjoyed this extra long episode, and I just want to let everyone know that
01:32:27
Speaker
This will be kind of our last episode for about a month. We're going to go take a little hiatus. But when we do come back, it's going to be an interview episode where we're going to sit down and talk to Landon Ginn, who is an animator. He works in 3D animation, and he's worked on Star Trek Prodigy, which if you've listened to the show, you know how big of fans we are of that show.
01:32:52
Speaker
Yes, very much so. So we're looking forward to talking to Landon Ginn, and we're looking forward to when you can join us again for that episode of Captain's Logs and Lightsabers. For episode 23 of Captain's Logs and Lightsabers, my name is Jonathan. And I'm Chris. Live long and prosper. And may the force be with you.