Celebration Japan 2025 Collecting Track Panel Breakdown

Steve writes:

 For those attending Celebration Japan (and for future posterity!), here's a handy summary of the always incredible Collecting Track panels and giveaways (more details on those here).

GIVEAWAYS

SCHEDULE

FRIDAY APRIL 18

9:30am - 10:30am
Collectors Social

11:00am - 12:00pm
The PBP First Shots Find
Jordi Gasull
When The Empire Strikes Back was released in Spanish movie theaters on October 3, 1980, kids still weren’t able to get their hands on action figures from their favorite saga. They had to wait a few more months until May 1981 when the Spanish firm PBP began distributing the first figures in Spain. Luckily for collectors, one of the technicians involved in the toy line saved “first shots” and final product samples that were given to him by PBP in recognition for his work. We will review the history of the PBP Star Wars toys and this amazing find, covering previously unknown figures and the transition process in the manufacturing of these toys.

12:30pm - 1:30pm
Star Wars Coins & Medallions
Mark Salotti, Will Grief, Gus Lopez
As a global phenomenon, Star Wars has been immortalized in coins and medallions all around the world - from the familiar Power Of The Force Coins that accompanied Kenner's Vintage Action Figures, through to the lesser-known Japanese Toho medallions and Kotobukiya ArtFX coins. Mark, Will & Gus will present a showcase of Star Wars coins from around the world through the last four decades.

2:00pm - 3:00pm
Very origin of Japanese Collectibles 1978
Eimei Takeda, Takeo Yuda (STARCOTT), MC GEE Dylan Patrick
Focused on the 1978 Japanese merchandising with truly rare collectibles.

3:30pm - 4:30pm
How the Star Wars Collecting Age Began
James Swearingen, Kevin Liell
While still in production of Star Wars - A New Hope George Lucas and Twentieth Century-Fox were seeking a toy partner for their licensing efforts. After being turned away by many of the larger toy manufacturers they pitched the movie to Kenner Toys, a middle tier company at Toy Fair in February 1977. Rather than rejecting the license because it was a science fiction 'movie' opening in just a few months the representatives from Kenner agreed to take a look. Waiting in Cincinnati was a designer that was primed to receive the license. Jim Swearingen was that designer. He was the first person at Kenner to read the screenplay and look through the accompanying book of photos from the completed live shooting.

5:00pm - 6:00pm
Japanese Vintage Toy Oddities
Shuichi Kimura
This is an interesting dig into the history of Star Wars toys & the origins of secretly produced Japanese vintage bootlegs.

SATURDAY APRIL 19

9:30am - 10:30am
Collectors Trading Event

11:00am - 12:00pm
Homemade Star Wars Crafts: Tips and Tricks
Matthew Mulinaro, Amber Mulinaro, Elaine Grief, Earl Bergquist, Amy Sjoberg, Anne Jenkins
Among the overwhelming choices of factory-made Star Wars collectibles, the hand crafted gift stands out. Small batches of items can be made, customized to a specific event, group, or individual. Not only do these items show a level of craftsmanship not often seen among mass-produced items, but they can be produced at a fraction of the cost. This panel will demonstrate the types of items that are possible to produce at home and on a budget, as well as how to create some of them. You don’t have to be an accomplished artist or professional designer. All that you need is a little time, a few common materials, and the desire to create something unique.

12:30pm - 1:30pm
The Colorful World of Vintage Keshi Gomu (Rubber Erasers)
John Hallam, Andy Takara, Duncan Jenkins, Andy Loney
When Star Wars came out in Japan in 1978, one of the core toy types was keshi gomu (rubber erasers). Because of their low cost, every family could afford them. And, their small size made them uniquely suited for Japan’s small homes. Keshi were made by well known toy companies including Takara and Maruka. They also appeared in Morinaga’s candy premium line. And, keshi were made in a spectacular variety of sculpts and colors by a range of bootleg operations. Despite their popularity, keshi remain one of the least documented areas of vintage Star Wars collecting. Over the decades, our panel of experts has painstakingly pieced together much of this collecting puzzle. We are ready to share our knowledge with the Star Wars collecting community for the first time. Panelists will provide photos that break down every vintage Japanese keshi line, both licensed and unlicensed. We will finish with a brief look at modern keshi, showing how keshi collecting carries on after nearly half a century.

2:00pm - 3:00pm
GET!! Star Wars Bottle Caps
Paipu (Takaya Yoshino)
I would like to look back on that "hot" summer when I drank cola with you again. Introducing STAR WARS × PEPSI's amazing campaign in Japan.

3:30pm - 4:30pm
Galactic Toy Story
Yuji Ueda, David Santana
The panel explores why Stormtroopers are loved in Japan, featuring passionate fans and rare merchandise. It highlights a local cafe with the country's only permanent Stormtrooper exhibit, with monthly cosplay events, and a Stormtrooper-themed Barbie outfit. Additionally, it includes two exclusive trailers, one featuring Brian Muir.

5:00pm - 6:00pm
Vintage Japanese Diecast Delights
Andrew Norton, Peter Davis, Jason Smith
Join us for a retrospective look at all things Japanese and diecast. Andy, Jason and Pete take a look at the wonderful world of Japanese diecast Star Wars toys from the 1970s and 1980s. We explore Kenner’s licensing of the Star Wars brand to Takara, and their Japanese range of diecast ships and key packaging changes; find out which toy advert changed colour just for the Japanese market and which US Kenner exclusive could be found as a Japanese bootleg. We also review Takara’s exclusive range of diecast and plastic rocket firing toys, and whether The Rise of Skywalker really was just an excuse to pay homage to Takara’s diecast C3PO. We discuss Takara’s Zetca range of finely detailed Space Alloy models, which would not look out of place in a 21st Century toy shop, and also take a look at Takara’s line of diecast pin badges and packaging. Takara weren’t the only player in town and we’ll also take a look through Tsukuda’s finely detailed metal model kits.

SUNDAY APRIL 20

10:30am - 11:30am
I'm your father - Vintage Star Wars toys vs. Lego Star Wars
Mattias Rendahl, Elliot Rendahl
Join long-time Swedish collector and collectible book author Mattias Rendahl, along with his son Elliot, as they discuss their journey of collecting Star Wars toys together. Hear how it all began and what it’s like to share a hobby and passion across generations. Most importantly, they’ll dive into an epic battle, comparing vintage Star Wars toys with LEGO Star Wars items, including some rare Japanese pieces from both categories. Which line had the best ship, figure, gift-with-purchase, exclusive, and more? It’s the old vs. the new generation of Star Wars collectors!

11:45am - 12:45pm
From Collecting to Visual Storytelling – Star Wars Toy Photography
Raymond Montemayor, Susan Damon, Richee Chang, Jax Navarro, Trevor Williams
Toy photography is a rapidly growing hobby and is becoming an art form in its own right. Some collectors get into it initially to share their latest haul, but soon find themselves drawn to the work of accomplished toy photographers and start down a path to taking the hobby more seriously. Panelists include popular toy photographers Trevor Williams (@onesix_shooter), Jax Navarro (@plasticaction), and Richee Chang (@noserain). Moderated by Susan Damon (@bloosusan), the panel will discuss the hobby itself and some of the forms it takes, and then delve into how to take your smartphone 'snapshots' to a higher level with the equipment, techniques, and tricks involved in the art. The panel will close with an audience Q&A.

1:00pm - 2:00pm
Star Wars Around the House
Jonathan McElwain, Duncan Jenkins
It seems that Star Wars really is forever...and it is everywhere! Many fans fill their homes and kitchens with products from a galaxy far far away. In this panel presented by Jonathan McElwain and Duncan Jenkins, you’ll learn about everyday products with a Star Wars twist. This is a fascinating area to collect, with many obscure items. Did you know that there was a Star Wars promotion on bottles of Pine Sol household cleaner? How about Star Wars toilet paper from Germany? Is your collection of vintage Dixie Cups complete? This panel will cover these and many other household and kitchen products.

2:15pm - 3:15pm
Star Wars Fragile Items, Especially Ceramics
senoboo
Of all the Star Wars products, the figures, including Kenner, are the most famous and popular. There are also many things around us that are related to Star Wars. This time, we will focus on pottery that has a connection with Japan.

A Makeover for Luke Skywalker

Jonathan writes:

I’ve previously written about the Coca-Cola campaign of 1978, which coincided with the release of the original Star Wars in Japan. You can find that post here. I’ve made some running changes to the post since it was published to make a few minor corrections and add information about a few aspects of the campaign, so check it out if you are so inclined.

There’s quite a bit of material from this promotion that I am still actively collecting, especially advertising material. As part of that pursuit, I recently picked up a publication called Refreshing Wife, Summer Edition (No. 3), published on 20 June 1978. 

The back cover of this publication features a very early advertisement for the Japanese Star Wars Coca-Cola campaign.

The Refreshing Wife advert predates this one from the pages of the 1978 Weekly Shōnen Magazine issue 27, published on 2 July 1978, by nearly 2 weeks.

The advertisement is similar in composition to the so-called “Blowdry Luke” poster and the tri-fold flyer published by the Kinki bottler. But, there are some notable differences.

The poster and flyer are similar to one another, but the information presented at the bottom differs. The larger scale of the poster allowed for the inclusion of detailed information about the available prizes that wasn’t possible on the smaller flyer.

The composition of the advert is different from that of the poster and the flyer. Rather than showing images of 13 bottle caps, the advert shows only 9 bottle caps, with the Luke Skywalker bottle cap in the 12 o’clock position, rather than the Princess Leia bottle cap. Most of the bottle caps (or crowns) shown on the advert are a subset of those from the poster and the flyer, however there are some differences. The advert includes the Stormtrooper and Star Destroyer bottle caps, which are not included on the poster or the flyer. Additionally, the C-3PO bottle cap on the advert is the alternate pose C-3PO bottle cap, not the one that is featured on the poster and the flyer.

The information included at the bottom of the advert is not bottler-specific, which suggests that this publication may have been intended for more widespread (national), rather than regional, distribution. The bottom of the advert is stamped with identifying information for the retailer that presumably distributed this particular copy. The information in the lower left corner of the advert notes that there are “lots of chances to win.” The R2-D2 AM Radio lottery is featured in the lower right corner, without specifics about available quantities that were included on the various bottler-specific versions of the posters.

I can’t blame you if you don’t find the minutiae of these differences all that interesting. But, take a good look at Luke in the comparison below. What I didn’t realize, until I had the advert in hand and was able to examine it in detail, is that the advert features an earlier version of Luke. The artwork was apparently reworked between the printing of the advert and the printing of the poster and flyer, with Luke receiving a complete makeover!

It’s debatable whether or not the reworking of Luke’s face and hair in the poster is an artistic improvement. But, without the reworking, we wouldn’t have the infamous “Blowdry Luke” poster that we all know and love.

The pose and composition of Luke’s body seems to be consistent between the renditions, however, it appears that the poster image was reworked to enhance shadows. There are some differences between the poster and the flyer image, but I chalk those up to differences in printing methods/quality.

While staring at this image of Luke, it dawned on me that, although Luke is obviously holding a lightsaber above his head, he also has a lightsaber strapped to his belt. Long before the Revenge of the Jedi Teaser Poster, the lightsaber that Luke is wielding is red! I suppose his father’s blue lightsaber is the one that is strapped to his belt.

To round out this discussion, here is an image from the Hokkaido Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Ltd. - 25 Year History retrospective book, which was published in 1988:

This image features the early rendition of Luke from the Refreshing Wife advert, but in a composition that is consistent with the poster and the flyer. The retrospective book was published by the Hokkaido bottler long after that fact. It is possible that this image was taken from an archival image that shows an early composition that wasn’t actually produced. So far, I haven’t found or seen images of the poster or other paperwork from the Hokkaido bottler. But, I am intrigued to find out. So, if you’ve got a poster or other paperwork from the Hokkaido bottler, please let us know!