“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness” – Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens

With the guest list for Celebration 2019 taking shape there has been a lot of discussion about the quality of autograph hall guests and whether this is a good line up up or not.

I’ve seen people very happy and some very annoyed “Who is this guy?”  “I don’t want his “graph!” “I don’t care! Just get Hamill to Celebration.”

Personally I am very happy to see Kanan (Freddie Prince Jr.) announced but this got me thinking about the above quote and how it summarised Star Wars Fandom in 2019.

Best of Times

In a time when stars like Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Mark Hamill and Adam Driver have all signed, or about to sign, we could say it’s the best of times for the hobby, At no other time have we had the access to the principal cast like we have in the last couple of years.  There are actual sit down private signings, not just on-the-street in person autographing, allowing people to get items completed or started.  When I first started getting a Ford was only a pipe dream, I actually never thought I’d get him.

Worst of Times

Then it’s could also be argued that it’s the worst of times, we see the Original Trilogy principle cast becoming less and less, we have seen both Carrie and Kenny pass away and David Prowse and Jeremy Bulloch retire for the convention circuit.  We have seen prices increase and the hobby grows.  But there are also very few new major cast to be newly found, so the options for finding new guest is very hard.

Wisdom and Foolishness

With the advent of geekdom becoming cool we have seen three films turn in to twelve films, not including numerous spin offs.  We have also seen a massive increase in signings and conventions. It’s hard to keep up with them all and no one can attend every convention or obtain have every autograph (try as we might…)  Has this lead collectors to gain of knowledge. We know when people are attending, who they played and have access to their photos. It’s also led us to foolishness as we try to catch them all?  It’s just not possible!

With these arguments the guest list for any convention is always going to be a struggle.  So I tried to think what I wanted from a convention?

1. Principle Cast: See above
2. Guests I have not see before: I’ve been doing this for 25 years, who have I not meet . But also be aware of Point 2 above
3. Original Trilogy guests: This is getting harder see point 2.
4. Guests that are related: Same film or same scene or same poster.
5. “Cheap” autographs: My wallet needs a break!

So straight away you can see problems.

Celebration will have several of the principle cast of Rebels. It will have the Emperor and Lando for the OT and will have a lot of focus on Resistance (being in the UK I have yet to see this).  Is this not a good thing? And meets principle number 1?

I have a lot of time set aside for Rebels and I’m keen to meet Freddie and Vanessa, add in Taylor and you are very close to the full set of voice actors from Rebels, this has got to be a good thing.  It seems that Celebration guest list is trying to get related signers.  Which I think is a critical part.  Meets rule number 4

People say “We want  Rogue One guests.” Tudyk has just been announced but at the last celebration we had three principle cast, if you went to that show and got those autographs would you want them again?  Would help me, so principle 2 hit, but I’d imaging Principle 5 would be hit!

It makes me think that the splits in the Fandom are becoming bigger.  OT v Prequels, OT v new Franchise, TFA v TLJ, Clone Wars v Rebels, R1 v Solo, Rebels V Resistance.   Celebration is just a manifestation of these splits.  If you don’t like the guest list is it because it features parts of the universe you don’t like?  The Star Wars Universe is become bigger and bigger and no autograph collector could keep up.  So some shows are going be for you, others are not. 

Celebration is about so much more than just the autograph hall and has to cater for numerous types of Star Wars fans, from little kids to the uber hard core vintage collector.  I always say that in my circle of friend I am the uber hard core Star Wars person.  But step in to Celebration and you look a lot different. 

At Celebration Europe I only got a couple of autographs but had an amazing time. Here are some of the things I enjoyed.

• The Panels
• The Exclusives
• Collectors Panels
• The Swag
• Meeting friends, new and old
• Visiting Rogue One filming location after hours

I know autographs are a major part of why we love Star Wars, but the Celebration is so much bigger than just autographs.  Reach out to the other parts. Enjoy it! You never know you might end up wanting that Kanan autograph after you binge watch all the seasons of Rebels!  I recommend doing this as seasons three and four are epic.

I am interested to know what elements you want to see in a autograph guest list. what or who gets you out to a convention? If you don’t like the guests for Celebration, what would you change?  Who would you want to sign?   I look forward to hearing your feedback.

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