Big Mike’s Streak Week Part 2! Meeting Star Wars Star Mark Hamill! Star Trek’s Leonard Nimoy! And More! Autographs! Photos!

Big Mike headed out for a variety of “stars” now, you may have checked out his original streak week and this is part 2… Or part Deux depending on how you want to phrase it.

Check out his full report after the jump!

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I’ve been a Star Wars fan almost my entire life. The first trilogy is still the best of all time and has held up very well. This was going to be my first time ever participating in anything “May 4th” related. This is Cinco De Mayo for geeks without the hangover and vomiting. (I’m just assuming.) It was no secret that there would be guests from the movies at the screenings; it was just a mystery as to whom they would be.

There were going to be four showings on that Saturday starting at 10am and that was for invited guests only. It was anyone’s guess as to who would show up. Early rumor had the legend himself, George Lucas. That would’ve been rad. He’s been in town lately and why not show up to the site where “Return of the Jedi” first premiered some thirty years ago. (Crap, that makes me officially old. ) Could it be Harrison Ford? Mark Hamill or Carrie Fisher? They all have homes out here. The excitement and not knowing is enough to kill a Star Wars fanboy. Luckily for me, I asked someone very high up at the theater who it could be with the promise of keeping my mouth shut. Normally, you’re not supposed to believe anything someone tells you, but this person was actually pretty cool and nice to everyone and I managed to ask in a private way in front of a group of people and getting what I felt was an honest answer.

Apparently, the guest was going to be none other than Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill. Just in case, I packed a figure for Fisher, Ford, and Lucas should they decide to stop by with time to kill. I had two Luke Skywalker figures that I felt would look great with Hamill’s autograph. It was just a matter of what time he was showing up. That seemed to be a mystery to everyone. I arrived at the Egyptian at 11am and it was a pretty cool scene.

There was a life-size replica of Jabba the Hut and Darth Vader,

a gigantic replica Darth Vader Star Wars figure that you could pose as the figure inside the box. This was a feature at 2011 San Diego Comic-Con that I never got a chance to get a pic in due to all the damn people there.

(You’re a bit over-crowded, Comic-Con. It may be time to move the event somewhere bigger that can handle it.) There was even a life-size Han Solo frozen in carbonite made out of legos,

not to mention the stormtroopers and the Emperor walking around posing with anyone that wanted. Even a couple of the Hollywood Blvd Star Wars characters glommed off the event and hung out at the entrance to pose with people who were dumb enough to tip them when all they had to do was walk twenty-five feet more towards the theater and take those same pictures with more Star Wars guys for free. Suckers.

I took in the sights knowing I had time if there was going to be a q & a after the show, or an early arrival for the next show. I then noticed a couple of the event staff standing nearby and decided to listen in on the conversation in case they were admiring my hotness, or if I was accidentally playing the “creepy card” again.

Turns out they were talking about someone’s arrival time and I had a feeling I knew who that was. I would have a good four and a half hours before the guest would show up. Well, it was too early to line up for the 6pm showing. I had tickets for that and the 10pm showing. This was going to be a long day. It was also going to be a hot day. I hear there are a lot of days like this in Los Angeles. I was prepared. I brought fans!

Not my admiring kind, but the kind you wave in your face to keep the funk of fanboys away and/or keep cool. I may be fanboy, but I know how to use deodorant and cologne and I smell like Heaven cried sugared coated tears on a dozen cupcakes. (It can’t be bad, right?) My honey and I picked up a buttload of these Star Wars Blu-ray promotional fan-heads at 2011 Comic-Con and didn’t really need all of them. They were kinda cute. I had a selection of Boba Fett, Yoda, Darth Vader, and C3PO. If someone looked hot, (temperature hot, not Mike hot), I would hand them one. “Pay it forward, bitches!” Star Wars fans are good aboot that kind of stuff.

I did whatever I could to keep myself occupied. I read the issue of Entertainment Weekly that were handed out to everyone, took some pictures with the exhibits and talked with some of the graphers that started showing up. At aboot 4pm I decided to head to the back. It seemed like a safe bet that any arriving talent would skip being accessible to a couple hundred fans to probably ignoring a dozen or so in the back. So there we all were, milling around in the back parking lot. At aboot 4:30pm a bunch of staff and security came out and moved us out of the lot completely. Not realizing they really had no jurisdiction over this separate property, we complied respectfully. It’s best not to antagonize these guys. They can work with you or against you, and it’s always a good thing not to do anything where they’ll remember you. I mean, who remembers someone being nice as opposed to someone being an obnoxious douche? But, I digress. After waiting aboot thirty minutes the security guys and volunteers went back inside. I didn’t know what to think of that. There would’ve been cheers coming from the crowd in front if any of the cast had come in that way. I had to assume that the appearance was cancelled. Rather than feel bummed, I felt I should just enjoy watching the movie that I loved so much as a kid and just get in the line to go in. It was there I saw a friend who had some inside information. It turns out that Hamill was supposed to introduce the 2pm and the 6pm but cancelled those. They didn’t know if he was going to show up for the 10pm or not. I had decided that I made the right move and went inside to watch the movie.

It still held up in case you were wondering. Once the movie ended the CapeTown host had a contest of who could do the best wookie imitation followed by another imitation of Jabba’s pet’s laugh. None were too good, but the kids that competed against the adults won anyway because they were kids. Not a bad gig. The adults in the contest cringed when they saw they would be competing against a kid and I would’ve done the same. The third contest was who could do the best Luke Skywalker impression. I was in the balcony and pretty much knew what to expect when I looked down at the left side of the theater. I noticed a cute blonde girl that happened to be Hamill’s daughter. I’ve seen her before at a couple of her dad’s appearances and she would always run point saying he wouldn’t be able to sign for anyone due to being “under contract”. A couple of moments later, Mark Hamill came out to participate in the contest. I don’t remember who won. I seemed to be just fine knowing I missed him on the way in. In fact, I wondered if anyone had stuck around after I left. The q & a was going along nicely. He thanked everyone for being there and mentioned he wanted to be with the fans and wasn’t getting compensated for appearing in any way. He just would have been at home with his honey watching the Me Channel and SNL and decided to Tivo all that and talk aboot Star Wars with the fans. Very nice of him, if I do say so myself.

I decided I had to try for him on the way out and left before the q and a ended. Back to the lot. There were a few of us back there, but none had been there to get him on the way in. One guy was rumored to have gotten him and went home. I tried texting that guy, but he’s kind of an old dude and doesn’t do the texting thing anyway. We would just have to wait and see. Apparently, I had just missed the cute blonde’s announcement that he wasn’t going to sign for us tonight, but I wasn’t going anywhere. A ton of time had passed and there was aboot nine of us there. Even Scotty showed up with a really cool item he had hoped to get signed. It was a decent bunch of us there. No one seemed like the rowdy pushy type. A security dude came over to where we were and I figured it was time to get pushed away, but it was quite the contrary. He pointed out that he couldn’t kick us out since we weren’t technically on theater property and asked us nicely to be respectful when Mr. Hamill came out. For some reason I spoke up for the group and promised we’d be cool and only ask for one item each if he felt like coming over and the guard thanked us and went back inside. While we were all surprised by the nice calm behavior of the dude, we were still reluctant to let hope get in the way of our anxiety. The cute blonde had come through a second time to remind us that her dad was “under contract” and wouldn’t be signing so we should just go home. Tempting as that might have been, I wanted to hear Hamill himself say it. Aboot fifteen minutes after the guard went back inside Mrs. Hamill got in the Hamill mobile and faced it towards the exit with the engine running. Mark was introducing the last showing of the night and would then be heading home at warp speed no doubt. We all got our items out and pens ready waiting for the door to open one last time. That lasted for almost twenty minutes before Mark finally did come out.

I guess he wanted to get into a nice toasty car before heading off. Mark said hello to us and was asked to sign. He asked us if we were fans or dealers and we yelled “Fans!” It was a pretty close ratio. I would say that was maybe one more fan than dealer there. He said okay and that he was going to be personalizing and we were all good with that.

I mentioned to him that I loved his performance in “Sushi Girl” and he almost kicked himself for not mentioning it inside. If you want to see a performance that is the polar opposite of Luke Skywalker check out “Sushi Girl” on VOD or the ol’ DVD/Blu-ray. He signed his name on the bubble of my figure and asked me my name which he then wrote above his.

I would’ve preferred it on a different part, but I had no right to complain whatsoever. The autograph looked great. I hope it stays pristine for a long time.

The personalized part looked like it had gotten rubbed off some when I took it out at home. I managed to just wipe that part off anyway and am very happy with that get. Thanks, Mark! I love it very much.

Mission 5 of 6 accomplished. Up next: Nimoy and boldly getting what I’ve never gotten before.

The final night of CapeTown featured J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” from 2009, with an appearance by Leonard “freaking” Nimoy! I loved “Star Trek” growing up as a little dude. I loved Captain Kirk and I think Spock was my favorite as a kid because we had the same hairstyle. (Yes, ladies, I was even gorgeous as a child.) I had never met or seen Nimoy in person and I was looking forward to the opportunity. He retired a couple of years ago from doing any signings or appearances, but the host of CapeTown, Geoff Boucher, said Nimoy would be there for him if he ever needed anything and luckily, Geoff decided to call that favor in. Thanks, Geoff! You were a cool guy at the fest. (Follow him on the Twitter) I didn’t know how to approach this situation. Should I do it like I did with Hamill? But, that was luck. But luck is what this is all aboot. But is strategy. And over thinking! Am I over thinking this enough? Did I do a good job of getting into a celebrity’s head and deciding if I’ll sign for the chubby guy with the figure, or the tall guy with the poster, or wait—a girl with big boobs. Bam! She wins. Always bet on boobs, folks. If you’re smart, you’ll let the girl with the cleavage go in front to get the attention of the signer you want. Win win for everyone, especially if the celeb is in the closet and wants to throw suspicion off. I’ve seen it! It was Zachary Quinto a couple of Comic-Cons ago. Didn’t fool me though.

I found that little bird from Friday night who told me aboot Hamill and he mentioned what time Nimoy was getting there. I decided to forgo the movie. I don’t like seeing a movie that has a sequel coming out soon afterwards. It’s my “Revenge of the Nerds II” Rule. It’s a phobia I have with sequels that I want to be better than the previous but fall flat. I’m obviously not alone in this one, but there is no support group for this. Such burdens I have to put up with. With time to kill, I decided to head towards the heart of Hollywood and whom should I notice? None other than Mike the Fanboy himself…Mike.

I’d recognize that big-ass bag hanging on the side of a giant anytime.

(Editor’s Note: Okay, it’s funny cause it’s true! M-)

He was running towards something, so it had to be important because I didn’t see any zombies following him. I decided to check out the scene and caught up with him. Turns out he was busy getting dissed by Edie Falco from “The Sopranos” at a talk show appearance. I felt bad for the guy. He had her one on one and she ignored him twice in a matter of three minutes. Bummer. That deserves a peeing Theo, or whatever award shitty celebs get on his sight. I hope it’s a peeing Theo. That would be a funny trophy. Rod Stewart was performing on an outdoor stage at the very time Edie was pretending Fanboy Mike was me trying to ask her out. She ignored and drove off at a pace I’m quite used to seeing girls react to me for some reason. A bummed Fanboy Mike and I walked over to where we knew Rod Stewart would be walking past to go back into the building where he was being interviewed. Had I known he was going to be there I would’ve been better prepared. There was just a small small lot of folks waiting and we weren’t there long before Stewart walked past. I said hello and gave a peace sign as he walked past and he waved back at me. His assistant came over and grabbed a few of the folks’ items for Rod to sign and went inside. I thought that was pretty cool. He came back out aboot ten minutes later with those items signed and we were off. We still had some time to kill so we grabbed a quick bite before heading back to the theater. There were aboot eleven of us waiting back there and there was some pretty cool items. Fanboy Mike had the coolest item out of all of us. It was a Mego Spock figure from the 70s still in the package. These were the premiere figures of the 70s until the Star Wars figures came out and changed the scope of toys forever. It was in great condition and would look awesome with an autograph on it.

Read Mike’s article on this encounter for a better perspective.

It was way past the time I was told Nimoy was supposed to be there. Then I felt something really weird that you don’t encounter too much past March in Los Angeles. It was tiny and I ignored it. (Yes, that’s what she said.) Then I felt it a couple more times. I looked around to see if anyone else had noticed and I could see the look in Fanboy Mike’s face. These were raindrops. It felt like that scene in “Stand By Me” on the train tracks. These boys were walking across a bridge of train tracks and Wil Wheaton’s character would feel the tracks looking for vibrations of any oncoming trains. When a train does eventually rear it’s ugly head he yells “TRAAAIN” and the boys have to run for their lives. This was the exact situation because Nimoy had just pulled up in his car and wouldn’t come out as the drops became more frequent. “Rrraaaaiin!!! What the hell was he doing in there? Was he doing his rain prayer so he wouldn’t have to come over to us dorks? This was the worst possible thing that could happen at this particular moment. Then, he finally exited his car. The raindrops were not letting up. They weren’t major raindrops, but they were enough to ruin an autographing moment. Nimoy couldn’t have been cooler to us. He came right over to us and asked us why we weren’t inside and told him it was sold out, which it was.

He went to the lady with the big boobs and grabbed her gold pen. We were handling the moment as best and respectful as we could. Everyone had their item up in the air eagerly awaiting Nimoy’s autograph. I turned mine upside down to shield it from the rain as best I could. I was surprised no one else was doing the same. I had a Spock figure from the 2009 movie and I believe it was a mispackage because it was labeled for Zachary Quinto’s Spock, not Nimoy’s. Look at the picture. A geek will know what the hell I’m talking aboot. It should’ve read “Original Spock”, but back to the story! Nimoy had finally made his way to me and I noticed he was still using the same gold pen.

When I saw he wasn’t going to switch to my silver, I put it away and got ready to grab the figure back so I could cover it safely and preserve the autograph of one of the people I’ve always wanted. I wish he had switched pens. The gold pen the girl had was probably the cheapest and worst ones you could use in this hobby. This girl was a dealer who I know has been in this hobby for quite some time, it’s a bummer she didn’t have a more reliable pen. I know folks weren’t happy. I could see the devastated look on Fanboy Mike’s face. It’s a lot like the one he prolly has now reading aboot this hell all over again.

That “pop” you just heard was him opening his last remaining Xanax and downing them like Skittles. That’s not the right way to taste the rainbow! We thanked Nimoy and I headed for cover. I wiped what drops I could safely remove and decided to wait for the q and a.

That was a cool experience. Nimoy mentioned a trip to Wyoming in his early days as Spock where he was going to make an appearance at something. He had just gotten to his motel when the phone rang. It was a woman from Denver. She asked if she was speaking to Leonard Nimoy and he said yes. She was very excited and professed her admiration for him. When asked how she found him and where she was calling from she said she heard he was going to the city he was in at the moment and knew there were only three hotels in the whole place and it was only a matter of time before she got him. He wished her well and a short while later the phone rang again. This time from someone in Kansas. This person also tracked him down the same way after his friend from Denver told him what had happened to her just a half hour earlier. I don’t think Nimoy uses his name when checking in any longer. The crowd got a big laugh out of that story and a couple of others.

It’s hard to believe that he was listed in the phone book his first couple years of acting and anyone could call him. While he’s unlisted now, not many people even know what a phone book is anymore. Ah, the old days. Mr. Nimoy gave us the Vulcan send off and went straight to his car in the now heavy pouring rain. The drops did a little damage to my figure, but I think I faired the best out of the lot. It faded a little more by the time I got it home, but it’s still slightly decent and I love it. I’ll have to be careful with this one for the rest of it’s existence as the slightest touch will rub the cheap ink right off, but it is one of my most prized autographs and I will admire it for a long time. While I know I won’t ever have a run like this again (There was Twin Peaks event that I squeezed in between Star Wars day and Star Trek day that went pretty cool. Maybe I’ll write aboot it, but prolly not) I know I’ll have to keep trying. I’ve had a couple of fails since this “streak week” took place (Damn Star Trek Into Darkness premiere and Peter Weller “RoboCop” screening and appearance!) but why let that stop me? Mission 6 of 6 accomplished. Thanks for reading.