In a small town on the edge of the New Forest there lies an unassuming hall that, once or twice a year, plays host to a Star Wars collectors event that attracts visitors from across the globe, ‘Farthest From’. First launched 12 years ago, organiser Dave Tree has delivered 26 events in the series as of December 2024.
It’s quite fitting in a way that this under-the-radar convention should be hidden away in the last place someone might go to find it. It sort of feels like a secret Rebel hideout, even if it looks more like somewhere you might have gone for an awkward disco as a kid. Hit play on the Meco Star Wars medley and put yourself in the centre of that Venn diagram of scenarios.
Farthest From might be the most accurately named event I’ve ever attended and yet it’s not all that far from where Star Wars itself has ‘happened’ in recent years. Corellia is 22 miles east, Segra Milo is 38 miles west – I’m referring to locations that were used for filming to be clear, Fawley Power Station for Solo and Winspit Caves for Andor respectively.
I first came to know of the event via a colleague who sat a few desks from me. He was on a mission to re-collect the Kenner era Star Wars figures from his childhood. For the period of a few months, rarely would a day go by without a vintage delivery arriving at our office, or talk of the elusive “vinyl caped Jawa”. He’d connected with various collector groups on Facebook and learnt of both Farthest From and ‘Echo Base’ (we’ll come back to that event next time).
Farthest From had a ‘retro’ slant and I was unsure whether I’d be likely to find anything to add to the ‘modern’ collection I was stepping back into. Disclaimer: this was 2016. Vintage, I’ve learnt, seems to have an unspoken rule of being “from over 25 years ago”. My Star Wars collecting began later in the 90s, so despite being two decades passed and pre-Disney era, I still fell into the more recent category. That has, of course since shifted with the passing of time, but there’s still a bit of a perceived divide.
I went along on a punt to Farthest From in April 2018 and was pleased to find a much more mixed range than I expected. I came away with a handful of ‘loose’ figures to add to my collection, which had already grown in numbers, three years into my revived fandom.
Life got in the way, then COVID hit so it was December 2021 by the time I made it back for a second visit. I’ve been a further two times since and while I always pick up something interesting (often artwork by attendees such as the Bowmansgreencollective or Impatient Potato) It’s the calibre of special guests that has been, to quote Vader, most impressive.
At the 2021 event, guests included actor Guy Henry, who provided insights into his motion capture role as Grand Moff Tarkin (originally played by the late Peter Cushing) for 2016’s first Star Wars ‘spin off’ film, Rogue One.
Also present was Neil Scanlan. Perhaps a lesser known name for a general audience but Neil’s impact and contribution to Disney-era Star Wars productions as head of the creature and make up FX department is substantial.
A year or so later I saw Neil speak again, this time on the main stage at the Excel in London, as part of the official Star Wars convention, ‘Celebration’. You can still watch that panel in full here.
In December 2023, Lucasfilm stalwart Pablo Hidalgo was a surprise addition to the line up (“but a welcome one…”). Pablo has held a variety of roles in the company dating back to early 2000. More recently he has formed part of Lucasfilm’s ‘story group’ management team and is credited on productions as ‘lore advisor’.
These just aren’t the type of people you’d usually get opportunity to sit around in a village hall and talk with. At Celebration, they speak on stages to thousands.
Pablo is also often contracted with publisher DK to write the companion ‘Visual Dictionary’ encyclopedias that I’ve been reading and poring over the pages of since I was a kid. At Farthest From he was signing copies of his Dawn of Rebellion title.
(Left photo: Pablo Hidalgo (credit: Dave Tree). Right photo: my signed copy!)
In December 2024 attendees were treated to three panel talks. The first was from Brian Hickey, who is currently working on a book that brings together the story of the toy company Palitoy. In the late 70s, Palitoy produced Star Wars figures and playsets for the UK market. The previews given by Brian were fascinating and this coffee table book is a must have for Star Wars fans and/or toy collectors. It’s far surpassed its Kickstarter target with 68 hours to go at the time of writing!
Next up was Steve Evans, Senior Design Director at Hasbro. Steve is responsible for the collector grade products on both the Star Wars and Marvel licences. Steve is highly respected in the fan community for his direct communication with collectors and relatability being a collector himself. Despite hailing from the UK, he is now US based, making his appearance in Fordingbridge of all places, a rare visit.
Two key things to note from Steve’s talk. One, he delivered a considered answer to a self-posed question that looms large over the Collect Us All! project, “why do we collect?”. Steve’s view broke down a detailed and nuanced response into a digestible A, B, C, D format, where A represents achievement, B is for belonging, C control and D devotion. I’ll leave the detail at that for now, because I could write a whole post unpacking this and I also don’t want to share too much of Steve’s intellectual property without full blessing first!
..and two, he dropped a series of new product reveals that are normally saved for flagship conventions. To give an indication of how much of an exclusive this information was, as I left the event, I glanced at Instagram and Star Wars collectors I follow from around the world were reposting the news that had just been announced. I was one of about 30 people in the room.
It speaks volumes about the level of respect Steve had for Farthest From that this was considered a place to share such details first. I got a sense with each of the special guests attending over the years that they had an appreciation for what Dave Tree has established with this tight knit event (though very much open to all who can make the trip!).
Speaking of, Dave himself was the third speaker of this day. As a toy shop owner (his store All The Cool Stuff is situated just across the road from the Town Hall) and having worked in the industry for a number of years, Dave has a vast knowledge of toys and their history. This was conveyed in his talk via the medium of catalogues from the 80s, during which he treated the audience to a nostalgia flick through the pages of Star Wars products and more on the big screen.
In addition to the talks, a recent staple of Farthest From events has been the launch of the latest ‘No More Heroes’ products, a fan made collection of Star Wars figures produced in collaboration between Dave Tree and artist Luke Coffey-Bainbridge. The series upcycles vintage figures found in a lesser state (affectionately known as ‘beaters’), customising them to become new variants and where possible, different characters entirely (many based on existing niche Star Wars content).
This is all just an overview of the Farthest From events I’ve attended myself, and I’ve only been to a handful. There’s been plenty of other notable guests and exclusives throughout the years and I’m sure there’ll continue to be. To find out about future events visit allthecoolstuff.co.uk. You can also follow Farthest From on Facebook and Instagram.
Liam Toms 