- [Narrator] Previously on The Real Fans of the Saga.
- So I'm getting kind of nervous
about the photo, I've sort of been doing some
in-the-field recruiting for this too.
We've been spotting Mash-Ups walking around
and been trying to tell them about it.
I actually run a costume group
called Mandalorian Mash-Ups.
- Oh yeah?
- I do kind of wonder about some of these women
you recruited with their
- What?
- Mandalorian Mash-Ups
- I was kind of a shy kid but this
I love the attention and it makes me a lot more
outgoing, so maybe that's why I do it.
- What's this about a house, everybody's living there?
You have like a dark side and a light side?
- We should.
- What's up?
- Yo, what's going on mate?
- Hey, hey.
- My buddy, Josh, he used to be
in a band with me in Chicago.
He lives out in L.A now.
He is coming by tonight to mix us
a very special Star Wars drink, I believe.
- Where the hell have you been?
- 2 hours on the tarmac in Dallas.
The trip into Celebration sucked.
I love to have some air rage.
I was pissed.
(electric music)
- My love for Star Wars is big,
and so is my collection.
- Some people lean towards the light side,
others the dark side.
I'm somewhere in the middle.
- I know kung fu and the force is strong in my family.
- Star Wars is everywhere and so am I.
(lively electric music)
(mysterious violin music)
- I think my last purchase at this
was gonna be the Darth Talon.
- I thought the statue was the one that was $45.
- No the $45 is for the action figure,
not the bust, the busts are like
thousands of dollars for that Darth Talon.
- Well this trip's been really expensive
so I think, you know, a Darth Talon figurine
I mean, do we really need it?
I don't think so.
So that's not how the conversation went,
that's why you threw me, because I thought
you were talking about the bust.
- I don't remember these conversations.
- I know, well the conversation
went the bust then,
I said, 'cause I was like,
well it's only $45, it's a good deal.
And then you said, no,
it's for the action figure
that's when I was like what the
(electric beep)
you know, like.
- I can spend 45 bucks on that
you ain't telling me what to do woman.
You know, it's like the sexiest Star Wars action figure.
- No.
- [Beau] No?
- Right now it's just not the time.
(resonant music)
- I remember probably about high of 2005, 2006
I remember mentioning the 501st,
we love what they do and the costumes you guys have
but the rules and regulations kinda
- I remember having, we did a like podcast or something
- Right.
- and we politely butted heads against that.
- Absolutely.
No, I got a chance to talk to Duffy, one-on-one
probably for the very first time.
And I remember doing that, remember and like, you know
obviously we had a different point of view then
- Right.
- and I had nothing against you.
But I remember just saying, you know
the things that were doing were outside
of what you guys probably liked
and we were like, we're not sure
- Outside of the rules, right
and back then I was all for the rules.
It's just that nowadays, they've gotten
completely out of hand.
- And then to find out that, you know
we're all actually on the same side
it's just who we were aligning with.
And it was good to see that we were, you know
we were cool and we talked to each other
and we pointed out what we,
our dislikes and likes
about, where we stand about hardcore organizations
as opposed to just being in and enjoying just costuming.
- Watching what they did to my friend Amy
and the reasons why
- And we know Amy, you know?
- Right, when it becomes personal,
it took that for me to see your point of view.
- Correct, 'cause you know, every time we go
to the Celebrations man,
the stuff that you guys have is awesome, it really is.
- Just sucks that you gotta go through
all the fertilizer to get to it.
I was actually at the 501st Bash,
what was it, 2 days ago?
I was ready to quit, I was gonna resign
after 14 years in the 501st.
I was gonna get up, take that microphone
and say, I quit, you guys ain't the group that I
- 'Cause I remember at the Celebrations,
I always sensed a little tension with the 501st.
We mean no harm 'cause the stuff
that we were doing was way out there, you know.
- I wonder nowadays though, if they do mean harm.
I'm questioning it that much.
- [Alphie] Right.
- I mean the costuming versus the poli-
Man, you were right, you were right.
- [Alphie] Oh, you know, but
At some point it stops becoming fun,
you're still having fun.
- We're having a blast.
- Me, my feelings got hurt.
- It was actually a really good conversation
because I got his input on, I guess quote-unquote,
the dark side of being part of the 501st.
It was good to hear from him 'cause it was very,
it was a very, actually that was one of the highlights
of Celebration was talk to him about that,
because over the last 10 years
there's always been (low growl), you know
sort of that gritting of the teeth (low growl), you know.
And it was a really good conversation.
- How many is that?
- 2, mind your own business.
- We have a casual flight tomorrow
- Breakfast of champions.
- At four.
- Mr. Long, I heard you're familiar with this house.
- [Mr. Long] (laughs) Many times, let's do it.
- The Celebration is so crazy I decided to get away
from the crowd, we need to get away from the madness.
- Welcome back, Ian.
- All right, thank you.
My new friend from the UK, Ian,
I decided to take him to a craft brewery.
It's kind of an American thing so I thought
I'd kinda treat him to a little Americana, if you will.
(upbeat music)
- Yeah this one sounds good, a Blueberry Smoking Wood.
Smoked imperial porter, with blueberries and maple syrup.
It's gonna be a little, it sounds like breakfast.
- Yeah it does
- Sounds like a good breakfast for Duffy.
- I'll try some of that.
- This one's on me, man, this one's on me.
He's in my country, my treat.
We'll start with the first one.
Start with the first one and here's to another
Star Wars Celebration experience for myself,
and one for you, and it's all about meeting new friends.
- Absolutely.
- Cheers, man.
- [Ian] To friends.
Oh, man.
- [Cris] You don't like that one?
- No, you can have that.
- [Cris] I'm gonna taste that one.
You're gonna keep passing them off to me?
- Dude, that
- The problem is that he doesn't like the beers
and he keeps passing them over to me.
Barely likes the barley one.
Oh, that one is good, man.
- (inaudible)
- Whatever you don't drink, I'll finish off.
Now I'm havin',
2 flights, at least.
(bouncy mysterious music)
- Oh, man.
- (laughs) It's much different than the British beer,
and it's much different than what he knows
as Budweiser and Miller Lite.
You were asking me the difference between,
craft beer and, like, Miller Lite?
- Yeah.
- You just found out the experience,
- Yeah.
- You're probably gonna stick to Miller Lite now?
- I'll stick to Miller Lite and Bud.
- (laughs) You know, 9% beer,
I think he'd be feeling pretty good after,
after one of those.
This is not a typical Celebration for me,
'cause I always stay at the convention center
to take it all in.
I feel a little guilty.
This is more of a typical Celebration for Duffy,
sitting at the bar.
- (laughs)
- Duffy did go all the way to Celebration Europe
in 2007, and he sat at the bar
the entire time, never put one foot
inside of the convention.
But for me, I feel like, I feel like I'm
I wanted to get away from the crowd,
but I feel like I'm missing out a little bit, you know?
Oh, that tastes like marijuana.
Smells the California Skywalker (laughs)
(upbeat electronic music)
- As soon as we get the other interview done,
we're gonna bring you guys in.
We have about 2 minutes tops.
We're gonna hold the line for 2 minutes.
- And then you guys get in
- We'll take care of it.
- Get settled, and we're go.
- We'll take care of it.
- Okay, thanks man.
- [Interviewer] Pass the word let 'em know
- Hey, 2 minutes, we have 2 minutes to get this done.
It's important to do this shoot,
because it solidifies us as an organization
on a national level.
Yeah, we have our local Mandos, but to get
everyone national, that we've picked up
and recruited online to be at the same spot,
will solidify us as a, as a costuming group.
All right, let's go Mandos, Mandolorian Mash-Ups!
- Mash-Ups!
- (cheers)
- Tall ones in back.
- Tall guys in the back.
- Just getting everyone to agree to a certain
spot has been challenging.
- We probably had, I wanna say,
close to 30 Mandalorian Mash-Ups show up.
The fact that we had that many,
and we sort of invaded the Rancor Roxy,
Roxy the Rancor's photo-op space
for about 5 minutes there,
was awesome.
(upbeat electric music)
- Now that we've moved out into the hallway,
fans started taking pictures of us.
And it was beautiful.
It was absolutely worth it.
(upbeat electronic music)
- Whoever's in that bathroom,
you have my beer.
- I was outside at the,
out right outside the convention center.
- Uh-huh.
- All these costume people,
- Stormtroopers
- Jawas, Tuscan Raiders,
and they had signs that said Vader is Lord.
- Yes.
- No matter where you go,
when there is a large crowd of people at something,
there's gonna the Jesus freaks who go out,
and they have to have their own spin
on why Jesus is better than what you're doing right now,
and why Jesus will make everything better.
So, the signs weren't at all surprising,
but the response sign was the best.
- (crowd cheering)
- People went out and they created a response.
- The guys next to us in line,
pulled it up on his Facebook and he was like,
these can't be real, these can't be real.
And he showed it to me, and I was like,
that is brilliant!
I found the Jesus people to be appalling,
there's no need to be worried about Darth Vader
taking over Jesus' domain.
I can't believe they don't have somethin' better to do,
than to protest a Star Wars convention.
It's ridiculous.
And I was like, this is clearly real,
this is clearly people outside sick of the Jesus people
protesting Star Wars.
I mean, go protest some weapons manufacturer or something.
- Yeah, yeah, something that's gonna make a real
- Yeah, go, go protest people that make real weapons,
not people that make plastic weapons that are for fun.
- Did the Jesus people say anything or did they run?
- Well, I felt the Jesus people got overrun,
like you could see it on their face, but
- [Nikki] Uh-oh, we're in trouble now.
- [Cris] Yeah, kinda.
- You're right.
Hey, they got signs too,
- (laughs)
- We weren't ready for this.
- (laughs)
- I'm so happy somebody did that.
- Rude people put signs in your face, and
kind people walk past them and don't say anything to you.
- No, I think it was John Lennon that said that
The Beatles were bigger than Jesus.
I think that the Christian group out here on the West Coast
is thinking Star Wars could be as big as that.
And I, I don't think they're,
I don't think they like that.
- Who says that I'm not a Christian,
just because I believe in Star Wars.
- [Beau] Wait, wait, wait.
- I don't understand.
- Here's a comparison that I wanna make,
Christians think they're the good people,
and maybe some of them are.
They're the ones telling everybody there
what's wrong with them.
The Christians are the ones that are,
don't like gay people, don't like black people,
don't like other religions, don't like Muslims.
So who's the good people here?
I mean I'm so sick of, like, people
- [Cris] Yeah.
- [Beau] Pushing their stuff in other people's face.
- Well, it's hypocritical, you know what I'm sayin'?
I always wondered about George Lucas,
and his religious beliefs.
I've been at 8 Celebrations, man,
and they've been all over the United States
and one in Europe.
I've never seen that before.
- Right.
- And I've never seen
- Well, there, there is
- so many scantily clad ladies.
- (Nikki laughs)
- And I think, I think it's because we're in California.
- We're in California, man.
- You know.
- People love nudity and Jesus.
- (Cris laughs)
- It's just which one do you like better?
- We've seen so many Princess Leia slave outfits,
it's, it's pretty astounding.
Like, I get it, that it's a sexy costume,
but, um yeah, there's a lot of 'em.
There's even been a couple of men,
I'm proud of them (laughs)
Lots of skin.
- I know there's a couple of times
I was a little, a little bit, uh, thought it was odd
that there was so much nudity in uh,
with so many kids around.
But, I mean as far as I'm concerned, I like it.
- (laughs)
- But, you know.
- Course you do.
- Yeah, Slave Leia me all day long.
(bouncy music)
- Alright, time to squeeze all this crap in here
for the ride home.
- You really learn how to survive on like 4 hours of sleep.
- [Lisa] Amazing, isn't it? (laughs)
- This guy, he sleeps when he's walking.
It really sucks that he only got to be here for 2 nights.
- I know.
- Well it sucked because I didn't get a
chance to stand in more lines.
- I know how, I know how much you enjoy that.
The look on your face when I asked you
for the arrow for me was,
was quite the stink eye.
- I love standing in line with people,
getting to know them and never seeing them again.
It's awesome.
- (laughs)
Yeah, packing these things is
a very meticulous process.
- No, remember we gotta weigh everything too.
So was it worth the trip and the waiting in lines?
- It's, it's a cheap thrill but I enjoy it.
- (laughs)
- So it's all about the trill for ya, huh?
- It's the thrill of the chase, the hunt.
Well, it was a lotta hard work.
- Since I've been wearing an ironed on shirt every day,
I had to buy,
I, I could not find these and there's no way in Hell,
you think this is gonna fit me?
- [Ian] No.
- [Duffy] No, but your daughter's gonna be able to
wear it soon enough.
- Yeah, soon enough?
She's gonna grow that fast?
And I spent the 40 dollars,
on the John Ratzenberger autograph.
I did burn up a lot of cash,
my wife might be a little,
pissed.
(rewind sound)
(electric music)
I gotta get outta there before
I spend any more money, man.
God, I think I might've spent 300 dollars.
What'd you guys spend, back there?
- [Duffy] I spent about 300 dollars too,
but it was all on beer, like
- (laughs)
- I didn't buy anything I could bring home with me,
I'm gonna leave it all here.
It was right before Ratzenberger,
and we're like, getting ready to go up there,
and I farted and it felt a little wet,
and sure enough, I sharted.
- I thought you mighta like
- (electric beep)
- Your pants in excitement, you know?
Like, oh my God!
I finally get to meet John Ratzenberger.
- Yeah, that's what happens when you
start drinkin' at 9 AM.
- (swiping sound)
- [Cris] I don't know how the hell I'm gonna
fit all this, in this little ass suitcase.
- [Ian] Dude, that's not happening.
- Huh?
- [Ian] That's not happening.
- It's not happening?
- [Ian] No.
- It might, it might.
- And then you see this craziness?
I think it's all gonna fit.
- Oh, thank God.
- Thank God Josh had an old guitar case of mine,
that he brought back for me because I filled it full of
Landspeeders, and figures, and Star Wars-related items.
So, I'm really bummed Celebration's over,
time to go back to reality.
(glass bottles falling into bin)
- We drank a lot.
- We really did have a nice honeymoon.
(electronic music over fireworks exploding)
- There's also beer on my tongue around here,
so line's get lost.
- You know what guys, I've been here all week, right,
I'm missing my wife, I'm missing my Buba.
But I love you guys, I think you're great.
I really do.
I think you're awesome.
- I know, I know, man.
- I will really miss you guys.
- [Nikki] I feel the same.
- We're like a family.
- I'm really, really looking forward to going home,
Even though it was a great week.
I miss my wife, I miss my daughter.
Celebration always sounds like a good idea,
and it's always a good memory after the fact,
but by the time it's over, it's exhausting.
- It's a good beer.
- I always eat after I drink, a lot.
But you, you drink a lot and you don't eat.
- That's why I'm so slim.
(group laughs)
- I only have 2 other Celebrations to
compare this one to.
And right now, I'm thinking this is my best one so far.
This is gonna be my favorite.
The fact that I didn't focus on the convention,
and I focused on the people, the friends,
making new friends, the people that I was stuck
in this house with, and getting to know them,
and it was easy, man.
We were pre-wired to be together.
- [Narrator] Next time on The Real Fans of the Saga.
- Hello.
- So what did you buy?
How much money did you spend?
(swiping sound)
- [Michelle] Hey, did you have fun at your party yesterday?
- I did, thanks so much,
again, for throwing it for me.
I'm a little depressed that I'm 40.
Thanks again for the party and the Legos.
- [Michelle] You're welcome.
- You finally got me Legos,
I've been asking for those for years now.
- I know, well you're 40,
so I figured I probably should make you happy.
- Okay, will you believe I have a Wookiee
that can sing in Punjabi?
And now you can too.
- [Beau] This is the kind of thing that
is so much more fun that I have Cora with.
It's a family event to begin with.
The Star Wars parade is her favorite thing,
I have a funny feeling we'll come,
we'll have to come every year.
- Gonna make an attempt to crash the parade.
I wasn't invited to be a part of it,
but I'm gonna sneak in.
- Today I decided to work from home.
That's not the best idea, 'cause my kids are home.
(Nerf gun firing)
- Hey!
- Hey, Dad.
- Hey guys, I'm trying to work, will you stop?
(drum beat)