ComicCon 06--The Goods

The big disappointment was not being able to get into any panels. We got locked out of LOST because they were at full capacity [Heard really nice things about Jorge Garcia through the grapevine tho.] This is one area of the convention where being "press" means doodly squat and the staff were in full bitch-mode this year. Two of us had a deal worked out with a woman on security detail to get into the Simpsons panel and her boss pulled this one on us, "I OUTRANK HER." Meanwhile my boss patiently waited in line and got in with no problems.

I didn't want to spend all my time waiting in lines and I gave up on trying to run from the main floor to the ballrooms every other hour. Anyway, I kept getting turned around because I think they may have used more areas of the facility than last year. It seemed like it. There definitely were more people. More man-boobs. Wish I'd have at least tried for the Little Lulu fan club.

Instead I was cruising the booths. Didn't make any big discoveries this year. Ran into a couple people I met last year. Made a few conservative purchases. Talked to some artists. Last year had more to look at. Bigger and much more lavish displays. More collectible freebies. More characters at booths. More people dressed up. More to get excited about as far as film and book releases. Bigger names on the guest list.

Sidenote: Quite a few people have asked me why there aren't as many hired hot women at CC as there are at E3. Well, I think most who have asked are mistaking nerdy with nerdy. It depends on where your interests are--is it capping an ass in the 50 Cent game or Uglydolls or both? Sure, there is some overlap, but the target audience of each is different. For one thing, E3 is a trade show and it's for industry insiders only--it needs women to pose for photogs for magazines. Because who produces AND reads those magazines? Young men who like hot women. [I never really get into E3 although I'm there every year.] You go to play not-yet-released games and humiliate yourself for a free t-shirt. There's nothing to buy at E3 whereas CC is for the enthusiast who comes in specifically to buy. There's more of a balance in the number of men and women. More families; more children. It's a literary experience and there's never enough time for ogling anyway when you are hunting down Kurosawa figurines. You've got to prioritize. CC is for collectors.

Here's a short list:
Thrizzles; Billy Hazelnuts (signed); Schizo 4 (signed) and HAW!; Simpsons Bust Ups 1 set from Series 1 and 2 sets from the not-yet-released Series 2 [I'm not even supposed to publish photos of them but check out my flickr account and they should be up sometime this weekend]; Summer Blonde softcover 2nd printing (signed) to replace an unsigned 1st printing [I can live with that]; an Eightball (signed)

For me, last year was more mini-comics by smaller names; clothing, hats, accessories; original art; small goods from the small independent booths.

The old acquaintance I ran into mentioned that he purchased Zissou Adidas knockoffs--4 stripes--which, if I had seen, would likely have purchased in a heartbeat.