IL-Schaumburg-Chgo Intn'l Toy and Game Fair-Nov 17th-18th

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TKvanB
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Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2001 8:48 pm
501st Legion ID: 9989
Location: Chicago

IL-Schaumburg-Chgo Intn'l Toy and Game Fair-Nov 17th-18th

Post by TKvanB »

.....Better late than never.....

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2007 Chicago International Toy and Game Fair
WHEN: November 17th – 18th, 2007
WHERE: Schaumburg Convention Center and Renaissance Hotel

For the second year in a row, the Members of the 501st Legion / Midwest Garrison were invited to attend the Chicago International Toy and Game Fair in our Star Wars costumes and add our special ambiance to the exhibition and show. This was also the second year that CHITAG has moved to this new location -- the brand new Schaumberg Convention Center (it's a beautiful place!)

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Jim P Nieciecki, TS1139
November 17, 2007
Photo by Chris Spice (Darth Spice)


I would like to give A HUGE thanks to Jim P Nieciecki, TS1139 (aka) FEDERATION TOYS for all he was able to accomplish for the "Star Wars" presence at this year's Chicago International Toy & Game Fair. Jim made arrangements for several guests from the Star Wars universe to be a part of this years fair as well as sponsoring a charity breakfast where the fans all received special Star Wars toys, broke the fast with the Star Wars guests and met and took pictures with some of their favorite characters from the Star Wars saga.
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Costumed Participants at the 11/17 charity breakfast:

BH2460 David Foust - Boba Fett (AKA "Bobo")
TD7306 Chris Spice - sandtrooper
DZ826 Damian Jorgensen - Tusken
TK9989 Kathy van Beuningen - stormtrooper
Quincy Newkirk - Princess Leia

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Our Star Wars characters at charity breakfast
November 17, 2007
Photos by Chris Spice (Darth Spice)


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(The small image of the cover art by Dave Dorman)

Dave Dorman, Honorary Member of the 501st Legion and Midwest Garrison HM, created exclusive new artwork for the cover of this year's CHITAG program.
Dave also showed off many of his recent works at the fair.

Actors Anthony Forrest, Orli Shoshan and Dan Madsen were on hand all weekend to meet the fans and sign autographs.

Chris Macht, director of "The Force Among Us" made people aware of his Star Wars related project.
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Jim N also arranged with CHITAG for an awesome corner booth space to be available for the 501st Legion! :D

Costumed Participants @ CHITAG 11/17:
BH2460 David Foust - Boba Fett
TD7306 Chris Spice - sandtrooper
DZ826 Damian Jorgensen - Tusken
BH4117 Chris Mazzoni - Jango Fett
ID9989 Kathy van Beuningen - Imperial Officer
SL2374 William A Barth - Darth Revan (from Bloodfin Garrison)
DZ3688 Richard A Bueker - Gamorrean Guard (from Bloodfin Garrison)
501st Legion table helpers 11/17:
Quincy Newkirk
TB0101 Aimee Jorgensen

Costumed Participants @ CHITAG 11/18:
BH9397 Augie Webster - Boba Fett
TB0101 Aimee Jorgensen - Bikerscout
TK118 Tom Schaefer - stormtrooper
ID9989 Kathy van Beuningen - Imperial Officer
Augie wrote:It was Fun as always.
Here is the link for sunday

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13169992@N ... 240404123/
_________________
BH9397


....and special thanks to "Nash" (NaShanta/phoenix0206), our local Yellow Power Ranger.
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The group on Sunday (left to right:) Kathy van Beuningen ID9989, Tom Schafer TK118, Yellow Ranger NaShanta, Aimee Jorgensen TB0101, Augie Webster BH9397
November 18, 2007
Photos by Sammie Webster

Special thanks to Augie's daughter Sammie for her support in taking pictures!

HERE IS AN AWESOME REPORT BY CHRIS SPICE (TD7306 aka DARTH SPICE)
tk7306 wrote:Here is the report we dropped at ST.com of the event. Great job guys and I can tell you Anthony was very, very flattered by the lenghts this group went to make this happen.

http://www.sandtroopers.com/events/chitag_2007/
SANDTROOPER M.C.U. DEPLOYED AT CHICAGO TOY & GAME FAIR
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The Chicago Toy & Game Fair kicked off this morning as driving in I was reminded of the Hoth-like conditions that will soon be upon us. This is not a show that I would label a typical "convention" but a great place to spend a day with your family. This year it seemed like they were trying to steer this event in that type of direction. The invite was put out to vendors and entertainment as the exhibitor list was expanded from companies who were showcasing their games. The majority of the games on hand are board games and the like, but if you'd ask me I'd say that is something that our generation has forgotten all about. Entertaining yourself without a TV or monitor! The fine folks at Hasbro were on hand and I was very surprised to see the various wave 5 action figures that were in front of every place setting. I set up our Sandtrooper M.C.U. (Mobile Command Unit) as our friends at Federation Toys provided us with a very nice location amongst the three Star Wars guests that had come in for the show.
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Afterwards I suited up with the Midwest Garrison to take part in the Star Wars Breakfast that got underway just after nine o'clock. The kids were swarming the Stormtrooper, Sandtrooper, Princess Leia, Tusken Raider and Boba Fett that took the time to take several photos. It's just something I've never grown tired of, you hear "one more" but you realize it's going to be a lot more than one. The feeling you get watching the various reactions and smiles that costuming brings to the faces. Overall I'd have to say the breakfast went very well as there were no chairs or tables to be had. Seeing the enjoyment of meeting characters was almost as exciting as the new Stormtrooper or concept Boba Fett figure they'd just ripped open was very rewarding. The Renaissance is a brand new facility and the food, service and atmosphere was top ranking.
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Upon conclusion of breakfast I suited down for a few hours to spread the gospel of Sandtrooper unity from our bunker. It was really great to see Dave Dorman again. There is nothing more visually stimulating than to browse through the prints with your bare hands. There was a pretty steady stream of people flowing through the show all day long. I really enjoy meeting new recruits for the first time. S.C.A.L.P. veteran Jedichirp also came in for a brief tour of duty and as nice as new faces are, it's even better seeing some of the old ones! If Anthony Forrest, Orli Shoshon and Dan Madsen weren't enough to catch up with, I also got a chance to visit with Cris Macht who had the Force Among Us showcased on what is the final stop of their world tour! I can't say enough about this film and how privileged I feel to have Sandtroopers.com mentioned in the company of such great Star Wars fans. We are truly honored. In fact I was asked to sit in on a panel discussion, which really took me back for a second, as I'm not a very good public speaker!
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Another great highlight of the day would come as James Ross showed us all how special the 501st Legion is. TD 8733 flew all the way in from Richmond, Virginia to induct Anthony Forrest as an honorary member to the Legion. It was jaw dropping to be asked to suit back up and be a part of the presentation. Anthony was presented with a beautiful plaque and Tony Sagun from the Pacific Outpost out in Hawaii sent him a TD helmet of his own since he didn't get to keep anything from A New Hope! After the ceremony I could see Anthony was simply amazed and flattered to be an official part of "Vader's Fist"! Afterwards I joined Cris and Courtney Macht, Dan Madsen, Sean Heinz and Jimmy Mac from the Force.net's Forcecast for the final panel for the Force Among Us. The nervousness was eased within minutes. My "Star Wars family" began to speak and having a pro like Jimmy run the show really made it very, very smooth. I can't say again how lucky to feel to be involved with this project.
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Overall I can say it wasn't as much fun as a Wizard World but it would be a great place to bring your family. The plush facility and superb location are great but there is also something to be said for using your brain to entertain yourself vs. a video game. I'm very interested to see how this event will evolve in the future. Thanks again to the staff at Chitag for extending their generous hospitality to our group. United We Find.

PHOTO GALLERY
To see the different photo galleries click on the links below.

http://www.sandtroopers.com/events/chitag_2007/pics/

http://www.sandtroopers.com/events/chitag_2007/day2/

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(left to right:) Kathy van Beuningen (ID9989), James Ross (TD8733 / Garrison Tyranus) , 501st Legion HM Anthony Forrest, TD7306 (Chris Spice)
November 17, 2007
Photo by James Ross (TD8733)


Actor Anthony Forrest was inducted as an Honorary Member of the 501st Legion on November 17th 2007. Anthony was positively thrilled! :D

Discussion on 501st Legion forums: Anthony FORREST, MEPD's #1 Sandtrooper
http://www.501stforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13863

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Anthony gives a pig a hug! :D
DZ3688 Richard A Bueker-Gamorrean Guard(from Bloodfin Garrison)
November 17, 2007
Photo by James Ross (TD8733)


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TK118 & TB0101 take a break from playing all of the games and visit the 501st Legion booth on Sunday
November 18, 2007
Photo by Chris Spice (Darth Spice)


I headed up the 501st Legion Information booth that CHITAG so gratiously provided for our Members for the weekend. I provided much of the content, set it up for the weekend, manned the booth for the weekend and packed it up.
Augie brought several of his scratch-built weapons on display on Sunday and Tom S brought his laptop computer and the 501st Legion and Midwest Garrison PR DVDs.
I brought the (6) 501st Legion memoribila collages that I made, my 501st Legion patch blanket, Star Wars table cloths, my framed 501st Legion Rose Parade group picture, the Garrison banner, LOADS of tattoos & my "tattoo station" that was upgraded since Wizard World, all of my 501st Legion & Midwest Garrison scrap books & printed newsletters, TK0.5's stunt double and 6 of my Star Wars dolls.

I had my BFG and helmet on display -- the kids were really interested (of course) and my helmet took a little damage from some excited boy scouts. I was able to fix it. :wink:

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(Me at the table)
November 18, 2007
Photo by Chris Spice (Darth Spice)


The girl scouts loved :love: the dolls, as did mostly every little girl who visited the 501st Legion booth. :wink:

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My Imperial Girls & 'friends' :wink:
November 18, 2007
Photo by Chris Spice (Darth Spice)


All-in-all our presence over the weekend went very well! :D I hope next year we can have some interactive games to play with the visitors at CHITAG and I also hope that we do not have any major event scheduling conflicts for CHITAG 2008. This year, our local Members participated in 2 other events that occured on the same days at the same time.

(event planning)
IL-Schaumburg-Chgo Intn'l Toy and Game Fair-Nov 17th-18th
http://www.midwestgarrison.com/forum/vi ... php?t=6064

(event planning)
IL-Schaumburg-Charity Breakfast with SW Characters-11/17
http://www.midwestgarrison.com/forum/vi ... php?t=7605
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The Midwest Garrison, proudly serving the 501st Legion since 1999.

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