Category: Miscellaneous

Day Four

October 12, 2014

Today was the final day of the con. We had about five hours to fill before we’d have to leave for our train. So fill them we did!

That’s my usual ’empty con floor shot taken before the doors open from the VIP room’. Twenty minutes later it would be hell 🙂

So as mentioned my #1 goal today was to get an autograph from esteemed thespian Patrick Stewart, arguably best-known for his performance of Gurney Halleck in Dune. I’d made all sorts of boastful claims to a certain person that I could get his autograph for them and by Jove I was going to get it!

Then he canceled yesterday. No worries, I said, there’s always tomorrow!

And then he canceled today as well…

To paraphrase KLS: “The only possible excuse for this sleight of his fans was if the next thing I read about him was his obituary! Either way, he’s dead to me!”

I hastily put ‘Plan B’ into action, and joined the line for an autograph from John de Lancie, arguably best known for his unforgettable portrayal of ‘Fish Halman’ in Crank 2. The certain person who shall remain nameless (cough, bear, cough) had recently waxed lyrical about the sensuality of de Lancie and I knew she needed his mark 🙂

At the risk of spoiling a gift, let’s end there for now…

Oh btw here’s a stealth shot I took while waiting (seemingly forever!) in line. I got neither of these guys autographs, but almost wish I had!

That’s Riker and Data, both in civilian attire. Riker was quite a fellow!

And what of the remainder of our final day at NYCC? Well we spent much of it shopping and looking at countless booths and just enjoying the spectacle of it all. Even though we’d spent dozens of hours already, the size of the con means there’s always something new to see!

Such as more retro toys:

More cosplayers:

Nifty Star Trek jewelry (the saucer section detaches!):

A comic vendor with a sense of humour:

Some nifty figure prototypes:

And even fine art:

As with all good things though the four days of madness had to eventually end and we waved goodbye once again.

After a quick lunch in a city deli…

…we were on our train back to Albany. Which is where I am right now as I type this.

Thanks for the fun NYCC; see you in 2015!

Day Three

October 11, 2014

Today is KLS’s birthday! What better way to spend it than in endless lines at comic con? 🙂

It was raining this morning when we set out just before 9. Not remarkable in itself, but we couldn’t remember it ever raining during a con before. Luckily we were prepared, and even better because of our VIP tickets we were able to check out umbrellas and not cart them around all day.

I had grand plans! I was going to get Patrick Stewart’s autograph today for a certain someone, so we rushed down to the autograph area as soon as the doors opened. However it turns out he canceled, and apparently ended up not making the con at all today:

I hope he is there tomorrow!

We attended three panels during our very long day. The first was Monster Hunter 4U, which featured the Japanese producer and made the game look awesome. As if I wasn’t going to buy it!

The second was a Star Wars Rebels panel featuring the voice actress for Hera. The first half of the panel was dreadfully boring, but then they played an entire episode that won’t screen for a few weeks which was cool.

The last panel was actually a Cosplay contest preceded by a cirque de soleil performance. This ran until 10pm, which meant we didn’t get back to our hotel until over 13 hours since we’d left. Yes we’re very tired! The Cosplay contest was great though, and the average quality was breathtaking!

That’s one of the competitors doing Wonder Woman. She was pretty 🙂

So what else today? Well of course we saw other (non-competing) cosplayers:

We saw more retro toys:

Many wonderful and expensive figurines:

And I made another friend:

And yes many things were purchased. Maybe I’ll detail the swag when I get home…

Since so much time was spent sitting in lines or panels today, I harvested many 3DS street passes:

I’ve gotten well over 200 so far since Thursday, including from several overseas guests. Even from quite distant shores:

And about 90%+ all have Smash Bros as their most recent game.

Tomorrow is the final day. Even though we’ve spent about 25 hours at the con so far, there’s still a lot to do. For starters, I haven’t looked at comics yet! Plus I want Mr Stewart’s autograph.

But right now I’m ruined and need sleep badly. Goodnight everyone…

Day Two

October 10, 2014

Here’s me at breakfast, after a shockingly small amount of sleep no doubt due to drinking 1.2 L of Mt Dew just before bed. As I’m doing now. Anyway I woke tired, or would have ‘woke’ had I slept. Do I look tired in this pic?

We got to the con a bit before opening. Our tickets let us skip the long lines and also allow us to use a VIP area on a level above the main showroom. Here’s what the con looked like before they let people in today:

And here’s a bit later on:

Needless to say, if you don’t like crowds this isn’t the place for you!

Today we spent about 7.5 hours at the show. We would have stayed longer had we not been turned away from the only panel today that we wanted to attend. Apparently lining up for half an hour wasn’t even close to early enough since the room filled. Tomorrow we have at least three panels we’re interested in; I suppose we’ll have to line up well in advance!

So what did we see today?

How about some more Cosplay:

Some artists working large pieces on the show floor:

All sorts of crazy things to buy, such as this Yoda Christmas light:

More vintage collectibles:

And even more bizarre retro toys:

Martian Chronicles figures?!?!?

Oh yeah and I found a cute cat girl:

Once again we bought many items today, both old and new. However KLS won’t let me look at comics (much) yet (“That’s for Sunday!”) so I haven’t bought any yet. Don’t worry though, I will 😉

Tomorrow is the big one. If all goes well we’ll be at the con from 10 until 10:30. That’s just crazy. But it promises to be a crazy day…

Robot Claw