Brisbane Supa Nova 2017

With 81 troopers and support crew and 19 GA kids this was the largest contingent the 501st Legion, Rebel Legion, Mando Mercs and Galactic Academy has ever sent to Brisbane Supanova. With 21m of wall space and a large open area in front of us, we had plenty of room. We appeared on the Supanova map for the first time, as the "Star Wars Fan Zone". We were in a great position, and none of the throng of people lining up for Stan Lee photos could miss us. The props were: - Docking Bay 94 with the Eweb and Gonk. - Falcon Interior with Chewbacca mannequin and R2D2. - Camp Endor - Speeder with smoke machine and scout mannequin. - Tatooine with Gonk - Wanted Poster. The Galactic Academy parents built a special forest scene called "Camp Endor". It perfectly suited the kids sitting around the campfire complete the helmet drums and the fantastic hand made Ewoks. Thanks to Cueloopz, Tygress, Cyclops, Mammmsith, Iceheart, Sticky, Redpaint and Dark Dora for the many hours putting that scene together. It was a huge hit with the public. Thanks also to Cueloopz and Payney for the extra effort building the scout mannequin and dressing the Chewie mannequin. This Nova we had a last minute change in charity, when we learned GA Cadet Eliza Tape qualified for a Smart Pup. BB8 puppeteer Brian Herring joined us several times over the weekend. He had a great photo with the GA, he signed 3 photos to add to the raffle, joined us for the mixer and came back on Sunday to draw the raffle and join us for a group photo. All incredibly generous of him and we are grateful for his support. Thanks special guest Nick Joseph for joining us. Nick played the medal bearer in A New Hope. He was very generous with his time and very supportive. He also appeared in some Doctor Who episodes, and it was very kind of him to sign the Tardis to thank them for their support. Thanks Cueloopz and Tygress for organising Nick's visit. Thanks to Studio 49 and Payney for putting together a great panel Astromech Droids and Props. They were on immediately after Brian Herring, so they had a warmed up and enthusiastic audience. The feedback from the panel was great, including the C3PO cameo. Thanks to Peter McInally for donating the light saber raffle prize and Badsy for the Darth Vader figure. The raffle charity was the Childhood Kidney Support Network, an amazing group of volunteers who have been supporting Redback events all year. Thanks to the bump in and bump out crews, the troopers, wranglers, spruikers, raffle sellers, coin counters. Thanks to Payney, Cueloopz, Cyclops and Rubber for enduring the long queue to get vehicles to the loading dock. Thanks to our assistant GEMs Flashheart and Squid. They have been with us for months going through all the twists and turns involved in organising such a large event. These two are amazing people and they will do a great job GEMing Supanovas next year. Last but not least is my number one 2IC Dark Dora. Stacey has been tireless in her support and has done an enormous amount of work in the weeks leading up to the event. Stacey booked the mixer two months ago, but the Fox gave away our tables, splitting the mixer in two. Nonetheless we forged ahead despite the split and toasted the Empire. Stacey's performance over the weekend would not be a surprise to anyone. If she wasn't bouncing around in her jawa on the stands, she was out the front spruiking for Eliza. She encouraged and supported the GA and RL who made great contributions this year. She just simply did not stop working the whole weekend. Again, I could not have done it without you honey thank you.