Hello Skkawliens! It’s been more than a minute since we had our last Con Stories post, so I’m so glad to be able to do that again here. This time, from Star Wars Celebration (SWCA) 2022! In keeping with our past Con Stories posts, I’ll be sharing one of my most memorable moments from each day I attend the con. If you’re reading this between May 26-29, 2022, do hit refresh as I’ll be sure to update the page after everyday of the con day that I attend. Let’s get into it!
Sunday: Badbatch Panel, Rancho Obiwan and Wrapping Up SWCA
After an exciting and packed 3 days, I was looking forward to just taking it easy for my last day at SWCA. So I decided to try my hand at attending the headline panel was focused around the Badbatch animated series. As usual the lines were long to get into this panel, but it was worth it as I got in!
(Show Dave, show cast)
I’m a big fan of the show, and really enjoy the animation, theme and voice acting. So seeing the cast live and team behind the show was great. Also Dave Filoni himself introduced the team! I mean, what else could I ask for? Here’s a onto of the cast and team:
Well the voice actors from the show even read from the script of the last season, and that was pretty awesome too. What was even more cool was that they showed a trailer for the second season of the show (played it twice!) They even gave away exclusive posters after the panel itself. Man, talk about the gift that keeps on giving!
After all that excitement, I pretty much took it easier. I decided to go check out to the Rancho Obiwan exhibit, which included a lot of past and present Star Wars memorabilia.
The item in particularly wanted to see was the legendary Boba Fett figure with the firing rocket. This particular figure is famous because it was pulled from production because a similar a child choked and unfortunately died from a Battlestar Galactica toy with a similar firing rocket feature. The remaining toys are extremely rare. See below:
They also had other memorabilia, shown below:
I eventually found myself walking the con floor, just taking in the final moments at the con. I did a few last minute things, like get my Badbatch poster signed by Dee Bradley Baker, who plays all (yes all) of the clone trooper characters in the show. Such an impressive voice actor. As an added bonus, as I was leaving the con I saw Save Filoni himself leaving the convention floor. It was a great way to end the con, seeing the man who had and is making such a tremendous impact on the Star Wars universe.
From me here at SKKAW.BLOG, hope you enjoyed this Star Wars Celebration edition of Con Stories!
That’s it from me from SWCA. This is the way!
Saturday: Cosplaying My Way Through SWCA
Last year, when I first shared my Mandalorian (Din Djarin) inspired cosplay at SVCC 2021, I had really appreciated receiving positive feedback from people I met at the con. My Mandalorian inspired cosplay was basically my pandemic project, it really helped me get through the lockdowns. So I decided it would be really great to share my Mando cosplay at SWCA 2022 and it would mean a lot to me if I was able to get photos with the cast of The Mandalorian wearing my Mando cosplay. It would certainly make the photos a lot more memorable! So I brought my cosplay with my by plane (it’s relevant, you’ll see later) and prepared for SWCA day two. Check out my Mando Cosplay below:
I think it turned out to be pretty good overall. It was tough going around the con in full armor, not bumping into anything or anyone. But I did it! So, my main goal for Saturday was to explore the con without losing or breaking a piece of my armor. I went around and looked at the vendors and things on display. One of my favorites was the Droid Builders area where they had a lot of droids and (mostly) R2 units you could take outpost with and check out. I got a picture with K-2S0.
So after exploring the con floor I headed to the celebrity photo ops area to get my photo ops with members of The Mandalorian cast. I chose to get photos with Katee Sackhoff (Bo Katan), Temura Morrison (Boba Fett), Giancarlo Esposito (Moft Gedeon), and Carl Weathers (Geef Karga). I also chose to get one auto with Katee Sackhoff. Now, those aren’t free and aren’t cheap either. Each photo op and autograph is upwards for $100 USD. So it all does add up. I decided, since I was traveling all this way and dedicated to wear my full Mando cosplay to SWCA, it was worth the investment. The memories. I could look back on those photos in 5 years and remember exactly what happened there and how it impacted me. For me, 100% worth it. No doubt about it.
I would have included a photo of the crowds, but it’s really challenging to take photos in fully Mando gloves. But suffice it to say it was a lot of waiting in line wearing heavy clothing (self made armor), running in literally sugar and caffeine for the most part. Was it worth it? For me, totally yes!
As you can see from my face above, I (and still am) ecstatic! Nothing could rub off that grin on my face for the rest of the day. I was so happy to have been able to proudly share my cosplay and get photos with the cast wear my own self made cosplay. It really meant a lot.
He other thing I was very proud about was getting my Darksaber signed by Bo Katan herself, Katee Sackhoff! She remembered the blade as I had explained to her it got messed up on transit to SWCA (I found it broken when I arrived from my flight) which is why it has a lot of patterned duck tape. She kindly signed over the blade, see below. In fact, if you look closely at the photo photos above, except the one with Katee, you can see the golden marker she used.
And more one thing. . . As I was in line to get my photo with Katee Sackhoff, The Mandalorian himself Pedro Pascal came on stage for a surprise appearance! Everyone in the room went crazy with applause, me included. A helpful line buddy took my photo with Pedro in the background. See below:
Saturday went by like a blur! I totally, an amazing experience and can’t even share how immeasurably grateful I am I was able to do everything I did. So much fun.
Thanks for following along. That’s it for Saturday! Stay tuned for more from SWCA as I share my Sunday / last day experience. This Is The Way!
Friday: The Mandalorian Experience
This being my first day at SWCA I was super excited to get in early and see what the con had to offer. I didn’t have any major plan at the time. So I put on my Luke and Grogu inspired cosplay, got my breakfast and headed to the con. It would be an understatement to say I was excited!
So I quickly made my way to the entrance and hunkered down to wait to be let in. While waiting , as in any con, it’s always great to meet people in line and share stories and experience. I met these two amazing helpful cosplayers Megan and Amber. They highly recommended I go straight to The Mandalorian Experience (TME) when I shared how much of a Mando fan I am, and man was I glad I followed their advise!
When I got to the The Mandalorian Experience I was so lucky since there weren’t many people at the Standby line, you usually need to get a reservation for it but I lucked out at the standby line (because I got there early). I also made shared stories with some line buddies there too!
When I finally got it, I was amazed! Being a HUGE Mando fan, this was a dream come true. They had props from the entire series. I have no words.
I spent at least 3 hours there getting photos and videos. I’ll probably have a full coverage post following soon, but for now check out some photos below.
The biggest highlight was when I actually met someone from The Mandalorian production crew! He was kind enough to take my photo, and when he saw my Luke and Grogu cosplay he showed me a photo of him and Mark Hamill with Grogu on the set of Book of Boba Fett Episode 6. It turns out, he was the one who put Grogu into the backpack for the episode – which was exactly my cosplay! It was such an amazing moment. He then proceeded to share, on his phone only, backstage production shots of the show, props, and share stories form the show: how he make the Mando costume and more! I literally got goosebumps during the conversation. I was sooo happy! Here’s a photo of us below:
Also, he’s actually in the display! So he was the puppeteer for 8D8 droid. And, they event included him in on display, see below:
You can recognize the cap and long hair above! I had such an amazing experience. What a highlight from Friday. For me, that was already great for the con. Everything else is icing on the cake – but wait don’t stop following! I
’ll have more for Saturday so keeping following us here for more for SWCA!
Thursday: The Bash SWCA
I was only able to arrive on Thursday afternoon, so I didn’t end up buying a Thursday ticket. But, that did let me scope the convention area outside. It helps for attending, and I highly recommend you do something similar for any con so you can get a lay of the land. What I ended up doing was attending a Star Wars themed party, the Bash. See below:
The Bash SWCA
I really didn’t know what to expect for this event. It wasn’t cheap, but it sounded fun. . . And it was! I had a blast, it came with unlimited small bites and open bar. See below photos I took before my phone died.
It was a blast: dancing to Star Wars themed music and meeting cool people from a galaxy far far away. Totally Wizard. That’s it for Thursday!
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