Star Wars Collector's Day

Science Fiction Convention
Name:	Star Wars Collector's Day
Dates:	1995-
Frequency:
Location:	Wolsey Hall, Windmill Lane, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England, UK.
Type:
Focus:	Star Wars
Organization:
Founder:	Jason Joiner
Founding Date:
URL:
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Star Wars Collector's Day was a fan gathering for fans in the UK.

1

July 30, 1995

Con Report: 1

I was supposed to be at Wolsey Hall for 8am, but I was up until 3 am committing urgent ISB plotlines to paper. I surfaced at 8.45am; not good. Nothing short of time travel would get me to the convention before its opening time at 10am, so I wandered into Liverpool Street station at about 11am, at which point the day started to look up.

My train to Cheshunt was leaving in just over ten minutes, and I sought out the nearest McDonalds, although an unexpected meet with Gerald Crotty almost diverted my attention. The simple task of trying to find seats on the train turned into a meet with yet another member of The Moons Of Yavin' club, Rob Cole, when his eagle-eyed parent ("hello", Mrs Cole) spotted me walking past her window.

[...]

Once at the hall, Derek Tate and James Bacon (UKSWFC Irish liaison) were on the front desk. Everyone got a glossy black collector's day magazine, a laminated card, and a crumpled entry ticket. Ignoring the crowded video room, I went off to find Jason Joiner, one of the co-organisers of the charity event. The main hall was full of queues, although what or who they were queuing for was unclear. To my right was the dealers room, but I wasn't to visit that until much later.

I got posted to the prop room. A security gig like that has a good and bad side. On the up side, you get to skip the queues, and on the down side, you don't get to leave for about six hours. The prop room was smaller than that at the Elstree Day and after the Jawa gun incident last year, I wasn't going to leave this place until it was sealed tight, but made sure the first of my two fellow guardians got a break.

Hot like an oven, the room played host to assorted rare items such as a foot high Artoo Detoo cookie jar, pedal speeder bike, Chewie's bow caster from 'Return Of The Jedi', a Darth Vader costume which turned out to be an original prop from 'Empire' (I knew it wasn't from 'A New Hope' as the chest unit was labelled in Cyrillic rather than English), and a cabinet of carded figures from foreign climes, or bearing rare packages. Apparently, a figure of General Veers is supposed to be rare(!). One or two lucky patrons availed themselves of the 'Star Wars' stand up arcade machine from back in 1978 - I was crap, reaching only 72,000. There were more assorted items, including a Death Star duel racing game, which involved the racing of two cars styled as X and Y Wings. That was new to me.

This was all owned by Jason Joiner and due to his instructions, the one and only photo opportunity was a jury-rigged mock up of the Death Star docking bay with a drokk load of Palitoy action figures - stormtroopers, TIE pilots, scouts, and AT-ST drivers lined up to greet the Emperor as he emerges from an Imperial Shuttle. The nicely designed walls included a set of quad turbolasers, which might have come from the Millennium Falcon model or even the back of the Rebel Transport. Like I said, jury-rigged. The fans reactions ran the gamut from the cynical "someone must have been bored" to the downright suicidal "hey, this'll be good for dominoes". One numeric person calculated that the stormtroopers alone numbered three hundred and sixty.

Outside in the main hall, the six guests had been put on stage, and a classic question and answer session began. The eventual guest list included Jeremy Bulloch, Kenny Baker, Dermot Crowley (a morose bloke, but then it was a long hot day), Warwick Davis, Caroline Blakiston and Bruce Boa. They of course played Boba Fett, R2-D2, General Madine, Wicket the Ewok, Mon Mothma, and General Rieekan.

I missed most of this due to the endless line of people wanting to view the props, although I did see the stars get threatened by a fan in a scratch built Boba Fett costume - although Jason [Joiner] bravely stepped in with the thermal detonator from 'Jedi'.

This gave way to the auction, which saw a number of *Star Wars' and 'Willow' items sold to the highest bidder. One of my helpers, Alan (down from Glasgow) disappeared to take part and returned later the proud owner of a 'Star Wars' yoghurt poster (he later purchased a large IG-88 for £210). Jason Joiner's partner Amaud Grunberg did some bidding of his own to generate activit>', but ended up the reluctant owner of a 'Willow' shield, as no one else wanted it. I have to say that James Bacon was well chosen to do the auction banter. After the auction was a half hour break, then a main signing session by the stars. In the interval, I had halted the intermittent flow of bodies into the prop room and the very next person to go in recognised me from, of all places, Hopton Holiday Village, where Jamie, Roger and I had spent a sun soaked 'Yavin' vacation two weeks before. We spent ninety minutes in an onsite 'adult' bar one night, but left early when we discovered this meant no rave music (well, that was my reason) and the jovial humiliation of a young couple, in lieu of actual entertainment.

[...]

I eventually escaped my prison to get a hardback Han Solo book signed be the five artists, having forgotten there was a sixth (Bruce Boa) during my isolation. Kenny Baker's queue was the longest and Gerald was stationed at his table collecting the autograph fees - all proceeds going to the star's own charity. Eventually though, the event started to wind down. The prop room was dismantled, the hall cleared for the 70s disco and the two or three thousand fans who had come through the doors had gone home to change for the disco - or so we thought. By 8:30pm the disco was in full swing. There was no one to enjoy it besides us, but having failed to attract any dancers, the virtually empty hall was used for a mock wrestle between Jason Joiner and James Bacon. I wandered back to my post when this degenerated into something resembling a carnal act.

Called out later for 'a word' with Mr. Joiner, I had time for a quip about scrabble before my name was announced by the disc jockey and I realised the ba*****s had set me up. The outcome of this was a birthday cake with single Chewbacca candle, a Far Side birthday card signed by everybody working there, and all the guests, including Bruce Boa who I had missed earlier. I got a present too - a 'Dark Forces' display stand.

2

December 1995

Con Report: 2

December 10th last year saw a gathering of hundreds of fans who had braved the freezing Winter weather to attend of the year's best science fiction conventions. I was one of them.

After having had such a wonderful time at the 'Star Wars Elstree Day', I was eagerly awaiting this convention, even more so because I'd missed out on the other collectors day earlier in the year. Anyway, with my booked-in-advance ticket in hand, I piled into a car along with four other fans and we headed off into the murky depths of the thick, damp fog which had landed, on what was probably one of the coldest days in 1995. Our destination, Wolsey Hail, Cheshunt, just outside London, where all the attractions of the second 'Star Wars Collectors Day' stood ready and waiting for us and hundreds of other fans to arrive.

[...]

Despite being a little smaller venue-wise, this was similar to the 1994 event - only better! All five of us - Mike, Matt, Ben, a fan whose name I've forgotten (sorry!) and myself - had intended to stick together for the whole day. However, no sooner had I stepped foot inside the foyer, than I lost the others. So, after flicking through the list of events which I'd been handed at the door, along with a Death Star plans badge, in exchange for my ticket (which was wonderfully designed - pity I wasn't able to keep it), I decided to have a look around - first stop, the dealer's room.

Now, bearing in mind that this was a collectors event, you would expect there to be quite a few memorabilia stalls, right? What met me as I entered, was a room stacked to almost bursting point with every kind of conceivable piece of 'Star Wars' memorabilia - ranging from the old and very pricey, to the brand new and much more affordable. Never since the early 1980s had I seen so many packaged action figures all in one place at the same time! Crikey!! Getting near to the dealer tables proved, as in 1994, to be a challenge, so instead I mooched around the stalls which had spilled over outside the main room until the body count dispersed.

For anyone who fancied an intergalactic game or two, one of the conventions organisers, Jason Joiner, had set up both the original 'Star Wars' arcade game that Atari produced in 1984, and sat right next to it was the new pinball machine from Data East. I passed on these though and made a bee-line for the prop 6C memorabilia room, which was strangely deserted. Getting in there before just about everyone else proved to be an advantage though, because I had a good ten minutes or so to look around without interruption.

Prop-wise, the exhibits were jaw-dropping. There was Admiral Ozzei's uniform, Yoda's gimmer stick, Luke's Tatooine rifle, a Tauntaun tusk, C-3PO's head, and what was probably the most impressive sight of ail, an unused matte painting of the Death Star trench. Phew! Mixed in among these were ail manner of memorabilia treasures. Who would have thought that packets of biscuits and 'Shreddies' bearing the 'Star Wars' logo would still be around in 1995 - unopened as well! If you'd forgotten what items were around at the height of the trilogy's popularity, then it al came flooding back to you in this room, along with many items that you wouldn't have seen anywhere else before too. An 'Airfix : Win An AT-AT' competition poster, 3-D Yoda shop display stand by Kenner, unused Helix stationery, gold coloured Darth Vader collector case, along with what looked like a printer's proof copy of 'The Courtship Of Princess Leia' novel were ail on show among a sea of other items. I'd always wondered how the cards which action figures came packaged on were designed - an example of which was on display in a cabinet full of unused 'Revenge' cards. As the day went on, Jason 'Moons Of Yavin' Grant was posted outside the room, letting a steady flow of fans in and out.

Following those blasts from the past, I toddled of onto to the hail's main stage. No, I didn't break into song while up there (honest!), this was where a display of original artwork and rare posters could be viewed. Over a dozen unusual cinema posters from ail around the world were there along with actual full page artwork from the 'Dark Empire' comic series and a painting of Luke Skywalker & Rancor by John Hi^ins, which was turned into a fold-out poster and given away in #31 of 'Return of The Jedi' weekly comic in 1984. Now that's something you don't see everyday!

As midday rapidly approached, the day's main attraction arrived - actors Michael Shread (Admirai Ozzei) and Decian Muihoiiand (the 'human' Jabba The Hutt whose scene was cut from the first film), and saga stunt man Peter Diamond - all introduced by the compere for the question 8C answers session, actor Jeremy Bulloch (who needs absolutely no introduction!). All four were very eager to answer the weird and wonderful questions that were fired at them, particularly Mr. Diamond, who revealed how some of the stunts in the 'Star Wars' and 'Indiana Jones' films were achieved. I now know how Vader lifted Captain Antillies up in the air and what was going through the minds of Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill as they swung across the Death Star chasm. Watching Harrison Ford clinging onto the front of a Nazi truck in 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark' will never seem the same again. Messrs Bulloch and Shread got on very well together, but i felt a little sorry for Declan Mullholland, who after all, didn't have very much to talk about due to the fact that he was only filmed in one brief scene. Still, at least fans now know that Harrison Ford was partial to a drop or two of 'Guinness' while on the set of 'A New Hope'.

After about an hour or so, the stars called it a day and made themselves available for autographs. This time around, each signature cost £2.00, which was donated to a charity chosen by the actors. This was an excellent idea because not only did a worthwhile cause benefit as a result, it also prevented fans from getting five or more autographs for family and friends (which is what happened at the Elstree Day). The queues were very long, but the award for the longest wait went to Jeremy Bulloch's. Boba Fett sure is one heck of a popular character! With three signed photos to add to my collection, I then set about returning to the dealer room, which although still pretty packed was easier to look around this time. After choosing which items to buy, I parted with my shekels and made my way into the video room. A whole archive of clips and interviews were available to watch, but all I saw was footage of Mark Hamil and Gary Kurtz being interviewed by someone in a foreign language. By the look on his face, you could tell Mark Hamill didn't have a clue what he was being asked!

The reason for my brief stay, was the beginning of the charity auction back in the main hail. A video shop display, restored UK quad cinema poster (Hildebrandt artwork), tinned video set (which sold for over £100! Odd, I thought it was available in shops for £79.99. Oh well.) and a huge plastic Darth Vader mask from an aborted petrol station promotion were among the items which could be bid for. I'd never heard of the Vader mask before - perhaps that's why no-one bid for it, who knows?

Well, as the auction came to a close, I was found once again by Mike, who was now the proud owner of a Biggs Darkiighter customised action figure), who wanted to go home because the fog was beginning to get thick again. So, I had another quick look around at everything and then came away, smile on face and a mind full of memories that will remain with me for many years to come. I just wish my camera hadn't conked out on me after I'd taken only two pictures.

With 'Empire Day 4' being held this year, and the possibility of others too, it's a mystery why 'Star Wars' conventions weren't held years ago in the UK. They're fun with a capital 'F'!