Last month SARLACC (Seattle Area Lucasfilm Artifact Collector Club) celebrated their 20th Anniversary. To celebrate the occasion, the collecting club hosted a three-day event which consisted of toys runs, trivia contests and the viewing of some of the most amazing Star Wars collections in the area. Now Seattle is becoming no stranger to epic Star Wars events as these series of parties was held one-year after ICE Seattle event which brought collectors from all over the world to Seattle for a five-day collector event. To read more about ICE, the International Collectors Event, click on the pic.
“S20”, as members of SARLACC affectionately referred to September’s anniversary event, began on a Friday with a party hosted at the home of Galaxy of Toys Podcast’s host Jason Lutrull. Lutrull’s collection consists of a spectacular display of both vintage and modern Star Wars action figures and other Star Wars collectibles. A room dedicated to just vintage collectibles and another with nearly every modern action figures and 12” figure released since ’95 was packed with collectors all night long. A corner populated by an Atari 2600 was mostly manned by Tom Berges of IGrewUpStarWars.com who challenged all who dared to stroll by like, Criz Bee from Jedibusiness.com.
The night’s festivities led to a Jeopardy-like Star Wars trivia game hosted by our own Jake Stevens. “The SARLACC Inquisitor” ended after three competitive rounds and found podcast hosts Ryan Beise (Star War: Collecting Cosmos) and Matt Fox’s (This Week in Star Wars) team coming in a close second winning “The Lonely Lobot” trophy. The winning team was led by the highly knowledgeable author and collector Gus Lopez who walked away with “The Aquatic Ackbar” trophy.
The next morning began with an epic toy run around the Puget Sound. A rendezvous at the famous Toy Stable in Spanaway was on the must-see-list. From there collectors had to choose which attraction to see next. Some chose, like visiting collecting couple Arnie and Marjorie Carvalho from Star Wars Action News, to make the trip to Aberdeen, Washington to see the Sucher and Sons Star Wars Shop.
To hear their thoughts about their experience make sure to listen to Episode 433 “Collecting Nirvana in Aberdeen”.
Others chose to visit SARLACC member Mark Schroeder’s home which features an incredible vintage carded collection.
The day culminated at the Bobacabana with a deck-top BBQ on a beautiful summer Seattle evening where Gus Lopez gave tours of his world-famous prop and vintage prototype collection throughout the night.
The next morning a small group returned to Lopez’s home for breakfast and a bit of Saturday morning cartoons featuring the classic Droids series.
Next many attendees of the event traveled to view the collection of Ryan Beise. His collection is impressive as a large part of it is themed by characters from the Saga.
The final party of the weekend was held at “The Empire Strikes Boch”. The collection of Lauren Boch is quite an experience to be had. Figures of high rarity are causally positioned throughout the house-wide collection and as Amy Sjoberg of Nerdventions has stated, Boch’s collection is a display where one can feel and see a true love for Star Wars collecting.
The event was a true celebration of the collecting club, one that represented some of the best of the Seattle area and put many of the finest collections in the region on display for many to enjoy. SARLACC is looking forward to another 20 years of friendships, collections and new Star Wars media. And of course with most events associated with SARLACC, there was a little bit of swag.
You can hear more about the event and what else the cast of Galaxy of Toys Podcast has been up to during their late summer hiatus by listening to Episode 32: The Return of Criz B!
Until next time,
