Category: conventions and events

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Celebration Anaheim: Battlefront novel, Lando mini and Shattered Empire details

IMG_2761A couple of quick updates this morning: We’ve learned at Celebration that Alexander Freed will be writing Battlefront: Twilight Company, the November novel from Del Rey.

(The actual Battlefront game was this morning’s big draw, but more on how that’s relevant to us later. )

Marvel has been dropping their news ahead of their panel as well. First we learned that a Lando Calrissian limited series will follow Princess Leia. It’ll be from Charles Soule and Alex Maleev and issue #1 comes out in July.

And this morning, some Shattered Empire details. The limited series will be written by (as we knew) Greg Rucka, with art and cover from Marco Chechetto. (Is the Phil Noto piece just a variant?)

The Del Rey and Marvel panels are tomorrow, so no doubt we’ll learn more then.

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Yes, we saw a new trailer for The Force Awakens!


J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy’s “special guests” included the new trio – Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac – who confirmed some of what we’d already heard and/or guessed about their characters. We also got to see the (real!) BB-8 and Artoo, plus their makers, and of course Anthony Daniels, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and Peter Mayhew also showed up. I’ll be back later with more, but for now just keep an eye on @clubjade, where I’ve been far more active than on the blog. (Sorry!)

In the meantime, you can backwatch the panel yourself!

And another video that StarWars.com dropped on us today:


Here’s just the BB-8 portion of the livestream:

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Celebration Anaheim: A quick and dirty guide to panels

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There’s almost always been only one formal track at Celebration, the one for collectors, but the truth is there are usually several informal tracks, and I’ve collected a few on different subjects here. This isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list by any means, but if you’re still confused the schedule, consider these suggestions for Anaheim.

Continue reading “Celebration Anaheim: A quick and dirty guide to panels”

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Convention tips: How to photograph fans in costume

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A convention is a great place for taking photos: there’s plenty of cool things worth turning into con memories — celebrity sightings, cool displays, and plenty of people in costumes. At a Star Wars convention, expect most of the costumers to be your fellow fans, so here’s some important etiquette for taking pictures of or with folks in costume:

The basic rule: A person in a costume is still a person. Acknowledge them and treat them with respect. Here’s how: Continue reading “Convention tips: How to photograph fans in costume”

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Celebration Anaheim: Store exclusives, line queue details, and the floor plan

It’s the final Friday before Celebration, and the news is flowing.

First up, we have a look at what will be in the official Celebration store. Today we got the second batch, and I guess it’s just as well I forgot to blog the first part the other day, right? (Though at least I remembered the apparel.) My personal highlights are above, but there’s lots for everyone. And yes, the Death Star soccer ball from last Celebration Europe IS BACK!

We also have the details of how queuing up for Thursday’s big J.J. Abrams/Kathleen Kennedy panel will work. The indoor queue will open up at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, with wristbands being handed out at 6:00 am Thursday… Wristbands for all the rooms, not just the Celebration Stage. So even if you don’t mind a simulcast, plan to get up early.

And finally, the floor plan, in PDF form or see the gallery below.

Level 1
Exhibit hall
Level 2
Level 3
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Del Rey bringing a new Star Wars sampler to Celebration

We learned today that Del Rey will be setting up in Booth 1211 for Celebration… And they have lots of treats. First and foremost, there’s a 2015 Book Sampler with a cover by Phil Noto. The cover clearly teases Lords of the Sith and Dark Disciple… But what else could be in it? Dare we hope for a peek at Aftermath? Chuck Wendig just finished the first draft the other day, but stranger things have happened… And note how the poster image carefully covers big chunks of the timeline… Battlefront? A novelization, even? (And for those not attending, the last sampler was put online for free, so chances are that’ll happen again.)

There are some nifty book cover pins, too. (Don’t forget Saturday is Aaron Allston Tribute Day!) There’s also a schedule of signings. Authors listed include John Jackson Miller, Christie Golden, James Luceno, Drew Karpyshyn, Alan Dean Foster, James Kahn and Michael Kogge.

Del Rey will also be handing out some Marvel stuff… Does Marvel not have a booth of their own? Curious.

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(Some of) ThinkGeek’s exclusives for Celebration

ThinkGeek is bringing several new items to Celebration – and here are my picks! The Death Star charm above will be coming to the site, but you can get it at Celebration first. And the patch is, sadly, a limited edition that you only get with a purchase of Con Bag of Holding… (Which, of course, I bought before the con.)

The Russell Walks Retro Star Wars Poster Set below, is limited to 250 copies. My heart! Check out the rest at Yakface.

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