Last year, a friend and I attended a small Star Wars-themed gathering at North Park in the city of Riverside, California called The Inland Empire Strikes Back (IESB)and it was another in a series of small-but-sincere fandom gatherings that I’ve made my unofficial mission to support as often as possible. Less than a full-scale convention (though I’d welcome its expansion into one), IESB is more like ‘Star Wars in the Park,’ with cosplayers, lightsaber duels, guest-speaker panels, autograph sessions, customized Star Wars vehicles, food trucks, music, and groups of tented vendors selling a variety of Star Wars collectibles, fan-made wares and enough goodies to make a Jawa blush (do they blush…?).
North Park in Riverside, California, blocks away from the Cheech Museum and the Mission Inn hotel.
All of this is strewn across the relatively small venue of North Park in downtown Riverside, California (only a few blocks away from the Cheech Museum and the historic Mission Inn hotel). This year, my wife was able to join me and we took two friends of ours to brave some gusty winds (nowhere near as bad as storms elsewhere in the US right now) to attend IESB 2026…
“What about that blue one? We’ll take that one…”
Despite some buffeting to their tents, tables and lightweights objects courtesy of local winds, the vendors carried on, selling collections of collectibles fromacross nearly 50 years of Star Wars fandom, including original Kenner toys, action figures, comics, movie posters, fan-made art, jewelry, clothing, baked goods (yes, they had Wookiee cookies) and Funko figures. There were also hourly raffles to give away some highly prized figures, spaceships and other Star Wars objets d’art. Raffle tickets were free with admission price ($25 online via EventBrite, $30 at the gate).
The tented vendor tables (which were regularly buffeted by gusty winds) offered Star Wars collectibles & memorabilia, art prints/fan art, toys, figures, and vintage toys/books/etc, as well as clothes, accessories, and handmade goods.
One of the few small purchases we made that day included a few Star Wars cookies. I don’t eat added sugar anymore (whenever I can avoid it), so my wife will be taking these to her classroom. And yes, there were Wookiee cookies, but with Mickey Mouse ears.
“I stumbled across a recording…”
Like last year, there a few photo op areas with large artwork backdrops of Jabba’s palace, a twin sunset on Tatooine, and a forest scene from the fourth moon of Endor. There were two speeder bike mockups to pose on, as well. The first time we tried taking a group shot before an Endor scene, the gusty winds kicked up so much that the poles supporting it collapsed and fell on us! Fortunately, the supporting posts weren’t heavy and no one was hurt, but it made me worry if the winds would cooperate with the event’s posted hours of 11am-5pm. We finally got our group shot before the Jabba’s palace interior backdrop, and earlier, I got a shot of our friends on a speeder bike before a Tatooine sunset. After we left, I wondered if everything else would hold together…
Our friends Adam & Kathy join my wife and I for a selfie inside of Jabba’s palace–just glad it didn’t collapse on us!
Kathy and Adam take a speeder bike out for a ride on Tatooine…
“I see you have constructed a new lightsaber…”
Panels for the day included a group of artists (didn’t catch their names–sorry!) who specialize in crafting Mandalorian armor. Like last year’s event, the panels were held on a small stage in a corner of the park with large speakers and a digitally-projected backdrop behind the guests. We caught a few minutes of the armor artisans, but with all of the colorful distractions nearby, we wandered on. There was supposed to be a panel later that day with legendary Star Wars matte painting artist Michael Pangrazio (“Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “E.T.” “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”), but unfortunately we didn’t stay that long. Hope I get another chance to meet him someday…
Three artists on a panel for creating customized Mandalorian armor.
“Well of course I know him. He’s me!”
Last year’s IESB event featured several of the young cast members from the then-new Disney+ series “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” but this year focused on the men behind the masks and puppets. This year’s autographers included Dave Barclay (a puppeteer for Yoda & Jabba the Hutt in the original trilogy), Toby Philpott (a puppeteer for Jabba the Hutt in “Return of the Jedi”), Stephen Costantino (who played one of the Gamorrean guards of Jabba’s palace in “Return of the Jedi”), and Jim Swearingen, the principal toy designer of the first Star Wars toy line from Kenner Toys; which I chronicled my own childhood experiences with in an earlier column).
Jim Swearingen (in blue, autographing) helped Kenner Toys to acquire the original Star Wars toy license and was the principal designer for the first Star Wars action figure line. Swearingen also appeared in the Netflix series “The Toys That Made Us,” where he shares behind-the-scenes stories about the Star Wars toys. Swearingen was also responsible for other iconic toys of my generation, including the Easy-Bake Oven, Play-Doh, and The Six Million Dollar Man (the last two of these I had, of course).
Seated, in the blue shirt, is Dave Barclay; a second-generation puppeteer. Barclay was hired by Lucasfilm to work on “The Empire Strikes Back” as part of the original Yoda build crew, when one of Frank Oz’s assistants fell ill. Barclay’s other credits include being an assistant puppeteer for Jabba the Hutt in “Return of the Jedi,” and the Frank Oz films “Labyrinth,” “The Dark Crystal,” and “Little Shop of Horrors” (1984 version). Barclay also worked on “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”, “The Muppets,” “Team America,” and many more.
“I’ve made a lot special modifications myself…”
More so than last year’s event, there was a nice collection of Star Wars vehicles, all imaginatively decked out in both design and special effects. Some genuine automotive wizardry at play here…
Top/Bottom: A Star Wars jeep smuggling an R2 unit, a hiding Baby Yoda, aka Grogu, and some other Star Wars hologram-generating gadgetry (sadly, the holograms didn’t pick up on my camera).
Top, Bottom: A red Hyundai Genesis with a faithful R2-unit co-piloting for good measure.
Love the outward retrofitted look–very true to the Star Wars ‘lived in’ universe.
This slick little Toyota managed to place first in the Boonta Eve race, despite Sebulba’s cheating…
“Help me take this mask off.”
Saving the best for last, I once again present my favorite part of any sci-fi convention/gathering; the colorful cosplay. And there was quite a bit of it on display at IESB 2026…
Breath screen sound FX (and intimidating badass-ness) included…
Clone Troopers and a Mandalorian pose with young Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Colorful custom Mandalorians carry a dog as well as Baby Grogu. There were a LOT of Mandalorians on display this year; no doubt in anticipation of the “Mandalorian and Grogu” movie coming out May 22nd.
An atypically speechless Kuiil (the Ugnaught hero of “The Mandalorian”) caught my eye.
“Your droids, they’ll have to wait outside…”
In addition to the human cosplayers, there were several radio controlled R2-units and even an Imperial mouse droid strolling the grounds at North Park, too…
One of the ingenious R2 Builders Club does a quick bit of on-the-fly droid repair.
This Imperial mouse droid and its Jedi-garbed maker/controller made for a Star Wars study in contrasts.
All 39 of my photos from The Inland Empire Strikes Back 2026 are in this link.
“But it’s a whole ‘nother year!”
Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of George Lucas’ “Star Wars” (pre-“A New Hope”) and I really hope that The Inland Empire Strikes Back returns to Riverside County to commemorate that event. With tickets going from $25 (online) to $30 at the gate for a six-hour event, it’s a decent value, but more importantly, it supports community and encourages future events of even larger size. It’s also a nice way for families to enjoy a Star Wars day without the mad ticket scramble (and prices) of the Star Wars Celebration (returning to Anaheim in 2027) or San Diego Comic Con, which is borderline impossible for the average fan to get tickets for now. Personally, I’d love to see IESB outgrow its small park setting (wind, rain = bad for outdoor events) to find a home at the nearby Riverside Convention Center, which would offer more room for panels, autographing and vendors, while still offering a nice venue on the Center’s lawn for live music, lightsaber duels and other activities. Here’s hoping ticket sales for IESB 2026 generated enough revenue for this to be a possibility.
Until next year, may the Force be with you!
