Allie and I were invited by Lucasfilm and Make-A-Wish Foundation to travel to San Diego Comic Con 2007 and witness the unveiling of the R2-KT action figure! It was an incredible weekend meeting important people, famous stars, brilliant artists, and all our 501st friends. Allie was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the convention, which stretches over two levels for a quarter mile each level. Her big project for the weekend was to dress up as Hayden Panettiere, the cheerleader from the ABC t.v. series HEROES, and troll the convention looking for heroes to save her (or bad guys to be saved from). She wanted to meet the cast, who was at the convention promoting season 2, but unfortunately it was not to be. Thanks to ComicCon for over-booking the event to the point of risking catastrophe!!! Alas, all is well though - she was able to befriend Peter and Angie Mayhew, Dave Prowse, Mary Franklin, Steve Sansweet, James Kyson Lee (Ando from HEROES), artists Allison Sohn and Tim Sale, Joanna Cassidy, James Turkel, and James Hong from Blade Runner, Elvira Mistress of the Dark, and on and on.

Let's start out with some of the eye candy from the show...

On the Mezzanine level we found the 501st booth and many of our international friends: Carlos from Mexico, Goro from Japan, Meesh from Saudi Arabia, and Damien from Mars. We love you guys.

Notice Meesh's shirt. He said he had it done to show the name '501' in Arabic. But look closely. Does that spell OIL to you? Oh, Meesh - you crazy Arab! We love you, man.


Allie soon found herself a celebrity, as everyone wanted her to autograph their R2-KT figures!

Emily Strange! Allie's sister is named Emily so this works on many levels. :)

Allie finally got to meet Peter and Angie Mayhew, aka Chewbacca and his squeeze. We love them. Allie was so excited!

Later we saw Dave Prowse. Allie said she wanted to meet him, too. I told her he was looking grouchy and would just leer at her. I've known Dave long enough to know when he's in a bad mood. But later at the 501st dinner (and after I'd made sure he'd finished his meal) I introduced her and wouldn't you know he turned into a teddy bear. Allie was very impressed with the Dark Lord of the Sith. I bet he'd make a great babysitter of younglings.

Lots of strange things at Comic Con. We got sorted for our Hogwart Houses. Allie got Ravenclaw. I got Gryffindor. Damien got Hufflepuff - HAW HAW!

Time for my peeps. Here's Jamin of Leia's Metal Bikini Website fame and Kevin Rubio creator of the fan film Troops. Love these guys.

The 501st Legion inducted Blair Butler as an Honorary Member for her work on the G4 channel's Attack of the Show and her valiant efforts to wear stormtrooper armor in the past. Plus she likes us. Oh, and I guess because she's a little Smokin' Hot. :)

Quick shot of Britt, the Legion's official photographer, Allie with artist Allison Sohn (she designed this year's Comic Con Droid Hunt badge featuring R2-KT!) and Toni our Make-A-Wish rep with Jason himself!

Allie and I took a petty cab ride from the Gentle Giant exclusive party back to the hotel. She thought it was a cool thing to do. I thought it was 5x as expensive as a real cab but hey! :)

Saturday morning was the Star Wars Fan Club breakfast. I thought this kid was so cute claiming his prize from Mary.

The 501st Legion Group Photo

Hey look! It's Sergeant Slaughter at the GI Joe booth. And I get a quick lesson on the risks of posing with my friends Keith and Tracey when they're dressed up in killer Batman costumes.

The highlight of the weekend for me was taking in all of the new Blade Runner hype. It was quite a treat to meet James Hong, Joanna Cassidy, and Joe Terkel of the cast. Also there was Syd Mead, the genius designer who helped create the look of the movie, and Paul Sammon who wrote the definite history of the making of the movie and chronicled it as it unfolded back in the early 80's. The models dressed up as the characters weren't too shabby either.

Who can resist Elvira, Mistress of the Dark?

On Saturday we bumped into a girl hired to do the Rose McGowhan character from the Tarantino/Rodriguez film Grindhouse. You remember her: the chick with the super machine gun for a leg. Well, they found a gorgeous brunette missing a leg to walk around Comic Con with the gun prosthesis and I got to meet her! Eat your heart out, bipeds!

This place is big!

Probably one of my favorite pics from the convention...

Notice what we found scrawled on a local street fixture in downtown San Diego... weird.

I really shouldn't be allowed to wander around Comic Con alone...