Day 4 of CV (The Final Day)

This was our quiet day. No costumes, no photo shoots, just checking out things and maybe hit up a couple of panels and me getting ink. First it was to the 501st room again. I wanted to know if I had won anything from the Droid Hint. Not a winner but I did get my badge back and a few 501st trading cards.

I went off for my tattoo appointment and Jeremy went to the clone and stormtrooper armor panel done by fewll TBS members. I sat for my tattoo just in time for Jeremy to come back to check out the progress and grab a few pics of me in the chair. Me and the artist were cracking each other up. I was making the droid noises most the time. For my tattoo, I did a tribute to everyone's favorite pink droid R2-KT. After I was wrapped up, it was time to go find R2-KT and have my pic with her again with my tribute. We showed a few of the members of the 501st my new ink and I got smiles and thumbs ups.

We headed to the 4th floor for another panel. we were there early and I ended up chatting with another 501st member who was dresses as Darth Stalker and his handler. Jeremy went into a panel and I decieded to sit and chat with them for a bit. I chatted with him over his costume since I'll be making the red/black Sith robe concept for a second costume. He game me alot of tips and where I can purchcase the eather for a decent price and to get the leather kit for sewing. He also told me a great place to find the lightsaber as well. You can always get good costuming advise when you ask the right people.

Jeremy heads off to another panel and I'm off to hang out. We wondered the dealer room and took pics before the announcement came saying that CV was officially over. I tracked down Jeremy again and it was time to head out. This was the experience of a life time and I will never forget it.

Day 3 of CV (Part 2)

After short break, where I refilled the camel pack and water bottles for Jeremy, and made sure he ate a protein bar and I had downed some water for myself. I had to literally run after him and around him and ahead of him to clear the way so I was having to stay hydrated as well to keep up. I myself took a small break and bought a R2-KT beanie that I wore proudly. And it helped to spot me in it too. Then we got the call saying the 501st was needed. We got more help to get him back into the suit again. I was very happy with all the help we were getting.

We went for the elevator and between me and him we jumped the line to go downstairs to the main atrium. A couple of troopers joined us in the elevator as well. We got to the main floor and he took off and I had to run though the crowd to catch up with him. Then I hear this thunderous applause and cheering. Jeremy had walked out where everyone could see him. I'll admit it, I almost cried, I had teared up. He took his place with the troops off to the right side and I took my place about 10 feet away off to the side to stay close but not to close. I was trying to respect the photographer and this was the time for the 501st. I had to get some people to back off from trying to run up to grab pics with them. I had fellow troopers watching his back for him and me. I told people where we would be later because after this we had a short time before another thing we had to be at. Jeremy called out to me for some help. He needed me to buckle the waist band that helps take some of the weight off his back. I have to put my arms in up to the elbow into the suit to get him in. Yeah I had to give up my shyness for this. I had to do this in front of everyone. 5 troopers helped out by raising their helmets and arms over me so people couldn't see what I was doing. I was grateful to them for it. I got him buckled and adjusted snaps and straps then handed him the head so he could be ready for the main pic. I stepped back off to the side.

Then all of a sudden I realize there are people right behind me wanting my attention. Which is odd since there are hundreds behind me. Let me back up a minute. After we left the Echo Base Ice Bar, we were approached to come help put in the last Lego piece of their mural which was the Wampa eye. I told them where we would be but I can't make promises. I kinda forgot in the rush of things. Well they tracked us down. I turned around and practically jumped. There were 6 people from Lego wanting to talk to me. This is pretty much how that conversation went.

"Um hi." "Hi, we're from Lego and we are here to escort you to the finishing of the mural." "Um, I kinda gotta get him out of that thing for a break before the next thing." "It'll only take 5 minutes." I turn to look at Jeremy who is in the middle of the pic taking and I had to make a choice for him. "Um, can you help us get there?" "Sure, we have a 6 person escort for you." "What, really?" Now mind you most if not all the stars including Lucas got a 2 person escort, we got 6. "Can you grab the elevator over there?" She sent off two of her people. "Of course." I had to make on last request but if they said no I'd understand. "After we're done can you escort us back to the 501st room?" "Sure thing." The photo shoot was done and I yelled to Jeremy, "Jeremy! We are going to the Lego mural and we have a 6 person escort" Him "Alright let's go!"

Off we went. The people from Lego paved the way. 2 in front of us, 2 behind us and the other 2 beside us. They were great about getting us there and helping with the crowd of people trying to stop us for pics. We got to the mural and then it was time for him to put in the Lego piece except we couldn't figure out how he would do it so we improvised by him handing the piece to a little kid in clone armor and he would put it in. Off he was for his photo and then lady ushered me to the a front row spot so I could take pics. The Wampa handed the piece to the kid and the mural was complete.

And as promised the Lego people gave us an escort back to the 501st room. They thanked us for our time and we took another short break. Then it was time to go for a photo op in the Droid Builders room with the Wampa door set they made. We got an escort to the room for a guy dresses as Luke Skywalker, and this guy had the look down pat. We got in there for a photo op. We had Jeremy do a few poses, then it was time to send Luke in. He had me check his hair to make sure it was Luke hair and I made sure it was in place and sent him in. They did a few fight poses then for the last shot I got them to hug. See Luke does have love for the Wampa. The crowd loved it. I got told to pick about 5 kids for some photos. Luke let them use his lightsaber. Then it was time for pics with the makers of the set.

We then had to head off to the Rebel Legion booth for more pics. This time it was with Chewbecca. A fellow Rebel Legion member. I had control of the photo line again with another handler to help out as well. We did this for 15 minutes then it was time to suit down. We thanked everyone for letting us hang out with them and we were thanked as well by the CO of the FL squad of the Rebel Legion.

This concluded our day at CV. It was an amazing big day for us. We headed back to the hotel then off for some dinner. Finally allowed sleep again to get ready for the last day.

Day 3 of CV (Part 1)

And this is the biggest day of CV. We parked a little closer this time. With also the idea to cart the wampa in about 45 minutes before we needed it, instead of walking it in. We were off and running. We ran into our friends and chatted them up. Then ran off to find our other friends. Before I go on I will be jumping around alot. This day was a big one for us, so the whole day blends together.

Not even there for 30 minutes and we are by the 501st room. And of course a guy in Rex armor pointed at me and yelled "hey you" from about 20 feet away. I'm like who me? I looked down and my Droid Hunt badge was hanging there. He came up to me to ask "how long have you had these droids" and I had to hand over my badge. Jeremy was laughing at me. That's what I get by hanging with the 501st. So I decided to have fun all day with it. Any time I saw a large group still with their badges I'd go get the troops to go get them. People would run away from them, to be caught by someone else 10 feet away. I did get pick on for losing mine so quickly by other troops.

Then it was off to the Echo Base Ice Bar in the OCCC to meet up with the Mando Mercs Wampa Squad. Jeremy in his show stopping fashion put on the stilts with the legs on while we carted the rest of the wampa and I helped clear the way, to the best of my abilities. Then all of a sudden Seth Green stopped us. Seth Green! That was awesome. We hit the elevator to go up to a crowd of people. We recruited some help from the audience. Even though I can put him into the whole suit by myself, I had pulled him aside earlier and told him I needed help because I was hurting and I knew we would be pulling him in and out of the body all day. 5 people volunteered. They got him in the body and i had to get in there to buckle him in. I turned around to see what was going on and there was about 300 people with cameras taken pics. I got shy again and I had him turn around so I could get under the suit to buckle him in. We got him suited up and was time for our date with the Mando Mercs then with the Echo Base Ice Bar which were thankfully right next to each other.

First we were to see the Wampa Squad of the Mando Mercs. They requested Jeremy to be there because they were presenting Steve Sansweet with a plaque. Before he showed up Jeremy Bulloch, Boba Fett from the original trilogy walked by. I even saw him check out the 3 Wampas; Jeremy, another guy in a Wampa suit from the same group as Jeremy and the Belgium statue. Then Steve Sansweet showed up. I shook the man's hand. And it was off to the presentation. In the end the Wampa (Jeremy) and Steve hugged. I was in the audience handling cameras for the Mando Mercs and kinda directing a few pics. Steve had to leave but alot of people were requesting pics with Jeremy. I got my true taste of having to handle the crowd wanting photos. Jeremy gave me queues as to how many before we had to leave. I tried to mainly let kids and families go get their photos then we ended it with a Princess Leia.

Then we headed into the Echo Base Ice Bar. Since we were with the Wampa we got to skip the line. I ran out to refill water bottles and call a friend to tell him I met Seth Green. Went back to the bar. Oh and to mention why we were in there. He got a request from someone that works for LFL. That would be Lucas Films. I was back to handing him water and controlling the photo line. We were there for about 20 minutes before we had to head out towards the 501st room for a break before the 501st group photo.

We got the body off and put the body arms and head back on the cart. Jeremy stayed on the stilts which was easier to move them and he was still doing good up on the stilts and was good to walk in them for another few hours. As we were headed back to the right floor and towards our "break" hall, Jeremy up on stilts spots Warwick Davis. Warwick couldn't help but notice him. Jeremy chatted him up a bit and asked about his book "Size Matters Not" which isn't available here yet but you can get it on his website and I do believe he said it's signed too. Then they got together for a photo. I do believe this was my best damn photo I took the entire time we were there.

Then it was back to our hallway behind the 501st room for a short break. More to come in the next post. So much happened this day that I have to make separate posts.

Day 2 Of SWCV

Dead tired we got the Wampa packed and headed to the OCCC for Day 2. We get back in line to head in. We head straight tot he 501st room (yes we spent alot of time with them) to see what time we need to be ready for the "walk-though" with the Wampa. I get my Droid Hunt badge. Basically the troopers from the 501st on Saturday were running off to hunt for us that got the badges. They ask you "how long have you had these droids?" then you had to give them the badge. In return you get a raffle ticket for a chance to win prizes.

Back out to the exhibition hall. we wonder for a bit taking pics of people and getting our pics with the Slave Leias. We headed to check out some booths and displays we missed the day before. Then we head back toward the 501st room so I can head outside for a break. We hit the 501st room and Jeremy calls me over and there standing in her Imperial Officer uniform is Adrianne Curry. I had joked with my dad the week before about how I'd get a pic with her but I wasn't sure she would be there. Well look where it got me. I walked up and asked if I could get a pic with her and she of course agreed. I told her my dad would be very jealous of me and she put her arm around my shoulder and said "aww so sorry daddy." I also was wearing my Daddy's Little Girl shirt. Kinda just added to it.

After I calmed down from that we were off to get the Wampa out of the van for his debut at CV. If you've never been to OCCC that place is freaking huge. So this was one of our longest back and forth walks. We got Jeremy suited up out in the parking lot when it started to rain. Off we went. I had to keep up with him to get doors and clear a path. I also had my lightsaber on me that I had handmade. We started off towards the 501st room but not before we were stopped about 100 times for pics. We had to apologize to a few people since we were in a rush. As we headed around the corner I spotted the troops and yelled out is anyone looking for a Wampa. And if that didn't work, all 7 and a half feet of the fuzzball behind me got their attention. We were greeted by the handler for the walk-through that now turned into a plain photo-op due to stilt issues. They were more then happy to change their plans. I spoke with the handler as to a few things, like I had tons of water for him and I wanted to stay close in case he needed me. I stayed about 5-10 feet away, ready for my handler duties but far enough out that I wouldn't effect the pics. I took a few pics and shot some video. The crowd was huge. He was a hit. After about 20 minutes the handler called it time to end it. We were escorted to a hidden back hall where he could get out of the costume and rehydrate and eat some power bars. We chilled for a bit, till Jeremy took the legs and stilts back to the van and I guarded the rest of the costume. I chatted with the handler a bit and thanked her for her help and understanding. She was a very nice lady. We had people coming up and just snapping pics of the body and a guy came over to shot video. A family with their baby stopped over and the baby loved the suit and was giggling to his hearts content. That just made me light up.

When Jeremy got back with the cart he got an idea of strapping the body, arms and head to the cart and we would walk it around. That was a brillant idea. It got so much attention it wasn't even funny. We at some point thought it would be funny to stick the lightsaber in its neck. So there my ligthsaber stayed like the proverbial sword in the stone. People would come get their pics taken while gripping the saber like they had attacked it. We hung out with the Rebel Legion for a bit where I found a spot to sit on the ground. We left there after some pic opts to head out. People kept stopping us so we decided to just park it. Where I did again on the floor right next to the Wampa. We were smack in the middle of the 2 main aisles of the main hall. A guy dressed as Jason trooper since it was Friday the 13th came over to take some photos with the Wampa like he head cut off his head. Which was easy since the head wasn't attached. As I was sitting there I see Peter Mayhew walk by. You may know him better as Chewbecca. The main is alot taller then me when I'm standing but when I was sitting on the floor I almost fell over looking up at him. Then Anthony Daniels spotted the Wampa. Yes this is C3PO. He came over to join us and then ended up doing an interview right over the Wampa and it's cart. Jeremy got a pic with him. And then we were off again for the day.

We ran out for some food where people came up to talk to us about the Wampa. Then it was off for some supplies to do some repairs on the Wampa and to get me a new shirt for a costume change. We worked till the wee hours of the morning fixing things. I gave the wampa a mani pedi. And then we cut up my $5 shirt to look like it had blaster holes. Then we finally were granted sleep.

On a side note, one of the other handlers came up to me and said to me "I want to shake our hand. It's awesome what you helped make and how well you take care of him." I thanked her and once again I was very bashful. I knew people would come up to him but to just come up to about the video we put together and helping him out was an awesome feeling. I kinda became my own celebrity.

Day 1 Of SWCV

The night before was like Christmas eve and we couldn't sleep. We woke up after only a couple of hours of sleep at 7am. A harsh hour especially when you work nights but well worth it. We walk to the Orange County Convention Center from the hotel a mile away. Definitely got the blood flowing. The line was a long one but everyone was friendly. We chatted up several people making new contacts. We even had people stopping us because they recognized us from the becoming a Wampa video.

Upon entering, Jeremy was off to find the exclusive Ralph McQuarrie Bounty Hunter print. I was keeping an eye on his 5 year old son and visiting with everyone's favorite pink droid, R2-KT when I spot a guy that looked a hell of alot like Dave Filoni, the man behind The Clone Wars. He looked our way then headed into the exhibition hall then it dawned on me that it was him. Dave Filoni had announced that he would pin buttons on kids in Clone Wars costumes. The button is the same as the stamp he uses to approve things for the show that says Plo Kool. We were after him at that moment. We actually found him right away and the kid got pinned! I snapped a couple of pics and then shook Filoni's hand and thanked him for all his work. Nice guy.

After that we found Jeremy and I showed him the pics. And he did manage to get the Bounty Hunter print, but I got to meet Filoni (yeah I won't drop this for a few months). We were off to do things for the kid. He got to do a Lego piece for their huge display that later the Wampa was involved with. Check my day 3 info for that. I went off the the Her Universe booth to get my "Daddy's Little Girl" shirt and my Rebel Alliance necklace. I even saw Ashley Eckstein who voices Ahsoka Tano on the Clone Wars. Then we hit a few of the booths and displays then off to the family room so that the kid can have his face painted like Darth Maul and build a little droid of his own. Jeremy decided just then to tell me that in the 501st room I can buy a R2-KT patch. I kinda sorta ran down there. Then it was off to the Droid builders across the way. These people made some amazing droids. Then it was time to end our day at the con and for the kid to go back home.

After a brief nap it was off to the Ice Bar and the Wampa to come out in style. And when I mean in style I mean to the Imperial March. We headed into the 27 degree section of the bar that had ice sculptures, ice seats and even ice cups. We hung out with members of the 501st, Rebel Legion and other patrons. We were in there chillin' literally, well I was, he was fine in his fur suit. I did my handler duty by making sure the costume looked right, handing him water and taking pics for people. We went outside for a few pics. People came into the bar just because they saw him through the door. We decided to hit the dance floor including the Wampa! Yes I have video of it. After 3 hours, we said good bye, I thanked the people at the Ice Bar for their help and letting us hang out then it was back to the hotel for sleep.

Who knew this was just the beginning of what was to come of the weekend. On a side note, I was amazed at how many people knew us from that video. I had people coming up to just me and telling me how awesome it is. I even got bashful at times. I got really shy during most of the weekend. Here are a few pics of the day. Day 2 post to come soon.