The weekend of 27th – 29th August proved to be a busy one for fans of the galaxy far, far away in the south of England as a trio of events offered a variety of opportunities to celebrate the saga. Fordingbridge in the New Forest was our first stop, where waiting for us was the inaugural Star Wars Fun Day. The brainchild of UK stalwart Dave Tree, the event was designed to be a counterpoint to the well-established Farthest From vintage show, which would take place the following day. While Farthest From aims its lasers at pre-1985 products and more established collectors, Fun Day is aimed at the entire family and the whole 40 year history of the series. As such, kids were the focus of the day’s events, and there was plenty for the young ones to occupy themselves with.
Star Wars Fun Day: Saturday 27th August
Attending the show was Greedo himself, Paul Blake, who signed and chatted with guests throughout the day. As a performer who was on the UK sets back in 1976, Blake has one of the longest associations with the saga of any guest out on the event circuit and he shared those memories with the crowds. Greedo has always been a popular character, one of the most eagerly sought after figures from the second wave of figures in 1978 alongside Hammerhead, Walrus Man, Snaggletooth, Luke Skywalker: X-Wing Pilot, R5-D4, Power Droid and my own first figure, Death Star Droid.
Phoenix Command were exhibiting at their very first show. Brought together during the summer of 2016, Phoenix Command is headed by Steve, Mark, Wayne and Dave with the intention of creating something fresh and different. Not only does Phoenix Command include costumes with members of any and every costuming organisation welcome to take part but also a virtual reality element in the form of the ILM X-LAB experience which was wowing attendees at the show but also scale models. Check out this enormous AT-AT, constructed from a variety of items including dustbin lids, photocopier toners and even fruit baskets. It’s within a hair of matching the scale of the 12” Gentle Giant figures below and is the first of a series of planned giant diorama’s that Phoenix Command are designing. Tune in to episode 50 of RADIO 1138 where we spoke with Steve, Mark, Wayne and Dave about their new venture.
UK based artist JAKe has been a fixture on the UK convention scene since his stellar work on the passes for both Celebration IV and Celebration Europe back in 2007. Travelling the globe and attending shows ever since he’s a compelling character who is quick to engage with the fans and discuss the galaxy far, far away and much more. I took the opportunity to chat with him on the 50th episode of RADIO 1138 and we discussed Celebration, the state of the Star Wars galaxy and much more besides.
Fantasy Flight Games have certainly captivated the imaginations of an entire galaxy of tabletop gamers and that enthusiasm was highlighted by an ongoing demonstration of the game which brought plenty of folks to the table to engage in dogfights.
For the older kids in the room there was plenty of collectibles to peruse and purchase. From action figures to LEGO and covering every era of the Star Wars story it was a treat to see these modern releases in a hall so synonymous with the vintage collecting scene. Speaking of which…
Farthest From Vintage Star Wars Show: Sunday 28th August
Now a staple of the UK collecting scene, Farthest From takes place three times a year in the small town of Fordingbridge in the picturesque setting of the New Forest. For vintage enthusiasts it’s a must-attend event, lining tables with classic treats. Pristine top-grade carded Palitoy figures sit next to well-used and much loved loose figures, all bringing back their own memories of 70’s and 80’s summers.
Now these I’d never seen before. Back in the mid 80’s when Star Wars was about to enter the Dark Times UK retailer Woolworths did what would now be considered absolute madness. They pulled all of their remaining carded figures off the cards and bagged them in packs of 8, selling them for the grand total of 99p. Think about it, back then there was little indication that the saga would ever return and other franchises needed the shelf space. Today these bagged figures were selling for upwards of £300.
12” figures never matched the huge success of their 3 ¾” counterparts. Too big to have vehicles or playsets they were a logical action figure to produce but over time their limitations became apparent and their run stopped during the era of The Empire Strikes Back. Now, 36 years on they are a highly valued collectible with pristine examples, such as this boxed Boba Fett, asking for upwards of £250 dependent on condition.
Also of interest was the Peruvian Vader. A very rare variant, the version sold in Peru was an entirely different sculpt to the US version and as such holds enormous value. Produced by Basa, the Vader was one of only 2 12” figures produced by the company, the other being Chewbacca. These figures were slightly smaller than their American counterparts and had their own accessories and very different boxes and artwork. In the early 80’s Basa applied their sticker to Kenner products coming into Peru, a trend which included the Micro Collection line. By the time of Return of the Jedi the Basa decal was no longer added. To see one of these in Fordingbridge and learn of its history and lineage was a rare treat.
Loose Yak Faces, Blue Snaggletooths from the legendary Sears Cantina Adventure playset, Japanese Takara wind-up R2-D2’s…they were all here at the show, which always manages to bring products out that you don’t normally see at collector events. Certainly, more educated and knowledgeable collectors than myself wouldn’t be as excited to see these figures, and this is a show for such collectors. But as someone who skims the surface of the hobby it’s never less than fascinating.
The die-cast collectors were well served at the show. Here we have a 1980 carded die-cast Twin-Pod Cloud car from Kenner in pristine condition and across the way was a trio of TIE Fighter, Landspeeder and X-wing. The Star Destroyer and Y-wing were also for sale during the show, bringing some solid 70’s steel to the event.
Force Festival: Monday 29th August
Our third and final stop was an hours drive east from Fordingbridge to the town of Petersfield in Hampshire for the very first Force Festival. Entering the town signs were everywhere and it didn’t take a Jedi Master to guess that the following day would be a lot of fun.
We got lucky, the weather was glorious and along with the sun came the crowds, filling the town square and enjoying the music, food, classic cars and Star Wars on show. Members of both the UK Garrison and the Rebel Legion were present, including Rebel Legion XO Mark Mulcaster, who we had recently shared a stage with at celebration Europe for Four Clubs, One Force.
On show was this landspeeder, also present in our Four Clubs, One Force area. The queues hardly stopped all day as kids and adults posed with Stormtroopers, rebel pilots, Princess Leia and Darth Vader. At the other end of the precinct was a mini X-wing complete with rebel pilot and Artoo which was bringing the crowds in all day long (and not because it was right next to the ice cream van).
Photo’s were constantly being taken, hi-fives exchanged, funds raised for local charities and connections made. We toured the town to see local, hand-made Star Wars knitted goodies like R2 and BB-8 and all around were a plethora of Star Wars t-shirts.
A thoroughly enjoyable way to end a fantastic three days of non-stop Star Wars events. Thanks for everyone involved for being so accommodating and be sure to check out Farthest From for your vintage fix and pencil in next August bank Holiday for the Force Festival.
