Some are doubting Lightning Bear was in SW

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AmShak

Senior Moderator
Staff member
I'm aware of the speculations but I am not aware of any official word from Lucasfilm. He was at C4 which is an official event and you would think that they would take special care in this area.

I'm not sure that anyone other than Lucasfilm can ever verify or deny this question. So it is going to come down to the individual to make their on determination until they do. The last time that i had any words with Lightning Bear, this was not a topic he was very happy with and his basic response was "i know what i did". Meaning that he knows he was in the movies and i left it at that.

I too have several items signed by Lightning Bear and I have given away quite a few items here at the site that were signed by him.

For myself, I am going to take his word for it but it is unlikely that i will be giving away anything else signed by him through the site.

My personal experience with Bear has been very positve and it would be a shame to find out that he was not part of the movies but it's also a shame to see people drag his name down, if he was.
 

Holla300

The Best Bounty
I am no expert but you make a valid point when you said he was at C4 and its an official event. Its Official so I think he was there for a reason.
 

Jedi_Joel

Agent
Holla300;80138 said:
I am no expert but you make a valid point when you said he was at C4 and its an official event. Its Official so I think he was there for a reason.
But what about Hal "the Sham" Wamsley? He was signing at C1. Just because they're there, doesn't make them legit.
 

Pedge Jameson

Falls down for no reason.
Jedi_Joel;80139 said:
But what about Hal "the Sham" Wamsley? He was signing at C1. Just because they're there, doesn't make them legit.

How dare you Joel, just look at the evidence.

:p
 

darthskellington

Dark Lord of the Typos
I agree with AmShak on this. The whole scenario is an unfortunate situation. Whether he is the victim of false accusations, or the fans are the victims of fraud, it is unfortunate.

As others have pointed out in the Rebelscum thread, Bear is a very kind and pleasant person to meet, who has signed for free ttm for years. He has also been a guest of this forum in the past. Out of respect for this, I would like to make a personal request to everyone that we please not turn this thread into a total Bear bashing event.

I too am displeased with the doubts this brings up. Please continue with any debate, concern, or opinions you may have. As a precaution, I'd just like to ask that as fellow Bothans we keep our boards civil. :)
 

Pedge Jameson

Falls down for no reason.
Free TTM does not make a difference if it's not true. Does that mean I can go around signing as the owl in Harry Potter if I don't charge? If the wool has been pulled over the eyes of fans it doesnt matter whether the autographs were free or 20 dollars.
The IMDB page is absolutely ridiculous for him to be in all of these major Hollywood productions and not be credited at all. And the bio surely is overly bloated as a vanity page. And quite possibly false at that. If that page was on Wikipedia it would have been yanked off in minutes.
But I guess I will just keep my opinions to myself and see how this turns out.
I may be putting my foot in my mouth in the end but I calls 'em as I see's em.
 

Sevb30

New Recruit
I just don't get why the convention organizers "feet" have not been held to the fire over this. They need to check people out for proof.
 

Pedge Jameson

Falls down for no reason.
According to the articles on Echo Station, Hal Wamsley talks his way into having booth owners allow him to sit in to sign photos he brought himself to conventions. So who knows?
 

AmShak

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Sitting in a dealers booth signing autograhs and being invited as a media guest at an "official" event, is hardly the same thing. Also, comparing the organizers of CI with that of CIV is also not the same. The guys running the show at CIV have been doing this too long to make that kind of mistake. this is what makes it all the worse, if Lighting Bear is not what he says he is.

This is the point Sevb30 is trying to make .... Any organizer who promotes someone as something that they are not, is just as accountable. At this point Official Pix needs to step up and admit to the mistake or provide the needed information support their claim.
 

Pedge Jameson

Falls down for no reason.
Just a thought, but anyone actually thought maybe we could even ask the folks who sign for us? If Kenny Baker maybe could tell us if a 15 year old, 4"8 kid (Hal Wamsley) was dressed as a Jawa. "They" were in a crucial scene involving R2's abduction.
But I bet Kenny probably would not want to get involved in this. Which I wouldn't blame him.

AmShak, Lighting Bear was an official guest? Who's the promoter for it again? I'm not too much into conventions. Which is another point.

Conventions are becoming a sleeze haven. Theater recorded bootleg copies of Sci-FI films and even porn.
You'll never catch me at one of these. PAX, (The guys from Penny Arcade) need to do what they did to save Gaming conventions and do it for SCI-FI.
 

AmShak

Senior Moderator
Staff member
from http://www.starwars.com/community/event/celebration/news20070131.html
"We are once again honored to be chosen to produce the autograph program for Gen Con and Lucasfilm at Celebration IV," says Ben Stevens, co-owner of Official Pix. "Also, with such close proximity to Hollywood and the greater the Los Angeles area, we are very excited about the possibility of adding some very special guests to the list of signers."

Official Pix is the licensed supplier of authentic Star Wars autographs and photographs. The company brought 34 guests to Celebration II, and 41 to Celebration III. Stevens and Philip Wise, partners in the company, plan to bring guests whose combined careers span all six films of the saga. Lucasfilm and Gen Con LLC have set aside an even larger area to accommodate autographs for Celebration IV. Stevens and Wise again plan to use an efficient fast path system to minimize time spent waiting in line, allowing more time for fans to enjoy the abundance of Star Wars programming at the event.



from http://www.officialpix.com/
C2 Ventures is a partnership of long-time STAR WARS fans, Ben Stevens and Philip Wise.



from http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Philip_Wise
...Philip Wise, owner of both the collecting-specific fansite Rebelscum.com and Official Pix, Lucasfilm's official venue for actor autographs...

Ther "official" site also mentions Lightning Bear
http://www.starwars.com/community/event/celebration/news20070601.html
http://www.starwars.com/community/event/celebration/news20070216b.html


I'm not here to defend Lightning Bear, i'm just trying to balance this topic. If Bear is a fraud, then it needs to be made known. At this moment, this seems more like a witch hunt. Stick a carrot on his nose and see if he floats.
 

Pedge Jameson

Falls down for no reason.
Like I said, I may be inserting foot in mouth and will honestly feel bad if he's vindicated.
But right now it's not looking good.
Although I am rooting for him to prove us wrong, as harsh as I may seem in my posts.
 

Sevb30

New Recruit
On the rebelscum thread, it was now confirmed that Peter Mayhew remembered Lightning Bear on the set of ROTJ.
 

AmShak

Senior Moderator
Staff member
From http://threads.rebelscum.com/showfl...ge=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=93&fpart=1#3216480

Ben Stevens quote
Ok, I've been asked to chime in... I can only pass on what I remember. When researching with LFL, we only ever were able to place him as an extra on ROTJ. That said, I never looked into the other films. That's not to say he didn't do stunts or was or was not in ESB or ANH. I just didn't dig deeper.

Also around the time, we got communications from a few folks. Notably from Peter Mayhew who remembered him on the set in northern CA during the forrest bunker scenes (said he was hard to forget) and from Frank Billington Marks who was a prop maker and set dresser on ROTJ. Frank Billington Marks (if memory serves) is also an American Indian and remembered Bear well with memories of him even in the 'bad guy' costumes. Again, this does not place him as the Biker who died in an explosion. etc, but at least on set in uniform.

Also, Bear's name at the time was Pushican I believe.

In some spare time, I'll try to go through old emails... Hope this helps.
-Ben
 
This case just like Cy Town.I remember I got items back with a short note.Said he was not any sw characters.He just one of 1000 casts of stormtrooper in a ROTJ scene but he didn't tell me what scene.So still not sure he was in SW or not ;)
 
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