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Dark Jedi Knight Korbane

If you were able to go to Star War Celebration I, there is two things to assure you of about SWII: Bigger. Better.

Dever was fun for many 3 years ago. But those fans were challenged by endless lines and rainey days. However, despite the challeges within the 10,000 plus fans many new friends and views were made.

Now we jump ahead 3 more years to Indianapolis, celebrating the silver anniversary of a movie we all love, and less then two weeks away from the opening of Attack of the Clones. It does not seem like it has been 25 years now that Star Wars has stayed in our hearts and minds for so long.

At Star Wars Celebration II you had alot of choices in what you could do. With more then 370,000 square feet of space available to explore at the Indiana Convention Center. There was a variety of activities to take part in, exhibits and many other places you could go to. The Official Site gave out the final numbers of the big show in an article from last week:

Didn't we just leave this party? Celebration II has come and gone, but thousands of fans ended the weekend with great memories of the biggest Star Wars party ever. The numbers are in, and approximately 27,000 fans attended the convention held in Indianapolis, Indiana on May 3-5.

"Star Wars Celebration II far exceeded our expectations. For the 27,000 fans at the event, it was a can't-miss three-day experience that allowed them to celebrate and take part in 25 years of Star Wars history," said Steve Sansweet, Lucasfilm's Director of Content Management and head of Fan Relations

Anthony Daniels really made my trip worthwhile. Don't get me wrong, everything was great and fun, but he really put the icing on the cake.

I got to see the Hayden/Nick Gillard discussion on Friday evening and got to sit front row center! Talk about close!! Anthony, who was MCing the event, was hilarious. He came out after this announcer (who was supposed to sound like Darth Vader) said, "First you saw him in Star Wars, the Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and Episode I. Now, see him in person--Anthony Daniels!" Anthony comes out to a thunderous applause and stops on the stage right in front of us, beaming. Everyone was whooping and hollering. He calmed everyone down and said, "Wow, I really liked that. Let's do that again!" With that, he literally ran back across the stage and went behind the curtains.

We thought he was just going to come right back out again, but the lights went off again, and the announcer started up again, "First you saw him in Star Wars, the Empire Strikes Back...", and went through the whole thing. It was priceless.

Hayden and Nick were great and obviously had a great rapport. At one point, Hayden whispered something to Nick, and while Anthony was out in the audience getting questions from the audience, Nick loosened the cloth backing to Anthony's chair (they were director's chairs). At the end of the Q & A, Anthony came back up and sat down, and almost ended up on the floor as the backing of the chair gave way. Everybody burst out into laughter. Anthony (in mock indignation) came to the front of the stage and said, "Did you see that? Did you all know they did this?" Everybody yelled, "No!" (even though we all did) "You mean to tell me that nobody saw anything?" Hayden and Nick were shaking their heads 'no' behind him; it was so funny.

Going to see the three Fetts was really funny. Tem Morrison sang at the end, whihc was pretty cool. I also went and saw the panel with the Rebel pilots from the classic trilogy, and I got to ask them what their favorite experience was with the fans. I was laughing so hard when Bill Hootkins (Porkins) told a story about how Star Wars fans are so much more pleasant than Trekkies. It was hilarious!

Helping to control this crowd, as a kind of ad hoc security garrison, are 250 or so members of the Fighting 501st, an unofficial worldwide costuming club whose sole membership requirements are this: You must be over 18, and you must own a suit of fully accurate Imperial storm trooper armor -- which can cost anywhere from $400 to $2,000, and is technically violative of Lucasfilm Ltd. copyright. I do not how the 501st got the contacts but I know that after the celebration their Website hits went up by 25 percent. I would strongly encourage that the EH do the same and try to get involved in Celebration III. I know that about 4 other EH members attended and that they as well as I tried to spread the word to other fans. I think next time we should plan better for this and have cards and posters ready. Maybe if possible try to somehow get a booth. There was atleast 4 clubs there that had booths and they did not have near as many members as the EH. I like the others did our best however, I know I talked to the actors as they signed autographs (They were all very nice) and talked to people while in line. I do not know to what avail my talking did however.

So where is celebration III you ask, I want to go well… It could be a convention sequel. Organizers behind the scenes of the largest officially sanctioned "Star Wars" fan gathering in the world -- held in Downtown Indianapolis two weekends ago -- are considering a repeat in 2005. That's the year George Lucas' "Star Wars: Episode III" (full title not determined) is due to be released on May 25. "They're looking to come back. They've already asked us to keep those dates open," said Robert Bedell, president and chief executive officer of the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association. "Star Wars" Celebration II, which wrapped up May 5, celebrated the 25th anniversary of the original "Star Wars" movie and this week's release of "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones." Indianapolis got the nod as the Celebration II site because of its central location, large convention center and thriving Downtown area, according to Lucasfilm Ltd. officials who organized the event. When something is a success, why not go for a repeat?