Rebelscum.com: Celebration III

You won't find a larger gathering of Star Wars fans (and actors) than a Star Wars Celebration. Celebration III went down April 21 - 24, 2005, at the Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Indiana. Some of the attractions at the big event were the "Star Wars in 30 Minutes" play and equally impressive "Star Wars One Man Show", a massive autograph hall, the Star Wars Musical, and a bevy of Star Wars collectible panels. There were panels for unproduced toys, international items, props, costumes, character collectibles, collecting trivia, vintage figures, posters, cards, fast food items, and more. There were Star Wars custom builders, R2-D2 builders, and a meeting of the 501st Legion.

This year The Maker himself swung by to give a couple presentations and a quick Q-and-A session. Lucas confirmed that there was not one, but two TV series in the works. One will be an all CGI continuation of the Clone Wars cartoons and the other a live-action affair.

Rebelscum had a chance to scope out the Episode III footage that was running throughout the weekend and walked away extremely impressed. The seven or eight minute footage contained no dialogue at all - just a chest-thumping soundtrack. Plenty of battles, explosions, and raging wookiees. It also gave us a first good look at General Grievous in action. The General does not disappoint.

What would a Celebration be without exclusive collectibles? C3 offered fans the chance to snag everything from blankets and bottle-openers to t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, magnets, and of course the exclusive talking Darth Vader. We'll have most of these items setup in our photo archives over the course of the next week. Lines for the store were, by and large, pretty brutal - particularly Friday and Saturday, where it wasn't unheard of for fans to stand in line for more than four or five hours. Sunday was much better, however, with an average wait of about two hours. GenCon for sure learned some lessons about how to handle the store should we ever get another SW Celebration...

Rebelscum arrived on the scene prior to the grand opening, and snapped off a couple quick pictures of the autograph area, the main convention hall, and a pallet of the C3-exclusive Darth Vader figures. Scope out the gallery right here.

In an effort to help prepare the fans we posted a special Pre-Celebration Guide a week before the event.

Update: April 20:
Pre-Celebration Set-up Gallery
Pre-Celebration R2-D2 Builders Club Set-up
Code 3 ESB Sculpted 3D Miniature Poster
First Pass at the Hasbro Booth
Photo Archives: Celebration III Darth Vader

Update: April 21:
Pre-Show Morning of the First Day (assorted shots of the Exhibitor Hall)
Thursday night Opening Ceremonies)

Update: April 22:
Hasbro Q&A Slides (read the report here)
Gentle Giant C3-Exclusive Stormtrooper Mini-Bust Photo Archive
Hasbro Booth Day Two (detailed photos)
Dwarven Forge (SW miniatures playsets)
LEGO booth
Holographic Princess Leia exclusive figure

Update: April 23:
A closer look at Gentle Giant Studios' booth
A closer look at the Hasbro Early Bird set
Sideshow Collectibles' General Grievous
Lucasfilm Archives Display
George Lucas Presentation
Unproduced Toys panel by Vic Wertz (read the report here)

Update: April 24:
Celebration At Celebration party for Fan Club Members
Fan Club Sunday Breakfast (read the report here)
Master Replicas Friday night party

Update: April 25:
Travel back home.

Update: April 26:
SLEEP!! :)

Update: April 27:
501st Parade and Group Gathering
Exclusive! Gentle Giant Studios - Under the Glass!
Collector's Panel Cards
Exclusive Hotel Cards
Attacktix On Display
Inside Lucasfilm Archives
A second look at LEGO
Playing games with LucasArts
Burger King toys debut and raffle them off daily
Dressing for the show - Fan-made costumes
Photos of the Wizards of the Coast booth
The future of Dark Horse Comics
Sunday Morning Fan Club Breakfast
A gallery of all the free stuff that was given out at the convention

Update: April 28:
One last look at the Hasbro booth
Fan Fair Hall including FFURG, Tattoos & Toys, and local fan clubs
The stars of Star Wars: celebrity sightings

Update: May 2:
The Celebration III Tattoo Track

Photo Archives:
What's a Star Wars convention without exclusives? Check out our new archives of the merchandise available at the convention, including many licensed exclusives.

Celebration Videos
For this year's Celebration we thought we'd try something a little different than our usual photo coverage - something that'll help give fans the sense of what it's like to actually be on hand for the big event. We've got a cameraman roaming the halls of the massive Indiana Convention Center, shooting everything from the countless costumed fans, to the booths, lines, and merchandise. The short videos below are between 3MB to 6MB and should open in a new browser window.

Video One: Opening day! The hall, the crowds, the lines, and more!
Video Two: Actors from the OfficialPix booth doing their thing...
Video Three: More actors signing autographs!
Video Four: Checkout the costumed characters walking around halls.
Video Five: More costumed fans and some shots of the Master Replicas booth.
Video Five: The Imperial Forces descend upon the Opening Ceremonies.
Video Six: Opening ceremonies performance by the Star Wars Musical performers.
Video Seven: "Walk of Luminaries" at the Opening Ceremonies.
Video Eight: Some exhibit hall shots plus Aurra Sing.
Video Nine: Bai Ling tells us what she thinks of RS.
Video Ten: Bodie Taylor RS promo.