No, these are Star Wars collectibles on a larger scale. They're NASCAR
show cars decorated to look like the racers to be driven in May by Dale
Jarrett and Elliot Sadler, cars that will promote the release of
Revenge of the Sith. Those designs are made from large decals that are
stuck on the cars. And there's a corporate tie-in, because M&M/Mars
is a major sponsor of both Robert Yates Racing and LucasFilm.
Long before the Indianapolis event, "Star Wars" had become a major
brand name. Companies lined up to become the official Star Wars product
in a wide range of categories, and all of those companies were
represented at the convention center dealers' room.
Episode 3 is expected to be the major movie blockbuster of 2005, and
the big celebration is a promotional event for that movie, just as
happened with the 2002 celebration.
A few days earlier, the huge halls of the convention center were empty,
but then the moving crews arrived and started installing the big
displays. The main dealers' room had a trade-show look to it, something
seen by this site only at mega-conventions such as Anime Expo and
Otakon.
Star Wars started before there was a mass-market cellular telephone
business in the U.S., and it's only natural that the film series have
its own official cell phone sponsor. It was hard to find a person at
the convention center who didn't have at least one cell phone.
