WonderCon had its fourth Masquerade. Saturday was Hall costume day and Masquerade night. I have posted a picture link for the Hall costumes (13) and for the Masquerade (17). I did make up a name for any character I did not know, sorry. IF you see a picture of you or your group feel free to contact me for the original un-cropped jpeg(s) . Hall Costumes 13 Masquerade 17
The food at WonderCon is superior to other conventions, inside the center and across the street at the Westfield & Metreon Malls. We had many a good meal that was not too pricey. Asqew Grill in Westfield skewers their meat & veggies, applies some fire and it is allll good after that. Yummy!
There was a small Games section, where attendees could bring their own games or play one of the four demo games. That area was often blocked by the fans lined up for 3 very popular artists tables next to Games.
The Exhibits floor had lots of Artists, Small Press, big Companies and Vendors. The Artists & small companies were diverse. I bought a few things from several of them. The nice thing about WC is that a person has time to look at an item and talk to the person selling it without being crushed...most of the time.
Exhibits Floor Finds
WC Group A
WC Group B
WC Group C
Exhibits Floor Freebies There were Freebie tables at WonderCon. Three tables for flyers, stickers and bookmarks. One table for company swag. It had a lot of great movie posters & a few buttons. Several items were at the individual Booths or the Panels upstairs. The following is a list of all the free swag I know about.
The WonderCon website is jam packed with information. Go there directly or through the Comic-Con website at: http://www.wondercon.com/
Mary, marysgarage@hotmail.com
WonderCon Review from 2007
Wednesday Preview Night was a madhouse! I think the Earth tilted slightly from the volume of people at Comic-Con San Diego. Wednesday night proves without a doubt how important the upstairs Programming Panel tracks are. With no panels to distract a zillion people they all swarmed the Dealers Floor. Everywhere was crowded with eager shoppers. The Warner Brothers booth was bloody mayhem with everyone trying to get the 300 Shield & Smallville jumbo bag. I had my kids with me and it was bad. I was almost crushed and I can take care of myself. The WB booth had 2 problems. #1 they would say they were out of bags, but simply waiting around long enough produced more bags. This let everyone know early that they were lying. They should have set giveaway times and stuck to it. #2 they had no exit strategy. Attendees stormed the booth from all angles, which left no way out. Many other booths understood the problem and used stantions or human line control to get people going in a certain direction. No goodies until you get in line...good boy! Each year I get blown away by the massiveness of everything.
YEAH someone heard my cry from last year and brought more girl stuff this time. Hasbro had a Superhero My Little Pony and a pink Star Wars R2-KT droid. Two small booths had all girl items and sadly I did not get their business cards so I would print their info here. My Bad.
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! Comic-Con hired line control people to help out this year. The brightly colored Tangerine polo shirts could not be missed. They helped out in the small rooms as well at the giant Ballroom 20 and Hall H. The first year a company does something is usually shaky but they did pretty good. Next year they will understand the magnitude of a million people trying to get into a room.
At the Futurama panel the voice actors read the special comic live on stage as 4200 people read along. It was very funny watching most of the room look down in their laps to follow the story.
At the Stargate SG1 movie panel the cast did a funny American Idol when a person asking a question decided to sing. Christopher Judge, Amanda Tapping & Ben Browder did a dead on imitation of the judges. Christopher said "Dog" a lot. Ben hated everything and Amanda did a hilarious drunken Paula Abdul. When I saw Ms Tapping at the Sanctuary For All.com booth during her signing she laughed and hoped that Paula would not be mad at her. We all know how stuff ends up on YouTube.
Comic-Con often has company people handing out freebies in costume, like a giant plush Pokemon or Sam & Max. This year there companies went the extra mile. The Batman Joker people confused all of downtown giving out real $1.00 bills with the Jokers face on it. There were 2 cute Hot Fuzz ladies for the fellows to look at. But my favorite was the 2 Pathfinder Men (and 3 Ladies). They all had very little on and were in top physical condition...and were SMOKIN' HOT!
Exhibitors had ticketed giveaways for their Premiums & Giveaways. I missed out on all the drawings because I was working and not there at the correct time. Due to greedy people, Disney, Viz, 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. I failed again to get all the Eureka, Battlestar Galactica & Stargate items. Waaah!
For those of us who normally skip the prestigious Eisner Awards we may want to rethink that. At this years awards Englishman Jonathan Ross stated that "He loves comics more than masturb****". The British guys accent made it sound sophisticated even as everyone fell on the floor laughing.
My Best & Favorites: Best use of the WB bag was shown by a woman who wore a Smallville dress on Saturday. I don't have a picture, but I am sure someone online does. Best Bag: Is a tie between the Scholastic Harry Potter bag & the Cartoon Network Messenger bag. The Smallville bag was great looking, but it is too large to carry anything but laundry or human bodies...or make a dress. Best Lenticular: Pirates of the Caribbean lenticular guitar pics (12) Best Comic: All the Manga sized comics put out by DC, Darkhorse, Tokyo Pop & Viz Best Pin/Button: Hot Fuzz Badge. Best Neck ware: another tie between the cool looking set of 7 Laura Croft dog tags and the useful Death Sentence bottle opener dog tag. Favorite Swag: 300 Shield. Favorite Purchase: Asgard Storm statue.
Bought: Asgard Storm. Exclusive X-Men bust figure 200 of 600. Beantown collectibles. 2 key chains & 3 figures. Chessex 13 dice. Disgaea manga #1. Funco Marvin the Martian bobble head. Harry Potter & Hedgewick owl figure. JLA 3pk w/ Hawkgirl, Green Lantern & The Ray. Lil Pet Shop set. My Little Pony Superhero. Pheydon Space Traveler, clear green 3" figure. Star Wars R2KT pink droid & Star Wars Minitures Starship Battles Booster Pack.
Present: Ruth Thompson Egyptian themed art (Anniversary present). Uhura ornament. Shirt- Gaming is as addictive as sex...but there's no orgasm to let you know when to stop.
CCI Exclusives List 2007: This list is short and I am sure there are many more that I did not list. Asgard Storm X-Men bust figure #200 of 600. Harry Potter & Hedwig owl figure. 300 King figure. Wrath of Khan figure, but needed to buy the other 4 figures in order to get Khan. Capcom Grab Bag $10 on Wednesday night. $20 the rest of the week. Hasbro handed out tickets to get in line. R2KT pink droid, Lil Pet Shop, Star Wars mini figs, Transformer figs, My Little Pony Superhero. Funco- Prototype raffle each day. Marvin the Martian bobble head. JLA 3pk w/ Hawkgirl, Green Lantern & The Ray. Bugs Bunny Invisible Ink figure.
Costume & Toy prototype pictures
I processed 100+ pictures and have narrowed them down just slightly. Because of size constraints I cropped all the pictures down. I have them listed in 2 index categories. Each index is in alphabetical order. Some names are made up because I had no idea what character they are. Half the pictures have multiple images and are group shots.
#1 Costumes: 99% of people did their own costuming. There are 41 pictures available.
Alien Girl, Batman Villains, Blade Guys, Blade Runner, Boba Fett Family, Bob's Big Boy, Cow Woman, Deadwood (not), Dr Who & Dalek, Emily?, Ghost Busters, Harley & Hammer, Hot Fuzz, Jazzy 3, Jungle King, League of Ex Gents?, Princess Leia & Stargate, Medusa, Ms Piggy, Nurse Betty Page, Pathfinder, Pink Couple, Pirates, Psylocke, Queen of, Robotech, Shawn of the Dead, Sprouse Bros, Supergirl, Superman, Swat, Star Wars Pilot Female, Vixen & Witchblade.
Costumes
#2 Comic-Con pics: Prototype toys for 2008, Exhibit Hall booths and the occasional odd sighting. There are 22 pictures available.
501st SUv, Bart Simpson, Batmobile, Darth Vader Beach Ball, Darth Vader Carmen Miranda, Elfquest, Fate Stay Night, Golden Compass, Gwen Stephani, Heroscape, Melancholy of HS, Mind Style, Minimates, Phoenix mini Superhero, Pirate ship, R2-KT, Recycling, Resident Evil 3, mini anime Weapons & Xenosaga.
Toys & Misc.
Here are only a few of the many 2007 Swag pictures that I took: Neck Wear Shirts Dog Tags 3D Lenticulars Card Packs Caps Buttons
I went to Anime Expo '07 with 3 friends on Saturday, July 1 and then again with a different friend on Sunday. On Saturday we arrived early and decided to eat breakfast first. There is no reason to arrive on-site early, because the lines are always long. The registration area is still a bit confusing with not enough Staff and signage. But the Industry line was better than 2005, so I was happy. We picked up our badges and attempted to get to the Exhibit hall but was met by a wall of people. Fortunately we found out that this year there were allowances made for the Industry people to enter. There were not so many Industry people that it messed up any existing lines, which was great! The regular attendees were not so lucky. AX has been having trouble with lines & registration for years and they hired a Registration Company to help fix the problem. Unfortunately that Reg company sucked!! ALL conventions have long lines, but for some reason the processing speed at AX is painfully slow. For their sake I hope they figure it out ASAP!
Once we got into the Hall things went pretty smoothly. I was used to the Anaheim location but Long Beach is a decent convention center and the City has made the surrounding area MUCH better. There are shops & fast food within easy walking distance of any exit. There are also banks & ATM's close by.
The Exhibit Hall seemed fairly big this year, but there might have been less vendors? We saw several company booths, but some were missing or smaller than usual. Sadly Shonen Jump & Viz were not there to gave out the very nice canvas bags. There was a new Anime convention going on during the same time. Fair competition is good, but to be on the exact same dates is rude!
A crowd favorite is still the booth with the Dance Dance Revolution contest. We saw a unique booth that sold Cosplay ears and horns. Basic models up to expensive fur. Two booths sold their Japanese toys in small clear plastic ziplock bags. Getting exactly the toy desired is a wonderful thing. There were Doll vendors selling clothes & shoes. Corset & Cosplay booths full of costume clothes. Model kits for Gundam and other Mech.
There were some great Tables in the Artist Alley section. Individuals sold their art, handmaid doll clothes, Lanyard badges and other items. At times that area was just as crowded as the regular Exhibit Hall. Nice Job!
Freebie Swag:
I Bought A Ton:
Here are a few pics of the many items I brought home: Lami Cards Cards Game Women Nintendo DS Egyptian Aura Battler
Except for the fact that I lost my Date Planner at the show. All in all it was a very good experience. We will definitely go again next year.
There were about 25 rooms with programming going on. There was Laser tag, Stormtrooper Olympics, a Droid building and lots of company/guest panels. We saw a panel on collecting that was like the Antiques Road Show. People brought odd SW items and the panelists managed to figure out what the items were and if it was licensed. The biggest stumper of the day were some off sized figured that turned out to be from Hallmark. I had to run out near the end to check on Mr. M at the Gaming tables and feed him. Gamers don't eat real food unless they smell it in front of their noses. Then I rushed back to see a 2nd panel on Hilarious SW Collectibles. The room was full and they were not going to let me in (which I TOTALLY understand) but I called Ned's cell phone & had him stand up and wave me in. Once again, more people think Ned & I are married hahaha. Believe me, that gets funnier each time it happens!
Having SW in both LA Convention Centers was confusing at first. Eventually we got used to hauling ourselves from one end of the universe to the other. The 3 times I had to deal with Staff directly were good. They were efficient and told me what I needed to know. Unfortunately the convention law still prevails, "Never ask a security guard" they are most likely a day worker who has no idea what you are asking about past the name of the convention and the city you are in.
There were several rooms with items on display, like an X-Wing. More chances for photo ops. LFL (Lucas Film Limited) saw a good idea and ran with it all the way to the bank...again. There were gaming companies in different halls and all Star Wars games were represented. Video, Board & Card games were all there including the newest ones. Retailers sold a ton of Action Figures, Busts, Cards & Art. One company only sold Pins. They were so detailed that some came framed as a set to hang on the wall. I should have gotten their name and I hope to see them at CCI. Mimobot.com had these great little character toys that happen to be USB drives. They gave away 5 stickers of each character available once you sign up on the email list.
Onto the Swag:
The Swag was good & bad. The quality of the swag was good, but there was not a lot of it. Most items were for sale. Lego had a huge booth but did not give out a promo. Minimates could have done something, but didn't. My biggest disappointment was the Vivid Vision booth. They make wonderful 3D lenticular cards and posters. But for some reason they ran out of promo cards on Friday. That is day 2 of a 5-day convention! It makes the company look foolish when they don't bring enough product for the run of a show. At the very least set a day limit so each days Attendees have a chance at getting the item. I collect lenticulars so that really annoyed me.
For the quick view click on
Group Shot
For the full Index of 19 SWC30 pictures click on
Full Index
I was lucky enough to get interviewed by the San Diego Union Tribune about my Swag hunting. I am a swag hound and it was a nice little article with quotes from various people including...ME. Thanks UT. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news
Anime Expo Review 2006 I went to Anime Expo with 2 friends on Saturday, July 1 and then again with a different friend on Sunday. On Saturday we arrived early and decided to eat breakfast first. There is no reason to arrive on-site early, because the lines are always long. The registration area is still a bit confusing with not enough Staff and signage. But the Industry line was better than 2005, so I was happy. We picked up our badges and attempted to get to the Exhibit hall but was met by a wall of people. Fortunately we found out that this year there was a separate door for the Industry people. There were not that many Industry people so that was great! The attendee bag came with sample magazines & a cool patch.
Once we got into the Hall things went pretty smoothly. It seemed twice as big this year. Possibly due to CLAMP being the special guests upstairs. We saw several company booths, Bandai, Geneon, ADV/Best Buy etc. Most were smaller specialized vendors: A Sailor Moon booth, Manga booths, DVD booths etc. We did buy a few things, but we are saving up for our trip to Japan at the end of July.
Shonen Jump & Viz once again gave out a very nice canvas bag. Inu Yasha is on one side and Bleach is on the other. Bandai had promo lenticular cards for Dragon Drive and Pencil boards for Infinite Ryvius. One booths had a Dance Dance Revolution contest going. It was great and it drew big crowds. There were Doll vendors selling eyeballs & mini clothes. Cosplay booths full of costume clothes.
Here are two group shots of some of the freebies. Anime Expo Swag Anime Expo Swag B
I Bought: 6 different Gashapon Capsule figures. My favorite things are the Disgaea Version 2 figures. They come in their own clear lego-type box for easy stacking & display. My girlfriend bought this gorgeous new ball jointed Doll. All in all a very good experience. We will definitely go again next year.
E3, Electronic Entertainment Expo 2006 E3 is a huge trade show. This year's show was May 10-12. Being Wednesday - Friday cuts down on attempts by non-industry attendees to get in. This convention is not open to the public and attendees must be at least 18 years old. I had never been to E3 before and I was impressed by enormity of it. The show was held in the multiple halls of the LA Convention Center. There were game consoles everywhere, in the halls, in the lobby's, in separate & private rooms, everywhere!
The Exhibits floors included Games, Software & more Games! There were games based on Comics, Books, Sci Fi, Movies, Anime & TV shows. Most were Video or Computer type games, almost no Cards or CCG. The interactive games have improved again, this time making the player move even more than before. One booth showed off a golfing, baseball & snowboarding game that require the player to swing & shift their body just like the real sport. My sentimental favorite had to be the Pacman booth, which was showcasing a Snoopy & the Red Baron game.
I was not at all surprised to see a large group of the attendees were also female. Many companies had something devoted to the ladies. Complete game systems, single games and game controllers all showing that the industry realizes that Women and Girls love to play too.
In one of the halls was the History of Games exhibit. A clever little showcase of the games most of us grew up with. The small tabletop variety were displayed and roped off so that no one would mess with them. They also had full size floor models that were free for anyone to play. I played Galaxian because it just begged me to. It really was the original game. It had the quirks that the early game did, slow button firing & air leaking sound effects, psssst! I loved it! Ned got interviewed by a News crew about gaming, Lucky duck.
Several of the booths had a top area, sometimes it was for the attendees and other times it was private meeting space to make deals and sign contracts. I saw several full service bars. The biggest, flashest room also happened to have 3 stages set up. Sega & The Power of Korea had live musical acts playing. 3 lovely ladies played music that sounded like a cross between updated classical & gaming soundtracks. While the Sega people used fire and drums. It was all great! Meanwhile, despite the ladies and fire, my husband was drawn to the flying man across the room. There was a full size half pipe set up with skateboarders flying up to the rafters! There was a demo playing of how they used real skateboarders to make the game.
Pictures of some of the sights in the halls. It does not do it justice but take a look anyway.
http://www.nosewheelie.com/marysgarage/news/e3picsH/
To view a large group shot of all the E3 Swag I happily snagged click on: 
E3 Swag A
E3 Swag B
The E3 website is jam packed with information: http://www.e3expo.com/default.aspx
Mary, marysgarage@hotmail.com
ConDor Report 2005 ConDor was held over the Easter weekend at the Mission Valley Marriott (3/25 Ð 3/27). ConDor is a very literary convention with a small dealers room and lots of book & craft vendors. I went to the Mysterious Galaxy booth to meet my two friends. We chatted for a lonnng time, because that is what you do at this type of convention. Then we walked around the Art show. Some of the art was very good and some was obviously amateur. I appreciated all of it, except that too much of the art were prints instead of originals. One really cool piece was made entirely out of tree bark & leaves.
At 6:00 the dealers room closed and I wandered around and found the SG1 Rally Point Room. http://www.sg-command.net/ The local Stargate group had 2 rooms set aside to have a mini-con within ConDor. SG-10 is the California group. They had lots of props from the TV show. It was the Best thing ever! I was drooling!
There were the standard things going on also, like a Gaming room, special Guests and Panels. There was a Masquerade Saturday evening at 8:00. The Costumes were great and the 3 that did skits were good. The whole thing ended at 8:45 and that included the Judging and Awards. Quick and to the point! Sorry, I don't have pictures, but I am sure the pictures will be posted on the ConDor website soon. But it won't do the Best in Show ladies any justice. They looked Great close up. Very fine workmanship. The website is http://www.ConDorCon.org After the Masquerade we chatted with more people for about 30 minutes and then went home. It was a very good day.
ConDor Swag - consisted of not much. I came late so maybe I missed a few things, but I doubt it. It is all about chatting & books at this Con. It was kind of refreshing. There where Amityville Horror lenticular postcards & posters. Posters for Dragons, the movie and Aeon Flux rubberstamps that were the most different thing I saw.
APE- Alternative Press Expo Small Press and Independant writers & artists gather at this convention. See what the next creative wave might be. Look around, Buy stuff and enjoy yourself. It is held in San Francisco. The website is linked with Comic-Con http://www.comic-con.org/Pages/APEWhatsNew.html
Con-Dor San Diego's longest runnning Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention. This is a great convention for people who like to read. Guests are usually great authors. It is usually on Easter weekend in the Mission Valley area. The website is http://www.ConDorCon.org
WonderCon A mid-sized convention. A nice mix of Companies and Small Press/Independants gather. Plenty to see, but no need to rush. Look around and enjoy yourself. It is held in San Francisco in February. The website is linked with Comic-Con http://www.comic-con.org/Pages/WCWhatsNew.html
Anime Expo A fantastic Anime convention held in Anaheim, July 1-4th. This convention is for Four days over the July fourth weekend. Watch the latest videos, watch the dealers floor, watch the FABULOUS fan created Cosplay costumes! Dont believe me, check out the Hall Cosplay gathering picture on the home page. This convention is well worth the trip, so go get your Anime fix! http://www.anime-expo.org
Comic-Con International: San Diego Comic-Con is the premiere comic convention in the United States. Bask in the four day glow with 95,000 of your closest friends all having a common interest. Go and be lost in a sea of Comic & Media events. Buy stuff, get Free stuff, but make sure you go! It is usually held in July. The website is jam packed with information. It even gives valuable parking information to the clever attendee, who bothers to check http://www.comic-con.org
Dragon Con 2005 A Science Fiction & Popular Arts convention in Atlanta Georgia. It will be held Friday through Monday in September. This is a very relaxed mid-sized convention. Lots to do & see. This convention is great fun at night, especially if you are an adult. Kids disappear at night (like they should) and the adults run wild! The parties are great! Take a look at their website for much more information - http://www.dragoncon.org/
Icon Factory Icons Are Free. I have collected thousands of cool icons. Many are anime & toy related ones. I do not own them and I did not make them. I downloaded them for free. The Icon Factory site provides some of the BEST free icons on the web. Supe up your desktop with Gundam, Astroboy, Evangelion & more! http://www.iconfactory.com
