DAY 4 REPORT: ENJOYING THE SHOW
With a few days to pass, I felt it would better to do my final report from Sunday at Celebration III. Don’t get me wrong I didn’t go there expecting not to stand in line, on the contrary I more than expected it. I just feel for bringing in Gen-Con to make things run smooth, there was nothing further from that. I’d like to meet the guy who thought to cram thirty thousand people through 3 sets of doors. The overall experience I wouldn’t trade for the world. I’ve been in large crowds before and it doesn’t bother me. Back in 1994 when Taste of Chicago was being held downtown, someone thought it’d be smart to have a World Cup Soccer game at Soldier Field. The result was 1 million people downtown in the streets on foot, in ninety-degree temperatures. Celebration wasn’t that bad. What made it so great were the fans, which is what made the lines tolerable. Someone else willing to sacrifice the same as you, to achieve the same goal.

I started out Sunday holding our presence at the Federation Toys booth, but first I checked out the Gentle Giant bust line. It amazes me they wouldn’t punch an exhibitors badge for these items, and not let the same 300 people line up first every morning of the show. It’s just not fair for anyone who is paying in excess of two hundred dollars for the Corporal on Ebay right now. It was mind blowing to see the people literally power-walk/run to get in line when the doors opened at 9 o’clock. I made my way back to the Federation Toys booth and took photos of whatever caught my attention. The costumes were completely off the chain, it was easy to walk around for five days and just stare at all of the elaborate work.

As the day went on, many stopped by to say goodbye. For me the highlights were meeting the thousands of Troopers both new and old. People like General Vaughn, Erik Stormtrooper, Mrs. Julian Betancourt, Sandtrooper Tyler and Bill and Cheryl Varner. Old school Troopers who showed us the way and make Pat and George's dream to unite collectors around the globe come true.

It was a pleasure to meet all of the staff from other sites. Jawa Kelso, Amshak from the Spy, Bill at Yakface, Pete and Chuck at JTA and Matt Glascow from SWNZ. I was very happy to see him drop by the Fed Booth and meet our S.C.A.L.P. Overseas ally! It was a pleasure to see many of our online sponsors at the show. Federation Toys, Cloud City Collectibles, Brians Toys, R2dtoys all were set up and did quite a deal of unloading. My only request would be Tom Derby had set up the Vintage collection like they did at CII. That was one of the greatest things about that show, reliving every Christmas and Birthday you ever had. Overall it was an unforgettable experience, I am truly grateful I was able to attend.

I’d like to say thank you to my Staff for doing such a wonderful job. Jimsjedi, Dan, David, Snipe all stepped up and delivered big for us. Jetfire was on 501st duty and we look forward to his upcoming detail of that assignment. We also were blessed with dustrho at the phone booth waiting anxiously for anything and everything we had, and getting it to the Troops A.S.A.P. Last but not least I’d like to thank my wife Laurie. Without her I couldn’t have made the Celebration possible for my boys. Tyler and Caleb saw things they will never forget. She was understanding of my situation but loving and gracious enough to let me do what I had to do on a daily basis. I’m fortunate to have someone that cares enough to sacrifice herself for something they truly love. I don’t think anyone was happier to be on I-65 north that afternoon. It was a wonderful weekend of Unity. We did everything we could to get new recruits to help us in our war against scalpers. We look forward to the future, and some new developments have insured we will most certainly be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. Until next time Troops, United We Find!

PHOTO GALLERY
To see the photo gallery containing 10 photos click here.