07/13/08

Wizard World Philadelphia 2008

Friday, May 30, 2008:

Wizard World 2008 started as usual by standing in line. LOL aren't cons all about standing in lines, after all? There were two sets of lines one for VIP and one for regular tickets. The VIP ticket was pretty long because there seemed to be more VIP packages than the last time I had attended (2006).

The bad part about the VIP line was you waited in line and got your VIP gifts. After that you had to go into another line to get your badges but the lines crossed one another causing mass confusion.  Despite there being volunteers there, no one was directing traffic at this area so fans were getting very confused.

Personally I purchased two VIP tickets—one for me and one for my Dad who came along with me. I got for him the Star Wars VIP ticket which included the light-up Obi-Wan bust which is exclusive to Wizard World, the Darth Vader vs. Luke Skywalker ROTJ movie statue, and 35 Star Wars Darkhorse comics. For myself I got the Toyfare Silver VIP package which came with so many busts and action figures it came in a big box which I honestly put in the car and didn't open yet because it was so bulky.

The convention opened at noon and despite VIPs getting advanced entry that's about when I entered due to where I was in line. Immediately went to the Wizard booth and purchased the exclusive Batman, Superman, and Mr. Freeze action figures that were on sale and I pre-ordered the Heroes Peter Petrelli action figures. The Heroes figures has 2 variants—one half invisible, half visible and the other completely invisible.

With my VIP tickets I got the 2008 Wizard T-shirt and you had to pick them up inside the convention hall and it was right where they were selling subscriptions to Toyfare, Wizard, and Anime magazine. For signing up for a subscription they offered you one of three gifts. So after I was given my t-shirts they asked if I wanted a subscription.  I took that opportunity to voice my concern over the last time I subscribed to Toyfare magazine. I signed up at Wizard World Philadelphia 2008 and when I signed up they had run out of the "free" gift but promised me I'd receive it in the mail. I had never received it and my email to customer service never got answered. I told the person at the booth about that and said that is why I wouldn't be purchasing a subscription this year. With that the person gave me one of the gifts from this year apologizing for what happened and said she took my story at face value. The gift I was given was the hardcover book of magazine covers which is pretty cool. So now I feel vindicated from their previous mistake but I still didn't buy a subscription.

From there I walked around the convention hall where I ran into Eric, a fellow member of PSWCS, who was in attendance as well as Andy from the Toy Cave (also a member of PSWCS) who was an exhibitor here in the convention hall. I didn't want to spend too much money on my first day but I did end up purchasing the Star Wars chubby Sith figures because it had Palpatine, Dooku, and Maul. So since it had Maul—I had to have it to put it in the "Hall of Maul". I also found the trading cards for Supernatural seasons 1 and 2 for only $8 a piece. They only had the cards without the binders but for that price I couldn't pass it up.
 

One of the vendors had this on display which I thought was awesome:

They had an awesome statue of "The Hulk":

The Delaware Valley Lego group was there as well.  Their display was amazing:

There was an artist on hand who was drawing J. G. Jones' "Final Crisis" design:

Another group was the New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey Jedi who were doing lightsaber demonstrations:

As part of my VIP ticket I get a free autograph with several comic book artists but I didn't have anything for them to sign so I purchased a few comics from the selected artists. Today I got an autograph from Andrew Maleev, an artist who has worked on Daredevil, and Ethan Van Sciver, an artist who has worked on Green Lantern.

After that I went back to the Wizard booth and picked up the autograph package I pre-ordered for the Katee Sackhoff signing. Katee will now be appearing on Sunday and with the package I purchased I received two photographs: a headshot and a picture of her as Starbuck and with my ticket she will autograph both pictures.

By then the convention center was about to close and I was really tired anyways. I headed back to my hotel room and then went down and had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel, called 13. I had a Philly cheese steak! After dinner I headed back to the hotel room and fell asleep.

Saturday, May 31, 2008:

On a personal note, this day started very badly for me. I awoke at 5:30 AM with an irregular heart rhythm—I was diagnoses with atrial fibrillation a few years ago but have been controlled by medications. I haven't had an episode in over a year. Well this morning at 5:30 AM I was awakened by the irregular heart rhythms. I immediately took my medications and lied down. I waited about an hour and while my heart rate came down to a normal rate, the rhythm was still abnormal. I took another one of my anti-arrhythmia medications and lied down. I woke up at 8 AM and was still in an abnormal rhythm. Although I was in a hotel room in Philadelphia I called my cardiologist's office. I got the covering physician who suggested I go to the closest ER. The hotel I'm in wasn't far from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital so I thought I'd head there. I got up and was about to change into other clothing when all of a sudden my heart started beating normally. I called the answering service back and let them know I wouldn't be going to the ER since I was feeling better. After an episode I get very tired and a bit anxious so I took it easy today but did go on with my plans to attend Wizard World.

Saturday at Wizard World Philadelphia began for me by attending the J.G. Jones: Career Retrospective panel. J.G. was the guest of honor for Wizard World Philadelphia this year and unfortunately this panel was sparsely attended with less than twenty people in attendance. The panel began with a power point presentation that focused on different comic book covers that J.G. has done and then he talked about the comics he has worked on including "52" and now "Final Crisis". After the question and answer aspect of the panel those in attendance were invited to come up for autographs. I had J.G. autograph the first edition of "52" which I bought and the Wizard World program since the Flash from "Final Crisis" was on the cover which J.G. drew.
 

Next I went to the convention center and went to the D.C. Comics booth where they were offering a lot of freebies. I picked up posters that include the new weekly comic "Trinity" which will feature Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman; Green Lantern from "Final Crisis", Flash from "Final Crisis", "Titans", and "Tiny Titans". I also picked up the Superman comic from Free Comic Book Day, DC Universe 0, "Tiny Titans" #1, and "Number of the Beast" #1 all of which were free. D.C. also had their buttons they gave out as well as a booklet entitled "DC Comics 30 Essential Graphic Novels".

At 12:30 I attended "Marvel: Secret Invasion" where they discussed their current story arc which focuses on the "Secret Invasion" and the Skrulls. They handed out Skrull masks and asked everyone to put them on and then they took a photo of the audience. They said on marvel.com that people are invited to submit pictures from around the world with them having the masks on and that the gallery of those pictures is on the website as well.

After the Marvel panel I took some time to walk around the convention center and saw quite a few fans in costume including the 501st Legion, Garrison Carida who were well represented. I took quite a few pictures of the different fans in costume. The convention did hold a costume contest today at 1 PM of which I caught a quick glimpse:

From 2 – 3 PM I attended "DCU: Crisis Now!" which was lead by Dan DiDio, VP and Executive Director of DCU. The topic of Flash came up and his involvement in "Final Crisis" and we were told that if Flash was placed in a "final crisis" it would be all of the flashes. That got fans asking about Barry Allen. They kept changing the subject when it came up but eventually they let it slip, seemingly, that Barry Allen will be returning. Another interesting piece was that there is a new Batgirl book coming out and she's going to be a bit dark and there will be problems in the "bat family" including Nightwing.  One fan asked if Barbara Gordon would ever walk again and Mr. DiDio proclaimed, "NO! Never." That comment received applause. There was also talk over the aging of characters and we were told that there are three characters who can never age: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman since they are the main characters of DC upon whom the entire DC Universe is built. They acknowledged that there have been issues with other characters aging too quickly and that is being looked at. One fan asked if Damian is Bruce's son and we got a "no comment" LOL. After the panel they gave out two pins both of which say "I Am Batman."
 

There was another VIP signing today which was Andy Kubert and I had him sign a copy of "Origin" which I purchased. The copy I bought was number I of VI.

The last panel I attended for the day was "The Big Toy Industry Panel" which featured members from the following companies: C.S. Moore Studio, Diamond Select, the Four Horsemen, Mezco, NECA, the Shiflett Brothers, Sideshow Collectibles, and Tonner Inc.

I was a bit disappointed with this panel which was hosted by the editor of Toyfare Magazine. I was hoping more for a look at products that were coming out but it was more of the host asking the panel questions and asking their thoughts on certain matters. Questions were taken from the audience as well. One of the biggest topics that came up with the impact of the economy including the price of petroleum and the changing market in China where there is an emerging middle class that is demanding more wages for their labor.

I visited the Tonner site and here's some pictures of their products:

Sunday, June 1, 2008:

Sunday morning I woke up and checked out of the hotel.  We were parked in the parking deck across from the convention center on the fifth level.  Unfortunately the elevator broke down and we had to climb up the steps with all of our stuff.  It was exhausting but we got it done. 

I then walked over to the convention center and the line to get in was huge but when I asked one of the staff members they indicated VIPs could go right up to the convention hall.  There was a line of VIPs but they let us in right at 11 AM and I went directly to the Katee Sackhoff autograph area.  She was scheduled to start signing at Noon but I didn't mind waiting for an hour.  I ended up in the first 20 people to get an autograph.

At about 12:15 Katee came out and I have to say she's even more pretty in person--I take that back, she's GORGEOUS.  While talking to fans she said, "Watch Nip/Tuck".  I told her I thought CBS made a big mistake not picking her for CSI and she said she was better off with Nip/Tuck.

And then it was my turn!  I got to meet Katee!