Preparing an episode of the Star Wars Autograph News podcast takes a lot of work, especially since going to our weekly format earlier this year leading into Star Wars Celebration Chicago.
One part of that weekly preparation I enjoy more than any other, and that is searching the Star Wars Autograph News Facebook Group for stories I want to highlight on the show.
Anthony’s first post in the group made the show this week because I found it fascinating and had to learn more. I mentioned I would be reaching out to him with questions during the discussion on the show.
“I was driving in my car, listening to your podcast, and heard my name! I was so excited.” said Anthony. I listen to your show to help me prepare for conventions.”
We are fortunate to have many engaged members in the group who post photos from conventions they attend and their new autographs. Our motto is “When one of us get an autograph we all get an autograph.” At first glace Anthony’s post seemed to be just that, but when I read more closely I saw just how special this post was.
“Hello there! This is my first post on here but I’d thought it be a great one to share with all of you! If you remember at Celebration Anaheim 2015, JAT hosted where he had shoes signed by his guests when he interviewed them. Well, I contacted the artist (Joe Hogan – his artwork is amazing!) earlier this year who did his shoes for that event and I commissioned these shoes so that JAT could have a chance to sign some shoes for himself! It definitely made my day seeing JAT’s reaction to the shoes at Eternal Con in Long Island, NY this weekend. It took some time but totally worth it. Here are some pictures of the shoes so you could see!”
I attended the first Anaheim Celebration (and look forward to attending the next one!) but somehow missed the story of James Arnold Taylor asking his stage guests to sign sneakers but loved the idea that Anthony wanted James to be able to sign his own pair.
“I was preparing for Star Wars Celebration Chicago back in January and watching the Live Stream videos on the Star Wars Youtube channel.” explained Anthony. ” I started with the videos from Anaheim and James Arnold Taylor was the stage host. I saw him asking the guests to sign his sneakers that had their Star Wars characters on them and was hoping to find out more. I kept watching the interviews and during his interview with Ian McDiarmid (at the 5h 40m 45s mark of THIS video) he mentioned the artist who had done the artwork on the sneakers. I stopped watching at that moment and knew exactly what I wanted to do.”
“I don’t think you’ve seen this yet” said Taylor to McDiarmid during the interview “but you’re on my shoes. I got an artist, Joe Hogan, a very talented artist, Joe Hogan painted these. So I have two different versions of the Emperor on my shoes.”
“That’s extraordinary.”exclaimed McDiarmid.
“Here’s where being a host has it’s privileges. Could I possibly ask you to…”
“He wants me to sign his shoes.”
“…sign my shoe?”
“I’m not signing the inside.”
“I tracked down Joe Hogan and it turns out he’s in Staten Island, which is only one bridge away from me in Brooklyn. I asked him if anyone had asked him to create sneaker art for James Arnold Taylor to autograph and he said no.”
“I purchased a pair of Chuck Taylor All Star Low Tops (size 9.5 in Natural Ivory) and had them sent to Joe and commissioned him to draw two Clone Wars animated versions of Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
“The original plan was to have James sign the sneakers in Chicago during Celebration. I wasn’t worried though and knew Joe was busy with other commissions. I ended up getting James to sign a few things for me in Chicago, including my Clone Wars theatrical poster.”
In late February-early March Eternal Con on Long Island announced that James would be attending their show in June, and I also learned he would be attending Keystone Comic Con in August. I never got nervous and was patient. I knew I would get his autograph at one of these shows.”
His patience paid off…
“James told me no one had ever asked him to sign a pair of sneakers like the ones he had in Anaheim. I explained how I had prepped for Celebration by watching his Live Stream videos and how special this was for me. The look on his face when he saw the sneakers was worth the wait.”
For more on James Arnold Taylor visit his WEBSITE and be sure to check out his podcast “James Arnold Taylor’s Talking to Myself The Podcast” on Apple Podcasts HERE. For the very latest from James subscribe to his social media handles on TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBEand FACEBOOK.
To learn more about artist Joe Hogan visit his DeviantArt page HERE. Be sure to also follow him on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and TWITTER.
Designer and Illustrator Tina Quiri can be found on her FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM accounts as well as her website, which you can visit HERE. You can find her web comic series “Tina One Job” on Instagram HERE.
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