Not a lot of love for the catsuit round these parts this week. On Tumblr, Molly approached the outfit from a costumer’s perspective, and Ellen Hyde pointed out that it and the Jabba’s dancer outfit are the only Mara costumes recognized by the 501st – while you can get into the Rebel Legion with the green Visions of the Future getup, it’s not that many options. I realize the costuming organizations have to draw the line somewhere, but maybe the 501st will OK the Choices of One version one day?
But I do have a treat for you! Del Rey editor Erich Schoeneweiss has generously shared with us a piece of Mara artwork from Pablo Hidalgo’s Essential Reader’s Companion, which is due out October 2. It’s by Darren Tan and shows Mara’s first encounter with the Yuuzhan Vong in Vector Prime – and no, she’s not in the catsuit. Check it out under the cut.
Reed has posted the floor plan for Celebration VI – the highlight of which is probably the exhibit hall. It looks somewhat similar to the plan for Celebration V – but they have definitely juggled a few things – like moving the store closer to the main entrance. Also handy, for our purposes – the Del Rey booth and Her Universe are in the same aisle.
Rancho Obi-Wan has announced more details on what will be on display and for sale at the Rancho Obi-Wan Experience, a mini-museum of rare Star Wars items on the Exhibition Floor at Star Wars Celebration VI. They’ve increased their floor space, and will have such unique items as a prototype 1978 Boba Fett blaster, a piñata of Luke riding a tauntaun, and more – about 300 pieces of Steve Sansweet’s collection will be shown at Celebration.
When asked if something with a Club Jade connection will be coming to Orlando, Steve responded:
“We’re going to take my “Amidala and Handmaidens Go Vegas” dolls to C VI for the Rancho Obi-Wan Experience—made by Club Jade members and auctioned off for a Kids Reading cause. I was in a fierce bidding contest with Lisa Stevens, onetime owner of the company that ran the Official Fan Club and Insider!”
In addition to selling memberships to the non-profit organization (with exclusive Celebration membership swag, like the Yoda patch, above), members will have a chance to win a bronze bust of Darth Vader, while everyone can share in giveaways of postcards, bookplates, and stickers. Additionally, Rancho Obi-Wan souvenirs will be available for purchase, including shirts, caps, patches, and of course, copies of Steve’s books. Also, The ROW Experience will serve as headquarters for the Curto Burns Collectors’ Cast, a monthly podcast about Star Wars collecting.
Jaders have a lot of con experience, but one thing we haven’t had much to do with over the years has been the autograph area. So we asked Celebration vet Justin LaSalata, the U.S. News Editor for JediNews.co.uk, to give our readers the rundown. Updated 3/20/15 for Celebration Anaheim.
One of the main highlights of a Celebration is the opportunity to meet the actors/actresses from the Star Wars saga, and once again Official Pix will be heading up the Autograph Hall for Celebration VI. For fans who have never had the chance to experience a Celebration, or are just getting into Celebration autograph collecting now, here is a brief overview of what to expect from the Autograph Hall at Celebration Anaheim.
The original director of Brave, Brenda Chapman has left Pixar for Lucasfilm. She’ll be consulting in the animation department on “something new.” Is it something as obvious as the Seth Green comedy project, or something else we haven’t heard about yet? After all, LucasFilm Animation “is also focusing efforts on feature film animation and other new intellectual properties.”
Chapman has an impressive resume. She has writing credits not only on Brave, but Disney’s The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, as well as directing The Prince of Egypt for Dreamworks – the first American woman to direct an animated feature film from a major studio, according to IMDB. Learn more about her career and Brave in an interview she did with Pixar Portal last year.
Whatever Lucasfilm has brewing, Chapman certainly has the chops!
Every Star Wars character has an iconic outfit or two. (Or twenty. Hey, Padme.) Obi-Wan has his Jedi robes, Han Solo has his bloodstripe pants and vest, Boba Fett has his armor. Hell, even Chewbacca has his bandolier.
When it comes to Expanded Universe characters – at least those that derive from books, as opposed to more visual mediums like games or comics – things get a little trickier. Authors generally don’t go for detailed descriptions of clothing, so it’s usually pretty up in the air… At least until someone gets on a book cover, or makes an appearance in a comic book. Which is how Mara Jade got the black leather catsuit that has become – like it or not – her trademark.
You may be tempted to show off a great Star Wars phone case, but this may be the best time to switch it up – unless you made it yourself, you probably won’t be the only one using it. Same goes for ringtones!
Unless you’re a professional, or otherwise used to hauling around a large camera, take one that’s portable and small. I’m sure a lot of folks will be using cell phone cameras, which are usually both!
If you are planning on using your cell phone to take pictures, and you use an iPhone or Android device, it might be worth looking into Instagram. It’s a nifty little social photo app that you can either take pictures through or use to post existing photos taken by the default camera setup. Yes, it’s best known for the faux-retro filters, but you don’t have to use them – and you can link it to your Twitter account.
For old-school photographers, or those who don’t want to share on the go, I remain, always and forever, partial to Flickr. It may be losing ground to Instagram these days (and with good reason – there’s a mobile app, but it’s awful) but it still remains the best photo archive/browsing site out there.
Anyway, a few more practical tips:
Luci: “Take a Sharpie and masking tape and put your name and address (or cell phone number if it’s not your cell phone) on the camera. You will be surprised by how many get returned to you. At DragonCon people are always turning those things and iPhones in because they are honest but by the end of the con, no owner shows up.”
Erika: “Remember to pack some extra batteries in your backpack/bag within easy reach.” And a spare charger, cell phone users! In fact, bring two, and leave the one you use overnight at the hotel – that way you have a spare if the other one gets lost. You might also want to look into a battery case or something similar.
And don’t forget to keep an eye on your camera batteries. True story from James: “Thursday night at Comic-Con, I plugged my camera into the laptop to download the pictures, and left the camera on all night (the batteries use a separate wall charger.) When I went to take a pic on Friday, it was dead.”
“Tip 1: remember to charge your camera batteries at night and Tip 2: remember to grab the batteries in the morning when you grab the camera – if you need to, leave your camera battery door open to remind you that there’s no battery in it, since usually outlets are not in obvious places in the hotel. Having a spare battery pack is smart!”
Which leads me to hypothesize that ‘The Kessel Run’ is really just the GFFA version of Iron Chef. Or something. Also: A bit of EU, a bit of Star Wars life, and some (more) Hobbit snark.
The official app was updated today with a portion of the schedule. No app? You can see the panels on Celebration’s mobile site in your ordinary web browser.
We linked several of the early reviews on Friday, but the weekend brought one more by Big Shiny Robot’s Bryan Young. “The book kept my heart pounding and a smile on my face, which is the best I could ask for from a Star Wars book,” he writes… So far, so good!
Not a lot of love for the catsuit round these parts this week. On Tumblr, Molly approached the outfit from a costumer’s perspective, and Ellen Hyde pointed out that it and the Jabba’s dancer outfit are the only Mara costumes recognized by the 501st – while you can get into the Rebel Legion with the green Visions of the Future getup, it’s not that many options. I realize the costuming organizations have to draw the line somewhere, but maybe the 501st will OK the Choices of One version one day? 
Rancho Obi-Wan has announced more details on what will be on display and for sale at the Rancho Obi-Wan Experience, a 
You may be tempted to show off 
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Tomorrow is the day… Aaron Allston’s