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June 18, 2008
More Star Wars Collecting Panels
Those who love the host of toys and pop culture treasures inspired by the Star Wars Saga will love the fascinating Star Wars collecting shows coming every day of Celebration Japan. Gus Lopez, who has coordinated Star Wars collecting panels for Celebrations in the U.S. and London, is once again inviting some of the most knowledgeable and entertaining Star Wars collectors to talk about their passion. Among the speakers are notable Japanese collectors, who will talk about the exceptionally rich world of Japanese Star Wars toys and collectibles. Four panels have already been announced, and here are four more. Keep checking back for more!
Introduction to Collecting
Eimei Takeda and Chris Georgoulias
Takeda, a noted Japanese collector, and Georgoulias are both seasoned Star Wars collectors. The two will share tips on getting started with collecting and keeping a collection going. This panel will give overviews to most general aspects of the hobby including networking, researching, finding items, pitfalls, terminology, grading, displaying, and much more. There will be an opportunity for questions and answers from the audience.
Japanese Star Wars Posters
Hideyuki Takizawa
Many beautiful Japanese Star Wars posters have been introduced to worldwide audiences through the Star Wars Poster Book and The Vault by Stephen J. Sansweet and Peter Vilmur. However, as poster connoisseurs know, there are even rarer, and more unusual posters from Japan that people rarely see. Takizawa will showcase those rare and unusual posters, as well as some that have never before been seen.
Unproduced Star Wars Toys
Gus Lopez
It might come as a surprise to some collectors that there are actual Star Wars toys that were designed but never released in stores. A few collectors embark on the extremely difficult challenge of documenting, locating, and acquiring some of these rare pieces that give a snapshot of what could have been. Experienced collector Lopez will cover the early stages of produced toys that are far removed from the final product. He will share examples of toy weapons, action figures, vehicles, playsets, video games, and packaging that never made it to retail shelves. Whether considered in design drawings, one-of-a-kind, mocked-up prototypes, or production-quality samples, the toy design process yields artifacts of great interest to collectors.
Rare and Unusual Japanese Collectibles
Yu Katagiri
There are varieties of Japanese Star Wars collectibles about which little is known, including their history and scarcity. Katagiri will talk about some extremely rare examples, like the 1978 Morinaga premiums, the Meiji premium stickers (all 30 kinds!), and polyester mini-figures (did you know there were 10 varieties, plus a very mysterious 11th?), and capsule vending machine merchandising.
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