Wondercon 2026 - Day 2

Today was day #2 of Wondercon at the Anaheim Convention Center, in Anaheim, CA.

Walter Martinez brought his waitress droid from Dex's Diner in Attack of the Clones. While it didn't balance like a unicycle, it was still impressive.



Cary and Nicholas Christie came out from the Phoenix area, and brought their cool BB units. BB-8 sez thumbs up!



Droids entertaining folks, as they did all day, every day.



The Bandit!



The booths across from us were unoccupied, so every once in a while some of us would seek sanctuary over there as things got crazy-busy at our booth.



One of the attendees brought their R2 unit modeled after one seen in one of the episodes of Star Wars: Visions. Very creative.



Baby Ewok, enjoying baby-sized droids.



Kaonashi from Spirited Away waved hi to me. (I did wave back.)



Another late-day droid parade, and another group photo at the half-way point.



Finally, at 7:30pm, Michael McMaster, myself, Mike Senna, William Miyamoto and Chris Romines gathered for what was our last scheduled "How to build your own droid" panel. We've been doing this panel for something like 14 years now, and we decided it was time to retire our panel. We may very well do other panels, and other panelists may well do this panel though.



And that was a wrap on day 2. One more day to go.

Wondercon 2026 - Day 1

Today was day 1 at Wondercon 2026 at the Anaheim Convention Center, in Anaheim, CA. I arrived around 8:30am to help with setup. Or, at least take photos of other people helping with setup.



The most important meal of the day.



We were well-provisioned throughout the weekend.



Paul Thompson brought a trash crab! It was like Star Wars Skeleton Crew all over again.



Paul's animatronic Grogu is not impressed with my droid.



Darren Moser is working on a tool droid. It will have real, usable tools at the ready when it is done. Very cool



Matt Hobbs' WALL•E



Chris Lee & Burn•E



I have no idea how this person managed to navigate some of the more narrow aisleways. I didn't see a helper for them either.



Emperor Mouse and Director Krenec Mouse, by Romano and Connie Bassi. The Emperor Mouse was mobile and moved his cane as he "walked."



Lots of R2 units.



Late in the day we did a droid parade around the convention center. Near the half-way point, we paused for a group photo.



Around 7pm we wrapped up the booth at show-close for the day. We cover, and in some cases, lock up the droids for the night, and hope for the best. We've never had a problem leaving the droids overnight in many years of attending Wondercon.



We'll be back at it again tomorrow.

Swapped Out Dome and Sound Automation Switch

The small paddle switch I use to enable and disable the Dome and Sound Automation circuit was starting to die, so it was time to replace it. I had to unscrew it from its location at the bottom-front of the droid so that I could begin disconnecting the five wires that were soldered onto the terminals.



Next, I transferred each wire over, one at a time. I flush-cut the wires from the old switch's terminal, and soldered them to the new one.



All done with the transplant.



Next I needed to screw it back down, where it belongs. It's always tricky to reach way down in there and get the screws to go perfectly through the PVC mounting stick and then into the matching holes in the frame, although it doesn't look that bad in photos.



And the underside.



I have a couple of things I want to do with the feet, so I may be posting again sooner than later.

Saturn Awards - 2026

Tonight R5-D4 and I joined several fellow droid builders and their droids to provide atmosphere for the 2026 Saturn Awards, in Studio City, CA. We were joined by Steven Dodds & B2EMO, Matt Hobbs & Rust-E, William Miyamoto & Chopper, Darren Moser & K2-SO, Michael and Kyle McMaster & R2-D2, and Gordon Tarpley as C-3PO.



I arrived around 1:30pm and checked in with the guys, and then unloaded the car and brought R5 up from the underground parking structure, where he joined the other droids that had already arrived. We wanted to be set up once the guests started arriving around 3pm.



I took an opportunity to check out the guest list, and saw that Ravi Cabot-Conyers was nominated for Best Younger Performer in a Television Series. I got know Ravi and his mom a bit from when I was working in the Droid Department on Skeleton Crew, and we see each other from time to time at conventions.



And sure enough, we got a chance to catch up and take a picture with my droid, so that was nice.



As it got closer to showtime, things got more crowded just outside the ballroom, as I spotted Karl Urban in the distance.



Geena Davis got a picture with K2-SO.



Skeleton Crew show creators Jon Watts and Chris Ford, along with producer Chris Buongiorno happened to enter the door right next to us, so I said hi to them, as I hadn't seen them since the premiere, and we got a picture together, along with William, who helped puppeteer on Skeleton Crew. (Jon was involved in another conversation, so he isn't in the photo.) Thanks to Matt Hobbs for taking the picture.



I also saw Lucasfilm's Dave Filoni and said hi to him, although I didn't bug him for a picture. It turns out that George Lucas and Mark Hamill were also in attendance for a short while, but we didn't get to see them.

Around 6pm people started entering the ballroom for the awards show, and in the meantime we had a pizza dinner.



Kyle played the live stream of the show on his phone, so we got to see when Ravi won the award for his category. Congrats!



The awards show ended somewhere around 10pm, and we obliged a few more pictures.



Vivien Lyra Blair, who portrayed young Princess Leia in Kenobi came by with her mom. Vivien loves the droids.



And finally, Ravi came by, award in hand. Good job!



Around 11pm we wrapped up, and I got home around 12:30am. It was great seeing my buddies and their droids, as well as catching up with a few of the Skeleton Crew peeps. Good times.

KABC-TV Spark of Love Toy Drive - 2025

Today R2 joined members of the 501st and Rebel Legions and the Mandalorian Mercs for KABC-TV's Spark of Love toy drive. We were there for the 3rd shift of the day at the Los Cerritos Center mall.



I arrived around 2pm for our appearance on the news at 3pm, and unloaded.



At 3pm, R2 and the other characters started roaming the closed-off parking lot to greet visitors. Families in the area bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate, and they get to interact and take pictures with the Star Wars characters. During the newscast, there are regular reports from the event that showcase the Star Wars characters and other volunteers, including companies that donate a lot of toys, and local fire and police department representatives.



A person in attendance managed to spill coffee on R2. It made for a different smell on the drive home.



Santa Claws was there.



KABC reporter Danny Romero spoke with various organizations that were there to donate toys.



At 5pm we wrapped up with a goodbye to the TV audience.



The event ended up filling 7 buses and 4 flatbed trailers with toys. There was at least one other event identical to this one, so lots of kids will be getting gifts.

This is one of my favorite events because it helps bring some holiday happiness to those who might not otherwise get a gift, and it has immediate feedback to those watching the newscast, as they can come meet R2 and all the other characters. I hope to be back next year.