SDCC 2019: Lucasfilm’s Star Wars Pavilion

The San Diego Comic-Con exhibit hall floor is a gigantic space, spanning Halls A through G of the convention center facility. (For context, the notorious Hall H, which hosts the biggest panels and presentations of the convention, has the capacity to provide seating for 6,500 people at one time.) A multitude of smaller booths line the many aisles, from artists’ alley and comic book shops to memorabilia vendors and small publishers. Major corporations make their mark with larger footprints, including Marvel, Dark Horse, Image, DC and Warner Brothers, Lego, Mattel, Sideshow, Netflix, and more. This year Lucasfilm’s Star Wars booth was literally front and center in the exhibit hall, and it lived up to that placement.

The centerpiece of the Star Wars pavilion was a display of movie costumes from the troopers of the Imperial and First Order military. Spanning the entire width of the pavilion, the display included the Scout Trooper, traditional Stormtrooper, and TIE Pilot from the Original Trilogy; the Deathtrooper and Shoretrooper from Rogue One; and Captain Phasma, TIE Pilot, and Stormtrooper from the First Order. In the middle stood the newly revealed Sith Trooper from Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, a gleaming red in stark contrast to the other armor. At intermittent intervals during the day, two costumed Sith Troopers would appear on the floor in front of the display, interacting with attendees and posing for pictures. A large video screen was built above the costume display, running on a loop a short video about the history of Star Wars troopers with commentary on the designs from J.J. Abrams, Doug Chiang, and Dave Filoni, as well as Captain Phasma’s Gwendoline Christie.

Behind the massive display, the pavilion housed smaller booths for many of the Star Wars licensees displaying and selling their products at the convention. One corner of the pavilion highlighted Topps, including both digital and physical trading cards, while another featured Hallmark and its ornaments and related Star Wars products. An extended space along the back of the booth was devoted to Star Wars books, including the adult novels from Del Rey as well as the young adult and children’s books from Disney Press. Wristbands for the convention exclusive edition of Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn: Treason went quickly each morning; the exclusive edition cover of E.K. Johnston’s Queen’s Shadow also was available at SDCC. In addition to a separate booth for non-Star Wars products, Her Universe had a space within the Lucasfilm pavilion to sell its Star Wars line and the Ahsoka Tano ring from RockLove. Other vendors included Stance, TOMS, and Heroes & Villains with their new products discussed at the Fashion Collaborations panel on Friday. Spanish company Lladró displayed one of its incredible Queen Amidala porcelain figurines, a limited edition of 1000 priced at nearly $4,000 and available for preorder shortly after the convention ended.

Although Star Wars had a smaller presence at SDCC than in years past, with no major panels for the feature films, Disney+ series, or animation, the Lucasfilm pavilion demonstrated that Star Wars remains a prominent brand in pop culture. And the lines at the vendors in the pavilion showed that fan interest remains strong, at least among the segment of the fandom attending a major convention like Comic-Con.

For a closer look at everything in the Lucasfilm Pavillion check out Skywalking Through Neverland’s video below.

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