Readers of this site and listeners to Making Tracks will be very aware how fond we are of Farthest From, the vintage Star Wars event that takes place two, somethimes three times a year down in Fordingbridge, a picturesque town in the New Forest just a few miles from the south coast of England. It’s called Farthest From for good reason; we’re not near any major motorways, train lines or international airports but there’s a reason why folks like Gus Lopez travel halfway around the world to attend. Farthest From brings together dealers with an incredible array of hard-to-find items and treats and treasures from the past much larger conventions can only dream of. In short, it’s a gem of a show that should have a far better profile than it does, but then if it got too big it wouldn’t be Farthest From anymore.
That said, Farthest From is still a day away on Sunday 12th December. This review is looking at the Star Wars Family Fun Day on Saturday 11th and the evenings annual Christmas meal, MonCalCon (which was fittingly attended by the late Gerald Home back in 2016). While Farthest From is a strict adherant to the vintage years of ’77 through to ’85, the Family Fun Day has no such constraints and so a far broader range of collectibles were on offer for Star Wars hungry purchasers.
Along with All The Cool Stuff and their table of The Vintage Collection and The Black Series figures (which we had great fun sorting out after a much-needed curry with Paul Naylor, my room mate for the weekend Jason ‘Mr Palitoy’ Smith and Gus Lopez on the Friday following a near 4 hour Friday night drive to Fordingbridge) the team from Bowmansgreen were there, showing off their latest releases including an awesome Cap-2 mug and the event exclusive print.
As with every Family Fun Day the games were out for the kids to enjoy, and this year we had the Sarlacc Pit, the Kessel Run, my personal favourite of Death Star where you thrown a bean bag to knock down the planets and of course shoot the trooper with a special Porg element in honour of guest Brian Herring.
The show was also fortunate enough to have members of the UK Garrison in attendance, dressed appropriately in Rogue One specific attire. We had menacing Shoretroopers and a no-nonsense Krennic, who’s presence did not go unnoticed by guest Guy Henry, who had his own run-ins with Krennic a few years ago in Rogue One.
While I was there representing Fantha Tracks and Making Tracks (sadly my co-host Mark Mulcaster was pulled into work and unable to attend), I was joined by a number of fellow Fantha’s including Richard Mitchell who ably assisted Brian Herring and Guy Henry during the day, Desert Planet Discs co-host Carl Bayliss and my soon-to-be Start Your Engines co-host Paul Naylor who ran the kitchen and not only succedded in not blowing it up, but they also didn’t give anyone food poisoning; always a bonus.
The interview schedule began with myself and Guy Henry at 1.00pm, discussing his career in the galaxy far, far away and his wider career which includes time in the Wizarding World and 11 years on one of the UK’s most successful shows Holby, which is coming to an end early next year. Despite having previously interviewed Guy for Fantha Tracks, Star Wars Insider and the late, great Geeky Monkey Magazine I had no idea he was a qualified coach driver. Seriously, be sure to give the episode a listen.
4.00pm saw the arrival of Neal Scanlan (after some last minute Fordingbridge Christmas shopping) and our talk which ran well over the hour we’d planned and into an impromptu Q&A which saw him touch on his love of Ray Harryhausen, his early days in the industry and of course his storied Star Wars career. Again, stay tuned for that to arrive in the next few weeks.
Once the visitors to the Family Fun Day had drifted home and the room had been cleared, the hall was rearranged for MonCalCon and a sumptuous Christmas meal prepared by the kitchen staff at The Crown across the road. Using a new app system to order drinks, the night went smoothly as the food was delivered in good time and the conversation continued into the night.
After the meal I had chance to not only proudly display / offend / blind people with my Merchoid Grogru Christmas jumper but to chat with Brian Herring, from his early days at Spitting Image and Jim Henson Workshop right through to his Star Wars work and the rigours and joys of being the operator of BB-8. Anyone who’s ever spoken with, interviewed or listened to Brian talk knows what a great speaker he is and the chat was littered with laughs. Be sure to check it out soon here on the site.
As mentioned, Farthest From weekend brings guests from around the world and attending for the fourth time was super collector Gus Lopez who first gave us an absolutely fascinating look at his stunning collection (original Death Star model? He has it. Han Solo’s blue jacket? Got that. Leia’s metal bikini? Yep) and then took part in a live episode of Dave Tree’s podcast Star Wars Spins (A nonsensical podcast about the nonsense of Star Wars), getting into the spirit of the show right off the bat. Let’s hope Gus is invited to be a part of season two of the show when that arrives in 2022.
As always, the show wears its heart on its sleeve, proudly displaying its love for all things Star Wars while bringing the community together to discuss, display and disseminate the details of the saga. One unfortunate incident aside (and shame on you whoever did it) this was yet another buzz-inducing, satisfying event and one that Dave and his team should be very proud of.
Check out Making Tracks LIVE at Farthest From 22, recorded the following day at Farthest From and stay tuned for audio from our three guests here on the site and on Fantha Tracks Radio in the near future.
- Hardcover Book
- Ireland, Justina (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 272 Pages - 03/01/2022 (Publication Date) - Random House/Star Wars (Publisher)
