Baltimore Comic-Con report

[greyloch]

Toy related goodness. I freely admit I'm a comicbook geek, but the toys are my primary focus in going to this Comic-Con.

Ran into Clayburn Moore, the guy who used to run Moore Action Collectibles (MAC). I'd met him a decade ago at Dragon*Con when MAC was just starting up so we talked a bit of shop and I mentioned that I really missed his company making toys; He said that it was a headache for him to do toys and found the statue business much more in tune with his art process. Too bad, he did make some very striking figures there for a while.

Met Tim Truman (Scout & Grateful Dead artist). I used to be a hard-core geek about a comic he co-developed, GrimJack. It would take too long to explain the comic, so just look it up on Google or Wikipedia if you're curious about it. He and John Ostrander (writer, other co-creator) recently got back the rights to their character (shady dealing with the former publisher from what I heard) and have been putting out a few new stories here and there. Got to talking with the folks working with him and told them that 1) I used to have a demon-star tattoo (has since been covered up), 2) a friend of mine who still has a large demon-star tattoo and that she threw a Muden's Bar themed room party at the 2006 Balticon, complete with "No Tourbots!" signs on the wall. LOL

They are collecting any sort of fan involvement with GrimJack so I'm forwarding their info to my friend and sending in shots of my GrimJack Xevoz custom I did last year. ;D

Diamond Distribution had on display some of the upcoming Mini-Mate waves and their Marvel Zombies action figures. God, I *so* want those!! They look better in person than the photos on Diamond's website. Also talked to one of the guys who helped design the puppet Spike figure; he didn't realize that there is an IDW mini-series about Spike and Lorne where they're turned into "wee little puppet men" and will bring up the idea of making these toys at their next development meeting. ;D He did said that there is a larger puppet Angel that's going to be coming out and that it will be a real puppet with space to put your hand in it and move it about. Oh, the wife will squee about this!! LOL

I took some photos of their display case. If interested, I can post the shots or e-mail them.

And there's even a Xevoz-related rumor (yes, rumor, as it can neither be confirmed or denied)! BanyJ is "trying" to get the license back but just for blank Xevoz figures. I got this from the British guy selling the Stikfas. Makes some sense as we knew that one or two of the Xevoz designers were in Singapore earlier this year for a few months at BanyJ's. Again, this is rumor so take it with a grain of salt (or salt lick).

Oh, I was at Dragon*Con last weekend and it rocked!! I know it broke 50,000 attendees which puts it ahead of the Chicago Wizard Con in attendance. SDCC hit 140,000 as a point of comparison. A couple of the exhibitors said that anything over 45,000 is a "major show." Here's some of the shots I took over last weekend. Some are a bit risque, so be warned. Feel free to enjoy, download, comment, critique, and whatever.

[sixwayshot]

Blank? Like, Xevoz-sized Stikfas?

Anyways, Sounds cool. Wish I lived closer to Baltimore, but I live very far from that..

[Squishee Slinger]

Large xevoz sized/compatable but regular old stikfas? Meh... that's not xevoz. Well at least not to me. If it means unpainted and sprued in the xevoz sculpting style and inventive species types then it may have possibilities.

[Bleighdzes]

Greyloch, I wonder when you were there. I was there on Saturday, but dressed in my costume. I spoke with that British guy you mentioned about. His name is Nick and truth be told, he's the guy who made Larry Stikfas, also known as the Traveling Stik. I had no idea until I saw Larry standing in the display Nick had for his stuff. He told me the same thing about Xevoz-sized Stikfas, which is pleasing to hear. I don't know that they would have the same, or similar art style as Xevoz did, but considering the directions that Stikfas are going, and more recently with this evangelion series that they are doing, there is definitely potential there.

I'll have some pics posted sometime this week. Also, it doesn't hurt to pass on the savings. Nick provided me a flyer for the store he runs at

www.lncollections.com

If you use the code comiccon07, you get 5% off your order.

[greyloch]

I was impressed with the Stikfas guy as he remembered me from last year talking about Xevoz. He seemed to be the only person selling Stikfas.

I was at the con around 12:30 - 1:00 p.m. and left around 3:00 p.m. so we probably just missed each other. What were you dressed as? If you want to see some out-of-this-world costumes, just glance thru my Flickr account.

I'm kinda jaded about the Baltimore Comic-Con as I just got back from my big con in Atlanta so it was a big change or possibly geek-culture shock on my part. It's a nice and decent convention, but I'm not into collecting comics these days so I was more focused on the toys and seeing if any artists I knew were there.

I did run into Nigel DeSade (a.k.a. "Pirate Boy") and got some art from him. Almost made Nigel lunge over his table to hug or kiss me (hopefully the former). I brought him a bottle of Gosling's rum (the good stuff) that he promptly opened and added to his diet coke. The look on his face was priceless. You would have thought that I gave him keys to the girls' locker room or something. ;D

[Bleighdzes]

I was doing the Snake Eyes costume again. A while ago, I met up with the woman who dresses up as SoundWave, Baroness and a bunch of other characters, but only saw her as Soundwave. At the BCC, we met up in our Joe outfits. I surprised you missed us. We were there in costume from about 12:30 till about 3:30. Her friend took a lot of pics, and she's told me that she'll send some my way, so when I get them, I'll provide a link.

I have to agree about this con - there wasn't a whole lot there other than comics, and I've been done with them for over 10 years now. Although, I had to admit, it was interesting to see some of the artists and writers from some of the books I used to collect. I think I raised Mike Mignola's brow when I presented him with the 4 issues of the limited series Rocket Raccoon comic book from '85, his first work way before Hellboy. I got a kick out of seeing Erik Larson (Savage Dragon author and artist) draw for guests. For a sec, I thought he was disabled (and if he ever reads this, please don't take any offense to what I'm saying), but it turned out that it was just the way he drew since he ever started. It was really amazing and I was absolutely impressed!

[Ghost Target]

bleighdzes said:

I was doing the Snake Eyes costume again. A while ago, I met up with the woman who dresses up as SoundWave, Baroness...

Cool, I was wondering who that was as SE. Nick was looking for Snake Eyes to come around to get his picture taken.

I was at the Con from 10-4, mostly chatting with Nick about Stikfas & buying more from him

[fatshadowmaster]

Baroness=Nice!

Cool you got to meet Nick. The Limey as he's known at the Asylum. Or the fake Nick, inside joke.

[Godzillalover]

Here are some interesting costumes.

youtube.com/watch?v=akNJ6S2UqsE&mode=related&search=

[Bleighdzes]

Here's a pic of us with Nick.



I think I need to hire an assistant. Putting on that costume is a bit of work. By the time I was done, nearly an hour had passed by and I was sweating like crazy.

[FratMonkey]

Damn! That costume looks like its 100 degrees in there.

[greyloch]

Welcome to the world of costuming. Doesn't matter what you dress up as (simple or complex) you're gonna sweat. I absolutely drenched my 3 major costumes over the Labor Day weekend. Luckily, almost all of it can either be washed or dry-cleaned. The rest I can hit with Fabreeze or something like that.

Man, I still have to do the MD renfaire this season! Yikes! Yet more costuming I have to wear.

[fatshadowmaster]

That was sweet Zilla. Cool stuff.

[Bleighdzes]

Yeah, sweating is inevitable unless they put ..... no , scratch that, sweating is inevitable. I changed in one of the bathroom stalls near the booth where Nick was working at. Man, it was a hot day regardless - almost 90 degrees. Fortunately, we were in the bottom of the building so it would be cooler. But no AC in the bathroom and very little ventilation, well, you can do the math. Just changing into that suit takes me nearly an hour in that limited space. By the time I'm done, I'm sweating and quivering for at least 5 minutes trying to adjust to the suit and generally just dealing with the load on me. Fortunately for me, Nick and his crew were nice enough to watch my bags while I was out making rounds.