April 21, 2005
Story and Photos by Chris Spice (Darth Spice)

DAY 1 COMPLETE: CAN I PLAY WITH MADNESS?
Hey Troops, it's been complete and total line. Jimsjedi summed things up pretty good, it's like Great America with no 2 minute thrill in three hours, only another line. The greatest thing has been the fans. The costumes have been incredible and everyone seems to be very courteous and understanding of the situation. It is sad because people who paid for admission and had badges mailed to them could have possibly been in line at 3:30pm when the show opened at 1:00pm!

I started the day by trying to nail down the Gentle Giant Sandtrooper bust. With that accomplished I took disregard for the Vader and pursued photo opportunities to help bring some of the action for those of you who could not attend for whatever reason. I spent the afternoon with my padawans and toured the various exhibit halls. Some great notes from the previous photos were the Lucasfilm prop room, completely breathtaking to be so close to something we all love so much.

General Vaughn Whisker and Darth sporting the new Sandtroopers.com T-shirtsIt has been nice to spend time and meet so many of the Troopers. Meeting former General Vaughn Whisker, Trooper Bill Varner, Trooper Ray Candelaria and so many others, truly amazing and special. Makes you remember the guys who used to make this place so special. I look forward to finding the legions of legacy Troopers who are still walking around, or in the line I'm not! It was nice to see many of the friendly faces in the autograph room. Gerald Home, Christine Hewitt, Sean Crawford and so many others, so very kind and happy to pose for photos for all of you.

I will do some more work in there tomorrow, but Indy is running short on air it's so crowded down here. I apologize for not reporting much sooner, madness it is Troopers, like none I've ever seen. I will try to check back in tomorrow and after I return I will continue to update our CIII section. Its one hell of a party, but for those of you at home who are thinking you are missing something, you are. There is also much more aggravation you'd be glad you are not seeing. I will forward dustrho a few images I snapped after the first 100 but look for more shots, Snipe and Boussh will be reporting on opening ceremonies and much, much more!

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