The Force is 40 brings together Largest Gathering of Star Wars Fan Clubs in Malaysia

This year Star Wars celebrated its 40th Anniversary since release of the first movie Episode IV A New Hope in 1977, launching a new era of science fiction adventure in the cinemas. All across the world, fans celebrated 4 decades of the franchise with the largest most prestigious convention taking place at Star Wars Celebration Orlando (SWCO) in April.

UNITED IN THE FORCE!
Photo credit: John Gullidge.

Not to be left out, Malaysian fans got together for our very own Star Wars Day 40th Anniversary Celebration at Sunway Pyramid Shopping Centre from 15 to 21 May 2017. Whilst many Star Wars Day events around the world take place around 4 May, i.e. May the 4th, this celebration date is actually closer to the actual anniversary day of the movie release on 25 May, 1977.

Fans gather at the Blue Concourse for a Lightsaber Flash Mob on Saturday.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.

This fan based event was indeed put together by fans for fans by 4 local fanboys: Julian, Ng, Daniel and James. As the Organising Committee, they worked tirelessly since last year to unite 20 fan communities to celebrate their love for Star Wars with the support of Disney / Lucasfilm, partner brands, and Sunway Pyramid, one of our country's premiere malls. These are the participating fans and communities:

Costuming Fan Groups:

1. 501st Malaysia Garrison

2. Rebel Legion Malaysian Outpost

Costumers from various fan clubs get together for photo ops.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.

Lightsaber Fan Groups:

3. Force Arts Stunt Team (FAST)

4. Fight Saber Malaysia (FSMY)

5. AC Lightsabers

6. Sabertrio

7. Lightsaber League Malaysia (LLM)

Jedi Academy by Force Arts Stunt Team (FAST).
Photo credit: John Gullidge.

Star Wars Inspired Artists:

8. Jon Tham

9. Bone Alfie

10. Michael Chuah

11. Dave Liew

12. Tintoy Chuo

Artists showcase their Star Wars fan art.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.

Star Wars Inspired Fashion Designer:

13. Venus Lim

Geek Pop Culture Community:

14. Outpost Productions

Outpost Productions with the fan clubs at the Blue Concourse.

Toys Collector Fan Groups:

15. Chancellor Peter (SW Vintage Collector)

16. Star Wars Malaysia Fan Club (SWMFC)

17. Lego User Group of Malaysia (LOM)

18. Hot Wheel Collectors Malaysia(HWCM)

19. Star Wars Modellers Malaysia, modelkits (SWMM)

20. Pop Vinyl Malaysia for FunkoCollectors

Franchise brands like Hasbro, LEGO, Uniqlo, etc. at the Orange Concourse.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.

These are the franchise brands represented at the Orange Concourse showcasing and retailing their products throughout the week:

• Hasbro
• LEGO
• Hot Wheels by Mattel
• Funko Pop (by Sheldonet)
• Royal Selangor
• TGV
• Uniqlo
• Toys R Us
• GL Design
• UrbanTee
• Hot Toys
• Gamer's Hideout

Outpost Productions was glad to have been invited as one of the fan communities to represent Geek Pop Culture in Malaysia, of which Star Wars form a huge fan-base. We setup stall over the weekend of 20-21 May in the Blue Concourse showcasing Star Wars fandom at events from other parts of the world, and doing our small bit for charity. We offered a Hasbro AT-ST Walker toy and LEGO Micro-fighter on raffle with ticket sales donated to the Spastic Children's Association of Selangor & Federal Territory (SCASFT), the adopted charity for this event.

Our contribution for charity.

Winners of our charity raffle prizes: Tan Kok Hwee (left) and Andrew Mark Fernandez.

Over 2 days we collected RM211 from the raffle and doubled up this amount to donate RM422 to SCASFT. Collectively RM7,700 of cash donation was collected from activities of the various fan communities on the weekend. Together with other donation channels, over RM11,000 is being donated to SCASFT, excluding proceeds from the fan art paintings now being auctioned (more below).

Children from SCASFT pose with fans.

Here's coverage by the Malaysian Insight over the weekend:

Read-up more at their online article Celebrating 40 years of Star Wars.

One of the participation fan clubs, Star Wars Modellers Malaysia (SWMM) also put together their video of the event showcasing their fantastic scaled models on display as well as other fan activities:

Whilst we are unable to give every participating fan community their due (we were rather occupied ourselves), we do wish to highlight the very awesome Star Wars inspired Fashion Show by Venus Lim of Costurera Haberdashery on Sunday. 

The Blue Concourse packed for the Star Wars inspired Fashion Show on Sunday.

The 25 minute show showcased 14 outfits inspired from Star Wars plus 7 canon costumes in 3 chapters as well as a lightsaber duel performance by Force Arts Stunt Team (FAST). For those who missed out being there in person, here is video of this very unique Fashion Show:

Venus Lim of Costurera Haberdashery with her Star Wars inspired outfits modeled during Fashion Show.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.

Browse these Facebook photo albums for great shots by John Gullidge. His 6 photo albums from the whole week provide the most complete record of the whole event. Thank you John!

John Gullidge Star Wars Day photo albums: Blue Concourse 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and Orange Concourse

Note: Most photos here credit to John Gullidge.

Our Outpost Commander Richard Chua facilitating discussion on the Fan Panels.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.

Outpost also put together a series of Fan Panels for the event offering fans the chance to share their personal stories and passion for Star Wars. Moderated by Outpost Commander Richard Chua, the four panels featured different facets of Star Wars fandom as follows:

Collectors Fan Panel (left to right): Richard (moderator), Oppie (SWMM), Sanjiv (SWMFC) Bryan (PVM), Chancellor Peter, Ng (LOM). Photo credit: John Gullidge.

Collectors Panel:

• Oppie of Star Wars Modellers Malaysia: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a small band of model makers formed a group. It was designed for people with a passion for building and creating. A group where you can grow and share ideas, while creating your own style and form. A genuine passion for creativity and a meeting of the same mindset. The group is designed to help modelers develop and share their skills. A unique place to learn and perfect your craft. For those of you who love model making, whether it be scratch build or working from a kit, this group will provide great deal of input from fellow modelers, who have experience and talent in the art.
• Sanjiv Indran of Star Wars Malaysia Fan Club (SWMFC): The club was established in December 2011 by a group of fanboys who shared a passion for that beloved galaxy far, far away. As a nonprofit organization registered with the Registrar of Societies Malaysia, SWMFC aims to promote the timeless space fantasy saga by uniting fans across the region, as well as organizing Star Wars themed events for its members and the general public. Community service is a hallmark of our society, and we strive to bring the joy and excitement of growing up with Star Wars to the next generation.
• Bryan of Pop Vinyl Malaysia: A group formed to bring collectors of Funko products together, now 1.5 years old and reaching 600 members.
• Peter Lai, a Vintage Star Wars Collector. Better known as “Chancellor Peter” in the International Vintage Star Wars collecting forums and Facebook Vintage Star Wars collecting Groups, he has been a lifelong collector since getting his first STAR WARS figure in the Christmas of 1979 and collected well into the Internet era. Evidently, a completist at heart as he has put on display the full range of Vehicles, Playsets, Creatures, Display Stands and Collectors Case released by KENNER PRODUCTS from 1977 to 1979, complete in their original STAR WARS packaging.
• Ng of LEGO User Group of Malaysia (LOM): The group was incepted in 2013 by brick enthusiasts and has since become the fastest growing LEGO fan club in Malaysia with over 10,000 online members. LOM's vision is to share the love of LEGO to Malaysians and unite Adult Fans of LEGO. At Star Wars Day, their members have built scenes from Episodes I to VII including Rogue One.

Chancellor Peter's collection of vintage Star Wars toys from 1977-79.

Moderator Richard Chua (far left) with the Saber Masters (left to right): Tintoy Chuo, Alan Cheong, Jason Ngiam, Saber Dad / Vincent Wong. Photo credit: John Gullidge.

Lightsaber Panel:

• Tintoy Chuo of Lightsaber League Malaysia (LLM): LLM is a gathering of like-minded individuals who admire the elegant weapon, from a more civilized age. Lightsaber fans from all over Malaysia to come together to talk, share, participate, and source stunt sabers.
• Alan Cheong of AC Lightsabers (ACL) helps Star Wars fans purchase, modify, customise and upgrade their lightsabers. Alan himself literally hand crafts lightsabers right here in Malaysia and therefore can customise hilts to specific requests for unique designs tailor made for a fan.
• Jason Ngaim of Sabertrio provides high-grade aluminimum hilt illuminated stunt lightsabers for Star Wars fans to duel like the movies. Sabertrio's sabers are made locally as to be much more affordable to Malaysian fans.
• Vincent Wong, more commonly known as Saber Dad in the local lightsaber community, was one of the early adopters of LED saber technology. Armed with almost a decade of saber building knowledge, he does servicing, installations, conversion, and custom builds.

Photo credit: John Gullidge.

Artists Panel (left to right): Richard Chua (moderator), Dave Liew, Bone Alfie, Jon Tham, Michael Chuah, Tintoy Chuo. Photo credit: John Gullidge.

Artists Panel:

• Dave Liew the co-founder of Fearless Ideas & Designs providing art direction while managing an impressive work flow with a tight turnaround for a wide range of clients. He is also a stalwart members of the 501st Legion and won best fan-made Star Wars social poster for the 2011 Japanese Tsunami Relief Effort.

Dave has littered his art piece with Easter eggs for fans.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.

• Bone Alfie is a full-time graffiti artist. With 16 years experience in the field, he does commission art for clients such as Petronas. His personal style tends to be distorted, deformed or monstrous versions of the subject matter.

Bone's distorted art style of a Stormtrooper.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.

• Jon Tham is a graphic designer who infuses manga art into his work, capable of drawing manga style portraits and caricatures, designing anime characters, conducting art classes and, on many occasions, raised funds for charity through his art. He experiments in colour pencil art and produced quite a number of fan art ranging from Star Wars, Batman and Transformers.

Jon's manga-influenced version of Force twins Luke & Leia.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.

• Michael Chuah is a Malaysian comic artist and well known designer. Over the years, he focuses on the development of comic art presentation and its contents, as well as its character and graphic designs. His comic, 《Gengkey》 had a line of vinyl toys and character design collection artbook 《GENGKEY 100 : The Character Guide》. His other notable works are: 《Office Survival》、《KO Campus》、《Monster Chaos》、《Three Hours To Master》、《Horoscope Fever》 and many more. He contributed the Fan Key Art for this event collaterals. Thanks Michael!

Michael's comic edition of Darth Vader.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.

• Tintoy Chuo of Fusion Wayang Kulit. Founded by Tintoy & Take Huat, Fusion Wayang Kulit teams up with Mr.Pak Dain, the 13th accredited Tok Dalang ("Master Puppeteer") of the Kelantan Traditional Malay Shadow Play, to revive this dying traditional culture by merging it with fusion element & enhancing it with various multimedia components.

Tintoy with his art piece of the galaxy's most famous smugglers, Han Solo & Chewbacca. Photo credit: John Gullidge.

Each artist contributed a special Fan Art Drawing for the event to be auctions for charity with proceeds donated to SCASFT. The five pieces are exclusive fan art pieces are now up for silent auction starting from RM1,000 per piece. If interested to bid for them, please call Ms. Kimberley of SCASFT at 6016-225 9886 to submit your bid.

Art pieces (left to right) by Bone Alfie, Michael Chuah and Dave Liew are being auctioned for charity.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.

Our 40th Anniversary Fan Panel (left to right): Richard (moderator), Rafie, Nightress, Julian, Allen.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.

The Force is 40 Fan Panel:

• Rafie is a familar face in the local fan community, being the current President of the Star Wars Malaysia Fan Club (SWMFC). He revels in dabbling in both the Light and Dark Side of the Force, but committing to neither.
• Nightress love for Star Wars comes from watching A New Hope but delved into costuming during the Prequel era. She is a member of the Rebel Legion inspired to recreate screen accurate costumes to support the fan community's charitable causes.
• Julian Kong is the Force behind this Star Wars Day 40th Anniversary Celebration event. Please thank him and his comrades in arms, Ng, James & Daniel, for bringing us together.
• Allen Yap is founder of Cosplay-FUN Malaysia (CFM) with the mission to help Cosplay in Malaysia gain more positive acceptance & exposure as well as present cosplay as a healthy interest / craft for all ages, races and creed. Allen is a Star Wars fan at heart and strives to be a Jedi Master.

THE FORCE IS 40!
Photo credit: John Gullidge.

Thank you again to everyone contributing their time for the passion of Star Wars.

May the Force be with You!

#THEFORCEIS40

Disclaimer: Star Wars and other trademarks are copyright to Lucasfilm and/or Disney, referenced here for fan service announcements without intent to infringe.

Universal Cosplay Convention 2016 Attracts Dangerous Villains (and Some Heroes Too!)

by contributing writer Michelle Chee.

This year’s Universal Cosplay Convention (UCC)  was held once again at The Place, in One City, Subang from March 5th to 6th 2016. This is the second time UCC is being organized and the first time that it lasted for two days straight. UCC actually grew out of the annual Cosplay Ball event, which was a sit down dinner get-together for cosplayers in the Klang Valley. This is the reason why UCC has always incorporated a Cosplay Ball that takes place after the daytime activities.

So much to see and do, where do we even start!

The theme this year was ‘Celebrating Villainy’, and with that we expected a lot of villains to show up, with their more heroic counterparts in tow. To be honest, we were not at all disappointed as the selections of both were pretty impressive.

UCC's layout.

Outpost Productions, which is one of the supporters of UCC, opened a booth this year featuring a selection of new and pre-loved NERF guns for sale, as well as some of its quality costumes, both new and used.  Right in front of the stall, a small obstacle course was set up for visitors to play ‘Eggs on a Spoon’, with a small prize offered for those who successfully completed the challenge.

The outpost booth when all its shy crew members disappeared, except one.

Ye olde obstacle course by Outpost Productions.

The event hall was really spacious with a lot of room for visitors to move about, and there was even an area complete with tables and chairs for cosplayers and their friends to rest and hang out. What was even more comforting was the fact that the rest area was positioned in front of small food stall set up by the One City Hotel staff, offering both light snacks like sandwiches to full meals of fried rice with chicken. 

A musically inclined visitor taking some time out to practice his skill in the rest area.

Can your resist these mouthwatering sandwiches at the makeshift cafeteria?

The event was livened up with the presence of two guest cosplayers from Japan, namely Mr Tatsumi Inui and Ms Kotori, who conducted the Cure Cosplay Collection competition on Day 2. The competition’s aim was to find the best cosplayers from contestants who were given a chance to parade in their costumes and pose for both guest cosplayers, who were also the judges. Both of them also took some time to give comments on the local Malaysian cosplay scene, and offer some words of advice. 

Mr Inui mingling with some fans.

The Cure Cosplay Collection participants, all in a row.

Of course, and event celebrating villainy would not have been complete without selecting the ‘Villain of the year’. Although the preliminary stage was judged in the old fashioned way, the finalist were literally made to battle it out with an actual physical one on one match involving fats suits ( duly provided by us, the happy people at Outpost Productions). The match was fun yet nerve wrecking, as both finalists attempted to knock a plastic water bottle from each others’ heads. The fat suits were a real hit as spectators roared in laughter every time both contestants clashed, since they resembled large mounds of wobbling jelly.

Villain of the year finalists in a ‘Calm before the storm’ moment.

Intense nail biting action worth betting on!

In the end, Danieal Aidid, who was cosplaying the Joker from Batman, emerged victorious and was lifted up in the air by friends and supporters after his win.

Danieal Aidid @ Dee Joke , ‘Villain of the Year’ winner.

The venue saw its fair share of cosplayers, representing a wide variety of genres from western comics and movies, to Japanese anime and games.

Friendly cosers posing away, including a very familiar Sith Lord!

Cosplayer Manni Corbone in her original creation, which looks a little like a Skeksis from The Dark Crystal.

Deadpool joins the party by showing off his ample derrier!

While waiting for the night’s Cosplay Ball to start, visitors were entertained by a variety of fun activities, like a voiceover game, a life sized snakes and ladders game, a dance-off and performances. Some people took the chance to browse around the numerous doujin booths available, and on the upper floor, there was a figurine display by the folks over at the Hobby and Collectible community, as well as the DC Comics Fan Club Asia.

Guys representing DC Comics Fan Club Asia.

DC comics collection on display.

As day turned to night, some of the attendees got ready to attend the annual Cosplay Ball, anticipating a night filled with good food, good friends, good dancing, and even more fun activities! Here’s to another successful UCC, and more to come!

Universal Cosplay Convention 2015

A Brief History

The Cosplay Ball is the brainchild of veteran cosplayer, costume designer, and owner of Costurera Haberdashery (a custom costume design and event management label), Venus Lim. Initially meant to be a private party among friends to usher in the New Year back in 2010, word soon got out amongst the community about how fun it was, and it grew into an open event for cosplayers and public alike. For a nominal fee, attendees are entitled to door gifts,a buffet dinner, activities, lucky draws, and the much anticipated Glow in the Dark Concert. The Glow in The Dark Concert is the highlight and mainstay of Cosplay Ball, and features popular acts from the cosplay scene where everyone sings and dances into the night to welcome in the New Year. The Cosplay Ball has previously been held at Sri Petaling Hotel and Bukit Jalil Golf and Country Club Resort.

UCC

Universal Cosplay Convention 2015 (UCC 2015) is a natural evolution of Cosplay Ball. To cater to the growing interest of the public, it was decided that the Cosplay Ball will be expanded into a full day event. Rebranded as Universal Cosplay Convention (UCC) with the Cosplay Ball as one of the highlights, UCC 2015 will be held on the 24 January 2015 at The Place, One City USJ.

UCC 2015 is a daylong event and is divided into Day and Night segments. The Day event is open to the public and entrance is FREE. It will be held from 10am to 8pm and will feature doujin and merchandise booths, snack stalls, and figurines exhibition. There will also be a cosplay runway and singing competitions, with cash prizes and more up for grabs.

UCC will also be featuring two cosplay workshops; Cosplay makeup workshop will be conducted by Akihiko from Penang, a veteran cosplayer and makeup artist from the North. The propmaking workshop will be conducted by Lyron Aquino, a veteran cosplay from Philippines. Lyron Aquino is one of the international guests that will be featured in this event. Workshop tickets are priced at RM10 each.

The Cosplay Ball is the Night event and highlight of UCC 2015. A ticket only event (Tickets are available at RM65 or buy two tickets for the special price of RM100), Cosplay Ball starts at 6pm to 11.30pm. This will be the fifth iteration for Cosplay Ball and the biggest one yet. There will be a buffet dinner, Prom King and Queen Award, activities, lucky draws and of course the Glow in The Dark Concert.

For the first time ever, this years Glow in The Dark Concert will feature a combination of local and international performers such as renowned lightsaber choreography group FAST, rock band The Crestfall, all girl acapella trio Harmonia ACG, up and coming singer Johan Yusof, stage veteran Huei Chan and a special performance from Venus Lim herself. On the international front, Serene and Sabrina, a popular girl duo from Singapore and Aokikuri, former member of JKT48 of Indonesia will grace attendees with singing and dancing performances.

In addition to One City as a Presenter, UCC2015 is also supported by Platinum Sponsor VBG, Partners Outpost Productions and Boomstick Studios, Activity Partner Knight Connections which will be bringing WIXOSS and Force of Will to visitors, Official Beverage Oishi Green Tea, and Media Partner Animavericks.

Ball tickets RM65 per pax, or RM100 for 2 pax. Free entry to convention during daytime.

How to get Cosplay Ball tickets:
- purchase directly from Costurera Haberdashery, Cheras.
- purchase online and collect during event from 10am to 1pm ONLY.
Email banking receipt, name and contact number to us at: unicoscon@gmail.com
Banking info: CIMB Costurera Haberdashery 8600411036

Here is run-down on the event itinerary:

Location at One City USJ:

Get the latest updates from the official UCC Facebook Page:

www.facebook.com/unicoscon

Facebook Event listing with doujin & market booth registration details:
https://www.facebook.com/events/758053554252465

UCC YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbplSlak9zi_cZm_4QhKZZw

Costurera Haberdashery (C.Hab) Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/theunseenrealm.costura

Outpost Productions will be present at UCC so come visit us at our booth near the stage.

Outpost will be at booth no. 11 (top right) next to UCC counter.

Also check out the line-up of doujin booths:

See you there!