super belated con report
Okay, so it's only like a week late, but whatever. I've finally got photos! (grumbles about computers some more) I did tweet some photos from the day over here: 
ranua02
Anyway, the con was fantastic! I ended up going by myself and it turned out to be for the best. I had a lovely drive down to Kansas City, the weather was perfect for it. I think I'd forgotten how much I just flat love to drive. Just me and the music and the road, talk about perfection.
I stopped at Waffle House, of course, it's my favorite thing about going down that way. The Waffle House in St. Joe is the closest one to my house. I have no idea what it is about it, but I love their waffles. (not to mention I've never outgrown that childhood thrill of being able to sit at the counter and watch them make food)
So, I've never been to downtown Kansas City before and I was a little nervous about getting lost trying to find the convention center. I had C's garmin though and that little sucker is absolutely worth it's price. It helped the convention center was very straightforward to find. Parking though, that ended up being a little tough and I had a bit of a panic, but a very kind security type person gave me very clear directions to a parking garage that ended up being right across the street from the convention center. Just on the other side from where I had been looking.
The con opened up at 10am and I got there at 11am. I was astounded by the number of people there! I didn't pre-order a ticket because last year's will-call line was a mess and a huge wait so they were jumping people with exact cash entry fee right outta the que and through the doors so I figured this year would be similar. Nope. Every one must of had the same thought because the que for tickets snaked all over the lobby of the building and the will-call had no que whatsoever.
I was never at a complete stop on que for very long and it still took a good 45 mins to get from the front doors to the ticket window. On top of that, as I was on que, I could see the area the event people were using to snake it through was enlarged. Seriously, there were a lot of people there!
It wasn't too packed on the convention floor though, for all the people that were there. Although, PlanetComic's claims that they'll be able to grow into the new space feel bogus because I have no clue where the hell they think they're going to put more people next year. It'll end being just as crowded as the old space. Last year it was creep along elbow to shoulder to sweaty back. That really detracts from the enjoyment ya know.
But, the space was huge. It took me a not quite four hours to shuffle along from booth to booth, chatting and looking, to make it from one side of the venue to the other. Let's see, I got autographs from Neal Adams, Skottie Young and Jason Aaron. In fact, Jason Aaron sort of remembered me from last year. Which was way cool for me. Totally stroked my ego. :D
I got comics too of course. There were two different vendors there this year that had current era books for $2, so I filled out a good portion of the Bruebaker run on Captain America and picked up a number of random books to fill holes in my collection. I got an Iron Man action figure too. It's one of the ones out of the 80's, the red and silver armor. It was just a loose one, no box or anything, so it doesn't have any collector value, but I didn't have a good Iron Man action figure yet. I really haven't liked any of the toys that have come out for the movies and I seriously dislike the Marvel Select figures. I do not need 80 points of articulation. It adversely affects the look of the fig imo.
I had, without planning it, started on the opposite side of the venue from the celeb booths, so when I ended up at that end and checked my wallet I realized I could afford an autograph. It was a no brainer for me, Nicholas Brendon. I swear by all the little gods the man is better looking now than he was 10 years ago. Time has treated him well. So, I shuffle through the que, which moved at an alright pace (I was surprised at how well all the lines I stood in moved!) and what do I see when I'm close enough to read the pricing sheet? He's got the cube. I can use my credit card! Now, I know I have very little self control when I'm out doing something fun. I can own my faults. But hey, it meant I could get Adam Baldwin's autograph as well. :)
They were actually cheaper than I'd thought so it all worked out. And not only did I get an autographed photo of Nicholas Brendon, but I got a photo of the two of us, and he gave me a hug! I'm much better at meeting people I'm fans of than I used to be, thank all the little gods, otherwise I might have teared up and gotten stuttery. As it was I was a bit flustered and shakey.
Adam Baldwin was only doing signed photos, but standing there talking to him for the moment it took for him to sign, he was a very nice guy. He actually saw me, if you know what I mean. It wasn't like I was just another body in front of him he had to perform for, he made eye contact and his facial expressions showed interest in me. That makes him a total class act in my book.
And that was the end of my day. :D It was such a good time. And like I said, it worked out for the best to be on my own. I didn't have to worry about any one else, if they were having fun or anything like that. It was total 'me-time' from the time I left the house that morning to when I got home that evening. In fact the only bad part of the whole day was the Arby's I stopped at for dinner. Shitty service. I swear by all the little gods they are the slowest 'fast' food place in the world. I shoulda just had Waffle House again, but I felt it was a little weird, eating at the same restaurant twice in eight hours.
And now, behind the cut, pictures!!
I'm pretty sure there was a vendor selling the whole outfit, the heads and tools at the least.
These guys were there last year too. It's an Iron Man, War Machine, Captain America armor, Black Widow and this year they had a Scarlet Witch, Hit Girl and a Stan Lee look-alike.
Scientist with Companion Cube!!!
I love this t-shirt vendor, even though I think they're over priced. It's a giant box, for lack of a better description, with t-shirts covering all the exterior and interior walls. Very cool and always very crowded.
This is the best looking Iron Man I think I've ever seen. Where the others were all shiny and costume looking, this guy looked like what I imagine a functioning armor would look more like.
Captians Jack and Barbosa!
Adam Baldwin for dodger_sister his booth was a no photo zone so I had to sneak one :)
Wee Will Wheaton. His and George Takai's lines were super long.
Amazing Steam Punk cosplayers
Another one of that Iron Man
Green Arrow of course!! There were Green Arrows from two different eras actually. I'm in the picture of the other one, so yeah, not in a public entry.
And last, but not least, Cloud Strife. There were Gears of War, Halo, and a ton of Star Wars cosplayers too. And there's some photos on my twitter timeline, um, let's see, Red Sun Supergirl, Loki, Oh! and a female Castiel who was just a sweetheart to talk with. She'd just been to the Vegas Con in fact. I didn't get photos of all of the cosplayers I thought were cool, a lot of the time they had crowds around them and I'm not very good at putting myself forward in situations like that.
And that concludes my only a week late con report, time to slip my frozen feet under my electric blanket. :D
edited 04-16*facepalm* I put the wrong user name in for the twitter link. It's the right one now.
This entry was originally posted at http://ranua.dreamwidth.org/165539.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
ranua02
Anyway, the con was fantastic! I ended up going by myself and it turned out to be for the best. I had a lovely drive down to Kansas City, the weather was perfect for it. I think I'd forgotten how much I just flat love to drive. Just me and the music and the road, talk about perfection.
I stopped at Waffle House, of course, it's my favorite thing about going down that way. The Waffle House in St. Joe is the closest one to my house. I have no idea what it is about it, but I love their waffles. (not to mention I've never outgrown that childhood thrill of being able to sit at the counter and watch them make food)
So, I've never been to downtown Kansas City before and I was a little nervous about getting lost trying to find the convention center. I had C's garmin though and that little sucker is absolutely worth it's price. It helped the convention center was very straightforward to find. Parking though, that ended up being a little tough and I had a bit of a panic, but a very kind security type person gave me very clear directions to a parking garage that ended up being right across the street from the convention center. Just on the other side from where I had been looking.
The con opened up at 10am and I got there at 11am. I was astounded by the number of people there! I didn't pre-order a ticket because last year's will-call line was a mess and a huge wait so they were jumping people with exact cash entry fee right outta the que and through the doors so I figured this year would be similar. Nope. Every one must of had the same thought because the que for tickets snaked all over the lobby of the building and the will-call had no que whatsoever.
I was never at a complete stop on que for very long and it still took a good 45 mins to get from the front doors to the ticket window. On top of that, as I was on que, I could see the area the event people were using to snake it through was enlarged. Seriously, there were a lot of people there!
It wasn't too packed on the convention floor though, for all the people that were there. Although, PlanetComic's claims that they'll be able to grow into the new space feel bogus because I have no clue where the hell they think they're going to put more people next year. It'll end being just as crowded as the old space. Last year it was creep along elbow to shoulder to sweaty back. That really detracts from the enjoyment ya know.
But, the space was huge. It took me a not quite four hours to shuffle along from booth to booth, chatting and looking, to make it from one side of the venue to the other. Let's see, I got autographs from Neal Adams, Skottie Young and Jason Aaron. In fact, Jason Aaron sort of remembered me from last year. Which was way cool for me. Totally stroked my ego. :D
I got comics too of course. There were two different vendors there this year that had current era books for $2, so I filled out a good portion of the Bruebaker run on Captain America and picked up a number of random books to fill holes in my collection. I got an Iron Man action figure too. It's one of the ones out of the 80's, the red and silver armor. It was just a loose one, no box or anything, so it doesn't have any collector value, but I didn't have a good Iron Man action figure yet. I really haven't liked any of the toys that have come out for the movies and I seriously dislike the Marvel Select figures. I do not need 80 points of articulation. It adversely affects the look of the fig imo.
I had, without planning it, started on the opposite side of the venue from the celeb booths, so when I ended up at that end and checked my wallet I realized I could afford an autograph. It was a no brainer for me, Nicholas Brendon. I swear by all the little gods the man is better looking now than he was 10 years ago. Time has treated him well. So, I shuffle through the que, which moved at an alright pace (I was surprised at how well all the lines I stood in moved!) and what do I see when I'm close enough to read the pricing sheet? He's got the cube. I can use my credit card! Now, I know I have very little self control when I'm out doing something fun. I can own my faults. But hey, it meant I could get Adam Baldwin's autograph as well. :)
They were actually cheaper than I'd thought so it all worked out. And not only did I get an autographed photo of Nicholas Brendon, but I got a photo of the two of us, and he gave me a hug! I'm much better at meeting people I'm fans of than I used to be, thank all the little gods, otherwise I might have teared up and gotten stuttery. As it was I was a bit flustered and shakey.
Adam Baldwin was only doing signed photos, but standing there talking to him for the moment it took for him to sign, he was a very nice guy. He actually saw me, if you know what I mean. It wasn't like I was just another body in front of him he had to perform for, he made eye contact and his facial expressions showed interest in me. That makes him a total class act in my book.
And that was the end of my day. :D It was such a good time. And like I said, it worked out for the best to be on my own. I didn't have to worry about any one else, if they were having fun or anything like that. It was total 'me-time' from the time I left the house that morning to when I got home that evening. In fact the only bad part of the whole day was the Arby's I stopped at for dinner. Shitty service. I swear by all the little gods they are the slowest 'fast' food place in the world. I shoulda just had Waffle House again, but I felt it was a little weird, eating at the same restaurant twice in eight hours.
And now, behind the cut, pictures!!
I'm pretty sure there was a vendor selling the whole outfit, the heads and tools at the least.
These guys were there last year too. It's an Iron Man, War Machine, Captain America armor, Black Widow and this year they had a Scarlet Witch, Hit Girl and a Stan Lee look-alike.
Scientist with Companion Cube!!!
I love this t-shirt vendor, even though I think they're over priced. It's a giant box, for lack of a better description, with t-shirts covering all the exterior and interior walls. Very cool and always very crowded.
This is the best looking Iron Man I think I've ever seen. Where the others were all shiny and costume looking, this guy looked like what I imagine a functioning armor would look more like.
Captians Jack and Barbosa!
Adam Baldwin for dodger_sister his booth was a no photo zone so I had to sneak one :)
Wee Will Wheaton. His and George Takai's lines were super long.
Amazing Steam Punk cosplayers
Another one of that Iron Man
Green Arrow of course!! There were Green Arrows from two different eras actually. I'm in the picture of the other one, so yeah, not in a public entry.
And last, but not least, Cloud Strife. There were Gears of War, Halo, and a ton of Star Wars cosplayers too. And there's some photos on my twitter timeline, um, let's see, Red Sun Supergirl, Loki, Oh! and a female Castiel who was just a sweetheart to talk with. She'd just been to the Vegas Con in fact. I didn't get photos of all of the cosplayers I thought were cool, a lot of the time they had crowds around them and I'm not very good at putting myself forward in situations like that.
And that concludes my only a week late con report, time to slip my frozen feet under my electric blanket. :D
edited 04-16*facepalm* I put the wrong user name in for the twitter link. It's the right one now.
This entry was originally posted at http://ranua.dreamwidth.org/165539.html. Please comment there using OpenID.