Wattographs was very fortunate to be the ones to bring you the first-ever private signing from Ahmed "Jar Jar Binks" Best. To say it was one of our best-ever signings would be an understatement. For the first time ever, we sold out of TWO movie images and sold nearly all of our studio images of Ahmed...previous to even sitting down with him.

I journeyed out to Burbank, California as we were also planning to get together with Jack "Red 4" Klaff for a signing opportunity. Ahmed leaves nearby, so we arranged for him to come to my hotel to do the signing. I was joined by our good friend Steve G, who we sent all the items so that I wouldn't have to attempt to get them on the plane. Steve also attended the show at Burbank, as well, so it worked out nicely.

When Steve showed up in the morning, we had a bellhop take up the BOXES of stuff and two ginormous poster tubes. We met up about an hour before Ahmed's arrival to prepare everything. Fortunately, Scott ensures that things are put together logically, including sticky notes on every single piece that needs personalization. It makes it a no-brainer when we actually sit down for the signings, both for me when I'm running it and the actor so they know where, what and how to sign for people.

Ahmed shows up and is ready to sign, as he only had a very limited amount of time before he was scheduled to attend "an event." After introductions and greetings, we had everything ready for him to start inking for everyone. He signed quick enough that the piles of photos were soon reduced to nothing, then he turned around and started autorgaphing a huge pile of posters. All the while we discussed the idea of doing conventions in the future and if he hadn't done them due to the backlash against the Jar Jar character. We both agreed that Jar Jar was for the kids and that the kids loved him, so it didn't matter if the fans were too serious about him. He said that *he* didn't write the character, he only acted him out. He isn't afraid to go to conventions, and expressed a desire to start appearing in the future. Wattographs' "agency" arm, CelebrityBooking will be representing Ahmed for convention appearances, so we're going to start looking immediately.

The pile of fan-sent photos, cards, posters and action figures was just impressive on every level, in addition to the large pile of photos we already had. In what seemed to be no time at all, they were completed. We squared up with Ahmed what we owed him and he was off to his 'do!

As soon as Ahmed left, I ran down to the convention center to get Jack Klaff, who was up next on the signing block. Jack was finishing up his signing duties at the Hollywood Collector Show, which was happening downstairs. Jack and I headed back up to the room and he sat down and very quickly signed a nice little selection of photos and fan-sent items. Jack told us about his brief time on the A New Hope set. He was apparently offered more screen time, but had an appearance with the Royal Shakespeare Company, so his short scenes as Red 4 (who died anyway in the Death Star trench) was his contribution to the Star Wars universe.

Jack's a real interesting person who's lived a rather unique life, melding his acting along with a career in higher education. After the signing, we went out for pizza and spent the next several hours enjoying the food and telling tons of tales. I turned him on to a Denver-based beer called "Fat Tire," which he said he enjoyed immensely, and it was now getting to be late, so we headed back to the hotel. He and I also had breakfast on Sunday, before my flight back to Denver.

It was the usual quick weekend, with the privilege of picking up autographs from another pair of players in the Star Wars universe. Next stop: Dallas and Fan Days on October 25th...