Smugglers Star Wars Charity Day returned to Croydon for it’s second year and what a fantastic line up of guests who turned up to celebrate all things Star Wars and sign once more for the collectors!
With all conventions, the guest list is always subject to change due to filming schedules / guests plans and now the obvious threat of Covid changing plans for many at little notice. However, for every guest that unfortunately dropped off the line up, Smugglers quickly replaced the guest meaning that those who pre ordered tickets would not miss out!
Here is the final guest list along with prices
Smugglers usually donate a percentage of takings from the conventions to a charity, this year was no different and the convention supported Great Ormand street Hospital for children. Along with a percentage of money raised from the signings, Smugglers also run raffles on the day with some decent Star Wars giveaways. Richard Friend, who is the driving force behind Smugglers told me that sales threads will be posted to the SMUGGLERS FACEBOOK PAGE over the next week, so keep an eye out for some bargains that will continue to raise money for Great Orman Street. If you’re Interested in donating to the charity directly, you can do so HERE
Now before I get into it, I have to state that I am a Star Wars autograph collector writing for Star Wars Autograph News, so the focus here is on the guests, interactions and the graphs I added to my collection. That being said, this convention massively supports the cosplayers and some fantastic groups and makers of Star Wars costumes. On arrival, my friends and I were greeted by Two Tubes, a Biker Scout and a Han Solo cosplayer which was awesome! Shout out to Vaders Raiders Ninja Trooper and the Joker Squad, all fantastic friendly groups to check out if you’re interested.
Coming from Southampton, the drive wasn’t too bad at all to get to Croydon, took us about 2 hours in total. Smugglers had arranged free parking just around the corner which we were lucky to get the last space in around 11:30am. Smugglers Charged £10 on the door and there was an optional face mask policy, we were advised that some of the guests might request it and to check with them when at their table.
It was pretty busy at 11:30am, as you entered there was a lobby which opened to the bar area which was serving hot and cold refreshments. The main room downstairs was packed with guests and stalls and upstairs there was more of the same but more spaced out and a lot quieter.
It didn’t take long to start bumping into the familiar faces of the UK autograph collectors. Many of the collectors I know keep coming back to Smugglers events as they get a good selection of original trilogy actors at very fan friendly affordable prices. This event had an old school feel about them, you don’t feel like you’re on a conveyor belt or joining queues to speak to meet the guests. Everything is pretty chilled, you feel as though you can actually have a conversation with the guests and that is a huge attraction for collectors.
It didn’t take long to find Graham Cawley, who runs GC Signings and was running the send in for the event. Graham was operating in a large back room and had a massive amount of send in items from collectors unable to attend the show in person. I’ve seen Graham at work at many shows now over the years and I’ve seen first-hand that he takes so much care over people’s items, always taking photos of every individual piece getting signed which is a massive bonus for those sending in. It’s certainly worth joining the GC Signings facebook group if this service is of interest to you. I’ve known Graham since the early Rebel Scum days and he is super reliable and goes out of his way to ensure you get what you want.
Here’s the guests I met and items I got signed on the day
Jasper is in the opening scene of Return of the Jedi, he plays Captain Yorr (also known as ST321) and is uncredited, as a lot of actors were on Star Wars.
8×10 table photo, Red Molatov pen
Sat next to Jasper was Glyn Baker who played Lieutenant Endicott, also in the opening scenes of ROTJ. Glyn was more than happy to add the quote, I’m sure he written this out thousands of times!
8×10 table photo, Red Molatov pen
Michael is a hugely successful actor, I felt quite bad for not knowing his back catalogue to ask him about, he has done a lot of theatre and also directing in his career to date. Michael was happy to add the quote for me and was sat next to Casper and Glyn.
8×10 table photo, Red Molatov pen
Robert is now 83 years old and is likley to retire from conventions after this year so I took this as my last opportunity to meet him in in person at a convention and speak to him. I met Robert at the previous Croydon convention and he was full of beans then, and I’m happy to say he is still full of beans now!
I have a set of Indy Raiders of the Lost Ark Topps cards and was keen to add Robert’s autograph to one of these. I laid out around 6 cards of my favourite scenes in the film and asked Robert about them. I wanted to see if he took a liking to any of them and if he had any stories about them, which he did. When he saw the boulder card he started laughing and proceeded to tell me about when they built the set they asked him to try it out first before Harrison Ford did the run on film. Completely unprompted he signed the card with an inscription of “I was first” – Robert Watts.
A truly unique additon to my collection and a nice memory shared with the great Producer
Topps 1981 Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark, white Posca Pen PC3M
Following on I added Robert to my Empire Strikes Back Hoth multi, I asked him what his memory was of the set, he said “it was bloody freezing”, he then signed the below for me
Cathy was sat opposite Robert and next to Bill Hargraves, they were both charging £25 each, this was the most expensive graph at the convention. I believe Cathy, along with Bill Hargraves and Chris Parsons, have set their price at £25 for some time now and you won’t find them any cheaper (other than the 2nd hand market.)
I did hear a story from a friend who attended that Cathy gave a free photo to his daughter, unsigned. I find this all very odd; many guests are so good with kids and it doesn’t take much to sign a freebie to kids here and there. Whilst at the table there was someone who wanted 6 items signed, this would have cost £125, he was looking for a deal, I didn’t hang around to see if he got it but there seemed to be a lot of debate over it!
Cathy signed an 8×10 table photo for me, both Cathy and her husband were very nice to talk to, we talked about Alan Harris and Jeremy Bullock and how they are both missed on the convention scene. I left the table having enjoyed my experience with meeting Cathy but at £25 it’s a one and done for me.
8×10 table photo, Silver Edding 750 pen
I was really looking forward to seeing Mike again, he is a true star. My friend mentioned Time Bandits on the way up, this is a film I really need to see again as I have little to no memory of it currently. Mike played an Ugnaught in Empire Strikes Back Bespin scenes, Logray the ewok and also operated Jabba’s tail in Return of the Jedi. I asked Mike about his documentary Under the Radar which aired for a film festival and was only online for a few weeks. I told him I very much hoped there was another opportunity to see it as I missed it first time round.
Mike Signed couple of items for me the first was adding to my Jabba multi as Jabba’s tail
8×10 OPX, signed in Gold Deco
Following on from the Jabba’s piece I recently purchased a celebration shot from ebay. The seller was Incognito Comics who I believe are associated with Celebrity Ink and are a reputable UK autograph dealer. Here is the ebay link to the celebration images, they still have quite a few blanks that you could add autographs to. OPX are getting rare now especially those with the hologram, but these celebration images are nice prints of the same quality, although the stock they are printed on does vary for each celebration. These Europe ones are on card stock and the logo is embossed, I think they are pretty nice and worth picking up if you’re looking for some nice options to get signed.
8×10 OPX celebration Europe, Blue Sharpie
I asked Mike to add “yub nub”, as following my rewatch of ROTJ during the week, and seeing so many jedi guests there, the tune was very present in my mind on the drive up!
Following my two pieces getting done my friends threw their pieces on the table to which the delighted Mike shouted “keep ‘em coming” – did crack me up, this guy is an absolute legend and is a joy to meet.
I’d met Simon a few times previously and also bought autographs from him direct over email. It was nice to see him again. I had a couple of Max Rebo pieces for him to sign, but also I had to ask him about something I spotted on my recent viewing of ROTJ. Whilst watching the film I paid specific attention to the characters played by the guests I would be meeting. I couldn’t help but notice that whilst performing Max Rebo’s trunk was pulled about, causing a kink in the costume which just looked really unnatural. Almost as if someone was off screen pulling a wire connected to the trunk. Simon knew exactly was I was going to say as I was explaining it. He said it was an animatronic trunk and ears, he thought the trunk looked pretty bad and somewhat spoilt the look of the character
8×10 OPX, Blue Edding 750 pen
I also added Simon to a multi started a few months back by Tim Rose.
8×10 OPX, Silver Edding 750 pen
Vic was an unexpected pleasure to meet, I’d previously obtained his autograph on a stormtrooper helmet project but had not met him in person. Very happy to be there and moderately priced at £10 per autograph Vic had plenty to say about his time on the set and also had some old original pictures in a frame on his table of him in the stormtrooper outfit and also a rebel outfit from the original Star Wars movie A New Hope. I added Vic to a multi that I have recently started, I would highly recommend chatting with Vic, a really nice guy.
8×10 OPX, Blue Sharpie
Last but by no means least is Aiden Cook. Aiden really caught me by surprise at how many Star Wars characters he has played. I went in thinking this guy played Two Tubes in Rogue One, and he did, but also he’s been in every single Disney production to date. Aiden had a folder with him which listed loads of characters he’s played in the Disney era of Star Wars. He also had a wealth of decent images on his table. He seemed to have a story for every one of them and was very happy to chat Star Wars with us. On signing my Rogue One poster Aiden pointed out that he could actually sign on K2-S0 as he done all of the reshoot scenes in the performance capture suite which was 60% of the movie. Underneath his autograph (which is a really nice graph BTW) I asked him to add K2-S0 60%
Celebration Poster, Blue Sharpie
As well as getting some great new additions to my collection I had a great day catching up with collector friends, making new ones, and seeing Graham from GC Signings get everyone who couldn’t attend’s items signed by the guests in the back room.
In addition on the day I was given permission to interview some of the guests. This was a first for me and something I’ve wanted to try since being inspired by a collector friend at Tim Rose’s table at Sussex. Tim Rose was telling a story and my mate said “we should be recording this”. I had a light bulb moment. Massive thanks to Richard Friend for allowing me to try this out at Croydon, and also to the guests that agreed to the short interviews with me on the day: Vic Gallucci, Pam Rose, Brian Muir and Aiden Cook.
Here are links to my interviews in their entirety.
Vic Gallucci: https://bit.ly/3oi1hn6
Aidan Cook: https://bit.ly/3C6s36R
Pam Rose: https://bit.ly/3orqhs7
Brian Muir: https://bit.ly/3n9T1WW
Smugglers have only been running a couple of years, but the decent guest line ups, fan friendly prices and the relaxed atmosphere keep the hardcore collectors coming back and attracts new collectors along with their families. I am sure this convention will be back next year and hope that it continues to retain the essence of the small convention, as it brings a magic which I feel some of the large events lose with their A- list guests and overwhelming crowds.
For more information on smugglers events please visit their website HERE and their Facebook page HERE.
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