The Washington DC Area Star Wars Collecting Club (DCSWCC) is pleased to announce exciting activities and exclusives for Star Wars Celebration 5.  All activities are free with your paid admission to Celebration 5 – just stop by the DCSWCC booth #1421 in the main Exhibit Hall.

Trench Run Mini Golf will challenge participants to send a golf ball “proton torpedo” into the thermal exhaust port, dodging TIE fighters along the way.  Sinking a hole-in-one will earn you a prize such as one of five unique pieces of the officially licensed Celebration 5 Collector’s Club Patch (four other clubs will be distributing other pieces elsewhere at Celebration). 

DCSWCC’s unique Wampa Cave Photo Prop puts the participant’s face in place of Luke’s – hanging upside down after being captured by the wampa!  To create the effect, you can try taking the picture with your camera upside-down, or (much more easily) just flip the photo after you get home. 

Free give-aways for the weekend include: four different pin-back badges featuring artwork used in our four charity cloisonné lapel pins (one design per day).  A set of four large stickers in the style of General Mills’ 1978 breakfast cereal promotion, but with imagery from The Empire Strikes Back in honor of its 30^th anniversary (one design per day).  Stop by our booth to see what other surprises we have in store! 

In addition, we will be selling our 2008 and 2010 bi-annual charity lapel pins.  These pins are high-quality cloisonné pins, officially licensed by Lucasfilm.  The 2008 pin features animated Boba Fett, while the 2010 pin features Luke on his tauntaun.  All proceeds benefit the Aluminum Cans for Burned Children Program of Fairfax County VA, and the Believe in Tomorrow foundation in Baltimore MD. 

The Washington DC Metro Area Star Wars Collecting Club (DCSWCC) is proud to announce our fourth bi-annual charity lapel pin sale. The 2010 pin features Luke on his tauntaun with our signature Washington Monument in the background, in honor of the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back. Fourth in DCSWCC’s series of high-quality cloisonné lapel pins, officially sanctioned by Lucasfilm Ltd., each pin is individually stamped and numbered on the back. Only 1000 will ever be made.

To order your tauntaun pin, visit http://store.dcswcc.org today!

DCSWCC has a preview of the upcoming 2010 Hallmark Star Wars ornaments. Click the link below for the full story.

2010 Hallmark Ornaments

DCSWCC is proud to announce its new corps of officers.  Elections were held in November and these officers were elected to a two-year term starting January 2010:

Martin Thurn (re-elected as President) is a charter member of DCSWCC and previously served as its Administrator.  Outside of the club, Martin is the webmaster for The Star Wars Collector’s Bible (http://www.sandcrawler.com/SWB) and in the 1990’s he was the publisher of The Star Wars Collector magazine. 

Frank Klukosky (re-elected as Vice President / Administrator) is a charter member of DCSWCC and producer of the documentary Star Wars Cribs.  Frank is an intimate expert on Mara Jade – and her collectibles. 

Bob Martinazzi (re-elected as Treasurer) is a charter member of DCSWCC and a die-hard Luke Jedi focus collector, as showcased on http://www.LukeJedi.INFO and in the premier episode of Star Wars Cribs. 

Jeff Schock (new Maryland Regional Director) joined DCSWCC in 2005.  Jeff collects a wide variety of items, with a particular fondness for posters, advertising art, and anything stormtrooper-related. 

Jonathan McElwain (new Virginia Regional Director) joined DCSWCC in 2006. A long time fan and collector, Jonathan’s collection is focused on worldwide Star Wars food promotions, both vintage and modern.

The DC Metro Area Star Wars Collecting Club (DCSWCC) held their 6th Annual Summer/Fall Social on Saturday, September 26th in Poolesville, MD.  Members traveled from Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and all around Maryland to take part in this event.  Upon their arrival, members received a goodie bag filled with random Star Wars paraphernalia, including an “I Love Star Wars” car magnet from the club president, Martin Thurn; the yearly patch (this time featuring a toasted Greedo and the slogan “DCSWCC: Where Han always shoots first”); a Boba Fett pin and patch donated by the group's founder and original president Mike Kurtz; the next DCSWCC trading card; and much more!  

Even though the sun was not shining as brightly as usual, members and their families enjoyed a cook-out of delicious hamburgers and hot dogs, grilled up by our master chef Jay Jorgensen, along with a smorgasbord of other delicious foods, including a Jabba the Hutt cake baked and decorated by Deb Kittle!  Aric Darroe provided the gathering with a soundtrack as he DJ’d songs from every decade and every galaxy.  Luckily, the rain didn’t start to fall until after everyone had filled up on dessert!  As the drizzle turned into a downpour, the DCSWCC crowded onto the front porch of the farmhouse (it’s a good thing we are all such close friends) and took part in a game of “The Price Is Right” for the Star Wars collector, put together by the club’s own Jason Stewart.  Members competed in a variety of pricing games using high-end and rare Star Wars collectibles from the vintage and modern eras.  

After that, everyone pulled out their raffle tickets and listened intently as President Martin pulled raffle numbers from a Darth Vader-head basket.  The raffle this year had some very unique items, such as an autographed photo of Shannon McRandle, known to fans as Mara Jade, and favorite of the club, as well as a variety of items donated by Action Figure Authority, Beyond Comics, Brian’s Toys, CineMasterpieces, FBTB.net, GalacticBinder.com, GalacticHunter.com, KSWCC, Lucasfilm, LukeJedi.info, OfficialPix, Oscar’s Cases, OSWCC, Past Generation Toys, RebelScum.com, and SWDLR Gaming, and club members Denise K., Jonathan McElwain, Tim Walsh, Mike Kurtz, and Jason Stewart.  Club photographer Frank Klukosky snapped photos of each member accepting their prize.