Saturday
My Saturday run started with a run to the Hasbro Toys Booth (across from Wizards of the Coast) so that I could pick up some exclusive Comic Con toys (repaint variations of already existing toys) : Darth Vader Tie Fighter in Gold (normal is Titanium), the 501st Stormtrooper (in honor of the Imperial Stormtrooper fan group the 501st Legion) and Nemesis Prime, the black Decepticon repaint variant of the red Autobot Leader Optimus Prime. Following that, I joined the rest of Team Uni at Wizards where we got some stamps but didn't manage to stand in line long enough to roll for the prizes, because Quick Draw was about to start. Quick Draw was enjoyable as always, which was followed by the disappointment at the Wizards booth from seeing the prizes decimated to only promotional minis. A tactical decision was made to hold onto the cards until the next morning, in the hopes that there would be better prizes available the next day. The exhibition floor was mobbed with people, and littlestar and I fought our way to the exit and headed for the Nickelodeon Comedy Panel upstairs, which we were locked out of. Instead, we were directed to the line for Avatar (which was what we were headed up in advance for anyways). Parakkum arrived as a reinforcement a few minutes later, and we were treated to an excellent presentation of the upcoming season of Avatar. Following the panel we received some awesome blue Avatar T-shirts and made our way up to the second row to claim seats for the Brisco County Jr. DVD panel starring Bruce Campbell. I felt that Bruce was restrained from being his usually candid witty self by his Warner Bros. handlers who were sitting with him during the panel.
Most of Team Uni refueled with sushi while ota went to listen to JMS, and kwc attempted to make it into the Spider-Man 3 panel. We regrouped outside the Sails Pavillion, joined by Team Condo (which may as well be Team DSLite) -- and Mario Kart Double Dash and Tetris DS was broken out for some really crazy DS Lite multiplayer action. The Masquerade was mostly devoid of entertainment value except for a group skit called the Nintendon'ts which parodized many classic and cult movies (and which was actually well choreographed). The best moment of the skit is of course where Pikachu is beheaded as part of their Highlander parody.
Sunday
This was the last day of the Tour de Comic Con, which I spent walking the remains of the exhibition floor. Sunday is the "kids' day" of Comic Con, with a good portion of the programming aimed at the younger attendees, and I wasn't very interested in attending the panels being offered. Not nearly as crazy as the previous three days, the convention seemed a little more relaxed -- the frenetic and crammed feel of the exhibition hall was mostly gone, lines were short and the time seemed to be good to gather up those old demo cards and redeem them for prizes -- which we did in the form of Magic boosters and starter packs.
I received one sketch today from an artist who wanted some camera tips, and a sketch of Zoe from Pete Abrams of Sluggy Freelance. I purchased a copy of Yoshitaka Amano's "HERO" from BOOM! Studios (limited edition, certificate of autheticity, numbered, signed, blah blah blah). I really love Amano's work (plus the fact that he did the character designs for FF3/6 adds extra geek cred).
At 3, kwc and I left the exhibition hall in search of a cab to take us to the airport. The flight was of course full, and many a travel voucher were given for those on overbooked flights at the airport. I sat and caught up with my town in Animal Crossing while I waited at the airport.
(Pictures to come when I have time, for now, sleep)
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