All of the panels that ran on the final day of Star Wars Celebration Chicago 2019 were fifteen-minutes shorter than on previous days, but that didn't mean that they were any less jam-packed full of content! Find out what panels took place and the Star Tot given out at each panel below.

Collecting Collectors Books: Turning the Page on Star Wars Reference Material
Presenters: Chris Logli, Darryl Whitlow

The panel began with several questions, "How did collectors gain knowledge before the Internet?", "What was available?", "How was it made?" and "How much does it cost?", the answers for which were dependent on the generation of collector. For generation one, it was price guides and promotional materials, such as Kenner Toy Fair catalogs, Sears "Wish Books", Toy Shop Magazine and early price guides, among them, the "Official 1983 Price Guide to Star Trek and Star Wars Collectibles" released as a paperback from House of Collectibles.

By the time generation two rolled around, collectors were showing an interest in the history and production of collectibles, and one of the first books to highlight this area was Steve Sansweet's "Concept to Screen to Collectible" in 1992, Steve Sansweet, released in both hard back and soft cover. Several years later, "Star Wars Galaxy Magazine" ran for 13 issues between 1994 and 1997, with "Star Wars Galaxy Collector Magazine" publishing 8 issues from between 1998 and 1999, while Toy Fare Magazine from Wizard ran for 163 issues from 1997 to 2011. Tomart's Action Figure Digest started in 1991, serving as both a price guide and toy news, and they also produced full price guide books, with Tomart's Price Guide to Worldwide Star Wars Collectibles being released in 1997 as both a hardcover edition with slip case and a softcover edition, and featuring an unproduced classic Star Wars toy gallery.

Generation three has seen the release of many specialized and focused books, with Gus Lopez and Duncan Jenkins having produced a number of guides spanning a variety of topics, among them "Gus and Duncan's Comprehensive Guide to Star Wars Collectibles" (hardcover, 984 pages), "Gus and Duncan's Guide to Star Wars Prototypes" (hardcover, 338 pages), "Gus and Duncan's Guide to Star Wars Cast and Crew Items" (paperback, 252 pages) and "Gus and Duncan's Guide to Star Wars Micro Collection Toys" (hardcover, 148 pages). Other notable entries in this area are John Kellerman's "Star Wars Vintage Action Figures: A Guide for Collectors" (hardcover, 268 pages), "Coining a Galaxy" by James Gallo, Mark Salotti with layout by Jeff Correll (paperback, 82 pages), "A New Proof-Kenner Star Wars Packaging Design: 1977-1979" by Mattias Rendahl (paperback, 147 pages) and "The Ultimate Guide to Vintage Star Wars Action Figures 1977 to 1985" by Mark Bellomo (hardcover, 272 pages). Stephen J. Sansweet also wrote books in this era, including "Star Wars: The Action Figure Archive" (paperback, 192 pages), "Star Wars: The Ultimate Action Figure Collection" (paperback, 352 pages), "Star Wars: 1000 Collectibles, Memorabilia and Stories From a Galaxy Far, Far Away", (paperback, 568 pages), as well as "The Treasures of Rancho Obi-Wan Volume One - Inspired by The Force: Star Wars Fan Artifacts and Art", which he co-wrote with Anne Neumann (hardcover, 72 pages) and that debuted in connection with exhibit at celebration Anaheim 2015. More recent titles include "Collect These Figures and Accessories 2016" and "A Galaxy of Action Figure Savings 2017" by Philip Reed (hardcover, 96 pages), both of which were published through kick starter funding, with limited copies being printed and "Engineering An Empire: The Creators of Kenner's Star Wars Toys" by Gary Borbridge, Matt George, and Stephen Ward (hardcover, 2019, https://engineeringanempirebook.com/).

Moving onto international titles, "Star Heroes Collector" from Fantasia in Germany, was released in 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2006, while editions released in 2005 & 2007 were under the title "Star Wars Price Guide", and Canada saw the release of Irwin Toys: The Canadian Star Wars Connection by James T McCallum in 2000. In France, Stephane Faucort's Meccano to Trilogo in 2006 was followed up by "La French Touch - History of French Star Wars Merchandising and Marketing" in 2013, and a second edition in 2016, and the same year, he joined forces with Yann Leroux to write the "Meccano Trilogo Collectors Handbook", the two combining again in 2018 for "Star Wars-40 Years of French Culture". Spanish-speaking collectors had "Guerra Estelar" from Argentina, which was released in two volumes in 2015 and 2018, the "ID Guide to Lily Ledy" was released at the Unboxing convention in Mexico in 2018, and "PBP/Poch Made in Spain Comprehensive Catalog" by Javier Ruilopez was published in 2016. Moving further afield, "Star Wars Action Figure Database" from Hobby Japan was available in six volumes and bringing it closer to home once more, The George Lucas exhibition also produced a museum catalog in 1993.

The final section of the panel was referred to as "The Outer Rim", and included "Star Wars Story Boards – The Original Trilogy", vintage toys and collectibles auction catalogs as well as official programs from Star Wars Celebration.

At the of the panel, there was a giveaway of a number of collectors books that had been generously donated by the following:
Rancho Obi-Wan, Toy Chamber Collectibles, Cantina Collectibles (Bill Wills & Tracey Hamilton), Completist Publications (Gus Lopez & Duncan Jenkins) and Engineeringanempirebook.com (Gary Borbridge, Matt George & Stephen Ward).

In addition to Chief Chirpa Star Tot that was handed out at after the panel, attendees also received a bookmark featuring artwork by Brian DeGuire who was part of the Acme Artist Alley.


Star Wars in a Country, Far, Far Away: Surviving the Empire in Argentina
Presenters: Diego and Gabriel Campo

The panel began with a short historical video about Argentina, and mimicking the opening crawl, highlighted the political climate in the country during the late 1970s and early 1980s, also making mention of how a local company produced their own licensed figures for Return of the Jedi figures to combat the scarcity of the earlier lines. When Star Wars opened on 25 December 1977, Argentina was preparing for the 1978 World Cup, which the national team subsequently went on to win the tournament for the first time. On May 1, 1980 the first color transmission was broadcast, and then in 1982 to the Falkland Islands crisis and soon after democracy return to the country. Cut to Rancho Trotacielos, where Diego and Gabrielle showed how they played Star Wars in the 1970s when there were a few Star Wars figures, which included Playmobil and other toy lines, and you were especially lucky if you had Boba Fett!

Only seven figures were released by Top Toys on Return of the Jedi cards, Chief Chirpa (titled Osito Ewok), Stormtrooper, Logray (subtitled Brujo de la Tribu Ewok), Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker (subtitled Maestro Jedi) and Yoda (subtitled El Maestro Jedi). None of the figures had holes in their feet, only Chewbacca had a country of origin stamp that shows Lucasfilm 1977, while all were made of cheap plastic compared to Kenner, and were generally of a different height. The figures generally had less details than their Kenner counterparts and the same was the case for the accessories. There is at least one variation of both Chief Chirpa and Logray known, Darth Vader featured a different texture on the vinyl cape, Chewbacca has an unpainted pouch and a variation on the crossbow while the Stormtrooper had a different blaster and often showed discoloration on the torso or limbs. Further symptoms of the cheaper plastic used for both the figures and the accessories were demonstrated by the fact that Yoda was rarely found with an intact belt, and Luke's head could be removed!

Top Toys imported the first 12 container box and an image was shown of that and also a shipping box from 1978 that contained 96 Chewbacca figures.
The backs of the cards showed a list of nine figures, only three of which where ever released, along with the original 12 artwork and a photo of four of the produced figures (Logray, Luke, Chief Chirpa and Yoda) and Lando Calrissian in Skiff Guard disguise which was never released for sale and no prototypes are known to exist.

Diego and Gabrielle then played a video of an interview they conducted with Top Toys in Buenos Aires, the first ever interview the company gave talking about Star Wars. After showing a commercial of the first 12 figures the creator of Top Toys and his son told how the company was started in 1976 and they received the first international license in 1978 with Hasbro, and in 1980 they contacted Kenner, but following the Falklands crisis in 1982, the business landscape had changed. The first 21 figures were imported from Taiwan and Hong Kong and Top Toys then signed the license with George Lucas after which there was a different license for every movie. Lando Calrissian, Boba Fett and the Hoth Rebel trooper were the only three figures imported for The Empire Strikes Back. Since the original molds from Kenner were made of steel, Top Toys decided to make their own cheaper molds which resulted in contraction and included no peg holes. It was unclear why Lando Calrissian in Skiff Guard disguise was never released and Top Toys were the first company to take foreign licenses. When interest in Star Wars declined, Top Toys got rid of their overstocks by forcing buyers to take Star Wars when ordering He-Man toys.

Once the video ended, next to be shown were Argentinian posters, starting with Episode IV: A New Hope, La Guerra de las Galaxias C style poster that was released in Argentina on the 25th of December 1977, then two for Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, El Imperio Contraataca, one similar to the Australian style, the other a double-sized poster, both of which were released in Argentina on the 31st of July 1980, and finally Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, El Regresso del Jedi B style that was released on 8th of December 1983. These were followed by press pictures featuring an approved seal in Argentina that were sent to media including a press book for The Empire Strikes Back and movie programs.

When it came to food collectables available in the late 70s, the FelFort company decided to sell blind minifigures of R2-D2 and C-3PO with their Jack Chocolate, even though they didn't have a license, so they were limited to making figures that looked the same but had peculiar names, in this case Arturito and Robot. There was also a promotion by Pepsi Argentina, who released a school kit with a local kids magazine called Billiken which contained one of five different ruler designs, one of five different set-square designs and two of the eight different stickers, while Doriana margerine offered 14 cardboard cutout models, of which eleven were characters and three vehicles.

CROMY was a local company that made puzzles, playing cards and trading cards, and after acquiring the Star Wars license in 1983, they produced two items, in the form of playing cards which comprised 35 cards with movie pictures and a board box case, and four different mini puzzles with movie pictures and a paper board case.

In 1978, STANI released 66 cards plus 26 board cards, along with 16 board cards to complete a big poster puzzle, which were designed to be glued on an album, and of these cards, numbers 23 and 88 are almost impossible to find. For Return of the Jedi in 1983, Ultra Figus trading cards offered 240 paper cards which featured movie images, as well as some rare drawings of characters that were especially made for this collection.

The next section showed a wide selection of magazine articles, between 1977 and 1984, including the Argentinian version of Mad magazine and Fantasia which featured some unique art alongside more recognizable Marvel adaptations, and the panel concluded with a brief look at the vinyl soundtracks, promotional 45s and the Meco disco versions on several formats.

The 2-1B Star Tot was handed out to attendees of this panel.


Collecting Star Wars Fashion
Presenters: Kristy Glasgow

This panel was first presented at Celebration Orlando in 2017 and started with fashion as a collecting focus, looking at functional versus display when it comes to usable make up products from companies like Cover Girl, Her Universe and also perfumes. There was a brief look at some vintage jewelry packaging that showed a pendant from The Empire Strikes Back and a Wicket necklace from Return of the Jedi, as well as some bright red Return of the Jedi tube socks and also a Salacious Crumb necklace pendant.

Then it was time for packaging and boxes, including Star Wars jewelry boxes and shoeboxes from Po-Zu and Inkkas, before the topic of fabric discoloration and delicate fabrics was discussed. The subject of modifying jewelry was next, discussing reattaching pendants to different necklaces, as well as doubling up on pendants to turn them into earrings, and this was quickly followed by modifying garments, by such means as by turning men's T-shirts into women's tank tops and using fabric from another shirt. Kristy moved on to cover indoors versus outdoors, and wearing versus caring, which is something that needs to be considered when it comes to shoes that feature lightsaber or R2-D2 heels, as does clothing storage, in terms of how to fold and hang clothes carefully.

The next section looked at other aspects of Star Wars fashion that included souvenir items, event-clothing among them, while there was also jewelry with meaning, such as the Rose and Paige necklace and pendant, and the R2-D2 and C-3PO heart pendant as well as items for significant occasions, such as a Star Wars garter for a wedding, or a TIE fighter print for a daughter's prom, not to mention clothes for kids to keep those childhood memories. Kristy talked about how Star Wars fashion can be a lot about self expression and identity, whether it be bold or subtle, soft versus hard, personal style or plain old Star Wars branding, while found items have uncovered such things as Holdo's bracelets and Leia's Yavin jewellery. When it comes to everyday necessities, Star Wars has you covered, offering underwear and socks as well as cufflinks and ties, and there are clothes for every season, for clubs and communities like the 501st and Rebel Legion, gaming and hobbies, work versus play and a multitude of motivational and inspirational quotes that appear on both sports wear and jewellery.

In recent years a number of Star Wars actresses have established a connection with designer labels, and it is not unusual to see the likes of Emilia Clarke, Daisy Ridley, and Natalie Portman adorning the front cover of fashion magazines. Kristy also talked about the character themed items that can offer inspiration, whether it be Daisy Ridley and Rey, Natalie Portman and Padmé or Carrie Fisher and Leia, all of which can at times, provide symbols of hope. Sources of Star Wars fashion has increased considerably in recent years, due to the rise and growth of Star Wars fashion companies, collectable brands versus mass-market, apparel sizing, exclusive items and accessibility, and fan-made fashion. Among those are Po-Zu footwear, Inkkas footwear, BlackMilk clothing, Irregular Choice footwear, Cotton on Tees, and ASOS dresses.

Kristy touched upon several issues when buying Star Wars fashion, such as is the case with any clothing, whereby choosing sizes can be challenging, especially when garment measurements are not always the same, and this is made more difficult with retailer exclusives that are limited in both edition and size, while sizing availability introduces a further dilemma. Variants are not exclusive to action figures with some fashion items being offered as convention variants, along with regular convention exclusives, typically with dates and branding to differentiate from similar items. Filling in the gaps are the fan designed garments, which may be character inspired costumes, fan made accessories, such as jewellery, pins and buttons and personal projects like the japor snippet and kyber crystal necklace pendants.

Last but not least, Kristy spoke about buying Star Wars fashion on the secondary market and stating that you should rock your Star Wars style.

The Star Tot given away at the end of this panel was Teebo.


Collecting Star Wars Arcade and Pinball
Presenters: Chris Fawcett and David Gaule

The first remotely Star Wars-related pinball was in 1978, with the space gambler by Playmatic which was unlicensed and incorporated a crude R2-D2, C-3PO and TIE fighter, while in 1979 there was a Galaxy Wars bootleg arcade machine, then in 1980 The Empire Strikes Back pinball that featured a Darth Vader backdrop was the last machine made by Hankin of Australia.

Little is known about the Force (LTD.) pinball from Brazil that surfaced in the 1980s, other than that it was unlicensed, featured some pretty kitsch artwork and has a close layout to Gottlieb's 1978 Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 1983 saw the release of the classic Star Wars arcade game from Atari, which was the first game to include human dialogue, and one of the first vector graphics games. Produced in both sit down and stand-up cabinet versions, the game included three levels, one in space, one on the Death Star surface, and one in the Death Star trench. The following year, The Return of the Jedi Atari game was released as a stand-up cabinet that featured raster graphics, and the levels involved piloting a speeder bike and an AT–ST on Endor, and the Millennium Falcon against a Star Destroyer and through the infrastructure of the second Death Star. Skip ahead a year, and it was the turn of The Empire Strikes Back Atari arcade, which was an upgrade from the Star Wars version and featured a snow speeder, TIE fighters, AT-AT and asteroids.

The next Star Wars pinball machine was in 1987 by Sonic of Spain and featured artwork that appeared to be inspired by Kenner on the back glass, while five years later and another Star Wars pinball machine, this time by Data East, which marked the first Star Wars pinball by a major manufacturer, with 10,400 produced and also featured what looks like a vintage Kenner Darth Vader action figure carry case! A new Star Wars arcade game arrived in 1993 this time from Sega, available as both one player and two player cabinets. In two-player mode, the second player is a gunner that can target much more of the screen, with levels including an asteroid field, star destroyers, the surface of the Death Star and the Death Star trench.

Alongside the Star Wars Special Editions in 1997 was the release of the Star Wars trilogy pinball by Sega of Chicago, that featured sound effects and Star Wars music, while the following year brought the Star Wars trilogy arcade machine, also from Sega which came as both a stand up and sit down cabinet. The Star Wars Episode I pinball 2000 was released in 1999 by Williams Electronics and it was to be the last machine made by WMS industries and Bally, and this was followed in 2000 by the Star Wars Racer arcade game by Sega, which was a port of the home game. There was a a stand-up cabinet as well as one and two-player sit down cabinets, some of which had a plastic shroud over the chair to make it look a little like a pod, while another ported game, Star Wars starfighter by Sunami, featured a seat that would tilt while you played.

The most immersive Star Wars game ever, Star Wars Battle Pod by Bandai, was released in 2014 and along with blowing air in your face upon take off, also featured campaigns involving the first and second Death Stars, Takodana, Hoth, Endor and a level called Vader's Revenge. In the past few years, Zen Games have developed multiple Star Wars-themed Electronic Pinballs that cost around $10 for 3 games, and while they feature no moving parts, they can be put into custom "Pinball cases", while in 2017, there were limited pro and premium edition Pinballs released by Stern.

There are a number of collecting concerns when it comes to arcade and pinball machines, such as transportation, space and maintenance, and among the things to consider are using a power filter and good surge protector, the ability to solder is a big help as is making friends with an electrical engineer, using online resources, learning to disassemble, in which taking lots of photos is beneficial, adding modern components, and remembering to be careful since you are working with electricity!

Among the places where you can play are Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, Illinois, Underground Retrocade in West Dundee, Illinois, Arcadia in McClean, Illinois and CP Pinball in South Roxanna Illinois. Outside of the state, Geek's Mania in Madison Wisconsin, Abari in Charlotte, North Carolina, while both the Stern and Zen had pinball machines at their booths.

At the end of the panel, C-3PO in backpack was the Star Tot given away.


Star Wars Around the House
Presenters: Duncan Jenkins and Jonathan McElwain

American Toy and Furniture in 1983 released the Return of the Jedi R2-D2 Toy Toter, Darth Vader coat rack, table top and chairs, bookcase/toy chest and Wicket rocking chair. Comdial/ATC offered the Darth Vader speakerphone, while Switcheroos released Darth Vader, C-3PO and R2-D2 light switch covers in packaging for The Empire Strikes Back in the USA and Canada in 1980. Metal box Ltd. sold, unsurprisingly, metal boxes in the U.S. in 1983, such as a space trunk, bench and pillboxes. Similarly Chein industries in the U.S. sold TV trays, metal tins, and trash cans with both Return of the Jedi and Ewoks designs between 1983 & 1985.

California originals offered rumph mugs featuring Vader, Chewbacca and Ben Kenobi in 1977, and Sigma Ceramics produced a variety of products, including mirrors, picture frames, teapots, mugs and the infamous C-3PO tape dispenser, while among the unlicensed products that were available in 1977, were spoons that featured Topps trading cards stickers for the image on the handle. In 1978 Pine-Sol ran a promotion where they offered free Star Wars flyers as an exclusive collectors series that comprised six Star Wars flyers featuring C-3PO, R2-D2, Stormtroopers, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, and an X-Wing & TIE fighter dog fight that were available in the US. The Pine Sol bottles came in two different sizes, and are now very hard to find, plus there is also a variant of the X-Wing Star Wars flyer.

Puffs Tissues offered their facial tissues in boxes featuring movie stills and concept art from The Empire Strikes Back, as well as "Color In and Cut Out" panels on the underside of the box, and there were to be more tissues, along with kitchen roll and toilet rolls in 2005 from Zewa in Germany and Austria with one multi pack including a Yoda plush figure, as well as a comment being made that the "wipe out the Dark side" slogan was not approved! Continuing with the facial tissue trend, Scottie offered special special packaged boxes of tissues in Japan in 2015, as did Kleenex a year later.

To support The Force Awakens, Glad Containers produced a variety of products including sandwich bags, plastic lunch variety packs in 2015 and 2016, while many collectors will be familiar with the Dixie Cups that were released in 1980 featuring Star Wars artwork unique to the line, prior to the release of The Empire Strikes Back. Aside from the cups, there were other items that could be found from that time, such as coupons, store displays and other promotional material, including a Star Wars t-shirt offer. There were 40 different cups to collect, and in 1981 a story card promotion comprising 12 different boxes that contained strips of cards and logos and imagery on the boxes and a story card poster offer complete with 24 cards, even though none of the cups themselves featured Star Wars artwork. In 1981 there were boxes released in the U.S. and Canada for The Empire Strikes Back, with multiple variations of the boxes, some including a rebate and some not, plus there were also Canadian bilingual boxes as well as a poster and magazine style book offer. The following year saw Star Wars saga cups, featuring four boxes both with and without a contest to win a movie party with Darth Vader, which also offered an exclusive patch to the first 100 entries. A year later again in the U.S. and Canada, four Return of the Jedi-packaged boxes were released in the U.S. and three in Canada, with artwork featuring Jabba the Hutt and Princess Leia, Luke skywalker and Yoda, the Emperor, Darth Vader and two Royal guards, and also Ewoks, the latter only found in the U.S. The same year in Japan, Kodak released paper cups and a tray and pencil tin as prizes as well as a Return of the Jedi logo banner. Seeing an opportunity for the pretty obvious tie-in potential in 2018, Solo Squared offered paper plates and plastic cups in both red and blue in Solo: A Star Wars Story packaging, while back in 1999, Applause in the USA, had a range of silly straws in multiple designs that featured the likes of Jar Jar Binks, R2-D2 and a Pit Droid. Wilton enterprises in 1980, offered a selection of cake decorating kits in support of The Empire Strikes Back along with cake pans in the shape of Boba Fett, C-3PO, Darth Vader, and R2-D2, candy molds featuring a variety of different Star Wars characters and also Cake Put-Ons of C-3PO and R2-D2.

The last items shown were from LeeWards, that were released in the U.S. in 1989. Firstly, two latch hook pillow kits from The Empire Strikes Back, one featuring C-3PO and R2-D2, the other Darth Vader and additionally this series also included rugs and other similar items, while the final slide showed 13 suncatchers, again packaged for The Empire Strikes Back, that included appropriately-coloured glitter along with the character and vehicle patterns.

R2-D2 with sensorscope was the final Star Tot given out at the Collecting Track panels for Star Wars Celebration Chicago 2019.


Check out the audio for these panels at the Collecting Track's - Celebration Chicago 2019 YouTube channel, with video to follow.