We were lucky to catch up with Michael Havens recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Michael, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I’ve been a collector for as long as I can remember — especially Vintage Star Wars. But like a lot of us, life took over for a while. I boxed up the toys, traded collecting for college and football, and put that part of my life on pause… until Christmas 2012, when my wife gifted me a vintage Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper disguise. That one figure reignited everything.
Before I knew it, I was digging through old boxes at my mom’s, rebuilding my collection, and eventually creating a massive online collector community — The Imperial Commissary, which now spans over 25 Facebook groups, a podcast, the largest Sci-Fi Convention in Tennessee, and an entire network of passionate collectors.
Michael, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I moved to Nashville ove 22 years ago and I love it here, but there was still something missing: a local Sci-Fi Convention. There were no big sci-fi cons anywhere near Nashville — so I took a leap of faith and built one from scratch. The first ICCC event launched in 2018 and, since then, it has become Tennessee’s premier sci-fi convention!
ICCC is 100% fan-driven, locally owned, annual convention, run by collectors who love this hobby and community. ICCC has become an annual reunion for fans, families, cosplayers, creators, vendors, and celebrities to share what they love together. Come join the ICCC family at our 8th convention June 19-21, 2026.
Celebrated annually since 2018, ICCC (Imperial Commissary Collectors Convention) has grown into so much more than a sci-fi convention and toy show — it’s a celebration of the stories, characters, friends, families and collectibles that shaped our imaginations. Now heading into our 8th incredible year, ICCC is where fans from around the world unite to relive the magic of vintage and modern pop culture… and create new memories together.
Whether you’re a lifelong collector, a first-time con-goer, or someone who just loves iconic movies and TV, ICCC is built for you. Run entirely by volunteers — No Corporations, Just Fans! — ICCC is powered by passion, community, and nostalgia. We bring you:
✨ Hundreds of vendor tables with rare toys from across the nation and every corner of the globe
🎬 Legendary celebrities autographing, taking photos, and interacting in live panels on the main stage and the podcast room
🤖 Screen-used props, rare collectibles, full-scale droids, cosplay galore, fan groups, and world-class artists, classes, podcasts, tattoos
🎮 Video game tournaments, live music, podcasts, and surprise moments around every corner all day and NIGHT
🛸 An immersive experience allowing you to step out of this world, into the worlds you grew up dreaming about from watching Star Wars, Harry Potter, Power Rangers, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, TMNT, Star Trek & more
Most importantly, ICCC stays true to its roots: affordable, family-friendly, and welcoming to all. We’re here to celebrate the fandoms that shaped us — together.
So whether you’re coming back for your 8th year or joining the adventure for the first time, we’d be honored to have you. Follow #ICCCon and be part of something truly special.
“No Corporations, Just Fans.” – ICCCon
This is the way.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
One big lesson I had to unlearn was that “bigger is always better” when it comes to building a community and running events.
Backstory: I started collecting Star Wars stuff as a kid—classic vintage figures, posters, the whole deal. Then life happened: football, college, all that adulting stuff, and I kinda paused on it for years. In 2012, my wife surprised me with a Luke Stormtrooper figure as a gift, and it reignited everything. I dug out my old collection from storage, started hunting again, and it snowballed fast. Before I knew it, I was deep in the hobby—managing a ton of Star Wars collecting Facebook groups (like 27 at one point), co-hosting podcasts, connecting with fans online, and eventually turning that passion into real-life meetups.
The natural next step felt like “go big or go home.” I wanted to create something massive—a premier convention that would blow everything else away in scale, guests, attendance, everything. Early on, I chased the idea that success meant packing the house with thousands, landing every huge celebrity possible, and outdoing the other cons in size and spectacle. I thought that was the only way to sustain the hobby long-term and make it grow for the next generation.
But after a few events (and especially reflecting after running ICCC in Nashville), I realized pushing for constant “bigger” was burning me out and sometimes diluting what actually matters. The real magic happens in the smaller, more personal connections: collectors trading stories about that one grail piece they finally found, families bringing their kids to see a prop up close for the first time, or fans who feel seen because the event is built by and for actual collectors like us—not just a corporate cash-grab.
I had to unlearn the ego-driven “scale = success” mindset and lean into quality over quantity—focusing on authentic fan experiences, keeping it collector-centric, and building something sustainable that lasts. That’s why ICCC (Imperial Commissary Collectors Convention) evolved the way it has: still growing (hey, join us June 19-21, 2026 at Embassy Suites Nashville SE!), but with a heart that’s about community first, not just the biggest numbers.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
One story that really illustrates resilience in my journey is how The Imperial Commissary and ICCC (Imperial Commissary Collectors Convention) kept growing despite constant headwinds, competition, and setbacks that could’ve easily shut the whole thing down.
Back in 2018, we held the very first ICCC—starting small but ambitious, in a venue that felt huge at the time (a rodeo arena in Tennessee, actually, because why not go big when your community steps up?). It came from humble beginnings: I started a simple Facebook group about 10-11 years ago for authentic vintage Star Wars toy collectors, emphasizing reputation, civility, and real hobby talk—no drama, no fakes. That group exploded into multiple communities, podcasts, and real-life meetups (the first one was just 15 of us with Little Caesars pizza in a comic shop watching old trailers on a wall).
But right from that first event, challenges hit hard. We had to enforce strict no-repro (reproduction/fake items) rules to protect the hobby we love I’m just a collector from Tennessee running this volunteer-led, fan-first thing on passion and community support, keeping tickets affordable, no corporate BS, free VIP perks like food, family-friendly vibes.
It could’ve broken me. There were moments I thought, “Why fight this? Let the big-money machine win.” Burnout crept in—planning, dealing with poaching, losing guests, pouring personal time/money into something that gets undercut. But every time, the community reminded me why we do it: collectors sharing grail stories, kids meeting heroes for the first time, families bonding over vintage toys in a safe, kind space. Volunteers step up year after year, fans stick around and tell the poachers to pound sand, and we keep delivering magic on a shoestring compared to the corporates.
So I doubled down on what makes ICCC different: authentic, collector-centric, no-repro rules, rare/hard-to-get guests we hunt because we’re fans too, and that “No Corporations, Just FANS” ethos. We’ve grown from a meetup to Tennessee’s largest sci-fi/collectors con (next one’s June 19-21, 2026 at Embassy Suites Nashville SE—come join us!). Resilience isn’t about never getting knocked down; it’s about getting back up because the community we built is worth it. The hobby, the connections, the next generation of collectors—that’s the real win.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.iccollectorsconvention.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/icccnashville
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/icccNashville
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/icccnashville/
- Twitter: https://x.com/ICCCNashville
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ICCCnashville
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/iccc-murfreesboro?dd_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
- Other: https://www.imperialcommissary.com
