Well, Tidewater Comicon has ended for the year. And it seemed busier and fuller than last year's event!
I was there at the Rebel Legion table again this year (leave a comment if you happened to stop by!). We had a ton of people come by and talk with us, as well as with the 501st Legion. We are typically paired up together at most events.
My blaster seemed to be a big hit with the kids. Most of them that had it in their picture took it and immediately got into a "badass" stance in front of our backdrop. The kids just know what they are doing...sometimes, the adults, not so much. They sometimes have to be prompted. :)
There was only one couple that surprised me. They stopped by with two little kids, maybe 1 year and 4 years old. The older of the two wanted his picture taken with my lightsaber. The younger kid was being held by his dad, and I realized he was too young to be able to hold my saber. In all honesty, I didn't want him dropping it, because it was too heavy for his little hands. So I put the blaster into his hands because it's so much lighter.
Mom just about freaked out! She whisper yelled at me, "Oh, no no no...NO GUNS!" She whipped it out of his little hands faster than you could say "smelly tauntaun" and they took off down the aisle.
Really, Mom? If you don't want your kids to be exposed to "weapons," when what are you doing at a comicon? And why did you stop at a Star Wars table? There were people walking around with guns, blasters, swords, and Deadpool's with katanas as far as the eye can see.
On Saturday, I went to Ernie Hudson's Q & A panel. I also went to get a picture with him afterwards. He comes across as the nicest, most genuine guy you could ever meet. Fun fact: out of all the celebrities and artists there at the con, Ernie always had the longest line of fans, waiting to meet him.
I always like Winston Zeddmore in Ghostbusters because he was just a regular dude, looking for a job, and he ends up working with, and holding his own, with three kind of out there scientists. Winston is everyman, and he's got the best line in the movie.
I met, and bought an autographed print from, Arthur Suydam. He painted the Marvel Zombies graphic novel series, so I bought a print of a zombified Spidey. I'm going to have to frame that one for my crafting room.
And among all the crowds of people, I actually saw two people I know (one was the medical director of the hospice I used to work at, and the other was my neighbor), but didn't see the family of people I was actually looking for. :)
The costumes of the attendees were also on point something SERIOUS this year. There were some impressive showings, and I was chasing people down for photos!
| Major geek points from me for picking this version of the Joker, from Batman 1989. "Hello, Vinny. It's your Uncle Bingo. Time to pay the check!" With her color palette, she almost looks like she's in a black and white photo! |
| This young Deadpool wanted me to know that she isn't really blind in real life. :) She just looked at him and said, "Really? You had to tell her that? I think she knows that." :) |
| I am not going to lie. I chased this man down to get a picture with him, and then handed my camera off to a slightly confused looking elf or something to take said picture. And it was hot and sweaty in that hall, but it was worth it. :) |
| I busted out laughing pretty hard when I saw Louis Tully here. One of his daughters was nice enough to make sure he turned around for me to talk to him. He said he made that hat about three years ago, because everyone had been telling him how much he looks like Rick Moranis. I thought this was brilliant! |
| Bob and Louise Belcher from "Bob's Burgers." I think Louise there appreciated my compliment on her bunny ears. :) |
| Kylo Ren (this guy looked better than any other Kylo!) and Matt the Radar Technician, who I believe is actually a member of the 501st Legion. |
| Kip, from Napoleon Dynamite. "Well, things are getting pretty serious right now. I mean, we chat online for, like, two hours every day so I guess you could say things are gettin' pretty serious."He did tell me that he's working on a Luke costume from Episode 6, Return of the Jedi, because he wants to join the Rebel Legion. :) |
| Oogie Boogie from A Nightmare Before Christmas was giving out handfuls of rubber worms. |
| And a life long wish has been fulfilled...I got to meet R2-D2! His builder is a member of the Droid Builders and it took him two years to build this little guy. I had heard from another exhibitor that he was staying in the hotel next door, so I was on the lookout for him. :) His builder was running R2 around with a wireless Playstation-looking controller, and the sounds were just fantastic! He said he had just dropped in a new sound system. |
And just two more pictures to cap off the weekend...the steampunk group from Ravencon was back at this con too. They had their TARDIS and there was a second, more traditional TARDIS, on the other side of the hall. However, I'd heard through the nerd grapevine that the second TARDIS was locked. This group actually remembered me, and they were a little surprised when I didn't get a picture taken in their TARDIS last month. I said I had wanted to, but there was a baby sleeping inside of it and I didn't want to disturb the Doctor as he was regenerating. :) But this time, I was able to get my TARDIS picture!
| The only bummer about this picture is that I thought they got the light on top of the TARDIS in the picture too. It looks different from the traditional TARDIS. I wanted my picture taken like I'm stepping out of the TARDIS on some strange planet. |
| And a little Photoshopping later (with a traditional top added to the TARDIS), here I am on Dagobah. Funny, this doesn't look like Tatooine! I wonder if I had the parking break on again. |
I found some friends who where volunteering at the con and asked them where the other cars where. The owner of the four scheduled cars was either sick or injured from the previous week (possibly from an accident while he was driving the '66) and was in the hospital. He's expected to return next year (along with John Wesley Shipp, who I wanted to see), but as an almost last minute replacement, the con staff found another '66 and the Jeep to display instead.
