Star Wars Weekends Guests Announced!

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Nanci

In all the excitement for Celebration, it’s easy to overlook that other event that happens every May and June at Walt Disney World — Star Wars Weekends! The event will take place every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from May 15-June 14 at (soon to be renamed) Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Earlier this afternoon the Disney Parks blog and The Official Site announced the Star Wars celebrities appearing this year, including the first appearances of two very special guests, Ian McDiarmid and Frank Oz!

Weekend I (May 15 – 17)

Ian McDiarmid: Senator/Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Attack of the Clones; Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Amy Allen: Aayla Secura (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith)
Tiya Sircar: Sabine Wren (Star Wars Rebels)

Weekend II (May 22 – 24)

Warwick Davis: Wald, Wicket W. Warrick (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Silas Carson: Ki-Adi-Mundi, Nute Gunray (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Attack of the Clones;Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith)
Vanessa Marshall: Hera Syndulla (Star Wars Rebels)

Weekend III (May 29 – 31)

Warwick Davis: Wald, Wicket W. Warrick (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Daniel Logan: Boba Fett (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones)
Steve Blum: Zeb Orrelios (Star Wars Rebels)

Weekend IV (June 5 – 7)

Ray Park: Darth Maul (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace)
Jeremy Bulloch: Boba Fett (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Ashley Eckstein: Ahsoka Tano (Star Wars: The Clone Wars; Star Wars Rebels)

Weekend V (June 12 – 14)

Frank Oz: Yoda (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Attack of the Clones; Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi; Star Wars Rebels)
Ray Park: Darth Maul (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace)
Peter Mayhew: Chewbacca (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith; Star Wars: A New Hope; Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Taylor Gray: Ezra Bridger (Star Wars Rebels)

James Arnold Taylor will be hosting the event, with Ashley Eckstein on hand to host the Padawan Mind Challenge (in addition to her Weekend IV guest appearance).

Also of note this year: a new complex of shops for Darth’s Maul on Streets of America and a new inside location for celebrity autographs just off Commissary Lane.

In addition to celebrity appearances in “Stars of the Saga” and “Star Wars: Rebels”, Ray Park and Warwick Davis will be appearing in their own one-man shows. No work yet if Ian McDiarmid and Frank Oz will be appearing as part of “Stars of the Saga” or a separate interview like last year’s “Conversation with Mark Hamill”.

Who’s excited? I’m excited!

Katsucon 2015 Convention Report

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Bria

Even Baymax came to Katsucon!

Another February and therefore another Katsucon have come and gone. Two weekends ago, geeks from around the country descended on National Harbor, Maryland for a very frozen convention weekend. The convention didn’t play host to the US’s round of the World Cosplay Summit this year but that certainly didn’t seem to put a dent in attendance numbers. In fact, the convention seemed bigger this year both in terms of attendance numbers and the scale of the con itself. There was a nice variety of programming that ran through a good 2/3 of the day if not more. One of the best programming selections were the various cosplay construction lectures that covered everything from basic cosplay advice to how to build armor. There’s always something for everyone.

The dealer room was especially good this year and much larger than in years past both in terms of the number of vendors (or so it seemed) and there being enough aisle space to move comfortably. One of the best additions though was definitely the space set aside for the Men at Arms: Reforged folks. They have a YouTube show in which they recreate fictional weapons, often with a twist. One of their latest was the scissor blade from Kill la Kill which they decided to make out of actual melted down scissors. How cool is that? They even brought the blade with them and let con-goers pose with it.

Unfortunately, registration continues to be an issue. The lines to get badges seemed to be an eternal fixtures on the lower level with the line usually going to the other end of the corridor. Wait times were measured not in minutes but rather in hours. It is my hope that for the sake of the con goers that Katsucon sits down and reevaluates their badge system.

On the cosplay front, the costumes worn by so many attendees were amazing as always. The best costume of the con was, without question, this gorgeous La Muerte from The Book of Life. The pictures don’t even do her work justice.

Picture by Rich and Strange Photography

Continue reading →

Geek Girl Con 2014 Convention Report

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Shoshana

Geek Girl Con is not a very large convention, only taking up the atrium of the Seattle Conference Center, and this year it happened to fall on the same weekend as New York Comic Con. Understandably, there were not a lot of big names present at Geek Girl Con 2014. But GGCs fourth year (and my third year attending) was, once again, a very fun time.

What makes Geek Girl Con stand out is its focus. It doesn’t specifically emphasize comics or anime or games or any particular medium or fandom like that. Instead, it is focused on celebrating geeky women and creating a safe, inclusive space for people of all types to enjoy the things they love and you could really tell, both from the make-up of the attendees and from the panel topics. Not only were a very large portion of the attendees women, but throughout the conventions various forms of non-traditional gender presentation were on display, even beyond the cosplay. The whole convention just has an open and friendly atmosphere and there really does seem to be a sense of community. Continue reading →

Tosche Station at Dragon Con

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Nanci

It’s nearly the most wonderful time of the year–Dragon Con, that is! Once again members of the Tosche Station staff will be in attendance at the largest gathering of geeks in the Southeastern United States. For those not in the know (or who didn’t listen to our Dragon Con preview podcast last week), Dragon Con is held Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia, and features fan tracks from Alternate History to Young Adult Literature.

The Star Wars track, run by Brandy Roatsey and an intrepid team of volunteers, has its home base in room A706 in the Mariott. Stop by to marvel at their always entertaining room decorations and stay for panels featuring Star Wars authors. This year the track is hosting a new event–the Suits, Sinatra, and Star Wars cocktail mixer–on Friday night, which is sure to be a dapper fun time.

Brian, Nanci, and Bria will be on several panels. Stop by and say hello, and also for a chance to win one of 25 signed copies of the ARC of A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller!

Friday

1 pm: A Farewell to Clone Wars, and Hello Rebels – Bria (Mariott A706)
4 pm: All the Single Ladies – Brian, Nanci, and Bria (Mariott A706)
7 pm: An Introduction to Costuming – Bria (Mariott A706)

Saturday

4 pm: Episode VII – Brian and Nanci (Mariott A601-602)
7 pm: Advanced Costuming – Bria (Mariott A706)

Monday

11:30 am: A New Hope: Who Was Luke Skywalker – Nanci (Mariott A706)

Don’t forget the Appreciating Aaron Allston and A.C. Crispin panel, which will be held Sunday at 5:30 pm in the Hyatt International North ballroom.

We hope to see you there!

Conventions 101

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Bria

Convention season is starting up again and somewhere out there, hundreds of people are thinking about attending their very first convention. Let’s face it: walking into a moderate to large con for the first time can be totally overwhelming. That’s why we’ve put together today’s post with some tips and suggestions for con goers both new and old! I’ve been attending conventions since Dragon*Con 2008 and every year since, I’ve heard a good tip that I then proceed to integrate into my own convention routine. So that said, let’s begin!

Before The Con: Do Your Homework
This covers so many things but it’s the best and pithiest tip I can give you. If you do a little bit of googling before the convention, it’ll make your life a ton easier. Even knowing roughly how big the con is can do wonders for you once you actually arrive especially if you can find a map of the convention. For example, there are some conventions where you need to buy a badge in advanced or else you won’t be able to get in. A quick google search can be incredibly useful here. Of course, there are likely to be plenty of volunteers on the ground who can clarify things for you but it’s always helpful to do some homework first.

Panels
Conventions tend to release their final schedule of panels a week or two before the show. It’s worth taking a look at before hand so you can see what panels are must-attends for you. You have to be realistic here though. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to make 4 Celebrity Q+As in a row if the convention is the sort to clear the room between each panel. If there’s a high profile guest that you’re dying to see, plan to get in line for them at least an hour before hand. Some won’t let you even start a line before a certain time but you can always mill around the area. (It’s a completely different game if it’s a convention where you can stay in the room from panel to panel.) Be willing to be flexible as something will inevitably pop up during the con. I usually mark 2 panels as must-sees and then make a ‘These would be nice’ list to supplement it but I also tend to not do tons of panels at cons. Continue reading →

Awesome Con 2014 Convention Report

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Bria

Awesome Con 2014 lived up to its name with its second annual show and was indeed awesome! Everything about this year’s convention made it feel like a convention that had been around for years instead of just a year. The range of media, literary, and artist guests was incredibly impressive for a second year show. Congratulations DC: I think we finally have a comic con.

Before we get into more about my positive experience with the convention, I did want to touch on a few things. First, I have to offer my utmost respect to Ben Penrod and others involved with running Awesome Con for their willingness to stand up and admit that there were issues with lines and other aspects on the convention this year. Not everyone would be as readily willing to admit that there were a few problems. To be completely honest, if there hadn’t been growing pains for Awesome Con this year, I would’ve been absolutely shocked. In its second year, Awesome Con went from 5000+ attendees to almost quadruple that. That’s a huge leap. There were bound to be problems. So we’re going to go a bit into the feedback portion of the report before I dive into everything that helped make the convention so awesome.

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Tosche Station (and friends!) go to Awesome Con!

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Bria

Heading to Awesome Con this weekend? Thinking about heading to Awesome Con in Washington DC this weekend? Be sure to catch our Staff Writer Bria (that’s me!) on a Star Wars Discussion panel on Saturday from 1:30pm – 2:30pm in Room 206. It’ll be an hour chat between myself, Timothy Zahn, John ‘Dak’ Morton, and Rod and Leanne Hannah of Blue Milk Special about the State of the Star Wars Galaxy and pretty much everything Star Wars related.

You can also catch Zahn at a Q&A on Sunday from 10:45-11:45 and doing a reading from 1:15-2:15 with friend of the blog Janine Spendlove. Speaking of Janine, she and Ron Garner of Silence in the Library Publishing have a busy schedule this weekend with a signing on Saturday, a panel on Sunday from 3:45-4:45 about Crowdfunding Your Book, and tons more.

You can check out the complete listing of panels (including some with Clone Wars voice actors!) over on the Awesome Con site! Tosche Station will have a con round up next week but for in-the-moment updates, you can follow @chaosbria and @Tosche_Station on Twitter.

MARK HAMILL IS GOING TO BE AT STAR WARS WEEKENDS

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Nanci

MARK HAMILL IS GOING TO BE AT STAR WARS WEEKENDS! OMGWTFBBQ!!!!!!!

THIS IS HIS FIRST APPEARANCE AT THE EVENT. HE WILL BE ATTENDING THE WEEKEND OF JUNE 6-8, 2014. HE WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE STAR WARS CELEBRITY MOTORCADE AND THE STARS OF THE SAGA TALK SHOW.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

(Note: Brian and I had this conversation prior to me writing this blog post:

Brian: Would you like to blog this? 😉

Me: I don’t know if you’d really want that?

Brian: Oh yes. Yes I would 😉

Me: Okay. You asked for it.

I’m really sorry, you guys.)

Katsucon 2014 Report and Cosplay Roundup

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Bria

Another February means another Katsucon. It’s one of the largest anime conventions on the East Coast and makes its home at the Gaylord Hotel and Resort in National Harbor, MD, just outside of Washington DC. This year, it was quite the frozen convention to say the least (you’ll get that pun in a minute) with a massive snow storm bringing the East Coast to a standstill. Hundreds of eager con-goers found their travel plans suddenly thrown into chaos as flights, trains, and buses were cancelled right and left. While there are undoubtedly plenty of attendees who weren’t able to make it, the convention was still rather filled with more and more people trickling in over Friday and Saturday. Friday was, however, a good day for costumers who wanted to get pictures in the famed gazebo.

Continue reading →

Dark Horse Exclusives For NYCC

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Bria

Headed out to New York Comic Con this month? Keep an eye out for the Dark Horse booth and for their convention exclusives. This year, one of the exclusives will be a special limited edition of The Star Wars #1. The comic is the adaptation of George Lucas’s original screenplay which we’ve been reviewing. There will be only 1000 copies of this special convention edition book sold at the con. They will be sold for $5 a copy (which is a dollar above the usual cover price) and will be limited to two per person.

Read the entire press release for all of Dark Horse’s exclusives after the jump.

Continue reading →