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Tbf, yes the Mando/Ahsoka footage leaked from last year but most of it seemed to be taken down pretty quick, a couple vids of half the screen were on reddit in terrible quality but otherwise it's actually quite hard to find a good copy nowadays. Playing devil's advocate if you show thousands of people on the whole convention floor there's a lot greater chance the footage will get spread around. But I totally get what you're saying, it's pretty bad. Now that I'm 100% on board with you. I don't think it's been 100% confirmed no panels at all will be streamed, so wait and see, but yeah. The panels that don't necessarily share any big news, just put them up ffs. Even if they wait until after the show or something. We'll see, but yeah. They might argue they want to reward convention goers but if you asked anyone there whether they minded the panels being streamed I think most would say they would love them to be. The lotto makes sense I think. Tbh I'd rather that than queue 4 or 5 hours beforehand. I actually think the panel stuff is organised well given the difficult situation of literally everyone wanting to get into the big ones, it's just Lucasfilm's handling of people outside the rooms (and at home) that stings. This was my favourite purchase from Anaheim, a massive print of this beauty, signed by the artist. It was like £100 but worth it. Even with Pearce Brosnan as Thrawn lol It's funny you say that because that's exactly what happened, this morning reports saying Lindelof and his co-writer have left the 2024 project back in mid Feb. Siiiiiiigh. Apparently the production timeline is set to be the same, and LF got someone else in already, but yeah. I thought his interview comments you mention sounded really strange. Now we know why. I still think we'll see some film news at Celebration but it's so frustrating to say the least. I reckon... Ahsoka trailer, Skeleton Crew trailer, maybe a new series announcement, film news and an Indy trailer. Yeah should be good. Seems to have been in production a while, might be another Andor on our hands. Also, apparently the directors behind Everything Everywhere All At Once are set to direct at least one ep of Skeleton Crew, so that's exciting. Edit: just been confirmed from the horse's mouth Be interesting if with two, presumably big, eps of Mando still to release, they'll want to pull focus away from that with a publicly released Ahsoka trailer. I could see them waiting until after the last ep of Mando before putting it online, but we'll see. Yeah exactly. Fingers crossed, but it seems like great casting. I just hope the on-screen portrayals of the characters are right. Both her and Ezra are big personalities, I hope they don't try and tone those down and make it stiff and stoic. Yeah they have, Ashley was invited on set for the Ahsoka show. S1 was very cameo/legacy character-heavy (Kanan, Cut Lawquane, Trace and Rafa, Rex, Fennic Shand, Cad Bane, Hera, Chopper, Bib Fortuna etc) and it kind of wound me up, S2 has much less of that and it's more focused on the Batch themselves. It hasn't branched out into the wider galaxy quite as much as you might like/be expecting, but I think that's to come in the future. I don't actually think this is the last season, but still hoping they confirm it soon. Resistance only lasted two years but they announced S2 would be its last before it aired, so hopefully that's a good sign here. Yes definitely catch up. It would have just finished by the time Celebration starts, so will be quite a talking point I imagine. Three of the opening four eps are a little meh, but it gets brilliant after that.

This is the part which really confuses me, and irked me just as much last year for those that attended as I'm sure it will this year if it repeats. The rooms have limited capacity and as far as conventions go, Celebration isn't exactly a cheap event to attend just in terms of ticket price (much less the transport, accomodation, etc.); off the top of my head, I can only imagine things like SDCC and NYCC maybe being pricier? To some extent I can understand not wanting to stream things to YouTube/etc. directly, especially if it's rough work which is more of a "this is the direction we're heading in and it's an early look for you guys attending, but we're not comfortable releasing this to the general public just yet" and comes out more as a preview than anything, but trailers are another thing entirely for me, and I can only think of one so far that was Celebration exclusive and made sense to not share (the Rogue One 15 second or whatever tease at SWC 2015). I can't wait for SWC but I just know it's going to be gutting when I inevitably can't get into the Lucasfilm or Ahsoka panel and miss a trailer or something that everyone will be talking about...and will almost certainly leak anyways! That's the bit that really puzzles me: you have to know that someone in the crowd is going to leak this stuff, so is this really the way you want people to get their first look? Where I really draw a hard line as a fan though is not being able to watch the panel itself and get some insight into whatever's going on with the creative process. To this day I still occasionally return to some SWC panels of old just because of the vibe and what's discussed, and it's really rare that we do get that insight into the creative process, even if they have finally taken the steps to have docuseries follow their major Disney+ releases. It's just such a shame I think: there should be things exclusive to the event itself (for me prior to COVID the idea of just being surrounded by that many Star Wars fans would have been reward enough!), but it practically adds two additional layers in the form of a paywall (to attend) and a lotto (to actually get into a high value panel), which just unnecessarily splits up the fanbase Anyways, mini rant over. I can't wait to attend and just be surrounded by Star Wars-loving folks but I wish we'd go back to the pre-COVID type of Celebration. Ah that'll be exciting! Yeah I'm sure I'll probably spend more on the show floor (trying to talk myself down from picking up a lightsaber, if I can find one...) but will definitely one to pick up some commemorative items I'll be honest, I'm nervous about getting film news, maybe just because it's been so long since we've had some? Plus we had all those collaborations just get very publicly canned, it felt like they were clearing the board as if to say "don't expect much at this Celebration" in terms of film news. On top of that actually, I remember there was a snippet from an interview somewhere last week where Lindelof kind of (really) heavily implied that he might be walking away from his Star Wars project, saying something to the effect of "I love Star Wars, but if a project can't be great, it shouldn't exist". So yeah, I'm honestly not sure what to expect in terms of film news? The fact that they're calling it the Lucasfilm Showcase again makes me think we're getting another Indy trailer or maybe even an extended preview for attendees, and maybe something else? Is it time for The Land Before Time to makes its triumphant return? It's funny how the necessary success of Disney+ has flipped the narrative and I'm much more confident about getting some news of some of the series in the works, like Skeleton Crew and The Acolyte. Oh man, I am *very* hopeful for The Acolyte Yeah, I think Ahsoka is going to go all out, because we're going to be fast approaching it's release I feel and it should be pretty deep in post- (probably releasing some time in Q3 if things go smoothly?). Ezra I do think gets brought out on stage here, and so in turn I think it's probably a trailer (publicly released I'm not so sure based on how they've done things with Mando, so looking forward to the leaks!) and a preview showing a little of his involvement to get people talking and (re)watching Rebels ahead of Ahsoka releasing. Sabine I agree they've nailed, there was a vibe to Natasha Liu Bordizzo last year where she kind of just seems like a badass anyways so I'm confident that's good casting. Yeah, Ahsoka is still a weird one for me, I thought Rosario Dawson did a fine job, but it does still rub me the wrong way a little that Ashley wasn't considered, and maybe even more so that Rosario didn't reach out to her to discuss the character/etc. Hopefully they've met up since! Well, sounds like I need to catch up! haven't watched any of S2 yet but the animated series (and, after last week's episode of Mando, possibly just anything Filoni is involved with) generally spin off a little in S3 or S4 to show new perspectives (which for me is when the shows really start to get good), and I do think The Bad Batch always seemed much more focused on following, well, The Batch, rather than showing other perspectives (obviously haven't watched S2 yet so idk, maybe they've dived into that a little already?). I might need to start catching up tonight so I'm caught up ahead of the finale next week

There should be a standby queue so worst case scenario you'll just have to get there super early and wait in line. Not expecting any of them to be live-streamed though, not even to convention-goers which is such a massive shame. They should probably be announcing the store products any day now. I'd suggest you'll definitely find better uses for your money on the show floor itself tbh, but the main store is still good for some SWC branded stuff and a few other bits. In terms of what we actually see, I'm getting hyped for that opening Showcase. I definitely think it's time for film news. Even if it's still 2+ years out, a teaser logo, a timeframe, a director and a lead would be great. Ahsoka panel, gotta imagine they'll bring out live action Ezra on stage. Sabine I get the impression they've nailed, but Ezra is such a big character I'm a little scared. Now I know what all the Ahsoka fans felt like before Rosario Dawson was announced ha. Last week's ep of Bad Batch centred on something that hinted at an endgame for the series/characters. It has me a little terrified S2 might be the last. Probably not, but still... I guess we'll find out soon.

Star Trek Game (1974) Original Release: 1974 Developer: Unknown Publisher: Hasbro Platform: Board Game Luckily for me, this one had already been created on Tabletop Simulator, complete with working spinners. Unfortunately, there is very little “game” here. You spin the spinner and move. Sometimes a space will make you do something, but most times now. Each player is on their own section of the board and the first to get around wins. The game has two spinners: warp and impulse. For the path leading to/from the circle you need to use the warp one, for the circle you need to use the impulse one. Functionally, they’re no different (they both go form 1 to 8), but if you spin the wrong one, you miss a turn. The design and artwork is nice, but that’s all the game has going for it. Star Trek Game (1975) Original Release: 1974 Developer: Bob Brechin Publisher: Palitoy Bradgate Platform: Board Game Another roll and move Star Trek board game – this time from Palitoy Bradgate. In this, your quest is to capture two crystals from the surface of two planets and then blow up the Klingon ships. While this game has standees of Kirk and Spock, you play as nameless crew – Kirk and Spock simply protect you from harm. The game starts off similar to Ludo where you have to roll a specific number to stat moving, then transport down to a planet: an ice planet with a strange monster called a Bluug, or a fiery planet with a giant spider: if either catch you, you’ll have to go back to the start of the planet. Klingons are also chasing you, although they only take you back slightly. Other spaces will move you forwards, backwards or even send you back to the Enterprise to miss a turn and have to start again. Constantly restarting really feels like a drag. You can forfeit your turn to move Klingons instead if you want to slow down your opponents. The board itself is really nice, with lovely design and a fun layout, but the gameplay is very poor. Star Trek Phaser Battle Original Release: 1976 Developer: Mego Publisher: Mego Platform: Electronic Handheld Not played: Too expensive to get second hand. A basic game from Mego. This one keeps track of your score, and is very large and bulky. Stars will scroll past (the effect looks like the doctor Who opening) and sometimes enemies will appear. You need to line up your targeting and blast them. Star Trek: Phaser Strike Original Release: 1979 Developer: Milton Bradley Publisher: Milton Bradley Platform: Microvision The Microvision was the first handheld console that came with interchangeable cartridges – the whole front of the unit peeled off and could be replaced with a new game. With it being so early, the display was limited, boasting a whole 16×16 pixels. Although there is something satisfying about these big chunky pixels. In Star Trek: Phaser Strike, you destroy incoming ships by shooting from one of three different directions. Your shots are slow, so you have to time your shot based on where your enemy will be. It’s a very simple game, but for it’s format, it’s fun for a quick blast. Star Trek Game (1979) Original Release: 1979 Developer: Michael Gray Publisher: Milton Bradley Platform: Board Game This board game definitely has some interesting ideas. It’s another one I had to recreate in Tabletop Simulator, although it doesn’t have the nice Enterprise shaped player pieces or the artwork on the cards (I found the text for the cards, but not the artwork). The board itself is lovely, looking like a display console showing a galaxy map. There’s some lovely artwork of the Enterprise, too, but that gets covered up by tiles. The tiles feature warp paths in two colours. While in a sector, you can only swap between the two routes at your starbase or following the route to another sector. It creates a lot of thought when planning your route, especially later in the game as you need to land on explored systems exactly. The only downside is how movement is determined: rolling two dice and moving that amount. Movement is the major part of the game, too. You get dealt four mission cards and need to complete three of them. The cards will have flavour text like “defeat Klingons” or “deliver serum” along with other instructions, but these don’t actually mean anything in terms of the game. You just need to discover these on the map and head to them. As you move, you will reach unexplored stars. You can reach these without using your full movement. You draw a card to discover what is there. Three cards will send you back to your home base (something another player can do if they land directly on your space), but the rest are different kinds of stars, outposts or advanced civilisations. Once a system has explored, however, you can only land on it with an exact role – which makes it harder to complete a mission if you weren’t the one to discover it. If you roll a double, you can move an opponent instead of you, however this just hurts both of you and isn’t very useful, even as a player has finished three of their missions and is heading back to their base. Despite so much depending on the roll to move mechanic, this is a pretty decent board game. It would be interesting to build upon this with some different movement mechanics. Star Trek Make-A-Game Book Original Release: 1979 Developer: Bruce Nash, Greg Nash Publisher: Wanderer Books Platform: Board Game A board game that you make yourself from a book. This is more about the construction, as you’re following a pre-set design instead of developing your own board game. Someone has already done the hard work developing this for Tabletop Simulator. The game itself is a very basic roll and move. Spaces will earn you deflector shield components, others will make you lose them. Once you have all six, you can reach the bridge and need to get an exact roll – overshoot and you have to go all the way around the board again. It’s a pretty poor game. One curious thing is that the board itself is missing part of it. There is supposed to be a corridor to the bridge that is completely missing – so you just have to imagine a couple of spaces there. Star Trek Starfleet Game Original Release: 1979 Developer: McDonald’s Publisher: McDonald’s Platform: Board Game A tiny little roll and move game. This was part of the first ever themed McDonald’s Happy Meal, promoting the launch of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The game is obviously quite basic, but it’s short and sweet. There are multiple paths to choose from, so it’s slightly more involved than some games. Star Trek 3.5 Original Release: 1982 Developer: Lance Micklus, David H Summons Publisher: Adventure International Platform: Atari 8-Bit This is another version of the 1971 Star Trek game. This adds a lot more visualisation, a larger galaxy and more types of areas to encounter. The Enterprise and Klingons now look like ships, and the game displays a list of actions each time so you don’t have to jot them down separately. The galaxy is now much bigger, with quadrants in three dimensions. Navigation has been altered a lot. You can choose between impulse (moving within a sector) and warp (moving to different sectors). Within a sector, the speed determines how many squares you move. For warping, you enter the coordinates of the system you want to go to and the speed (which determines how many stardates pass). You also get a really nice animation. You also see torpedo paths animated out, making it clearer what is happening in battles. Another significant change is how damage works, as you can repair systems without navigating to a starbase, which is useful when sensors are completely down and you’re flying blind. Overall, this is a really nice version of Star Trek. Star Trek: The Motion Picture Original Release: 1982 Developer: GCE Publisher: GCE Platform: Vectrex Made for the very unique vector-based console called the Vectrex. This console is made up of white lines on a black background. In order to add colour and a HUD, you have to put plastic sheets on top of the screen. In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, you turn in a 360 degree angle, blasting enemy ships. Torpedoes will get fired towards you and you can either dodge by turning away so the torpedo is no longer on screen or by holding down the shield button to block them. Your shields have limited capabilities, so you’ll need to connect to a space station to recharge. The game is simple but a lot of fun. It’s not the most “Star Trek” game, something the developers also thought as it was sold in some regions under the names “Space Ship” or “Harmageddon”