The team who put together this year’s Collecting Track panels did a superb job once more and I would love have loved to have attended more at this year’s Celebration but, as always, there’s so much to do and so little time.
In all I attended four panels over the weekend and they were belters. These were; ‘Star Wars Oddities’, ‘Beyond Kenner’s Droids and Ewoks’, ‘Die Kraft der Macht’ and ‘European Store Displays.’ These were all fascinating and as ever there was something to learn that even seasoned collector’s might not have known. All the panels were very, very well attended and the ‘Oddities’ one was a complete full house.
Each panel was slick and funny and painstakingly researched. It was a TED talk for Star Wars collectors and we were having the time of our lives. The noise from the Star Wars Live-streaming stage didn’t bother us one bit. Everyone was engrossed and eager to learn more from our professional hosts.
The coins were back this year to help celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Return of the Jedi and, as ever, they were highly sought after. I managed to bag myself 7 of these coins. 4 from each panel I attended and 3 extra from the coin giveaway right at the end of Celebration at 4.30pm on the Monday. This was brilliant fun with collector’s in line ready to grab the ones they most desired and shouting out character name’s from the back of the queue or even holding up signs to see who was willing to swap.
Everyone who helped run these panels was, as you’d expect, an absolute delight and it was wonderful to see the passion for collecting alive and well and make so many new friends in the crowd and waiting in line.
It was here, in line at the end of the last day, that we first learned of the news from the Celebration stage that the next one would be held in Japan of April 2025. I looked down at my bags of shopping.
“Japan?,” I thought. “Well, I best start saving.”
But the thought quickly left me as I headed in to ask for my last coin of the show.
“Could I have R2-D2 please? I’ve got 3PO and it would bother the hell out of me if they weren’t together.”
- Jenkins, Duncan (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 252 Pages - 08/05/2012 (Publication Date) - Completist Publications (Publisher)
