With today's cool and refreshing rain showers and the mild thunderstorms, I started thinking back to the first Star Wars Celebration. It was during that weekend that we got three days of intense rain.
So over ten years ago, my wife, our friend Lance and myself were preparing for the first Star Wars Celebration. We had spent a few weeks, if not a couple months, buying prop items and working over a sewing machine creating our first Jedi costumes.
During that process, we had also acquired DL-44 "Han Solo" Blasters and replicas of the belt and holster Luke wore in the Empire Strikes Back. We were not planning on wearing these as part of our Jedi costumes but we had thought about working on a smuggler or rebellion inspired style costume. The costumes would never be constructed but we did have a short opportunity to wear the blasters.
The rain had started Thursday evening. It wouldn't quit until Sunday morning. So that night, Lance and I were going to go over to the Wings of the Rockies and scout out the Celebration. Not sure if the Celebration was official opened for business that Thursday night, but we went out there anyways. I had thrown on my red water-proof Eddie Bauer Weather Edge shell. It had the streaming effect of Han's parka from ESB yet without the weight of a full winter coat. Along with the jacket, I decided to give the boot spats a try and to top the outfit off, I strapped on the DL-44 and belt. Not an official costume of sorts, but I felt like some kind of Spice Trader or Bounty Hunter. With communication prior to Lance picking me up (to head over to the Celebration), Lance had put something very similar on as well, only his jacket was blue.
As we arrived, the place was fairly quiet. There was some small activity of venders setting up. We walked right through the main doors and I don't recall anyone wanting to see our badges although we were wearing them just in case. I remember walking in that night. The scene was not that of a busy convention. But the first thing I saw that evening were Stormtroopers. I turned and looked at Lance and spoke, "Stormtroopers here?". The stood in a small alcove off to the right of the main doors. We were in awe. These weren't some cheap Halloween costumes we were looking at. They had to be from Lucasfilm-they were that good. I had never been so close to Stormtroopers of this coolness and quality. The last Stormtrooper costume I remember seeing in person was the plastic jumpsuit and mask I had when I was 8. Yet, here, in front of my 26 year old eyes, were Stormtrooper costumes that were made out of real armor-platic armor anyways. Several of the Stormtroopers were clean and a couple were dirty with shoulder pauldrons. Not only were there real Stormtroopers, there was real Sandtroopers too!
I remember asking one of the guys, where did you get the armor? He said that there was a special outfit that could provide it. He said he was part of an organization called Vader's Legion. So, they weren't official Lucasfilm Stormtroopers. This gave me hope of getting my own Stormtrooper outfit. When I asked how much something like stormtrooper armor cost, he replied with a cool "$1000." My hopes and dreams of becoming a stormtrooper were immediately deflated. There was no way I could afford that. So all I could do was dream.
So, one of the very first memories of Star Wars Celebration was that of Stormtroopers and the real ones that were standing in that small alcove inside the museum's doors. Before the weekend was out, I would even see a black stormtrooper and Snowtroopers. It was that awe and envy that made that weekend a series of great memories.
Oh, and I recall the question that I fielded many times that night, "what character are you?"