CELEBRATION ANAHEIM APRIL 2015

Finally posting my pics here from one the greatest periods of my life. Last April my wife Meriam and I headed over to California for a couple of weeks with the main aim of hitting up C7 and finally meeting up with so many of my collector friends. I did go to CE2 in Essen, Germany but christ this was the big one - STAR WARS CELEBRATION! There was no way I was missing it.  My wife is supportive of my collecting but to put it mildly she can't stand vintage Star Wars and thinks the movies are average. That said she's not a Sci-Fi fan in general. So she was an absolute trooper for joining me on this journey. She did though admit to having a great time in the end and found it fascinating to watch how we all interacted with each other. She also got to visit LA (dragging me around to all the mid- century architecture spots - which admittedly I loved in the end) and to Palm Springs.  

I'm not going to do a huge write up detailing our whole trip and I don't have the energy to caption every pic but I will try to at least mention who is who when it comes to collectors and will note what their involvement is in the community. I've linked to quite a lot of interviews and sorry if it looks like I'm trying to promote my blog. It's not, if you are anything like me, you'll love reading and learning more about your fellow collectors. Some people don't, well just scroll on by!

I spend a lot of time on different forums and Facebook groups (although admittedly less on Facebook recently). If you've read my blog you'll know that it is all about celebrating collectors of vintage. I started collecting because of the toys but it is the people that have kept me in the hobby and now the toys are a second priority for me. The last couple of years have been very rough on my family and I live on the other side of the world to my family and best friends. It is this hobby and the collectors that have helped me keep my head above water, I was a little worried meeting all my 'online' friends in Anaheim. Maybe they would be jerks in 'real life' or maybe they would think I was an uncouth Aussie clown. But we all got on like a house on fire and I have nothing but amazing memories. I do have some regrets not being able to party a bit more (I was a bit under the weather for the trip) and not spending some more time with people like Kenneth and Jay (we kept missing each other's messages) but there is always CE3! Thanks to everyone for making it an amazing time. Now I'm going to stop carrying on like I've just won an academy award and will caption some of the pics!

I have a few more photos that I'll try to tack on later. Thanks for looking guys!

[size=13]THE ANAHEIM CONVENTION CENTRE AND SHOWROOM FLOOR[/size][/size]

This sight greeted us as we entered the convention centre. Simply awesome!

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The showroom floor was super busy and exciting at first but I was honestly a little over it by the last couple of days. I spent a lot of time in the collecting track area.

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SOME FANTASTIC COSTUMES AND SOME RANDOM HOTTIES

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Gotta love R2D2!

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My wife loved these costumes.

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I was lucky enough to get my photo with these two sisters as well. That's not me in this photo! I was actually too shy but my wife pushed me! Yep I married her for a reason...

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Love these Spaceball cosplayers.

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I was pretty stoked to have this photo taken. I'm not big on celebrities but I do follow Leanna Vamp on Facebook. She's a cosplayer and not only does she do amazing Star Wars and comic related costumes but she is sexy as hell! This costume was pretty tame compared to her usual get-ups. Check her out: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] My wife took the shot and didn't stop teasing me for days about how excited I was.

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Best Ben Kenobi ever....

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Love it!

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Not really Star Wars but she's hot so why not...

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ALL ABOUT VINTAGE

Bobby Sharp, Chris Fawcett and Shane Turgeon hosting a great panel called "Star Wars Pickers" - all about tracking down vintage collectibles from various sources.

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Mattias Rendahl, Tommy Garvey and Chris Fawcett presenting their panel called "Great Stories of Star Wars Collecting." Another cracker of a panel.  

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My wife wearing her sunnies upside down and me sporting my "haven't worked in a while" beard.

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Kenneth B - fellow moderator here and also an admin of the variant collector group on Facebook. Jay, also a mod here, is just partially off camera. Funnily enough I didn't realise that was Jay until a few minutes after I took the photo. I love this shot. Kenneth looks about 10 years old with his 'toys' on the ground in front of him Was great catching up with the guys, both of whom are good friends.  Check out more about Jay - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

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Chris Fawcett again, this time selling his wares at the famous Hilton Hotel room sales. Couple of well-known collectors checking out his stuff too - Jeff Jacobs (aka Jeff's Museum) with his cap turned backwards and Moises Rodriguez Curiel, who is the founder of the largest Star Wars Facebook group for Spanish speakers – Star Wars Collecionistas / Collectors. Check out Moise's rapid fire interview here - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

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Stephane Faucourt trying to act all famous while autographing his book!

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Jason Smith (aka Mr Palitoy) giving a great presentation on various scams that have hit our hobby, particularly the Toy Toni fiasco. Check out Jason on 'Fake Britain' talking about the Toy Toni scam - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  and also visit his website which is a great guide to Palitoy cardbacks - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

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My favourite vintage podcasters Skye Paine and Stephen Danley doing their thing live in the collector's room. I'm still shattered that I turned up late to this. I've listened to every single one of their shows but somehow I missed almost all of my one chance to see them live Here's another one of the blog's interviews - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Follow their Facebook page here - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

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Myself, Joe Yglesias (no intro required!) and Thomas Quinn at the Chivecast party.  Tom is one of the presidents of the NY vintage collectors club. Hit them up if you live in the NY area and collect vintage - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Oh, and of course Both Joe and Tom have been on the blog [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

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Best vintage costume ever!

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My wife looking thrilled to meet Jake Stevens, co-host of "Galaxy of Toys Podcast", host of a Star Wars comic podcast called “Star Wars Spinner Rack” and creator of "From4-LOMtoZuckuss.com." And guess what? I did do an interview with him...Jesus Christ......http://vintagestarwarscollectors.com/collector-snapshot-13-jake-stevens/

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Steve and Skye hosting the Chivecast party. Pretty much the social highlight for vintage collectors at C7.

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Stephane Faucourt bookended by a couple of hot Francophone wives - one mine, one his

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Anti u-grade Ross Barr crusader and I. Great costume. And guess what? Yep. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

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Chivecast party

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Chivecast party

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Jason Smith, Jenny Bennet (admin of a very cool vintage group on Facebook - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and Ross Barr.

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The one and only Gus Lopez. If you don't know Gus, then you need to check this out - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

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Tom again, me and NY collecting club member Jason Thomas. These two dudes are two of the nicest in the hobby. I scored a couple of great Luke XWP bootlegs from Jason at a great price.

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I spent a lot time with these guys and they are a lot nicer than they look lol! Me, Paul Amory, adopted Brit Todd Osborn and Iain Sanderson.

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Vader case project in the collector's room. Absolutely awesome. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

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No need for words to describe the remaining photos!

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EXCELLENT PICS Christian

Looks like a fantastic time and you got to meet so many of the well known collectors

Leanna Vamp would have been the highlight for me though ... I have posted many a picture of her hotness

Great pictures Christian.  But I didn't see any of Jay and Kenneth? Edit. I just went back and saw Kenneth & Jay partially.

Leanna Vamp.

Note:  Jay will have to add the drooling emoticon in, when he is feeling better.

Hey thanks dudes! Glad you liked them!

Yep, Leanna Vamp.....

Awesome stuff dude! I officially want to bum those two Leia Slave twins.... YES!!!

Haha I bet you would! You'll be happy to know they are sisters....

Awesome pictures, i would have loved to have been there.
Alex i wouldnt be surprised if you dont photoshop that picture with your face

Thanks Dax!

Mate I think Alex would prefer to photoshop his face onto the bodies of both the chicks.

Awesome stuff and great pictures! Looks like a lot of fun and I hope to have a similar feeling in London this year!

Hey thanks! It was sincerely amazing catching up with everyone there.

I didn't enjoy CE2 in Essen as much but I didn't really know many other collectors back then. London is going to be awesome, even if the convention itself is crap....

A bunch of us from here will be hanging out so you should join us for a beer or ten...

ChristianC wrote:Hey thanks! It was sincerely amazing catching up with everyone there.

I didn't enjoy CE2 in Essen as much but I didn't really know many other collectors back then. London is going to be awesome, even if the convention itself is crap....

A bunch of us from here will be hanging out so you should join us for a beer or ten...

Yea Essen was really shitty and I was glad to be there only one day!

Will fly in to London on the Thursday, so we should meet up with a bunch of people!!!

Good times Christian! I was going to post a couple photos too but after seeing how organized your post is I feel that the post I was going to make maybe somewhat lacking  Let me see what I can conjure up.

Great Pics Christian. Sorry for the double post, i didn't realise there was 2 x Anaheim threads.
Here is a copy of one of my Anaheim Videos, i prefer the other one but the soundtrack was removed. This is 16 minutes long but there was a lot to do.

I loved Essen as well but Anaheim had a seriously excited vibe about it. See you all in London

Thanks dudes! Was great meeting you both in Anaheim.

Paul would love to see your C7 photos as well!

ChristianC wrote:Thanks dudes! Was great meeting you both in Anaheim.

Paul would love to see your C7 photos as well!

 Christian I posted a thread above/below this one, only a few photos. I've misplaced others and just figured I'd post a few I had readily available. I'm come the others and add them when found.