quote:

Originally posted by OZcollect:
I did see live reports on the G4 Channel also, Fox News did a deceant report interviewing alot of the costumed attendee's. Pretty cool.

So did I!!

Thought it was pretty cool.

I hope you all had a good time

Ebay is popping up with all kinds of items now. I so want a Butters Professor Chaos- he's adorable. Go SouthPark! lol

This message has been edited. Last edited by: hollypop,

Well, we made it back! Whew....what a weekend!

Because we had a flight to catch, we could only spend a couple of hours at the show Sunday. But the hours were well spent.

We made the rounds to get the Rittenhouse promo card, the Upper Deck booth for the Marvel Masterpieces promo, and the Topps booth for the Zombie mask for Sunday. But we first made our way to the Heroes booth.

When we got to the Heroes booth, I asked for a few extra promos, as I had to leave soon. I was handed about a dozen of the cards. My wife Sue also asked for a few extra and she was handed about 30-40 cards! They were simply trying to get rid of stuff. I saw one kid ask one of the cheerleaders if he could have some extra "Vote for Petrelli" buttons and she handed him an unopened bag of them!

Sometimes it pays to simply walk around the show, not looking for anything in particular. I did that on Sunday and came across Gary Lockwood (Star Trek & 2001: A Space Odyssey). He was a genuine pleasure to meet. I got an autographed picture of him as Gary Mitchell from Star Trek. He also posed for a picture with me.

Now, my thoughts of the show in general. It seemed less organized than when I was there four years ago. The volunteers often didn't know what was happening and would give out conflicting information. The wait for Preview night was almost unbearable, as someone neglected to turn on the air conditioning upstairs where thousands of people were waiting to get into the show. The selection of programming, though, was outstanding. There really was something for everyone at all times of the show. On the whole, I'd give the show a B+ (in comparison to the show I attended four years ago).

I should have pictures posted either later on tonight or sometime tomorrow evening.

^^^ any extra promos you just may want to feel like giving up?

Thanks so much for all the reports! I can't believe the crowds! That's just insane!

I have to agree with Kevin -- the show did seem less organized than 4 years ago (the last time I attended as well). . .

I also noticed a LOT of un-announced stuff happening. . . I am starting to think that was for crowd control -- the crowd was INSANE, but on top of that if there was a line somewhere for something that increased the crowd issue exponentially. . .

And there seemed to be a lot of people just randomly getting in lines. . . I can't tell you how many times I was asked what I was in line for over the weekend. . . Here is one conversation I had:

"What are you in line for"
"Sketches from Tone"
"Who is he"
"A sketch card artist"
"I mean. . . what is he famous for..."
"Mostly sketch cards, I think"
"Well, I mean has he worked on any comics?"
"Uhh. . . Violent Messiahs or something, I think"
Then they turned and walked away.

It was very odd to me that people were just randomly trying to get into really long lines (that line -- from the end was about 2 hours long).

Any way. . . More reports later -- when I get back from SD.

Jon

quote:

Originally posted by jon@webjon.com:
I have to agree with Kevin -- the show did seem less organized than 4 years ago (the last time I attended as well). . .

I also noticed a LOT of un-announced stuff happening. . . I am starting to think that was for crowd control -- the crowd was INSANE, but on top of that if there was a line somewhere for something that increased the crowd issue exponentially. . .

And there seemed to be a lot of people just randomly getting in lines. . . I can't tell you how many times I was asked what I was in line for over the weekend. . . Here is one conversation I had:

"What are you in line for"
"Sketches from Tone"
"Who is he"
"A sketch card artist"
"I mean. . . what is he famous for..."
"Mostly sketch cards, I think"
"Well, I mean has he worked on any comics?"
"Uhh. . . Violent Messiahs or something, I think"
Then they turned and walked away.

It was very odd to me that people were just randomly trying to get into really long lines (that line -- from the end was about 2 hours long).

Any way. . . More reports later -- when I get back from SD.

Jon

I agree with Jon about there being more unannounced signings than before. I don't think that Warners announced much of anything before hand but they had all kinds of cool signings at their booth (B5, Smallville, Supernatural...). Same thing at the Weinstein booth with the Grindhouse related signings. If you didn't take time to talk to people at the various booths you missed out on a lot of cool stuff.
Thanks to everyone who posted pictures, I never bring my camera because I know that I can go on-line after the fact to see the great photos everyone else took.
Laura

Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher in Star Trek TNG and a really good blogger and author!) was at ComicCon and reports on it on his BLOG (note, some VERY strong language in places)

Thanks to all who have posted here so far - enjoying the reports! One question - I notice there were lots of signings at the Inkworks stand - how does that work? Do you have to pay for an autograph, or make a purchase from the stand?
One day...
Au Res.,
Paul

Awww, Paul....you forget. This is Uncle Allan we're talking about! No purchase necessary to get either an autograph or something to be autographed. The only stipulation is that you get a ticket (also free!) for any autograph session. That way, they can control the number of people at any particular signing.

Inkworks was very good about announcing when tickets would be available and also when the autograph sessions would happen. They made each autograph session fun and enjoyable.

Here is my day by day account, as best as I can remember:

Preview Night: Went to Artbox first, and got one of the Harry Potter bags. Then I went and walked through the dealer aisles, but didn't find much. There were only about 6 trading card dealers, so that was a bit of a letdown. Got the Marvel Masterpieces preview set, and went over to artist's alley and got a sketchbook from Katie Cook and she did a cool Zatanna sketch on the cover for me. Picked up the NSU Buffy exclusive, and it was time to go. Saw a number of members, Pendragon, Kennywood, TWS, Graham, Thush, Harris, Roxanne, and Marlin, and Todd. Met up with Cverdec and Big Kitty at DW's at the Marriott Marina for some food,grog and mirth with Harris, Todd, Thush, and Graham. It was good start to the con!

Thursday:
Got a sketch card from the Inkworks booth, two more Harry Potter bags from Artbox, an Hasbro Manbat action figure, visited artist's alley and arranged for commissions from Chris Moreno and John Watkins-Chow, picked up some stuff for friends, and did lunch at Hooter's with Harris, Todd, Paul Hart, and some other CT members. Collected all the promos for that day from NBC (Heroes), Topps, Artbox, Upper Deck, RA, and Inkworks. Got some LOTR Masterpieces boxes, a Family Guy season 2 box, and a Buffy 10th box to open back at the room after dinner at the Rock Bottom. Needed to rest up for Friday's breakfast!

Friday: Breakfast at Buster's for the NSU meeting was good, nice place, a bunch of freebies at the collector table, and some nice auction items, and some interesting presentations by UD, Inkworks, and Topps. The food was good and the Breakfast was well attended. I felt bad for the guy from Topps, he's good guy and this was the second year that people got on him for the sticker autos. While I understand why people are frustrated, better to go ask him at the booth then at the breakfast, I just don't think that is the place for that kind of stuff. Topps donated a lot of nice prizes for the raffle, UD gave out full sets of Marvel Masterpieces promos to all members, and Inkworks gave out DVD sets for Charmed, Ghost Whisperer, and 4400. Pretty cool, as I was in Best Buy tonight and the Ghost Whisperer DVD that I got was priced at $49.95! On to the show, got a Batmobile exclusive from Mattel, Justice League exclusive action figures from Mattel, and another Buffy 10th and a Family Guy 2 box for later that night. Had lunch with the Headless Horseman's calmer brother, and had dinner at the Hard Rock with Harris, Todd, Thush, and Graham, and did some "shorts"! Thanks, Graham!

Saturday: Generally, I thought today would be a washout, as Saturday is usually a horror show with all the people. It was probably the best day of the con for me, I got to do just about everything a I wanted to, got an auto from Jennifer Love Hewitt, got my picture taken with Kristen Bell, who was really nice and very good looking, picked up all kinds of promos including the rumored Buffy set from Dark Horse, got some sketches from Brian Kong, got a cool Lois as Invisable Woman done by Tone at the Inkworks sketch session, more Family Guy, Buffy and LOTR boxes, won a Heroes exclusive autograph card of Peter at Topps (yeah!) and stayed to until closing at 7.

Sunday: A lot more crowed than I thought it would be, did some last day shopping, got as many promos as I could as many of the booths were starting to just put out everything they left, and got an auto ticket for the Jericho actors. Won the Artbox lottery to purchase one of the Deatheater costume sets, I had to meet up with Chris Moreno to get a commission done, but that didn't happen until after 3 so when I got to the Inkworks booth they had stopped letting people get in line for Jericho, but I would much rather have had the commission done so I didn't feel too badly. I also got a sketchbook from Otis Frampton and he did a cool Batman sketch for me in the sketchbook. Inkworks did a fantastic job with all the activity they had at their booth all weekend. No vendor does it better at Comic Con.

Had a great trip, it went by quickly but I was pretty much shot by the end, my feet were blistered and sore, but I'm ready to do it again next year! Now is the time to start planning!

Hey there Mr Bat, sounds like you had a fantastic time.

I have been sitting here trying to work out from your post how much money you spent in total for your trip.

I had to stop as i got scared.

What did you get from your box of Buffy 10th?

Thanks for all the reports!

Batman, how did you manage to get all of that stuff home? The Artbox totes alone weigh a ton.

I had to ship all the binders and toys home. Fortunately, the Post Office is right next to the Westin Horton, where I was staying. I also broke all the boxes I brought, and the commons were donated to whoever wanted them. I also brought an empty suitcase with me, knowing there would be a lot of stuff to bring home!

quote:

Originally posted by Batman:
I had to ship all the binders and toys home. Fortunately, the Post Office is right next to the Westin Horton, where I was staying. I also broke all the boxes I brought, and the commons were donated to whoever wanted them. I also brought an empty suitcase with me, knowing there would be a lot of stuff to bring home!

Ah yes, the good old Horton Plaza post office. That's helped me out many times in the past. I generally pack extra empty tote bags in my luggage and try to bring a broken down Diamond Comics box or two in case I need to ship anything. They're very sturdy!

-Bob-

The discussion in the Death Trek 2007 thread about Bob Evans & Big Boy restaurants reminded me that there was someone walking around Comic-Con dressed as the Frisch's Big Boy...complete with platter and (fake) burgers! Lol I wish I could have taken a picture, but I was in line at Inkworks when I saw him.

quote:

Originally posted by jon@webjon.com:
I have to agree with Kevin -- the show did seem less organized than 4 years ago (the last time I attended as well). . .

I also noticed a LOT of un-announced stuff happening. . . I am starting to think that was for crowd control -- the crowd was INSANE, but on top of that if there was a line somewhere for something that increased the crowd issue exponentially. . .

And there seemed to be a lot of people just randomly getting in lines. . . I can't tell you how many times I was asked what I was in line for over the weekend. . . Here is one conversation I had:

"What are you in line for"
"Sketches from Tone"
"Who is he"
"A sketch card artist"
"I mean. . . what is he famous for..."
"Mostly sketch cards, I think"
"Well, I mean has he worked on any comics?"
"Uhh. . . Violent Messiahs or something, I think"
Then they turned and walked away.

It was very odd to me that people were just randomly trying to get into really long lines (that line -- from the end was about 2 hours long).

Any way. . . More reports later -- when I get back from SD.

Jon

Jon,
Thats the thing about big cons in general, SD in particular. Theres a lot of people who are there for free stuff.
They then run home & put it on ebay as fast as they can. They have no idea who or what the stuff really is.
This has led to many artists no longer doing free sketches. They love doing them for their fans, but are tired of seeing stuff they gave away during the day sell for gig $$ that night with them not seeing a single penny.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeFitz:
I was fortunate to see the ComicCon trailer on YouTube before it was taken down for coyright infringement by Paramount.
It looks pretty cool!
They showed Tony Stark being injured - getting the chestplate to keep him alive - developing and using the first grey suit - and it looked like he was test flying the red and gold suit with some fighter jets.
Robert Downey Jr. looks like a spot on Tony Stark.
I think Iron Man fans will be pleased.

Thanks, everything I've read leads me to think the movie has been done the right way. I wish I could have seen that trailer, I'll take what ever I can get.

Bryan.......interesting.......

My wife and I had a lot of fun. We got to meet Nicolas Cage and his son Weston and they were both great . We got into both Stargate signings and My wife was so jazzed SG-1 is her favorite show. She got into the signings for Blade Runner and 30 Days of Night so I got to tease her about having to look at Josh Hartnett who she said was very nice
I had to settle for meeting Rosario Dawson I know Life's Rough. She is so sweet and I got a really nice picture with her.I got a ticket for the Supernatural signing which Jensen Ackles was there for and the wife got to meet Kevin Bacon. Again she was very happy.Some of the other people we met were George A Romero,Kane Hodder,Danielle Harris,Tobin Bell,Sydney Poitier,Richard Hatch,Jenna Jameson,Laurel K Hamilton and Michael Madsen. We had a blast with very little disappointment. We did get some of the Harry Potter bags and we pulled a exclusive Ginny auto and the 9 card 3-D promo set and a 10 case memorable moments incentive card out of three bags. I did do some trading and I picked up a Veronice Mars season 2 Kristen Bell auto, a 6 case incentive Roger Moore auto, Gina Torres and Adam Baldwin autos which finished my Firefly set and I got the cream of the crop for Harry Potter prop cards. The 25 case incentive Harry Potter wand card numbered 16/28. I was very happy with those trades.
Take Care Everyone.

Oh Batman - don't forget another box of LOTR masterpieces. Ahhhh. a man after my own heart.

That was a fantastic report, I think we all wish we had been there. You could feel the hustle and bustle of the place, you almost felt as if you were there!!