At the 2006
Winter Festival, in a Queenstown first, Reel Collectibles
brought to Queenstown 9 Star Wars Stormtroopers and costumed characters,
including the notorious Boba Fett.
As well as trooping in the Winter Festival Float
Parade, Star Wars fans and general public crowded the Reel Collectibles
store for about 2 hours afterwards to meet and get pictures taken
with the Stormtroopers.
This year, the Empire Strikes Back.
The event was so popular that it has become legend
throughout the galaxy. So much so, that even more Stormtroopers
and characters will be coming this year, including Princess Leia
and the Dark Lord of the Sith himself, Darth Vader. Darth Vader
has decided to make a personal appearance at this year's event
to inspect his troops and see why Reel Collectibles is so popular
with Star Wars fans.
The event has been timed by Reel Collectibles to
coincide with the Queenstown Winter Festival as an extra exclusive
feature for the community, children and Star Wars fans in general.
It is likely to be one of the largest ever concentrations of Star
Wars Costumed Characters in New Zealand.
The troopers are all members of either Outpost
42, the New Zealand Garrison of the worldwide 501st Legion,
or the Rebel Legion - both Lucasfilm's preferred organisations
for people who own and proudly wear professional quality costumes
from the Star Wars movies.
Some of the Outpost 42 members attending this years
event were hand picked by Lucasfilm and flown to Los Angeles to
march for George Lucas in the Rose Bowl Parade earlier this year.
They were amongst 200 other 501st Stormtroopers from around the
world, watched by upwards of one million spectators on the parade
route, and seen by millions more on television.
Even more members, along with the Reel Collectibles
team, recently attended the Star Wars Celebration IV event in
Los Angeles, which coincided with the 30th Anniversary of the
original Star Wars movie being released in cinemas. TV3 sent a
crew over to the USA to provide daily coverage of the event.
The troopers will be available for group and individual
photos with public at Reel Collectibles, First Floor, Stratton
House, Beach St, Queenstown from 2pm to 4pm, Saturday June 23rd.
Public are advised to bring their cameras for this great opportunity
to meet a Stormtrooper or Star Wars character.
For more information contact:
Hugh Clark
Reel Collectibles
Ph 03 442 9429 or 027 223 2997
Email: hugh@reelcollectibles.co.nz
Check out the photos of last years event here.
