Category: Miscellaneous

There was a very lonely fellow at the con selling trading cards. Needless to say, I perused his selection with some interest and eagerly snapped up a pack of these:

You may recall I watched the entire series over the summer, enjoying it quite a bit. The card set is from the 1979 film, and I recall buying many packs in my youth, treasuring the cards depicting space battles!

Here’s a shot of the back, so you can marvel at the date and the fact the pack remains wax-sealed after 34 years:

An ‘unboxing’ shot of the freshly opened pack:

Here’s the stick of gum. I took a bite, which was a bad idea. Don’t eat gum more than 30 years old!

The best card in the pack, front and back:

I also got a sticker!

And some of my beloved-as-a-kid space battles:

Overall, a great pack with a good selection of cards. Here’s the full selection, and if you need any of these to complete your collection just let me know 🙂

You may wonder what I do with these cards after I open them? Well…

Based on feedback, the shirt I wore to the con Saturday seems to have been a hit 🙂

I originally tweeted the image from Japan; specifically from a KFC in Asakusa. It was the result of using the ‘beauty mode’ of my digital camera on a shot of Bernard. No other effects were used, and the result was hilarious and priceless!

A couple of weeks ago I had the idea of printing it into a shirt and wearing it to the con. I had this done at a shop in the mall. It only took about 15 minutes and cost $25. The image quality is high, but I don’t think it will survive many washes 🙂

The whole shtick was premeditated, including posting the images without referring to the shirt. I told Colin Baker it was my brother on the shirt and he pointed without me asking!

I noticed many. many people glancing at the shirt, both at the con and on the NY streets. It certainly stood out amidst the sea of Star Wars and superhero shirts!

The funniest reaction was from cosplayer Monica Lee (who was on Heroes of Cosplay). When I walked up to her she actually raised her hands and gave a little shriek! “Your shirt!”, she said. When I explained it was my brother, she said it was scary!

All told, a great success and I’m glad I made it.

The shirt is now in storage, and will remain there for the foreseeable future. Will it ever again see the light of day? Time will tell..,

That’s She-Hulk assaulting one of New Yorks finest. Not a cosplayer, an actual cop! His partner was snapping a photo on his iPhone. Only at day four of NYCC!

Same old schedule: we got up early, got to Javits center when it opens, and had fun at the con!

Today was the first day KLS finally allowed me to actually buy some comics! Despite the size, NYCC still has a large comics presence with many vendors, and I can (and have!) spent hours browsing. This bores KLS to death, so we split up this morning and I spent an hour or so – and a grand total of $5.50 – buying a pile of 25-year-old comics 🙂

Today was also the one and only day Patrick Stewart was at the con. I received a late request for an autograph (from SFL) and to be honest was looking forward to ‘meeting’ him (and wouldn’t have lined up just for myself) but when I went downstairs I was told the line was by ticket only (and the tickets had been presold). Even then the line was enormous and it was hard to believe he could sign for so many in only two hours. Sorry Florry, I tried!

Here’s a random crowd shot from today:

Mid morning we ducked into the end of a Q&A by the guy who played Ianto in Torchwood, since the same room would be used for a William Shatner Q&A afterwards. When it was about to start, the lights dimmed, Star Wars music played (?) and this guy walked in:

OMG it’s Anthony Daniels or C-3PO himself. He then proceeded to tell jokes and stories about himself and Star Wars and 3PO for an hour, absolutely charming the audience in the process. A very funny man, and I look forward to seeing him in Episode 7 🙂

And what about Shatner you ask? No idea. Clearly they moved or canceled his Q&A, but why we don’t know.

Afterwards we rushed over to another panel, this time in the biggest room they have. It was a Big Finish panel celebrating Doctor Who and it drew a massive audience:

Nick Briggs and Colin Baker did a fine job entertaining a mostly young female audience with their anecdotes and opinions on all things Who. Great stuff!

And then, since we had a train to catch, this…

And so the con ends for another year.

After four days we feel like we’ve been running a marathon over and over, but there’s really nothing like the mix of celebrity, fandom and shopping that we see at NYCC and that’s what keeps us coming back year after year.

Hopefully in some small way I conveyed why we enjoy the experience as much as we do. If you’re ever in NY when it’s on, I think you’d probably enjoy it as well 🙂