The San Diego Comic Con 2012 Report- Wednesday
Hey gang,
So another year, another Comic Con down. As always it was crowded, jumbled, hectic, crazy, long lines, aching feet inducing, fan mingling and cosplay filed galore.
Crowds at the Con
More pics
PRECON PREP
Things were a little screwier than normal with us as they had us get our Hotel Room in April (back in Hotel Circle at the Courtyard Marriott) *before* our pro Passes were approved in May let alone open to register. Crazy Stuff - not a fan of that and I hear this will happen again next year to which I say- "Inconceivable!"
The original 60's Avengers- Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg
Once all that drama was settled though we turned our attention to what new costumes we wanted to do. Initially i wanted to take it easy and just bust out the old favorites... but then I hit on the idea of something we'd had on our back burner for a few years now: The Avengers! No, not Marvel's Cinematic/Comic book juggernaut Avengers- nooooo. John Steed and Emma peel- British 60's Secret Agents Extraordinaire - The OTHER Avengers!
Diana Rigg as the timelessly cool Emma Peel
I could tell cosplaying as Emma Peel really lit my GF's Teri's fire and I have a weakness for 60''s formal wear so it gave me a reason to go suit and accessories shopping. We started a steady diet of re-watching a lot of Avengers episodes, concentrating on the color pop look of Series 5. After reviewing the many iconic variations on the 'Emmapeeler' we decided on the pink/blue catsuit worn primarily in the episode 'The Winged Avenger.' Eee-Urp!
Britex Fabric Choices for the catsuit
Cobalt Blue long metal zipper with 1" ring pulls.
Mr. Peel sleek stretch ankle boots picked from Payless Shoes also arrived.
The original peelers were made from Crimplene material- essentially a thick polyester fabric now more or less out of fashion for more modern polyesters. So we checked around for various stretch knit fabrics in wool, cotton, poly and rayon and ended up with a Cotton/Lycra and Rayon/lycra (which both felt amazingly similar in feel and weight) fabrics that we picked up at good ol' trusty Britex fabrics! They were so happy to have contributed to the Emma Peel Project they even blogged about us!
http://www.britexfabrics.com/blog/2012/07/18/emma-peel-catsuit-by-britex-fabrics/
With the Rayon/Lyrca and Cotton/lycra fabric sin hand, we then adapted our existing catsuit pattern devised by Vickie/flibbertyjibbetz for Zoe Herriot which worked very well for this. We then spent a lot of hair pulling time on finding the right sized/thickness belt ring, the right zipper (or rather the right groovy 60's ring pull for the zipper) and managed to luck out on ebay as well as a couple of zipper outlets. Finally Teri got a cheap pair of boots that resembled Emma's form Payless Shoes on sale - though these would eventually have to be covered or painted to match the suit.
We handed all of this off to my Seamstress Karyn who was honored to be doing an Emma Peel costume as this was one of her favorite shows. Even the Britex folks upon learning what the fabric was to be used for wanted pictures of the finished product. Good to know the love is still out there for calculatingly cool Mrs. Peel.
The Steed Suit I bought from ebay.
Got a shirt from the men's wearhous with spread collar and french cuffs. For the satin blue Tie from It's a Wrap for next to nothing.
While work on the Peeler commenced I spent ages trying to find the right suit for Steed. I aimed mainly for a Series 5 look - preferably as seen in the opening title sequence. I didn't quite have the budget to have one made, and I wanted the extra thrill of getting a real vintage suit. I hunted every vintage/thrift outlet in town I could coming up mostly empty hough I ran across some cool shops and a couple of nice "Mad Men" Style suits that fits me I'll have to try and go back for. I did score a good satin navy tie at It's a Wrap but that was all. I checked ebay, etsy and several online outlets for weeks and was giving up hope. Finding a three iece, blue or grey suit in a 42 that's 60's British Mod was proving impossible... or rather improbable. Finally getting creative I lucked out finding a suit that fit my measurements but was listed as a 40R. Deep blue, authentic british, late 60's mod, three peice, high stance - it was prefect save for the fact it didn't have pinstripes but a small sacrifice and a steal at $200 with shipping.
Christy's Bowler hat in from the UK- fits if a bit snug.
Also got vintage 60's cufflinks.
Got a vintage diamond tie pin from the UK.
With the Suit secured, I scored a Bowler from an ebay seller in the UK. The signature whangee/bamboo handled umbrella from the James Smith- the same maker who produced them for the series, some vintage 60's cufflinks, a faux diamond tie pin, a dozen fake red carnations, a french cuffed/spread collar dress shirt, (a recycled vintage watch courtesy of my 11th Doctor costume), and a vintage size 12 pair of black chelsea (elastic) boots! I was starting to feel the Steed dapper come over me.
my James Smith Whangee Umbrella
My chelsea ankle boots I picked up from an ebay seller.
Fake Red Carnations for the lapel. I re-enforced the stem with some superglue.
My only real hitch was when the bowler arrived I found it to be very snug. Almost too tight and I knew after an hour on the con floor I'd have headaches - literally. So despite having spent my budget, I re-worked some expenses and scrounged the money to give the Bowler hat one more go and I did it right. I got a British vintage 60's Bowler (in a lot of two actually) from ebay- and this time they were authentic Herbert Johnson's (again the same makers who made Macnee's Hats in the series) AND even better they both fit me like a glove... that extra cm makes all the difference. So yeah at some point I may sell on my spare 58 and 59 cm (about 7 1/4 - 7 3/8 US) sized bowlers for Steed and 11th Doctor (Series 7) cosplayers out there!
New Herbert Johnson replacement Bowler Hat
Trying on the Whole Steed ensemble first time.
I handed my new suit off to Karyn to have some adjustments made - the trousers let out and the vest backing redone (and the crucial lapel hole/notch added!) so soon it fit me well. In the meantime, Teri's Emma peeler began life as a test snakeskin suit to test the pattern and fit. Definately wild- and very 'Evil' Emma! Teri liked it so she kept it after the fittings! Finally the Emma peeler was ready and it looked crime fighting worthy! After a few nips and tucks we got it fittings really nice. Eat your heart out Diana Rigg.
Emma Peel in Snakeskin- the pattern mock-up.
Finished Emma Peeler
First true peeler fitting
Between fittings we went to trusty Wig outfitters and found a good Emma Peel wig for color (mid Auburn) which we then had styled to do the Series 5 'side sweep' look. After looking at it though we realized it was a mistake and iconic Emma was the purely swept back look with a milder flip on the ends so we had this re-styled a couple of weeks later to reflect this and we felt it came out much better.
Emma Wig- Pre-styling
First try at the Emma Wig styling - A little too 'shaped' and Series 4 for our liking.
Emma Wig Styling take 2
FYI for other Emmas out there this was the Wig America Brand. Mona Lisa collection. "Cassie" style or No. 1413 in color 30- Mid Auburn.
The last step- both figuratively and literally - was to have the boots covered. Our mutual friend Kelly Delcambre from the Big Wow Convention came through for us and using a lot of the spare fabric custom covered the boots with strong adhesive. He did a fab job and in the nick of time these were ready to rock and roll and do some high flying Kung Fu kicks!
Boots finally covered to match
Final Emma Fitting with nips/tucks for better fit.
The crowning touch was taking a screengrab of one of the "Mrs. Peel We're needed!" signs, blowing it up and recreating it in photoshop (thanks to Teri's skills) to print a few of our own customs cards and signs to have as a prop at the con. Again only the fans would get it but it was a fun extra to have.
Mrs. Peel We're Needed Sign
We were off to solve some extraordinary crimes against the people and the state!
While we toiled on the Avengers, Vickie had to sadly abandon work on her Eldrad costume (again postponed to Gally '13) to focus on Scott's latest costume (which had been on the burner for over 5 years) of the classic - The Lone Ranger! Not just any Lone Ranger but the 50's Clayton Moore version. The Hat was purchased years back from Baron Hats but most of the rest remained in limbo until the moons liagned and everything fell into place. Vickie came though big time in working out the suit pattern from scratch, while Scott worked out (and got lucky with some finds) on the mask, gloves, boots and most importantly the gunbelt.
Lone Ranger - Photos by Vickie Sebring
With our heroic hats in hand, off we went to San Diego!
WEDNESDAY PREVIEW NIGHT
We got down to San Diego and checked in around 1PM. Our roommates had worked a little press magic and gotten us free parking which was a big relief on the wallet. We got a cart and loaded everything into the room which was nice and spacious. We even got a mini fridge, yay for small mercies.
Jabba on the Barge (sadly we never saw this again the rest of the weekend)
After settling in, we grabbed some extra bags and gear and headed down to the con center. I had prepaid for a parking pass next door to the center for Wed only purely so I could easy drive out a lot of merchandise. So we parked and briefly checked out the cool Hilton/Con park line up of classic Batmobiles (60's through the Tumbler) on display. Sadly we never got too close look at these as we just lost track of time for the rest of the con! Next door at the Stadium they were were doing Walking Dead Zombie Survival runs which cost $75 to do or $15 to watch. We never got over there to check it out but it looked like grusome fun base don the photos I've seen.
http://static.zooomr.com/images/10229698_1039ce5182.jpg
Batcave of Batmobiles
Close on the 89 Batmobile
Close on the Tumbler
Close on the '66 Batmobile
The pro badge line went fast and smooth and was no real hassles. We ran into our friend ben who previously had been our Spock and 3rd doctor in 2007-2010 who seemed to be on the mend health wise and in good spirits. We caught up but sadly never had time to have a quiet sit down.
The engineer from Prometheus - beautiful work though so good we assumed they'd been hired by the studio for promotion and were not just eager fans.
Line for the badges
Early Lines for Hall H panels
We eventually caught up with CJ (ceejay10), Scott and Vickie. We stopped for food in the Gaslamp and then checked out a few of the spots being prepped for promos and parties like the Youtube spot, Nerd HQ, The Jabba the Hut and the Archer Cafe. Honestly there was a LOT going on in the Gaslamp this year- most of which I sadly missed but by most evening we were fairly wiped in in a zone of food and relaxation. Though I hear several of the meets ups and live podcasts and parties were all really awesome and worth checking out if you got in.
Abraham lincoln Vampire Hunter
The Crowd masses to get inside
Finally back at the con. Very little Cosplay on Wednesday- but that's to be expected with the crazy shopping for exclusives going on. We got in the doors about 20 minutes past Six. Already ai saw a flurry of people lining up at Mattel and Hasbro and proudly walking away with Avengers toy helicarriers, He-Mans and swag shirts. I did a loop around with Teri to spot areas worth going to in costume. The Marvel booth was promoting Iron man 3 with a row of armors (this booth proved to be WAY too packed to ever get up on stage though), Roddenberry.com sported a TOS Captain's Chair, Walking Dead (AMC) had a nice photo set up with Michonne and zombies, The neighbors had a fun UFO set up, KITT from Knight Rider was on display at Mattel, MGM had a Bond 50 celebration with a new Bond vehicle on display every day- Wed/Thu was the Q Spy Boat from the teaser to The World is Not Enough.
Man of Steel Costume on display at the WB Booth - Still not a fan of this look
WB booth
AMC Walking Dead Booth
IDW Booth
Marvel Booth/Iron Man 3 Display
Sideshow booth
Sideshow Large '66 Batmobile
Sideshow Avengers
Sideshow Dark Knight
We wound our way to the back and made our hellos to dan of Dan Bois Graphics. He almost opted out of our annual Star Trek walk around but he was quickly talked back into it - he even had the moustache to be a TMP Scotty now- come on!
Nikelodeon
WETA Booth
Dark Knight Rises BatPod/Bat Cycle
Total Recall '12 Flying Car
DC had slimmed down from previous years- gone were the central cases showcasing action figures, busts and statues. Now it was very open with interactive tablets showing off digital comics, MAD art on the wall, a photo area to get your picture on a Justice League Cover and a few side tables for signing artists and so on.
DC booth
DC Booth Arrow Costume
DC booth Watchmen costume
DC Fan photos on the JLA Cover
DC booth Wall of MAD art
I finally went on my major spending which was to buy a large handful of the Dr. Who exclusive figure- the Churchill/Dalek Victory of the Daleks Set. Sadly No Classic Exclusives/Premieres this year! Bummer! I also scored a 60's TARDIS bobble from EE - though that line was pretty insane and took up most of the wait. I guess the my Little Pony thing had really taken off and that was what most people were there for! We met a couple of cool girls in line with us proclaiming their love for Dr. Who and later turned out to be dressed as a Femme Four and Femme Five later on.
Underground Toys Booth and merchandise
Who-Wise - Diamond had the new 12 inch cloth costumed 11th doctor and Amy Pond dolls on display which looked nice and will retail for $200 each. That also had an Anime style 10th Doctor statue that should go on sale for about $80 in the fall. There was an exclusive Matt Smith maxi-bust variant there with him holding a Jammie Dodger instead of the sonic which was cute. UGT pimped thier usual figures and plushies. IDW was pushing the 11th doctor/TNG crossover heard and now i hear the Doctor will soon meet The mighty Thor in marvel comics!!!
Diamond Star Trek TOS Devil in the Dark Merch
Diamond Select Uber Cool Large Scale 007 Aston Martin DB5
Diamond Select Dr. Who Monopoly- Display Box only sadly
Diamond Select- Dr. Who minis
Diamond Select 10th Doctor Anime Statue
Diamond Select 11th Doctor and Amy dolls
EE had thier dolls and bobbles on display. the TARDIS lunchbox and thermos was a hot item and the K9 and Tom Baker Bobbles were tempting.
EE Six Million Dollar Man merchandise
Entertainment Earth Dr. Who merchandise
Entertainment Earth Twilight Zone Merchandise
Finally BBC was... well kinda disappointing. They had a screen showing trailers and Producer caroline Skinner was planned to do a signing later on in the weekend. Merchandise wise though they didn't even bother carrying the Victory of the Daleks set and focused on DVDs/Tshirts/the bobbles and the lunchbox. For Freebies they had foam Dalek hats that didn't really impress me so I passed. They also promoted a 11th Doctor Sonic remote control protoype that I hear was cool.
BBC America Booth
Judge Dredd and Lady Dredd
Factory Entertainment had a nice selection of james Bon replica props, MIB replica Props, Yellow Submarine Merchandise as well as leftover Green hornet merchandise (black Beauty and action figures) from 2011.
Factory Entertainment Beatles Yellow Submarine Merchandise
Factory Entertainment MIB Replicas
Factory Entertainment James Bond Replicas
Speaking of Sonic QMx was back with their Sonic protoypes though the 10th Doctor sonic was nowhere to be seen now. Yet again now news, no release dates and short of the special high end Robotto run, I suspect this product may indeed be DOA. It was also sad to see they did not bring back Rebelscu's fab full 1:1 scale Plice Box. I overheard several disappointed fans around the con on wed/Thu bummed they wouldn't get to see it! In it's place they had a 1:6 scale new Series TARDIS available for eventual product rollout. It was nice but a step down from the cool factor of a real Police Box. On the other hand that had a really nifty Serenity model on display.
QMx Booth
QMx Sonic Prototypes
QMX 1:6 scale TARDIS
QMX Serenity
Profile sin History had some really cool costumes and props on display for thier new Auction. Included were X-Men Wolverine Claws, professor Z chair and Magneto helmet and Claok. Also included were Willy Wonka's costume, chocolate bars, Everlasting Gobstopper and the Golden Ticket. There was a studio model of the Nautelus Submarine from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and of course Superman movie items- Kryptonite shards/chuncks and the Jor-El and Superman costumes themselves which were mighty impressive. Shame they wouldn't let you near them!
Superman - Chris Reeve Costume from the Movie at Profiles in History
Superman III Kryptonite Profiles in History
Superman Kryptonite/Fortress of Solitude Shard
Marlon Brando Jor-El Costume From Superman: The Movie at Profiles in History
Jor-El Flash and No Flash- CRAZY huh?
Wolverine Claws
Professor X Chair
Wolverine jacket
Everlasting Gobstopper
Wonka Chocolate and the Golden ticket
Gene Wilder Willy Wonka Costume at Profiles in History
After I carted my goods to the car, we drove back to the hotel and unloaded. I had less to buy than previous years so this wasn't too bad. We then agreed to meet Scott, Vickie, CJ, Lauren and friends at a late night Sushi place in Old Town near our hotels (Not the Gaslamp). It took ages to get seated but the place was nice and the food decent. I was probably happier with my cold soda than the sushi by this stage but it was good to relax after the hustle & bustle of the crazy con floor!
Teri and I got back to the room around midnight. I packed up all ten toy boxes for shipping and carted them down tot he car- thankful yet again I'd brought my dolly. Once done, i showered and hit the hay - Tomorrow it would be time for some Star trek and Captain Marvel Action!
Will return shortly with the Thursday SDCC Report!
-honorarydoctor
So another year, another Comic Con down. As always it was crowded, jumbled, hectic, crazy, long lines, aching feet inducing, fan mingling and cosplay filed galore.
Crowds at the Con
More pics
PRECON PREP
Things were a little screwier than normal with us as they had us get our Hotel Room in April (back in Hotel Circle at the Courtyard Marriott) *before* our pro Passes were approved in May let alone open to register. Crazy Stuff - not a fan of that and I hear this will happen again next year to which I say- "Inconceivable!"
The original 60's Avengers- Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg
Once all that drama was settled though we turned our attention to what new costumes we wanted to do. Initially i wanted to take it easy and just bust out the old favorites... but then I hit on the idea of something we'd had on our back burner for a few years now: The Avengers! No, not Marvel's Cinematic/Comic book juggernaut Avengers- nooooo. John Steed and Emma peel- British 60's Secret Agents Extraordinaire - The OTHER Avengers!
Diana Rigg as the timelessly cool Emma Peel
I could tell cosplaying as Emma Peel really lit my GF's Teri's fire and I have a weakness for 60''s formal wear so it gave me a reason to go suit and accessories shopping. We started a steady diet of re-watching a lot of Avengers episodes, concentrating on the color pop look of Series 5. After reviewing the many iconic variations on the 'Emmapeeler' we decided on the pink/blue catsuit worn primarily in the episode 'The Winged Avenger.' Eee-Urp!
Britex Fabric Choices for the catsuit
Cobalt Blue long metal zipper with 1" ring pulls.
Mr. Peel sleek stretch ankle boots picked from Payless Shoes also arrived.
The original peelers were made from Crimplene material- essentially a thick polyester fabric now more or less out of fashion for more modern polyesters. So we checked around for various stretch knit fabrics in wool, cotton, poly and rayon and ended up with a Cotton/Lycra and Rayon/lycra (which both felt amazingly similar in feel and weight) fabrics that we picked up at good ol' trusty Britex fabrics! They were so happy to have contributed to the Emma Peel Project they even blogged about us!
http://www.britexfabrics.com/blog/2012/07/18/emma-peel-catsuit-by-britex-fabrics/
With the Rayon/Lyrca and Cotton/lycra fabric sin hand, we then adapted our existing catsuit pattern devised by Vickie/flibbertyjibbetz for Zoe Herriot which worked very well for this. We then spent a lot of hair pulling time on finding the right sized/thickness belt ring, the right zipper (or rather the right groovy 60's ring pull for the zipper) and managed to luck out on ebay as well as a couple of zipper outlets. Finally Teri got a cheap pair of boots that resembled Emma's form Payless Shoes on sale - though these would eventually have to be covered or painted to match the suit.
We handed all of this off to my Seamstress Karyn who was honored to be doing an Emma Peel costume as this was one of her favorite shows. Even the Britex folks upon learning what the fabric was to be used for wanted pictures of the finished product. Good to know the love is still out there for calculatingly cool Mrs. Peel.
The Steed Suit I bought from ebay.
Got a shirt from the men's wearhous with spread collar and french cuffs. For the satin blue Tie from It's a Wrap for next to nothing.
While work on the Peeler commenced I spent ages trying to find the right suit for Steed. I aimed mainly for a Series 5 look - preferably as seen in the opening title sequence. I didn't quite have the budget to have one made, and I wanted the extra thrill of getting a real vintage suit. I hunted every vintage/thrift outlet in town I could coming up mostly empty hough I ran across some cool shops and a couple of nice "Mad Men" Style suits that fits me I'll have to try and go back for. I did score a good satin navy tie at It's a Wrap but that was all. I checked ebay, etsy and several online outlets for weeks and was giving up hope. Finding a three iece, blue or grey suit in a 42 that's 60's British Mod was proving impossible... or rather improbable. Finally getting creative I lucked out finding a suit that fit my measurements but was listed as a 40R. Deep blue, authentic british, late 60's mod, three peice, high stance - it was prefect save for the fact it didn't have pinstripes but a small sacrifice and a steal at $200 with shipping.
Christy's Bowler hat in from the UK- fits if a bit snug.
Also got vintage 60's cufflinks.
Got a vintage diamond tie pin from the UK.
With the Suit secured, I scored a Bowler from an ebay seller in the UK. The signature whangee/bamboo handled umbrella from the James Smith- the same maker who produced them for the series, some vintage 60's cufflinks, a faux diamond tie pin, a dozen fake red carnations, a french cuffed/spread collar dress shirt, (a recycled vintage watch courtesy of my 11th Doctor costume), and a vintage size 12 pair of black chelsea (elastic) boots! I was starting to feel the Steed dapper come over me.
my James Smith Whangee Umbrella
My chelsea ankle boots I picked up from an ebay seller.
Fake Red Carnations for the lapel. I re-enforced the stem with some superglue.
My only real hitch was when the bowler arrived I found it to be very snug. Almost too tight and I knew after an hour on the con floor I'd have headaches - literally. So despite having spent my budget, I re-worked some expenses and scrounged the money to give the Bowler hat one more go and I did it right. I got a British vintage 60's Bowler (in a lot of two actually) from ebay- and this time they were authentic Herbert Johnson's (again the same makers who made Macnee's Hats in the series) AND even better they both fit me like a glove... that extra cm makes all the difference. So yeah at some point I may sell on my spare 58 and 59 cm (about 7 1/4 - 7 3/8 US) sized bowlers for Steed and 11th Doctor (Series 7) cosplayers out there!
New Herbert Johnson replacement Bowler Hat
Trying on the Whole Steed ensemble first time.
I handed my new suit off to Karyn to have some adjustments made - the trousers let out and the vest backing redone (and the crucial lapel hole/notch added!) so soon it fit me well. In the meantime, Teri's Emma peeler began life as a test snakeskin suit to test the pattern and fit. Definately wild- and very 'Evil' Emma! Teri liked it so she kept it after the fittings! Finally the Emma peeler was ready and it looked crime fighting worthy! After a few nips and tucks we got it fittings really nice. Eat your heart out Diana Rigg.
Emma Peel in Snakeskin- the pattern mock-up.
Finished Emma Peeler
First true peeler fitting
Between fittings we went to trusty Wig outfitters and found a good Emma Peel wig for color (mid Auburn) which we then had styled to do the Series 5 'side sweep' look. After looking at it though we realized it was a mistake and iconic Emma was the purely swept back look with a milder flip on the ends so we had this re-styled a couple of weeks later to reflect this and we felt it came out much better.
Emma Wig- Pre-styling
First try at the Emma Wig styling - A little too 'shaped' and Series 4 for our liking.
Emma Wig Styling take 2
FYI for other Emmas out there this was the Wig America Brand. Mona Lisa collection. "Cassie" style or No. 1413 in color 30- Mid Auburn.
The last step- both figuratively and literally - was to have the boots covered. Our mutual friend Kelly Delcambre from the Big Wow Convention came through for us and using a lot of the spare fabric custom covered the boots with strong adhesive. He did a fab job and in the nick of time these were ready to rock and roll and do some high flying Kung Fu kicks!
Boots finally covered to match
Final Emma Fitting with nips/tucks for better fit.
The crowning touch was taking a screengrab of one of the "Mrs. Peel We're needed!" signs, blowing it up and recreating it in photoshop (thanks to Teri's skills) to print a few of our own customs cards and signs to have as a prop at the con. Again only the fans would get it but it was a fun extra to have.
Mrs. Peel We're Needed Sign
We were off to solve some extraordinary crimes against the people and the state!
While we toiled on the Avengers, Vickie had to sadly abandon work on her Eldrad costume (again postponed to Gally '13) to focus on Scott's latest costume (which had been on the burner for over 5 years) of the classic - The Lone Ranger! Not just any Lone Ranger but the 50's Clayton Moore version. The Hat was purchased years back from Baron Hats but most of the rest remained in limbo until the moons liagned and everything fell into place. Vickie came though big time in working out the suit pattern from scratch, while Scott worked out (and got lucky with some finds) on the mask, gloves, boots and most importantly the gunbelt.
Lone Ranger - Photos by Vickie Sebring
With our heroic hats in hand, off we went to San Diego!
WEDNESDAY PREVIEW NIGHT
We got down to San Diego and checked in around 1PM. Our roommates had worked a little press magic and gotten us free parking which was a big relief on the wallet. We got a cart and loaded everything into the room which was nice and spacious. We even got a mini fridge, yay for small mercies.
Jabba on the Barge (sadly we never saw this again the rest of the weekend)
After settling in, we grabbed some extra bags and gear and headed down to the con center. I had prepaid for a parking pass next door to the center for Wed only purely so I could easy drive out a lot of merchandise. So we parked and briefly checked out the cool Hilton/Con park line up of classic Batmobiles (60's through the Tumbler) on display. Sadly we never got too close look at these as we just lost track of time for the rest of the con! Next door at the Stadium they were were doing Walking Dead Zombie Survival runs which cost $75 to do or $15 to watch. We never got over there to check it out but it looked like grusome fun base don the photos I've seen.
http://static.zooomr.com/images/10229698_1039ce5182.jpg
Batcave of Batmobiles
Close on the 89 Batmobile
Close on the Tumbler
Close on the '66 Batmobile
The pro badge line went fast and smooth and was no real hassles. We ran into our friend ben who previously had been our Spock and 3rd doctor in 2007-2010 who seemed to be on the mend health wise and in good spirits. We caught up but sadly never had time to have a quiet sit down.
The engineer from Prometheus - beautiful work though so good we assumed they'd been hired by the studio for promotion and were not just eager fans.
Line for the badges
Early Lines for Hall H panels
We eventually caught up with CJ (ceejay10), Scott and Vickie. We stopped for food in the Gaslamp and then checked out a few of the spots being prepped for promos and parties like the Youtube spot, Nerd HQ, The Jabba the Hut and the Archer Cafe. Honestly there was a LOT going on in the Gaslamp this year- most of which I sadly missed but by most evening we were fairly wiped in in a zone of food and relaxation. Though I hear several of the meets ups and live podcasts and parties were all really awesome and worth checking out if you got in.
Abraham lincoln Vampire Hunter
The Crowd masses to get inside
Finally back at the con. Very little Cosplay on Wednesday- but that's to be expected with the crazy shopping for exclusives going on. We got in the doors about 20 minutes past Six. Already ai saw a flurry of people lining up at Mattel and Hasbro and proudly walking away with Avengers toy helicarriers, He-Mans and swag shirts. I did a loop around with Teri to spot areas worth going to in costume. The Marvel booth was promoting Iron man 3 with a row of armors (this booth proved to be WAY too packed to ever get up on stage though), Roddenberry.com sported a TOS Captain's Chair, Walking Dead (AMC) had a nice photo set up with Michonne and zombies, The neighbors had a fun UFO set up, KITT from Knight Rider was on display at Mattel, MGM had a Bond 50 celebration with a new Bond vehicle on display every day- Wed/Thu was the Q Spy Boat from the teaser to The World is Not Enough.
Man of Steel Costume on display at the WB Booth - Still not a fan of this look
WB booth
AMC Walking Dead Booth
IDW Booth
Marvel Booth/Iron Man 3 Display
Sideshow booth
Sideshow Large '66 Batmobile
Sideshow Avengers
Sideshow Dark Knight
We wound our way to the back and made our hellos to dan of Dan Bois Graphics. He almost opted out of our annual Star Trek walk around but he was quickly talked back into it - he even had the moustache to be a TMP Scotty now- come on!
Nikelodeon
WETA Booth
Dark Knight Rises BatPod/Bat Cycle
Total Recall '12 Flying Car
DC had slimmed down from previous years- gone were the central cases showcasing action figures, busts and statues. Now it was very open with interactive tablets showing off digital comics, MAD art on the wall, a photo area to get your picture on a Justice League Cover and a few side tables for signing artists and so on.
DC booth
DC Booth Arrow Costume
DC booth Watchmen costume
DC Fan photos on the JLA Cover
DC booth Wall of MAD art
I finally went on my major spending which was to buy a large handful of the Dr. Who exclusive figure- the Churchill/Dalek Victory of the Daleks Set. Sadly No Classic Exclusives/Premieres this year! Bummer! I also scored a 60's TARDIS bobble from EE - though that line was pretty insane and took up most of the wait. I guess the my Little Pony thing had really taken off and that was what most people were there for! We met a couple of cool girls in line with us proclaiming their love for Dr. Who and later turned out to be dressed as a Femme Four and Femme Five later on.
Underground Toys Booth and merchandise
Who-Wise - Diamond had the new 12 inch cloth costumed 11th doctor and Amy Pond dolls on display which looked nice and will retail for $200 each. That also had an Anime style 10th Doctor statue that should go on sale for about $80 in the fall. There was an exclusive Matt Smith maxi-bust variant there with him holding a Jammie Dodger instead of the sonic which was cute. UGT pimped thier usual figures and plushies. IDW was pushing the 11th doctor/TNG crossover heard and now i hear the Doctor will soon meet The mighty Thor in marvel comics!!!
Diamond Star Trek TOS Devil in the Dark Merch
Diamond Select Uber Cool Large Scale 007 Aston Martin DB5
Diamond Select Dr. Who Monopoly- Display Box only sadly
Diamond Select- Dr. Who minis
Diamond Select 10th Doctor Anime Statue
Diamond Select 11th Doctor and Amy dolls
EE had thier dolls and bobbles on display. the TARDIS lunchbox and thermos was a hot item and the K9 and Tom Baker Bobbles were tempting.
EE Six Million Dollar Man merchandise
Entertainment Earth Dr. Who merchandise
Entertainment Earth Twilight Zone Merchandise
Finally BBC was... well kinda disappointing. They had a screen showing trailers and Producer caroline Skinner was planned to do a signing later on in the weekend. Merchandise wise though they didn't even bother carrying the Victory of the Daleks set and focused on DVDs/Tshirts/the bobbles and the lunchbox. For Freebies they had foam Dalek hats that didn't really impress me so I passed. They also promoted a 11th Doctor Sonic remote control protoype that I hear was cool.
BBC America Booth
Judge Dredd and Lady Dredd
Factory Entertainment had a nice selection of james Bon replica props, MIB replica Props, Yellow Submarine Merchandise as well as leftover Green hornet merchandise (black Beauty and action figures) from 2011.
Factory Entertainment Beatles Yellow Submarine Merchandise
Factory Entertainment MIB Replicas
Factory Entertainment James Bond Replicas
Speaking of Sonic QMx was back with their Sonic protoypes though the 10th Doctor sonic was nowhere to be seen now. Yet again now news, no release dates and short of the special high end Robotto run, I suspect this product may indeed be DOA. It was also sad to see they did not bring back Rebelscu's fab full 1:1 scale Plice Box. I overheard several disappointed fans around the con on wed/Thu bummed they wouldn't get to see it! In it's place they had a 1:6 scale new Series TARDIS available for eventual product rollout. It was nice but a step down from the cool factor of a real Police Box. On the other hand that had a really nifty Serenity model on display.
QMx Booth
QMx Sonic Prototypes
QMX 1:6 scale TARDIS
QMX Serenity
Profile sin History had some really cool costumes and props on display for thier new Auction. Included were X-Men Wolverine Claws, professor Z chair and Magneto helmet and Claok. Also included were Willy Wonka's costume, chocolate bars, Everlasting Gobstopper and the Golden Ticket. There was a studio model of the Nautelus Submarine from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and of course Superman movie items- Kryptonite shards/chuncks and the Jor-El and Superman costumes themselves which were mighty impressive. Shame they wouldn't let you near them!
Superman - Chris Reeve Costume from the Movie at Profiles in History
Superman III Kryptonite Profiles in History
Superman Kryptonite/Fortress of Solitude Shard
Marlon Brando Jor-El Costume From Superman: The Movie at Profiles in History
Jor-El Flash and No Flash- CRAZY huh?
Wolverine Claws
Professor X Chair
Wolverine jacket
Everlasting Gobstopper
Wonka Chocolate and the Golden ticket
Gene Wilder Willy Wonka Costume at Profiles in History
After I carted my goods to the car, we drove back to the hotel and unloaded. I had less to buy than previous years so this wasn't too bad. We then agreed to meet Scott, Vickie, CJ, Lauren and friends at a late night Sushi place in Old Town near our hotels (Not the Gaslamp). It took ages to get seated but the place was nice and the food decent. I was probably happier with my cold soda than the sushi by this stage but it was good to relax after the hustle & bustle of the crazy con floor!
Teri and I got back to the room around midnight. I packed up all ten toy boxes for shipping and carted them down tot he car- thankful yet again I'd brought my dolly. Once done, i showered and hit the hay - Tomorrow it would be time for some Star trek and Captain Marvel Action!
Will return shortly with the Thursday SDCC Report!
-honorarydoctor