Joshua Hanin, CGC Pre-Grader, Star Wars Specialist
When some of us were younger, we secretly wished we were really Luke Skywalker and had constant daydreams of lightsaber duels, fighting to stop the evil Empire. Then we grew up. The Star Wars prequels came and went and most of us were unhappy because they weren't the movies of our youth. In complaint after complaint, the people who argued back and forth forgot to look towards the kids of this new generation, the generation of kids first introduced to Star Wars by the prequels.
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At the Florida Extravaganza Show in Orlando, a three-day convention that took place at the Orange County Convention Center from January 26 through the 28th, I was reminded of the dreams of my youth as I watched an event unfold right in front of me the last day of the show. It was on that day I saw a child from the Phantom Menace generation get to live out his dream when Ray Park (Darth Maul) was kind enough to take a break from autographing to teach the child how to have a lightsaber battle. Ray Park brought out a double-bladed lightsaber and dazzled the celebrities sitting at the booths behind him, as well as the huge audience of people that gathered around him, with his fancy footwork and acrobatics as he fought the child playfully, lightsaber to lightsaber. After the fight ended, he began doing a couple flips in midair and landed about a foot away from where I was standing. I noticed Hayden Panettiere and Zachary Quinto (Claire and Sylar from NBC's hit new show Heroes) applauding after Park's stunt.
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One of their first convention appearances ever, I got to meet both "Sylar" and "the Cheerleader" earlier during the weekend, getting my picture taken with them by a professional photographer that FX provided this year for guests. And for those of you wondering, the lips of both were sealed about secrets from upcoming episodes of Heroes. Oh well, I guess we will all just have to watch.
FX is a great show for all types of collectors, from horror fans to comic book fans, even to people who collect vintage toys. They advertise themselves as "10 shows in one." I certainly find this to be true and feel they can only grow from here. It is definitely a great place to meet your favorite stars and always packs a fantastic list of celebrities. This year, they had guests from Star Wars, Aliens, Firefly, Eureka, Fan Boys, Buffy/Angel, Heroes, and even had enough room for Peter Graves (Mission: Impossible), many famous wrestlers, and William Katt (Greatest American Hero), as well as others.
Another great thing about FX is there’s no long wait to meet any of your favorite comic creators and artists. You will find countless opportunities to share a lot of one-on-one time with them, and for all you CGC Signature Series fans, this is right up your alley. Some of FX's comic guests this year included Matt Wagner, Chuck Dixon, Michael Golden, Daniel Way, Steve Niles, Billy Tan, Ethan Van Sciver, and many others.
FX is a great show and I most definitely will go again next year. Maybe next year, I'll get to have a lightsaber duel or two myself!
