Time for me to leave

Sunday is the last day of the convention. And it ended with a flurry of activity!

After a relatively late breakfast, we started assembling our team for the Bounty Hunt.

This event - a game - is a clue-based treasure hunt, where the clues are all riddles based on SW ships, planets, characters, and the treasures are characters scattered in the huge convention center, waiting for  players to find them.

Each time you found a "hidden" character and proved you had solved his riddle correctly, you got a stamp, and credits for having successfully found him/her.

Showing up in time at the Bounty Hunt Central Command with a duly stamped score card means credits can be transferred to your Bounty Hunter Account :)

All in all, it went rather well. We walked, then ran, to finish in front of the Central Command desk panting and sweating.

In the end, our team (The Outlanders) collected 65000 credits, which put us in second place behind the first team (70000 credits)!

As if this was not enough, we ran to the next gaming event: The Star Wars Trivia World Championship

In this nerve wrecking game, you have to answer correctly to a series of increasingly complex questions. You stay in the game as long as you provide a correct answer.

I did not so bad, since I got as far as third position (and my Bounty Hunt teammate did second!)

These two events were a great way to add to CV something I had yet to experience, since I had had my share of watching panels, and walking through the main exhibit hall.

Now for some last photos

There was a "Slave Leia bikini contest". The crowd around Jabba's dais was packed, and I could only take this side picture ...

A clever X-Wing pilot outfit

Behold the Giant Jawa!

A ... burlesque Stormtrooperette?

Even the best troopers need a little rest

I visited the 501st Legion room, which was filled with movie props, armors, and lots of very interesting information about the 501st. They do a tremendous job, and add are an invaluable part of the whole CV experience

A group of Bounty Hunters just got arrested by the 501st

Ahsoka, the present of SW fandom

But original characters still are very popular

On my way out, I saw an inscription on one of the AT-AT leg

Of it's from G.Lucas ... something tells me that won't end up in the trash compactor ...

Leaving the center, one last look behind me confirm me I really had been four days in a galaxy far far away.

Even the architecture is reminiscent of the Jedi Temple

Good bye Celebration V

This was a fan's dream come true

An eventful day

This morning's main event is called ... the Main Event!
I arrived at 7am at the convention center, only to see a line of sitting (or sleeping) people all along the building, and turning around its corner.
I was beginning to wonder if I was not going to experience the full power of a waiting line, when the doors opened. I quickly walked to the end of the line (which was quite a long way away), but by the time I reached it, people were starting to move.

All in all, I stayed about 10 minutes in that moving line, before being able to access the room where the interview would be broadcasted.

On my way inside the main hall, I saw people waiting for the "live" room ... they obviously had been waiting more than 10 minutes ...

Once in the room, we had to wait some more, but I easily found someone to discuss all kinds of subjects with.

I don't have particularly interesting photos of the host and guests, and I'm sure that this event has been covered with great detail by official sources.

I'd only say that George Lucas has been known to have the talent of being able to find the words to inspire others. 

He still has this talent.

Here is a panoramic view of the room

And a big version here

I then visited the R2-D2 builders panel, which is a very interesting way to reconcile the fantasy world and the real world. These gifted crafters are able to create working R2 units, complete with lights and sounds.

As I said in a previous post, it is just not possible to cover all the panels, so I'll concentrate on this one, which I'm particularly fond of.

Here is the droid workshop: spare parts, unfinished or being repaired droids

And a big version here 

The famous mouse droid

IG-88's pacific version?

R2s come in several flavors. Some are completely radio controlled

With accurate light patterns

Mr Crumb sits really quietly, surrounded by R2s!

Some are staticn or made of wood, plastics, aluminium ...

The whole room was filled with droids! 

One builder told me that when G.Lucas saw them moving so easily he asked

"Where were you guys when I needed this?"

The builder answered him laughing

"I was three!" 

Gonk, the almighty droid

Nice display of pit droids

This pic is for Miobi :)

I asked some details about R2's innards.

Some have a retractable center leg, some don't 

This one has a voice-controlled unit in the works (see the empty slot beneath the display) 

And as far as autonomous movement go, there could be some, based on ultrasonic sensors (and maybe telemetric, or stereoscopic ones, but I'm dreaming). The thing is that R2 is heavy, and letting him loose in a crowd without human control would be ... too dangerous (remember, he excels at getting into trouble!)

   

An "exploding" R2

A "Darth Maul" R2 (and a mini one too!)

And an incredible "Robby" R2.

That is a nice hommage

As I was leaving the droids workshop, I heard a clamor coming from the main hall.

I remember saying a fellow fan the first day of the convention "I haven't seen that many costumes, you know?"

Well, what I was about to discover would wipe this comment into certain oblivion.

Because there was a group photo ... but what group photo!

The 501st were greatly represented, but there were other interesting characters too!

Imperial guards solemnly find their places

Sith Lords in front please!

Darth #2, no Force choking please!

I took several similar pictures, just in case a detail escaped me

More of the same ... but different 

Emperors? Darths? What about the "Rule of two?"

The Bounty Hunters were represented too

An entire legion of the best troops!

Don't they look like action figures?

Yes, action figures ... 

As If I hadn't really been to CV, but had reenacted it with toys ;)

Now that's a group photo!

Say "Uttini!"

Solo and Chewie are attempting a daring escape from the Empire on a mechanical stair!

That's a lot of Siths. 

The Force must definitely be off-balanced here 

They were very nice costumes indeed ...

And the finale was another group photo with celebrities.

Can you recognize them?

This one is not in the picture ... 

Is he canon? ;)

No costume party would be complete without Jawas!

Actually, nothing is complete without Jawas :)

The Hoth diorama is completed ... and what a view!

The Lego panel is completed ... and what a view!

ye

I got enrolled in some sort of club by a tall guy dressed in black with a serious case of asthma.

I'm not sure what I got into, he looked at my lightsabers T-Shirts with great interest.

Then there was that other one, also clad in black (good thing my T-Shirt was black!). 

I don't know what he's up to, but I have ... yes, a bad feeling about this

Then I finished my day with the digital projection of Ep.5 and Ep.6

I had never seen these episodes with such quality

The audience went wild ... repeadedly ... actually, all film long!