Another Dallas Fan Days has come and gone. The annual event was a successful one again with celebrities from “Star Wars” to “The Karate Kid” and “Stargate” in attendance. It was a bittersweet experience for me, as it is the last convention my good buddy Mark Walters will be announcing and emceeing at. Ben Stevens and C2 Ventures is stepping down from managing the events as well. It’s truly the end of an era and I wish them both well as they move on with future endeavors.
With “The Force Awakens” coming out in two months, there was no shortage of collectibles and other products to be found. Everything from action figures to posters and throw rugs were seen among the vendors.
Surprisingly, there were only a few people cosplaying as “The Force Awakens” characters. I saw two Finns, a Captain Phasma, a First Order Stormtrooper dressed in a business suit, and a First Order Stormtrooper (who happened to be my son).
Voice actor Steve Blum spoke to me a bit about his role as Zeb Orrelios on “Star Wars Rebels.” He also voices other characters for the show like Stormtroopers and other Imperial officers. Blum was a very nice guy and cordial to his fans. Main Title Designer Dan Perri was also in attendance. He created the original crawl for “Star Wars” based upon George Lucas’s guidance. It was a pleasure speaking to him about the way things were done before the advent of CGI. I’ll be posting an interview with him later.
One of the coolest things my son and I did was visit the 501st Garrison Room where they were taking pictures with “Star Wars” characters in front of backdrops that made you look like you were on the Death Star or the deck of a Star Destroyer. They also let you shoot a Stormtrooper with different sized nerf guns to choose from. They were collecting donations for Toys for Tots and the more money you gave, the bigger the gun you could use and the more ammo you received.
Fan Days 2015 was a calm event that was well organized. None of the overcrowding or chaos we’ve seen in the past was present while I was there. It was just attendees, many in costumes, just having a good time while meeting their favorite celebrities from TV shows, movies, and the comic book industry.
To see pictures from Fan Days 2015, you can go here.