We Meet Again, At Last: Celebration Anaheim '22

For several of us, it had been years since we'd last been able to see one another in person. For that to finally be remedied this past May at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim was a small miracle given the continued pandemic state of the world. But it happened...for real!

Here's a quick photographic recap of the club's good times at the show from the friendly confines of booth #2777.

New Cali-themed postcards and matte finish buttons adapted from designs by our own Barth Paine and Tom Corrigan were handed out at the booth!

The club was also a participating member of a multi-group vintage Kenner themed patch set which, as always, was a huge hit among Celebration attendees. Our piece of the 8-character circular rim was none other than Boba Fett and visitors only needed to answer a very basic Star Wars trivia question (some of the best were the random "wrong answers only" wild cards) to snag their bounty. 

Those that were dedicated enough to track down all of the individual border pieces were rewarded with an impressive center piece featuring Luke facing the Rancor (Gamorrean Guard in-claw ready to crunch). But that was a tall order -- all of the center piece prizes were gone by sometime on Sunday morning, leaving the convention's patch collectors to trade amongst themselves to find their missing pieces among the sea of orphaned patches.

 

Booth volunteers were also granted the beautiful bonus of a rare Rancor Keeper corner piece for their service.

Dora Huber presents the fully set up booth on the morning the show starts. You may notice the glorious FX-7 display she's calling attention to...

This year, the club took part with several other clubs in an extremely challenging collecting hunt for a set of 15 "Fill Echo Base" medallions. This project was developed and finished back before the "Dark Times" of COVID when Celebration was initially slated for August 2020 (as seen on the reverse side text). CAVSWCC members Justin Vidal, Mark Huber, Ryan Savas and Darren Gin all co-sponsored the FX-7 medallion.

But FX-7 was no easy medical droid to come by. Booth visitors had to stop by at a handful of select times over the course of the show to play "Watto's Chance Cube Challenge" for a shot at one of the limited quantity of medallions available. The rules were simple: pick a color (red or blue), roll the dice, and let chance decide (no funny business).

Game masters Mark Huber and Darren Gin brought happiness and despair to many a contestant who tried their luck, and could easily pitch a similar gameshow. 

Darren marks the collector card for a lucky winner.

By the last round on Sunday, Watto (along with everyone else) was utterly spent. Check out this post in the club's Facebook group for some video of the action!

Celebration was a weekend of many reunions and reconnections from all angles of the collecting hobby and Star Wars fandom. Just prior to the show, my mom had dug out my old Celebration II t-shirt last worn twenty years ago in Indianapolis when we attended that convention together. By chance, a fan named Halley Sanchez was wearing the very same shirt when she and her mom visited the club's booth in Anaheim. We both immediately recognized the matching shirts and as it turns out, she had gone to Celebration II in Indy with her mom at age 16 just like I did. It was such a fun coincidence running into one another and reminiscing about being in a similar place with our awesome moms two decades (!) prior. (Thanks for the photo, Halley!)

Original CAVSWCC founder and current New Yorker Skye Paine made the trip west with his two kids for their very first Celebration. Their coordinated Jar Jar jumpsuit cosplay ensemble was understandably a popular photo op for passers-by. Getting to see them sign the club's flag along with our 2 year-old at the same time after all of these years was an enormously joyful and emotional moment for us both.

The kids were among several making their first marks during a group photo session organized by Will Grief. Above, Elon Bartlett scouts for a signature spot.

Marc Deckter finally adds his name to the flag after several years of club membership as others look on and socialize.

Here's another great group shot taken by friend of the club Omar Marshall. Our daughter wasn't feeling quite camera ready for this one. Though we were missing a few faces for the photo, seeing so many of them throughout Celebration was such a welcome gift. 

The shutdown crew of Mark and Dora Huber, myself, Tom Corrigan, and Darren Gin pose for one last shot as the lights were turned off in the convention center. Thanks so much to everyone that contributed to the club's amazingly successful and fun experience this year, and especially to Mark Huber for a significantly increased coordination effort for the booth. We could not have done it without all of you.

Until next time... (give us another year or two, please!)

--Stephen