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Okay… combining two posts into one!

Saturday, the show floor was rather full, but people moved, if rather slowly.  My friend and I avoided the large booths which attract large crowds, and instead had a good time just walking around.

I acted as a guide, showing him some cool stuff.  One stop was the Hasbro booth, where we marveled at the cool new giant Optimus Prime, which actually uses his trailer.  (Unlike the cartoon version, where it mysteriously disappears when he transforms.)  Then we gawked at the various other displays, including Jem and the Holograms, a favorite of his sister.  Hasbro had hired someone to appear as Jem for photo shoots.

We then discovered their display of NYCC exclusives.  Including this:

Yes, I, too, thought “Beer Pong“.  Hasbro, however, has instead altered the game, turning it into a harmless pastime (like Lawn Darts) called “Cuponk“.  In their version, one has to bounce the ball into a cup, which lights up when filled.  The balls and cups can be customized, which is why Hasbro offered a $22 Transformers exclusive edition.  As can be seen on the box, it is intended for ages 9 and older.  Six batteries required, which makes me wonder, how soon before some gets drunk and electrocutes themselves while drinking?  (Be sure the drink uses ethanol instead of methanol!)  While we here at Stately Beat Manor would never condone the recreational use of alcohol (our use tends towards the medicinal, applied internally), we would be remiss if we did not include a link to “motor oil“.

Also on Saturday, I continued my quest.  Every big show, with numerous dealers, I decide to scratch an itch.  This time, it was ‘Mazing Man.  My searches uncovered nothing, and I had to consult Overstreet’s to make sure I was searching under the correct letter.  Then I found a copy of #12, with the Dark Knight Returns cover!  Huzzah!  This encouraged further searching, and minutes later, I turned a corner, and discovered a dealer with a booth the entire width of the row (two booths wide)!  Six rows of back issues, and I found the entire run, including the specials!  Total cost?  $40!

Then we got lunch from the gyro cart in front of the “blue door”.  We traipsed up to the Anime Fest, which was ROCKIN’!  Lots of traffic around the “artist alley”, and the Anime Cafe in back was full of people.  We opted for the outdoor balcony, where we hung out and watched some kids engage in activities which were not con-approved.  Sorry, but the first rule is…   (But this thumbnail should give a general idea.)

Later, we met up with more friends, who had tried to attend the Hall H IGN Theater events.  Of course, with both Walking Dead and Avengers scheduled back-to-back, they were Bethlehem’d.  So we wandered the floor some more, trick-or-treating some freebies from DC Comics (they gave us a bag, then handed us a stack of comics or pins to fill the bag).

Sunday (almost wrote “Friday”… it’s been a long weekend):

What did I do today?  Oh, yeah, I brought my sketchbook and tried to get some self-portraits from artists, as well as make sure I wandered each aisle of Artist Alley.  Robin Riggs had a lovely poster of dinosaurs amok on Central Park West, escaping from the American Museum of Natural History.  I suggested he develop it further, and he was receptive to the idea I suggested.

I then met Franchesco, who I know via Facebook.  He had a deal on prints, so I picked up “Junk in the Trunk” (with a book/librarian theme) and a Halloween variant of  “Delicious Red”.

Guillermo Zubiaga, a local comics artist, has illustrated a mini-series about Basque whalers, published by the Center for Basque Studies (CBS) at the University of Nevada, Reno.  The historical angle, coupled with the UNR, and a decent price for two copies, meant I was reading the comic on the subway ride home.  It is historical fiction, but offers an introduction to the culture.  Basque whalers had journeyed as far west as Labrador, and some suspect that they might have preceded Columbus.  Since whalers were rather secretive with their trade secrets, the historical record is a bit uncertain.

Near the Artist Alley and Small Press Expo was a white Chevy Sonic.  Various artists had “detailed” the car, using what I hope are water proof paints.  Here are some snapshots:

The last pic is the driver’s side rear-view mirror.

Greg Horn signed the hood, and that’s Mike Norton’s Battle Pug on the driver’s-side rear door.

No idea if there is a mylar snug big enough for the car, or if CGC would grade the car.

No press release on Chevy’s site, anyone care to ID the other artists?

(There was a flying Chevy Sonic over at the other corner of the show floor.  (As you can see from this video, it’s easy to park.)   It made an attack on the nearby LucasArts “Old Republic booth, but veered off when they realized the force field had not been deactivated.)

Two Wonder Woman shirts bought for my niece and sister-in-law (niece is the fan, I’m trying to get the mother involved).

Over on the north side of the Great Wall, the crowds and exhibitors were still going like the convention was ending at Seven, not Five.  I stopped by the American Library Association booth to offer assistance, but they had already departed.  The Publishers Weekly crew were about to recreate Scott’s trek across Antarctica, so I managed to link up with Heidi at the end of the show.  We then asked a few questions of Panelfly, and we were both awed and seduced by their upcoming “SuperMedia” service.  Part killer app, part mother-of-all-demos, it offers some very interesting possibilities!  (Like turning your Samsung Galaxy Tab into a remote control/secondary screen while your media streams to your television.) As is my tendency, I offered some crazy ideas on future possibilities.

I then exited the show floor, surrendering to the Real World.  Lots of photographing outside the show floor, and I wondered if there might be a flashmob of “occupy new york comic con”.

Here’s the view of Professional and Exhibitor registration, in the process of deconstruction.

Was it really that long ago when I came to pick up my registration on Wednesday?

Many thanks to Lance Fensterman and the ReedPOP crew!  There were some new layouts this year, yet everything seemed to work rather well.  I’ll let others critique the show, but I couldn’t find much to complain about.  Next year should be interesting, as this year’s buzz fuels sales.

I’ll post suggestions later, but for now, I’ve got some comics to read.  Feel free to share your adventures below in the comments!  Any cool swag?  Any amazing art found?  Did you have a nerdgasm?

8 COMMENTS

  1. I thought the layout could have been improved. There were too many big/popular booths near crossways that created amazingly impassable bottlenecks, especially near the passageways between the rooms. Marvel was a problem. And as in the past, the aisles in the corner area of the Cult Yard were dark and too narrow. I think I spent half my time in the Exhibit Hall, which is where I spend all my time at the con, just trying to get from one booth to another.

    The place was way too hot on Friday and while Saturday was fine, Sunday was a bit warm most places of the Exhibit Hall, too.

  2. Aren’t the big booths located near the big crossways so that there is extra room to deal with the crowds? Imagine if those booths were in a normal aisle! (My strategy: avoid the big booths completely.)

    Also, it seems this is basic convention planning: create a “highway” in the middle of the floor for the high traffic. Since that aisle will have high traffic, the larger exhibitors will pay more for that real estate.

  3. Congrats on scoring the ‘Mazing Man run. I wish DC would slam that into stockable format. (BTW, there were at least two stories not in the issues; one was a Sunday-strip style one-pager which showed up as an ad in CBG, and one was a short short in an issue of Secret Origins.)

  4. Apparently one of the issues was that the aisles were two feet narrower than usual. From 12 feet to 10 feet. Something that was definitely noticeable when you were trying to get from one side to the other…

  5. Jager and coconut rum… BLEGH. My two least favorite forms of booze.

    Anyway, I got me the zombie beer po.. er.. Cupbonk last year on sale. Makes a great Halloween party game.

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