Echo Base Live Episode XI: Bespin Bazaar was held at the Kingfisher Shopping Centre in Redditch, UK on Saturday 1st October 2022. This was the first time that my calendar has lined up and have been able to attend!
Although this is a free to attend event, for a £10 fee, you could prebook your “Early Bird” entry and get in 45 minutes before the general public. For this, you also receive a rather nice lanyard and personalised badge for the event. All profits from the Echo Base Live events goes to charity, and with over £100,000 raised to date for good causes since 2015, the Early Bird proved popular with the queue snaking through the shopping centre from 7am. In all honesty, I think most of those attending had purchased the Early Bird option.
The event itself can be described in one word… unique! Never have I seen so many items of Star Wars memorabilia and toys on offer in one place and I’ve been to James Burns’ house!
There was something there to sate the appetite of any Star Wars fan. I saw items exchange hands for a few thousand pounds and watched in awe with the amazing items being procured. But then there were the, for me, most poignant transactions: those made by the younglings. With money either given to them by their parents or from raiding their piggy banks, some were buying their first Star Wars toys. These could be for as little as 50 pence, or even free depending on the generosity of the stall holder.
Echo Base Live isn’t just about collecting toys, it is attended by actors from the Star Wars saga. The guest list for this event featured Dermot Crowley, Rusty Goffe, Cathy Munroe, Quentin Pierre, Paul Jerricho, Laurie Goode, Chris Bunn, Joe Gibson, and Bill Hargreaves. All day there were queues for autographs, selfies, and chats. My most surreal moment of the day was seeing General Crix Madine shopping for a snack at lunchtime in Wilko’s.
It was also an opportunity to put faces to names and catch up with people I haven’t seen since before the pandemic. I must give a shout out to one of the Echo Base admins, Wayne Totty. Wayne is someone I have been in contact with now for a couple of years and it was nice to grab 5 minutes and say “hello there” in person. It was especially good to see Dan Solo, from Solo’s Cargo Hold and formerly of Tatooine Times. Now with his very own youngling in tow, he was ferrying acrylic cases back to his car, for preserving his amazing vintage collection at home. It is always great to see the guys from The Vintage Rebellion Podcast. As part of the event giveaway, they had produced a bootleg VHS video cassette containing archive footage from varying sources including, interviews, TV advertisements and material from previous Echo Base Live events. Only issue is, I now need to retrieve my VHS player from the loft to view it.
But, after all the fun of the event, there is a serious side to what the Echo Base community does. Group member, Craig Bullen passed away suddenly just days before the event. His family have been torn apart by the loss and so has the Echo Base community. A beautifully observed minutes silence in his memory was held, which turned into a thunderous applause when it concluded. The community has since started a Just Giving crowd fund page to help Craig’s family fund his funeral and to give them support at this sad time. A target of £500 was set and at the time of this article going out, the total had already reached a staggering £6,608. The team at Jedi News also extend their condolences to Craigs family and friends.
Long-time member Paul Smith and his family have also been going through a tough time and the group had also chipped in to gift him a painting of him with a toy Millennium Falcon akin to the original advert we all know so well. By this point there was barely a dry eye in the house.
In the build-up to the event, a wonderful item had been donated by members of the Echo Base community to create a unique prize. A set of the first 96 figures in a display case. With a value estimated at over £5,000 there would be one lucky winner. This online raffle alone raised a staggering £10,940!
The Mega Raffle at the event had around 150 prizes and as you can see from the picture, there was everything you could think of on offer. I was one of the lucky winners and bagged myself a Black Series Han Solo in Carbonite, which I am really pleased with. The draw took what seemed to be forever but was a great end to my day and for so many there. But that raffle will also make a difference with a further £2,448 raised for Hull and East Yorkshire Children’s University.
It just shows that this event is about more than just collecting Star Wars memorabilia and toys. It is a community that cares for each other and forges bonds and friendships that go beyond everything else. I am so happy to be part of that community.
I finally arrived home later that evening with a small haul of items. I could have spent thousands, but I was more than happy with the items I managed to purchase.
A huge congratulations to all the Echo Base admins for bringing us such an amazing event. And we do it all again in early 2023. So, Saturday 4th February 2023 is when we head back to the Kingsfisher Shopping Centre in Redditch for the 12th event and all updates on tickets and guests will be available via the Echo Base Facebook groups and here on Jedi News.
This is the event you are looking for (Jedi mind trick) and I just hope my calendar allows me to be available for the next one.
