<H3>Action Sports Retailers</H3>

ASR was September 8-10, 2006. Action Sports Retailers is all about Skateboards, Surfboards, Bikes & Snowboards. That includes the clothes & accessories that go with them. This year some enterprising fellow came up with "rims" for skateboards. The crazy inner rotating cover that goes on SUV & Lowriders is now small enough for skateboard wheels. Someone else figured out the light up version for riser pads. It has a motion sensor so that it only works when a skater wants it to. They also debuted a waterproof iPod. This convention is held in 2 places each year, the East & West Coast. They have a lot of parties and events over 3 days. It is a fun show to go to and there are always interesting things to see (including some hotties). Like any good convention they give out Swag. Here is an example

They give out a lot of cool cds and stickers. Miss Jr Swag hound managed to get a bag, shirt & cap. Stickers are great, except for certain times. Skateboards and the like tend to be a little rebellious. A few of them have a tendency to tag walls. For some reason every year I hear some of the BAD stories from "a friend". This year a brain trust defaced the elevators at the Hyatt. Not the Motel 8, but the Hyatt! There is no getting around the fact that this really sucks and makes everyone else look bad! But to top things off this Abby-normal guy used stickers from one particular company. It is not hard to track someone down when they sign their work. Stupid stupid stupid.

<H3>WorldCon / LosCon 2006</H3>

WorldCon was in Anaheim, August 25-27, 2006. This SciFi & literary convention moves around each year. It was in Scotland in 2005 and it will be in Japan in 2007. Most people enjoyed WorldCon 2006 and chatted with people that they wanted to see. It is very laid back. There were some very cool movie props on display. More props than I had ever seen at any other convention. It is a convention for adults, so that is a perk. WorldCon had an open Bar in the lobby. Each night there are room parties to attend. Some are sponsored by other conventions or groups. Some parties are specifically designed to get WorldCon to come to their city in the future. One very funny thing I noticed were the ribbons on the bottoms of the badges. There was an obvious contest to see who could have the MOST ribbons on his or her badge. On gent had so many that it went all the way from his chest to his knees. All in all a very relaxed convention.

The only notable swag I picked up was Star Trek lenticular card, a foam rocket, a Gohira/Godzilla sampler dvd and several mini books.

<H3>Comic-Con International: San Diego "Swag" Report 2006</H3>

I attended Comic-Con International in San Diego again this year. As usual I was working 3/4 of the time so it slowed me down a lot. It slowed me down so much that I hardly purchased anything. Which is a bit of a bummer. I picked up as many Promotional items & Premiums as I could with the help of my friends. There is a listing of items that I have right after the report (7 paragraphs down). Please feel free to contact me with any questions. The swag is from Anime, Books, Movies & Television. There are Backpacks, Frisbees, Hats, T-shirts, CDRom's, Games, CCG gaming cards, Trading Cards, Key chains, Buttons, Pins, Pens etc.

The Convention dealers floor was just as HUGE as last year, but it took even longer to walk to the other end of the hall. There were just too many people. Everyone knows what a good deal Comic-Con San Diego is and they ALL showed up. There was so much to see! Each year I get more and more blown away by everything. I didn't even get to some booths at all! San Diego was having a heat wave during Con, so I think that made people a little extra cranky.

I enjoyed most of the variety of items that were represented this year. Anime manga, Books, horror & scifi. There were the usual, caps, shirts, game demos, CCG gaming card tables, key chains, buttons, pins, pens etc. What I really did not like was the total lack of girl stuff. In 2005 companies brought Winx, Star Sisters, W.I.T.CH. and a few others. Hasbro even had a special My Little Pony to buy. This year I did not see any of that stuff. Maybe I missed it? But that doesn't explain why Hasbro brought a Littlest Pet Shop toy that I could have gotten at Target. Big Whoop! I am used to being slighted in a male dominated genre, but this time it was ridiculous.

98% of all Attendees are good folk. They walk around without stealing. They take only a few freebies not a fist full. They get to a panel on time or early and walk in. If they need to, they find a line and get in it! They don't bitch and moan and try to cut in the front! I have never known so many people to whine and lie about something that seems so unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Ballroom 20 and Hall H are giant rooms, but they don't hold 10,000 people. I will NEVER understand why some attendees cannot plan ahead? There are a million people trying to park. A billion people in Registration. A zillion people in the Exhibit hall. Infinity is the number you should expect at a panel!! NO planning involved, just open your eyes.

I think Communication was a problem this year. For example: I saw the very good Blade TV panel. The cast and the writers were all on stage. There was no mention of a free giveaway in the Programming guide. Spike just decided to be nice and hand t-shirts out as a bonus. This would seem like a great thing, but I am sure if they had mentioned it to CCI they might have pointed out the "size of the room versus the amount of items" problem. Having your panel in a 1,000 seat room and only bringing 600 shirts just does not cut it. A nice idea suddenly turns ugly and makes fans cranky. I noticed MANY companies would bring exclusive freebies for panels only, but not nearly enough. Wouldn't a simple phone call have fixed the panel size problem? Any attendee could have clued them in on the shear volume of swag they should bring with them on the dealers floor each day. Running out of items on Friday, with 2 more days left really sucks. Too little communication also creates bottlenecks at doors & aisles. Without advance warning (red shirts) Elite did not have enough security. CCI Staff is not prepared and the Company of choice sends too few workers to hand out the item, if any workers at all.

Stargate had two Panels this year and they were both wonderful. Unfortunately the first panel was in a 1,000 seat room and was packed. They gave out 1,000 Gate pewter key chain! (They know how to count). Stargate fans are rabid and they clogged the small aisles of the hallway. The long line had to be moved because its length was impacting other rooms. Moving created more cranky people, who were worried that they would not see the panel and not get their key chain. The second Stargate panel was in the huge Ballroom 20 and had some of the actors from SG1 on first and then the Atlantis crew on next. Both groups were entertaining and I am very glad I got to see them in between working.

Exhibitors had ticketed giveaways for their Premiums & Giveaways. I did not get anything. I missed out on all the drawings because I was working and not there at the time. This years super luck fell on me from friends. They got me the illusive and exclusive Jack O'Neil Stargate figure! Thank you SciFi Channel booth! I don't care what the thing is going for on eBay it is mine, ALL MINE bwahaha! I will post a separate list of what I bought & was given as presents in a different area. Due to the greedy people, the SciFi booth & many others had handlers again. The staff members handed one Promo item to each person. There were always several of them working at a time. At SciFi they did not give out the same item. I failed to get all the Stargate and Battlestar Galactica items. Many pins, 2 shirts & Doc Who dvd. But atleast I got Jack & a SGA shirt.

Here are only a tiny few of the many 2006 Swag pictures that I took:

<A HREF= "http://www.nosewheelie.com/marysgarage/news/pics/CardsCCI06.jpg"> Cards</A>

&nbsp&nbsp

<A HREF= "http://www.nosewheelie.com/marysgarage/news/pics/HorrorCCI06.jpg"> Horror</A>

&nbsp&nbsp

<A HREF= "http://www.nosewheelie.com/marysgarage/news/pics/LentsCCI06.jpg"> Lenticulars</A>

&nbsp&nbsp

<A HREF= "http://www.nosewheelie.com/marysgarage/news/pics/KeychainsCCI06.jpg"> Keychain etc.</A>

I do not currently have the time to complete the list of Free Swag items. I hope you will look at the pictures and realize just how many there really are...and then some! I will fix this list in August. I will also add my list of favorite things, like my Uhura figure and SG1 General Jack O'Neil figure

<UL>

<LI>

Adult Swim black and red owl watch

</LI><LI>

Alien Homonid Antenna Headband

</LI><LI>

Alien Homonid small buttons (around 10-15 characters)

</LI><LI>

Animaniacs / Pinky & the Brain 2006 Lenticular Key Chain

</LI><LI>

American Monstar Eyeball Sucker

</LI><LI>

American Monstar Lenticular postcard

</LI><LI>

Artbox (various cards, Frankenstein, 24 Jack Bower, Harry Potter, Willy Wonka)

</LI><LI>

Blade Card Set - Spike TV (Blade, Chen, Krista, Marcus & Chase)

</LI><LI>

Blade mini cdr episode sampler - Spike TV (very cool looking design)

</LI><LI>

The Boondocks Lenticular trading cards, Huey & Riley (Adult Swim)

</LI><LI>

Beowolf gold "B" pin (gorgeous dragon looking pin)

</LI><LI>

Beowolf T-shirt (XLarge, White with gold image)

(Free ticket required. Paramount Booth made 6 T-shirts to order.

</LI><LI>

Bones Computer Brush / Forensic, David Boreanaz, Fox TV show

</LI><LI>

Brisco County Junior Inflatable horse

</LI><LI>

Cartoon Network metal pin & other stuff

</LI><LI>

Chronicles of Narnia Postcard

</LI><LI>

CSI NY Light Up Pen

</LI><LI>

Dark Horse metal horse head keychain & coin

</LI><LI>

DVD, CD & Game Samplers - various

</LI><LI>

Family Guy & American Dad key chain, plastic

</LI><LI>

Ghost Rider Team Blaze Hat (different from 2005 version)

</LI><LI>

Green Lantern minimate (DC)

</LI><LI>

G4 black backpack bag and heavy tan canvas bag

</LI><LI>

Hasbro 501st Stormtrooper figure ($)

</LI><LI>

Inkworks: Trading Card Packet of 9 (4400, Buffy, Charmed, Hellboy, Lost (2), Naruto, Shrek & Supernatural)

</LI><LI>

Inu Yasha metallic prism card

</LI><LI>

LotR Lord of the Rings Metal Mordor Keychain

</LI><LI>

Lost TV Show Dharma square magnet

</LI><LI>

LGF: The Descent - various horror promos

</LI><LI>

Mad Magazine Kids Sample Issue

</LI><LI>

Minimates (?) Red Comic-Con Bear with skull imprint

</LI><LI>

Nickelodeon Magazine

</LI><LI>

Nickelodeon X's Slap On Wrist Straps

</LI><LI>

Nickelodeon Buttons

</LI><LI>

Avatar Trading Card - Water (Find all 4 & get 5th card)

</LI><LI>

Avatar Postcard of the 4 Nations

</LI><LI>

Nintendo: Pokemon Plush, Straps, Notepads etc (at panel)

</LI><LI>

Pokemon Backpack, Straps, Notepads etc (at free screening at Pacific Gaslamp theater)

</LI><LI>

Pokemon Card Set (at booth)

</LI><LI>

SciFi Channel - So You Want To Be A Super Hero, Promo Cape

</LI><LI>

Superman Returns lenticular keychain Coupon (ticket from panel to redeem at booth)

</LI><LI>

Superman Frisbee

</LI><LI>

Supernatural Card Hotel Room Key (Hyatt room key)

</LI><LI>

Sci-Fi Channel General Jack O'Neil exclusive figure - Stargate SG1

</LI><LI>

Stargate SG1 10th Anniversary metal Gate keychain (panel)

</LI><LI>

Stargate Atlantis womens t-shirt (sorry guys)

</LI><LI>

Sci-Fi Buttons 15-20! (? per set! Battlestar G, Stargate A, Other shows Eureka etc)

</LI><LI>

Battlestar Galactica T-shirt (booth)

</LI><LI>

Teen Titans Season 2 DVD Postcard

</LI><LI>

Tokyopop: Various Manga Samplers

</LI><LI>

Texas Chain Saw Massacre pewter key chain

</LI><LI>

Topps Garbage Pail kids (Mr Spock)

</LI><LI>

Topps Wacky Packages. (Superman)

</LI><LI>

Topps various including WWF

</LI><LI>

Transformers Magnet

</LI><LI>

Upper Deck Cards: Avatar Trading Card - Fire (Find all 4)

</LI><LI>

VIS Entertainment: Shojo Beat manga sampler

</LI><LI>

VIZ Bead Necklace (5) (Wear it on the floor and you get a prize)

</LI><LI>

WB Panel (redeem at booth) metal Harry Potter house keychain

</LI><LI>

V For Vendetta fan & postcard set

</LI><LI>

WETA lanyard

</LI>

</UL>