Star Wars Expo, Seoul

This sign in the subway station raised a chuckle, as I'm sure it's a question many expatriates living in Korea have asked themselves on occasion! On this day in particular, our destination was Gangnam, an affluent commercial district of southern Seoul, to visit the Star Wars exhibition at COEX Mall. Stop sniggering. I'm sure Lynne will be keen for me to point out that she was not joining this congregation of geeks and freaks, and was intending to spend the day shopping while myself and Northy indulged our inner nerd.

COEX Mall is a massive place, and for a while I feared, we, two 27 year old men, would have to ask for directions to the exhibition. Luckily, as we navigated the garish neon corridors of boutiques and arcades, the frequency of happy children wielding plastic lightsabres and Jar Jar Binks balloons was steadily increasing. When we saw a few spotty, greasy-haired westerners excitedly walking past us, we knew we were almost there.

The Star Wars Expo cost 13,000W, which is around £7. While that is a fairly small sum of money, it possibly wasn't worth it when you factor in a one and a half hour subway journey. However, it was still a fairly decent laugh, and we got some photos of us having a lightsabre duel, which was admittedly my main reason for going. For anyone interested in Star Wars, and I'm sure most of you reading this aren't, take a moment to picture these exhibits...

• Full size X-Wing.
• Full size Rancor
• Walk-in sets from the film
• Minor actors from the films
• Assorted vehicles
  
• Interactive exhibits
• Jar Jar Binks punchbag
• Jake Lloyd punchbag
• Full size Jabba The Hutt
• Animatronic moving characters.
• Blah Blah Blah...

Well, the Expo contained nothing as interesting as this. I really thought we would be sitting in X-Wings like an intergalactic Leuchar's Air Show. Okay, to be fair, there were some very crap interactive parts, and some of the least memorable vehicles from the films. Still, it was fun, and something different to do. You're still laughing aren't you. Here are some pictures...

(C3-PO and R2-D2. The photos of Northy's C3-PO impression, and my own uncanny likeness to R2-D2, will never be shown)

(Some rubbish vehicle, from one of the rubbish episodes.)

(Ooooh look! Lightsabres.)

(Northy tries to add a bit of excitement to the already riveting exhibit known as "Padme's Birthing Table")

(Managing to lose the title of Most Exciting Exhibit by a wookie whisker, "Anakin's Gurney" had to settle for second place)

(Two geeks and a stormtrooper.)

(The main reason I still have a lot of time for the Star Wars saga, is the joyful nostalgia I harbour from my childhood years of constantly playing with the action figures of the films. No doubting that they were the best toys ever. Unfortunately, while others now sell these toys on Ebay and get rich, I turned into a sick and twisted young lad and set most of mine on fire. A little bit destructive perhaps, but there was no better special effect than a face melting in a charred gloop of plastic. And it smelled great. Anyway, the exhibition hosted many large models used in the films, such as this Millenium Falcon model, and they were infinitely more impressive than the toy versions, obviously.)

(What is this called again? Imperial Star Destroyer maybe? I'm not sure, but this was pretty huge and detailed.)

(Everybody's favourite, Boba Fett.)

(Our friend Brian wanted a souvenir relating to Revenge Of The Jedi, which was the original name for Return Of The Jedi. Alas, there were no souvenirs worth purchasing, except perhaps for the "real" lightsabres which were around £150 each. Sorry Brian, you will have to settle for a photo of a poster!)

(I remember having this figure. He was at a severe disadvantage wearing a flammable robe, and subsequently was one of the first to perish.)

(Jabba The Hutt. Still looking handsome. Like a reclining Rik Waller)

(The very end of the exhibition gave us the chance to push the kiddies aside, and duel it out with a couple of lightsabres like a pair of fools. Fantastic.)

(Darth Waddell. Nope, doesn't sound menacing enough.)

(Queen Northy. Yep, sounds perfect!)