Wow - it has been a good long while since I have posted to the blog. Here is quick recap of a couple of events that happened over the past two weekends.
First, was the Lexington Comic-Con in Lexington, Kentucky. While attending the Mid-Ohio Con in Columbus in October, the owner of the Lexington Comic-Con invited me to his con. All he had to say was "free passes", and I was there. Actually, knowing that our speeder bike crew from Cincinnati was going was the main reason - they had me hooked up before the event staff hit me up. Regardless, it is really cool getting invited to events - it gets R2 out of the house and lets him do his thing in public.
The con was a three day event, starting Friday night with a V.I.P. opening ceremony. I got down to Lexington just in time for the start of the event and was welcomed by the members of the 501sts Mid-South Garrison. I have to say, I have a great sense of pride in this group. No matter where I go in the country, I know that there is a family of like-minded, caring, fun people who accept you with open arms. Within minutes, I felt like I was at an Ohio Garrison event, chatting with a bunch of old friends.
Here are some photos of the event.
James Ficker from the Ohio Garrison rocking' a classic TK.
James Ficker and Eve Steiner (another O.G.er)
The Midsouth Garrison's life-size Dewback prop.
Shoo-A-Trooper events are becoming very popular. Our boys in white line up to take shots from Nerf guns to raise money for charity. Based on the number of darts on the floor, the Midsouth Garrison raised thousands of dollars this weekend.
Photo ops were everywhere, and the crowd was pretty consistent throughout the entire weekend.
Here is a shot of Craig Provine from Michigan's Great Lakes Garrison. I have probably been at at least 10 troops with Craig (aka Hyper). The man is unstoppable and unstoppable with the number of events he does around the country. We trooped the George Lucas / Jon Stewart "Main Event" together at Celebration V in Orlando a couple of years back.
Taking a break from droid driving to catch up with Lindsay and Fentrooper Julie - both taking a break from the Star Wars costuming.
I love the Clone Wars troopers, and here is an outstanding Commander Wolf.
Yeah, he gets two photos, because these kits are my favorite, and the paint job on this one was outta sight !
A simple display like this was a real crowd pleaser. Hasbros black series action figures - life size !
Admittedly, I have not watched Dr. Who since I was about 10 - but I certainly remember what a Delak and a Tardis are.
Here R2 meets up with the most dangerous droid in the Who-iverse. A video edited and posted by the maker - Dalek Gan.
I got a chance to pick up some new art from Jim Mafood. I really like the street style - and of course, I am a fan of Tank Girl. (The Comics, not the movie)
What more can you ask for ? Star Wars, Tron and Daft Punk. Three things that have, and continue to inform me.
Bad guys look so very cool in red.
Deadpool continues to be a HUGE go-to for costumers lately. This guy did not disappoint - apparently he did this build in 24 hours. Regardless of the amount of time put in, he was the best at the show.
Meanwhile, inside a Adventure Time Jake / Deadpool enjoyed getting his boogie on with a couple of well known astromech droids. His transition from The Bee Gees to The Cantina Song is rather impressive....
Here is the group shot of the Midsouth Garrison at the end of the weekend.
The Midsouth Garrison has a good number of retired and active duty military in their ranks. There is also a special person in this photo....
Felis Silla, honorary member of the 501st. Felix is probably best know for playing Twiki on the TV series Buck Rogers. A really nice guy - he rapped on R2's dome and said "Hey Kenny ! You in there ??? Wake up !" At the start of this weekend you told me I would be having dinner with Felix and the Honky Tonk Man from WWF fame, I would have asked you to kindly walk away....
Alex Brown, active duty combat medic doing the kilted trooper thing, an Asassin's Creed woman and R2. Commence mash-up jokes.
Back to the Future DeLorean - we also saw the T.V. series Batmobile.
What is better than one R2... two R2s ! Astromech.net member Nimster's great R2 here. His weathering is incredible, and it was great meeting another member and talking shop. Whenever both of the droids got together, the movement in the hall ground to a halt.
A father reassuring his little guy that R2, is in fact, a good guy.
The Lexington Comic and Toy Convention will be a "must attend" on my list from this point on. It is a smaller con, but growing in popularity year after year.
Let's flash back a few weeks. Prior to being invited to the Cavaliers game, we were invited to do a promotional video for the event. I was out of town, so Dad and Uncle Bob Szeliga took over the duties to run R2 for the shoot.
Dad and Bob did a great job, and here is the video :
Because of that shoot, I was invited to another event. Friday night was the FIRST ROBOTICS mixer at Windows on the River. A Cavaliers marketing employee's mother ran the First Robotics regional competition here, and wondered if R2 would like to visit.
All told, there were 52 teams of high school robotics teams from this region of the country competing for a national title.
Here is a link to the website :
What a really great group of kids. R2 was a huge hit, and became even more popular when I took his dome off to show off all of the goodies inside. I am extremely jealous and proud of these youngsters, as their world in robotics will only continue to grow in the coming years.
I felt as though R2 may have needed a tie for this event...
I was having way too much fun taking with all of the students, so the only photos I got from the First Robotics event were in the first 10 minutes.
On to Saturday night - the Cavs Game. Big time events like professional sports gigs are alway a lot of fun for our groups.
O.G.s Dan Peterson as Vader and his little friend.
Getting ready for the masses. Alex Ford in C3P0 getting wheeled into position. Walking half way around the concourse is not a reality in this outstanding costume.
Biker Scout Matt Molina (Nighthawk) ready to go.
A great photo with the Star Wars crew, Mom and nephew Brady.
Our outstanding handler kept things very organized and flowing with all of the photos that were taken that evening.
A typical scene before the game. 45 minutes of camera phones and children being prodded into position.
these moments make the entire hobby worth-while. Here we are queuing up for some court time.
Lumpy (as Chewie) - from the Great Lakes Base of the Rebel Legion was obviously excited about something....
Cav's mascot Moondog was really excited to see the Star Wars nerds. He even rocked a Chewie style bandolier during the game.
Sharing grooming tips. Walking carpet vs. basketball dunking carpet.... let the Wookie win.
Lord only knows what this conversation was about.
Cavaliers Marketing Manager, Matthew Papatheodorou. The man who made this all possible. What a great host for all of us all. We truly appreciate the opportunity and are ready to serve for the next event ! Apparently Matt saw an appearance of R2 at the Lake Erie Captains game, got in tough with Lucasfilm to find out who owned that thing. Lucasfilm pointed him towards the Ohio Garrison, and Lisa Ford got us all connected. It is truly amazing the number of opportunities a single event can spawn. As long as R2 is rolling - he stands ready to perform.
Lisa, Saxter and Nighthawk ready for Deal Or No Deal during the third quarter.
More court time. Unfortunately, R2's controller batteries were getting tired, so he couldn't show off all his moves on the court, but he did get to roll around for a while on the maple floor. The event coordinators quizzed me on what R2's wheels were made of, making sure that he would not scuff the surface of the court.
After convincing them that the rubber wheels and casters were non-marring, Matt and I lugged him up the ramp and onto the floor. Matt was REALLY excited to have R2 on the court - admittedly, I was too - but I wanted to play it cool.
All in all, a great - albeit busy - couple of weekends for R2. Looking forward to many other events !
