The Poster Memorabilia blog

Getting Autographs from a Galaxy Far, Far Away

From Orlando to Austin to Chicago — completing an Empire poster one legend at a time.

By an anonymous Hollywood insider

Let me tell you something: autograph hounding is its own adventure. You'd think it'd be as simple as going to Hollywood events and asking celebrities for their autographs, but it's more complex than that. Getting the cast of Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back to sign my poster of the movie took me years.

The second Star Wars movie is my favorite out of the entire franchise, but now that I think about it, it's not exactly the best choice for autograph-hounding. This was a decades-old movie with most of the cast in their golden years. I was always gonna have a hard time getting their autographs.

I also decided to start autograph-hounding in 2017, just in time for the 40th anniversary of A New Hope. This, however, meant that I was never going to complete the cast since Carrie Fisher had already passed on by then. It was a hard pill to swallow, but I had to accept it and move on.

Luckily, that dark cloud had a silver lining. The two other leads, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford, reunited at the anniversary event in Orlando, Florida, with George Lucas. I didn't even know Ford and Lucas were gonna be there. They only announced Hamill, so I thought I was starting this whole thing with just his autograph.

“It was the best surprise ever, and I admit that I even teared up because of it.”

Little did everyone know that Lucas and Ford would shock fans by walking out on the stage at the event. It was the best surprise ever, and I admit that I even teared up because of it. It was great seeing Luke Skywalker and Han Solo together again, especially after Princess Leia's passing, with the genius filmmaker who created their world.

Needless to say, I started autograph-hounding in a big way—getting Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and George Lucas to sign my poster. It was so exhilarating seeing them do it that I couldn't just stop there. I wanted to get to as many of the cast as possible.

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The second event I went to was the South by Southwest Film Festival in 2019, which was held in Austin, Texas. I traveled all the way there because I heard Frank Oz, who voiced Yoda in the original trilogy, would be there. He rarely makes appearances in public anymore, so that was my only chance to get his autograph.

To my surprise, meeting Oz became the nicest experience of them all. I should've known he was a kind person since he's the guy who gave us Cookie Monster, Miss Piggy, and of course, Yoda. He's only a private person; he was never snobby to Star Wars fans. On the contrary, he even defended The Last Jedi at that panel. Such an all-around great guy!

Later that same year, there was also the Star Wars Celebration in Chicago, where it was announced that Billy Dee Williams and Julian Glover were gonna appear. They did, and I finally got Lando and General Veers to sign the same poster. I also enjoyed listening to them talk about making the movie, especially since I already knew Hamill and Ford's perspective on that whole experience.

As I reminisce about my first time hunting for autographs, I realized just how much work I put into it. I spent a lot of time and money on it, and exerted so much effort that I had to be hospitalized after I got back from the Chicago event. Do I regret any of it? Of course not! You see this autograph poster, right?

Some things you watch. This one you keep.

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