Prepare Yourself, Jedi

The trainers, Bette and Paul, are in the front row: 2nd and 3rd from the left
(Photo by DC Geeks)

For those who haven’t been to the ThinkGeek HQ before, it’s hidden away in one of the infinite office parks of Northern Virginia. Just a bit of a sign, a hallway, and then the little things start popping into your attention: the notices over doorways, the wall paintings, and the toys.

It's all about the pose - although a decade or two of
martial arts doesn't hurt. (Photo by DC Geeks)

Sweet, blessed Hephaistos, the toys. It shouldn’t have surprised me given the stock and trade of ThinkGeek, but there were more toys staring at me, surrounding me, than even my prom date had around her place. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Staff greeted us with stickers and sashes, and as Aine and myself got inside we found that, well, apparently the Sith arrive early. Training sabers were waiting and all the red had been claimed. Who knew evil was so punctual? (We later found out the colors were assigned, but it didn’t make walking into a room full of Sith any less intimidating). 

The growing crowd waited in the lounge area, the trilogy playing in the background, folks calling out when they saw familiar faces, and a lot of laughter and joking as people figured out which color coded group they were in. Since Mythic is nearby, they sent over loot and a rep to demo mini painting.

Stephonee, the fearless leader of our group, Team Nerf Herder
(Photo by DC Geeks)

What followed was some geek tourism and physical fun as groups alternated between a tour of ThinkGeek, a food truck, and the actual training. The walk around ThinkGeek HQ revealed even more toys, as well as the geeky art everywhere, discontinued items, cease-and-desisted tshirts, customized signs, the legendary balloonicorn, and so much more.

The food was made available by the good folks at Stix, who drove over and cooked inside a 120-degree metal box. Even with near triple digit heat outside, people were falling on roasted meat and speared fruit like ravenous savages. It was glorious. And Aine can finally say she’s eaten at a food truck.

Of course, the main event was the training. Bette Cassatt and Paul Gallagher came out to teach folks how to put together an epic looking lightsaber battle without necessitating an ER visit, or worse, looking silly. It really was impressive; the folks who really got into it were looking good by the end of the session. 

We all knew going into this fight who was going to win.
(Photo by DC Geeks)

After the furious battles had died down, TG brought out the loot. From a plushie facehugger to (a surprisingly formal) portrait of Cave Johnson and all types of goodness in between. To the victor go the spoils, and the spoils were awesome.

In short, I have this to say: The ThinkGeek folks know how to throw a fun, fun night. They were generous and just all around awesome to both participants and watchers. If you can get a chance to attend one of their events, then I highly recommend it.

 

Check out a few of the awesome things that ThinkGeek has going on now:

• There’s the Back-to-School Give Away.
• It’s TG’s 13th Birthday, and there’s awesome stuff on sale.
• They’re hosting a showing of The Fifth Element.
• Say hi on Facebook or Twitter.

Thanks to ThinkGeek for a great evening out! Oh, and don’t forget to watch TG’s awesome video of the event for those of you who want to see that Littlest Sith in action.