All-Con 2009 was held in Dallas, TX March 13-15, 2009

Well, this was year two for me at All-Con… I had so much fun I’m already preparing for year three!

Once again, I must start off by giving props to this guy….

Mr. Todd Carlton, Star Wars Collector extraordinaire and all around awesome guy.  When you have someone like this running a convention, you just know it’s going to be good.

Back a couple of months ago I got a rather mysterious email.  It was from TK-9612 from the Arkansas Crimson Nova Squad of the 501st.  I had met him during All-Con last year and come to find out he lives just up the road from me about two hours.  The email he sent asked if I would be attending All-Con 2009 because the 501st had something special planned for me.  He couldn’t go into details but strongly suggested that I attend the convention.  Needless to say, I had very little idea what was going on.  I was a bit concerned… had I offended the 501st at some point?  Did they see this picture of me and some troops?

But wait… I haven’t posted that picture on the internet so they couldn’t have seen it.  Crap, I just posted that on the internet didn’t I?  Maybe they were going to get me for poking fun at them a bit in some of my sketches.  Most notably the 501st and 502nd strips.  I was at a loss as to what “special” thing they had planned for me.  So, Friday night at All-Con… I found out.

I was called into the business meeting of Star Garrison of the 501st and there was TK-9612 holding this freaking awesome plaque, with my name on it, saying that I was now an Honorary Friend of the 501st!

It goes with out saying that I was blown away!  Then the TK-5240 (Commanding Officer of Star Garrison) came around and pinned my new 501st name tag and gave me some really sweet 501st swag.

Great big thanks to TB-3529 for hooking me up with pics from the meeting!

So yea… man, that was one of the coolest things I’ve had happen in quit a while.  I just have to give a massive shout out to the Arkansas Crimson Nova Squad and all of Star Garrison.  You guys are great and it’s an honor to be a part of the 501st.  Keep up all the great work you do!  I’ve already started the ball rolling on getting a costume together so hopefully it will only be a short amount of time and I’ll be out Trooping with you guys.

Speaking of Trooping…

Ever wonder who was flying the Emperor’s shuttle?

Troopers just seem to have a thing for capturing princess…

The Pimp-est Royal Guard I know…

DO NOT go in there…

My man Ruf Terrain (TK-590) put together the Imperial Gladiators Competition… this was awesome watching the troops compete against each other.

There was a race to see who could suite up first…

Set your blaster for sticky…

The Star Garrison brought in a special guest for the convention, Aaron Douglas who plays Chief Galen Tyrol on Battle Star Galactica.  During the competition he played the role of Leia in capture the Princes.

Douglas with the Sith Cheerleaders…

Troop contestants with the Sith Cheerleaders…

Yak Face with the Sith Cheerleaders…

It’s at the point I’m wondering… why am I not in a picture with the Sith Cheerleaders?

Yes, even Darth Vader has trouble finding good help these days…

Yak got to try on a bucket… needless to say, we will be having one of these around the house one day…

Here’s Yak riding a Mouse Droid…

This thing is awesome, remote controlled complete with movie accurate sounds.

Hey, check it out… there’s Gort in the background!

Gort!  Klaatu barada nikto!

As the name suggests… All-Con is for All-Kinds.  Oh look, here comes some of them now…

These kids were out of school on Friday for “Career Day”… guess they’re getting ready to work in the fast food industry.

These dolls were everywhere….

Along with they’re handlers…

This guy creeped me out…

I finally decided to get in some pics…

No convention is complete without a Slave Leia… notice the roller skates, won’t be any Troopers catching her.

Me and Dru in her newly completed Padme’ costume…

One of my favorite parts of this convention is that I get to hang out with some of the most awesome friends I have…

Bobby (Last Stop), myself, and Bill (Creature Cantina)… yes, Bill came back!

We were later joined by Zach (Galactic Productions)

We had several adventures and misadventures during both Friday and Saturday night… but to be on the safe side… this is the only pic I’ll post.

Oh look… more costumes…

We almost had a reenactment of the Topps Star Wars # 207 card…

Her hair was actually sticking in my ear…

And the most awesome costume award goes to….

This guy wasn’t in costume and I’m thinking… he’s got the right idea.  Next year, this will be me.

Meow…

Meow?

How about we close out with a few more Star Wars pics…

My favorite Caroline!  Not only does she have a freakin awesome Mara Jade costume but she was also the inspiration for this strip.

What a weekend it was… great friends, fun times and memories to last a life time.

Bobby, Dru, Bill, Zach, Johnathan, Kit, Julie, Caroline, Cole, Todd… it was great getting to see all of you again.

Tracy and Steven, you guys rock!  Can’t wait to start Trooping with you.

To all my new friends in the 501st, thank you for the honor and making me feel welcomed.  You all do such amazing work for so many and bring fun and joy to every event you participate in.  I’m proud to be a Friend of the 501st and can not wait to enlist and start carrying the banner.