Recently, I was contacted by Lucasfilm because LucasArts (the gaming division) wanted a C-3PO suit for their Activision presentation in Australia. Well, all 4 of the existing suits are on display at various museums worldwide and weren't available. Mary Franklin contacted me and introduced me to Julio Torres, producer at LucasArts, but my suit was in the shop getting chromed and wouldn't be available in time (Coincidentally, the same shop in Los Angeles that chromed the original C-3PO's). Julio persuaded the shop to get it done faster, then LFL paid for the chroming of my suit as well as everything else! With that out of the way, I got my passport and on Thursday 7/27/06 flew to San Francisco to meet at the Lucasfilm offices where my now-chromed Threepio was waiting to be assembled.

Julio set up a nice office for me to use and I went to work asembling, dremeling, drilling, soldering and gluing. All the while I tried to silently contain my excitement that I was actually at Lucasfilm, building C-3PO! When I was done, we got him all packed up for the long flight. Just as we were taping up the box, someone popped in and said, hey, the ILM R2 is upstairs, you should put it on and walk over to get some photos."

To quote Vader, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Unfortunately we were out of time and needed to head to the airport. The chroming turned out fantastic. I kept a journal so watch for that in an issue of Bantha Tracks in the near future. For now, I met some awesome folks, got a big bag of goodies, and best of all, a real, golden Threepio of my own.

When I was done, we flew to New Zealand and on to Sydney where I stayed on the 24th floor in the Shangri La hotel overlooking the harbor and the famous opera house. We had some rehearsals and Threepio appeared as "the special guest" for 2 different presentations. My appearance and gestures, combined with internal servo sound effects and a pre-recorded Threepio voiceover gave the illusion C-3PO was actually speaking and giving the presentation. It was awesome!

Before traveling to Australia, I tried to contact the Terror Australis Garrison (TAG) to try to arrange getting together, but I didn’t have my forum name/password right so I thought I’d miss seeing them.

Unbeknownst to me, Activision had called on the TAG to make an appearance at the after-event party. They had Boba Fett, a snowtrooper, stormtrooper, Biker Scout and Tie pilot. When I got there, I was thrilled to see them after all and they looked fantastic. The quality of their outfits were excellent. I approached the Fett and said, “Hey Boba, I’m Chris Bartlett.” Fett’s in-character response appeared to be a characteristically,

“Oh?...And your point is...?”

Then I tried my 501st number, “TK409?” and suddenly he recognized me. It was a great feeling to be so far around the world and be able to give my TK-number and suddenly make a connection with a fellow 501st brother. We talked about Fett stuff and the other troopers told me how my site had been a help to them as they researched their costumes. Stuff like that is always very nice to hear.

Joel (unsure of his last name), the Activision event producer is a huge Star Wars fan and is the one who contacted Percy and the TAG. He didn’t know I was 501st at the time and he began telling me how impressed he was with their immediate willingness to appear at his event for LucasArts, the distance they traveled and the great quality of their costumes. They were a huge hit and posed for many photos. The crowd loved them, and I was proud that although I couldn’t be in costume, I knew the 501st was represented with an excellent quality garrison.

One video shows when I was awaiting my entrance to the second, larger presentation. Yes, that's the kitchen of the hotel, just outside the Grand Ballroom. You should have seen the staff with Threepio standing there. It was a combination of “what the?” and “Hey, a robot!”

During the first and smaller of the 2 presentations they had me enter at such a distance that I had to get to the stage as fast as possible while the voice track was playing. I must've looked like I was in pain - but in a real hurry. This suit is definitely not built for speed. Also, maneuvering thru the staggered tables in a hurry was a nightmare. I very nearly clocked a guy in the head with my pointy fiberglass elbow - luckily he ducked.

Did I mention the photos of me building 3po are actually at Lucasfilm offices at The Presidio?

This was a surreal and unbelievable experience. LucasArts producer Julio Torres is an awesome guy - you couldn't find a nicer person to work with. I’m looking forward to roaming around with R2Builder Chris Lee and his fully functional R2 at this year’s DragonCon. I'll be wearing Threepio at Star Wars Celebration 4 in San Diego as well.

One final detail. The folks at Lucasfilm told me, "Thank you so much for helping us out with this, we've heard nothing but great things about your appearance." They also said, "This is the beginning of a great and mutually beneficial relationship."

Woohoo!

- Chris