We had so much fun at the Armageddon Expo in Christchurch, held in April 2023 – and bought some fine additions for our collection. From a Star Wars Loungefly backpack, Director Krennic Pop! Vinyl figure, to getting an autograph from Katy O’Brian and more – we can’t wait for the next event!

Check our our shopping haul video –

First up, we stopped by the Appleby Games booth – they had a few Loungefly mini-backpacks, and I spotted one that has been on my wish list for a while. This classic Stormtrooper design has Rebel heroes pictured on a lenticular insert in the helmet lenses, very cool! I had seen it starting to show up on sale from a few places, so I asked the price – half off! So now I have a new Loungefly mini-backpack for my collection.

Also at the Appleby Games booth, we spotted this Funko Pop! Vinyl figure of Director Krennic from Rogue One. We don’t have many Pop! Vinyl figures from Rogue One, so we’re definitely keen to fill that gap in our collection, so this figure was a great find.

A big highlight from this Armageddon Expo was a Star Wars guest – Katy O’Brian from The Mandalorian! She plays Communications Officer Elia Kane in season 2 and 3, serving Moff Gideon. We attended her panel, and of course had to get her autograph. She was so lovely, and had some really fun stories from her time on the Star Wars set.

I always check out the range of Star Wars pins at the Kyber Forge booth, and of course I found two more to add to my collection – a fun ‘Fly Casual’ design and an ‘elegant weapon’ lightsaber pin.

Keeping up with our Armageddon Expo tradition, we stopped by the Sweet booth. Because Star Wars Day was coming up, we decided to treat ourselves – to a huge Mandalorian lollipop!

Lastly, a fun surprise from my daughter – a Mother’s Day hard candy assortment also from Sweet. I love all the little designs on the candy. I’ll be saving this to enjoy on the day, but it was a lovely gift to round out the weekend.

So a slightly smaller haul in terms of the number of items we brought home compared to previous events, but it’s been a while since I’ve bought a Loungefly bag at an Armageddon Expo. The mini-backpack is definitely the biggest single item I’ve bought at the event for a while, but it was such a good deal I wasn’t going to leave that one behind, even if I had to carry it around all day as well as all my usual shopping bags. A fabulous weekend as usual, and we can’t wait for the next Armageddon!

May the Force be with you!

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We always have a great time at each Armageddon Expo event, and come home with a fun array of Star Wars finds to add to our collection. We flew down to Armageddon Wellington this past weekend, and while we couldn’t fit too much shopping into our carry-on luggage, we still managed to find some fun and unique items to bring home.

Check our our shopping haul video –

First up, this adorable Star Wars print from the Artist Alley. This IG-11 artwork is by Eeden Artworks – we always love finding new Star Wars art, especially when it features one of our favourite characters!

Of course we had to follow our Armageddon tradition and pick up a few more Funko Pop! Vinyl figures for our collection. We found these two at the PopStop booth – Darth Vader from Return Of The Jedi, and Chewacca with Porg from The Last Jedi.

We love checking out all the fantastic Star Wars items at Cameron Percy Antiques – at this convention, we spotted The Black Series Gaming Greats Zaalbar figure from Knights Of The Old Republic, so that was a must-have.

During our travels home from Celebration Europe earlier this month, my Star Wars luggage tag got ripped off my suitcase somewhere along the journey, so I wanted to replace it. I spotted this Clone Wars Anakin and Obi-Wan luggage tag also at Cameron Percy Antiques, and it was a fun little find to replace my lost tag.

Keeping up with another of our Armageddon Expo traditions, we stopped by the Sweet Rock Candy Artists booth to pick up some sweet treats for our days at the convention. This was the only bag that made it home – the rest of it was enjoyed at the event!

Kyber Forge always has a cool array of lightsabers available at their booth, but they also have smaller items like pins. These two Star Wars logo pins caught my eye – the Rebel Alliance symbol and the Jedi Order symbol, perfect for my Star Wars pin collection.

Lastly, I finally adopted an adorable little dragon from Turtle Creations. Their booth has a huge range of cute 3D printed dragons in varying styles, colours, and sizes. I knew it was inevitable that I would get one, it was just a matter of which one to choose? Well, it turns out this was the Armageddon where one little silvery blue dragon caught my eye, and after holding it for a few minutes, I knew I had found the one. Now I just need to name it!

So there you have it, our fun little shopping haul from Armageddon Expo Wellington April 2023. I was really delighted at the great range of booths this year, with some fun finds – as well as classic favourites like Pop! Vinyl figures and candy! I had so much fun at this convention, and I can’t wait for the next event.

May the Force be with you!

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One of my Star Wars Celebration Chicago highlights was being able to attend the SWTOR Chicago Cantina event.

This year the cantina was held in a hotel that was connected to the convention centre, so it was an easy walk (and a short taxi ride back to my own hotel afterwards). I unfortunately missed the previous Celebration Orlando cantina event in 2017, so I was determined not to miss this one. I got there nice and early, and it was fun to chat with other SWTOR players in line and check out the awesome costumes fans had made.

On top of the exciting presentation from Bioware staff, attendees were given two tokens – one for a free drink, and one for a swag bag. Add in the great assortment of free food and snacks available, and it was a fantastic way for Bioware to say thank you to the loyal fans who attended.

First off, the swag bag itself. A simple item some may have just been thrown away by some, but I kept mine. I am excited to find any official SWTOR merchandise, and while this isn’t as exciting as the items it contained, I was happy to see that the swag bag was printed rather than plain. Just a little extra touch that Bioware didn’t have to do, and I appreciate that. The bag measures approximately 33.3cm x 22.5cm.

On to the swag bag contents – first up, a full colour print of the new SWTOR in-game loading screen. Each new game expansion features unique loading screen artwork – you see it every time you enter the game, so it’s really memorable for fans. This print showcases the new Ossus/Dantooine story line, with Darth Malgus right in the center with the Jedi and Sith factions on either side. This print measures approximately 21.5cm by 12.5cm.

As well as the print, the swag bag also included a poster. This poster features original artwork of two of the central characters in the current game story line – Darth Malgus and Jedi Knight Tau Idair. I love collecting Star Wars posters, and I was lucky enough to snag a full size SWTOR poster from a local store when the game first launched – but I always wanted more SWTOR artwork for my walls, and now I do! This poster measures approximately 43cm by 28cm.

My personal favourite item from the swag bag was the free t-shirt. In the past I have hunted down SWTOR promotional t-shirts on eBay, but now I finally have a free one of my very own. They had lots of stock available – it was so great to able to choose my size. Honestly, I wish a Star Wars apparel brand would make SWTOR t-shirts for fans to buy, I need more!

The unisex t-shirt features the classic SWTOR Galactic Republic and Sith Empire split logo symbol printed in blue and red on the front, while the back features the SWTOR Onslaught expansion logo in white, and the left sleeve features the Bioware logo.

Last but not least – SWTOR pins! The swag bag contained not one, but three enamel pins. The first features the classic black and yellow version of the SWTOR split faction logo, while the other two feature the lightsabers of Darth Malgus and newcomer Jedi Knight Tau Idair.

I also stopped by the SWTOR fan community tables at Celebration Chicago – it was great to see that these booths were always busy with fans and costumers hanging out. Of course I also grabbed some of the free fan-made swag available to add to our SWTOR collection. I love the pins and postcards, and I entered the giveaway – I even won a free in-game item!

It made me so happy to see a great SWTOR presence at Celebration Chicago this year – from fan tables, to costumes, swag and of course the cantina event. SWTOR is a big part of my Star Wars fandom, and I love to celebrate it with others.

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In 2008 the annual ‘Balloons Over Waikato’ event featured the famous Darth Vader Helmet balloon from Belgium. Anaria and I were among a number of members of the New Zealand 501st Legion who attended in an official capacity to support the event. Memorabilia from that event included this NZ/Waikato-specific metal commemorative pin.

You can read more about the gigantic (26m tall) Darth Vader balloon at their website.

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