ECCC 2007, April 1, 2007

My 4th visit to the local Comic Convention turned out to be the best one yet. This year the convention space at Qwest Field was cut in half, instead of using the entire convention floor. Because of this, it felt like the convention was well visited and very lively, which made for a great atmosphere. And, what's better to do than chatting to some star wars actors on a rainy, overcast Saturday in Seattle anyways?

The definite highlight of the convention was Peter Mayhew's attendance, who signed autographs on both days. Besides Peter, Wayne Pygram who portrayed Governor Tarkin in Episode 3 (and also played a character in Farscape), signed autographs as well. Both actors were very nice, especially Wayne took his time to talk about his career and expressed interest in playing Tarkin again, hopefully in the up-coming TV shows. On the showfloor, the usual exhibitors were selling their comic books, action figures and other sci-fi goodies. The first McQuarrie figures could be found there, but unfortunately the prices were ridiculous, ranging from $25 to $35 each. However, if you were looking for some good deals on Kotobukiya statues, this was the place to be. One dealer was selling each figure for $60, which is truely a bargain.

Interesting to see was the 501st Legion booth, which I don't remember seeing in previous years. It seemed as if the Washington legion had joined forces with Oregon, and because of that, there were many troopers to be seen throughout the convention floor. Two costumes totally stood out, one was the super tall and great looking Wookiee costume, and another one was Commander Bacara, which looked dead-on. Besides the troopers, there were the usual Jedi, Tie Pilots and Sith Lords running around as well. This years guest stars included Farscape's Lani Tupu (again), Margot Kidder (Louis Lane in the original Superman movies), and the guy who won the reality TV show "who wants to be a superhero", plus others, which I had never heard of.

Peter Mayhew in Seattle at ECCC 2007