They opened the doors to head inside at around 8 to get in line. One thing that was absolutely fantastic was the way lines were separated when everyone filed inside. If you want to go to a panel, go to the left; if you want to just go inside, go to the right. I'm not interested in wasting my entire date so I don't go to any panels. I'm also not interested in meeting any celebrities. Not that I'm too cool for that, it's just expensive as hell. But it was great that I wasn't as far back in line as I originally would have been because they weeded out everyone that is in line early to attend a panel. It is a bummer for anyone attending the con for the first time who isn't aware that's how it works but we all learn that way.
My first stop was to head to the Hallmark booth. It's always a sure thing to get an exclusive and they always sell for a good profit. As covered in my "THANKS Comic Con" entry, the Keepsakes this year are not that great. The sure thing is the Wampa from Star Wars. So I picked up one of those. I also got a shot of the Jaws ornament and the Delorean from Back to the Future. It lights up when you press the button, pretty cool.
One other thing I want to add, and a lot of others in line agree, Hallmark really has their stuff together. They are extremely polite, they have their line organized and aligned properly where it doesn't run around the entire con. There are at least 4 or 5 people just keeping the line organized. Hallmark is great when it comes to Comic Con and everyone agrees!
Next stop was the Kotobukiya booth to snap some pics of some upcoming statues. I always love their work. You can check them out at http://www.kotous.com
They also had a few female statues on display. Their She-Hulk statue was recently just blasted on the internet due to the cutesy anime face she has. It ruins the statue. The Carnage statue is going to be a big seller.
Next stop was the Pop! Culture Shock booth. They were EXTREMELY small this year and what you see right here was pretty much it. However, their statues are always amazing and only go for around $350. The Honda statue was huge and the Scorpion statue was even BIGGER. Scorpion stood at least 2 feet tall with killer detail.
After that, swung around to the McFarlane booth who had his own for the first time I think this year and it was pretty awesome. Not only did I get to see the Macho Man statue in person BUT I also saw, which I didn't even know was on the way, the Stone Cold Steven Austin statue! It looks a little TOO detailed. Austin's arms have some veins and his fists are a little too turned out but It's still pretty cool.
Also, at this point McFarlane's cash cow, there were a ton of Walking Dead toys. Here are a few little scenes they had setup with figures the size of army men
After that, hit up the Dark Horse booth. Again, not a big booth here and not very crowded. Tons of graphic novels and just a few statues.
I'm not really a fan of this statue at all but I'm a big Sin City fan so I figured, why not?
Another thing I'm a HUGE fan of is The Legend of Zelda and these figures are awesome. They aren't very expensive either. Link goes for $79.99 and Ganondorf is $124.99. Tons of detail. Awesome.
This was the Marvel stage at their booth. Eh.
I'm also a very proud Browncoat. These are the Firefly prototypes from the Quantum Mechanix booth.
This Serenity replica is just too awesome for words. You can look in the cargo bay and actually see the crew walking around. However it's...
These can all be found at http://qmxonline.com
These are awesome. I didn't get the name of the booth but they were already sold out.
Here is the mother load. I didn't get the exact name of this booth but I know that Colossal Titan statue goes for around $675.
Attack on Titan has been so insanely huge this past year. I love it. I've been watching it on Adult Swim (Saturday nights at 11:30pm) and it's awesome. The cosplay too was off the charts. I'm pretty sure every 5th person was dressed like a member of the Survey Corp. The statues are also incredible collectibles. I highly recommend the show and get your hands on ANYTHING Attack on Titan. There is a live action movie on the way, too!
Pretty awesome to see the Batman statue from The Dark Knight Rises
Every Batman movie costume. Had no idea how short Clooney was.
Some very cool Batman: The Animated Series figures that are on the way.
Some more very cool Batman: Lil Gotham figures designed by Dustin Nyugen
This Smaug head from The Hobbit at the WETA booth I'm sure you've seen 100 pictures of already. I've yet to see any of The Hobbit movies. Loved LOTR, seen the old cartoon movie. The screens in the eyes were very cool. Made it look like it was looking around.
I don't know who or what this is from The Hobbit but it's awesome.
Here's a little model of the new Marvel Experience that is going to be coming along. I think it's something that will be coming to the IZOD center in NJ soon. They really didn't provide much detail about it.
I can't remember if this was at Hollywood Heroes or a booth next to them. (Hollywood Heroes is the booth where Jordan Hembrough from the Toy Hunter resides). I didn't even know they made a play set or action figures from the Filmation Ghostbusters.
I did get to talk with him for a second. He has the 4 GIANT Ninja Turtles from my past entry of "What's in my parents basement" but in the box. I asked him how much they would sell for loose. He said around $25-$30 bucks. Cool of him to take the time to answer my quick question. He seemed like he was really rushing around.
I had to take a picture of these. I love these. They are lights/statue Riddler Trophy's from Batman: Arkham City. Surprisingly they have not sold out or gone up in price. So I guess they aren't big time collectibles but definitely cool to have.
So here are a few other things I picked up:
I got my HULK #1 signed by Ed McGuinness and Dexter Vines. Ed is one of my favorite artists of all time. It was cool to meet him and sign it.
I picked up the convention exclusive variant for Sabrina #1. Afterlife with Archie has been amazing and I'm sure Sabrina will definitely follow suite. There was a signing I think, I missed it. Would have been nice if the guys running the booth actually provided me with that information.
Now the biggest thing was that I got my Locke & Key #1 (which was already signed by Joe Hill and you can also see in a previous entry) signed by Gabriel and also CGC graded WITH someone to view it and get me a Signature Series Yellow Label.
In my past entry of bashing CGC I stated how much they sucked for how they get to the Signature Series. I spoke with someone there who actually knew what they were talking about and they informed me of what I had originally thought. In order to get a Signature Series grade, you have to have someone from the CGC booth come with you to physically witness a signing. Only half the people there know what they are doing but they were actually great and really friendly this year. It cost me about $48 to send my book out to get encapsulated. They said it should take about 2 months to get back so as soon as I do, I'll be sure to put a pic up right here.
Also, I picked up these NYCC variant "Love it" and Hate it" Harley Quinn covers. Picked em up for $10 a piece, they should sell for at least $20.
I also picked up an NYCC 2014 exclusive lapel pin. Which I collect.
So that was pretty much my day. It went really fast and was there for almost 11 hours and I still feel like I missed a lot. I hate only going one day. It was still a blast and I can't wait for next year but this year just seemed a little stale. All the same booths in all the same spots.
I will say that this year was NOT very comic book oriented. I had no problem at all getting any of my signatures. Humberto Ramos, current artist of Amazing Spider-man had absolutely NO line in artist alley. Tons of people walking around artist alley but no one actually getting any books signed. No line for Gabriel Rodriguez or GARTH ENNIS! Not one person in line for Garth Ennis, crazy. I just didn't seem to get the comic vibe at all. Neal Adams, who had a GIANT booth this year, which is saying something from previous years, seemed to have no action at all.
It was just a very different vibe this con. I see pictures all over the internet of some insane cosplay and I really don't remember many that I saw. Not sure what my vibe was but I just wasn't nuts about it this year. But it's still Comic Con and there is nothing else like it.
So thanks for stopping by and sticking through this HUGE update. Bye Bye from the Teen Titans
Be sure to follow me on Twitter @TheUNcollected
Also, go like my page on FACEBOOK
And FINALLY, thanks to those who have been using my Amazon links. Be sure that whenever you buy on Amazon to visit Collect the UNcollected first. Click on the Amazon banners and shop the same as you normally would. Whenever you make a purchase, Amazon kicks back a little portion back to the website so I can keep searching, keep collecting and keep providing you with what to get your hands on before you no longer can...
...and on a personal note, I've got a wedding coming up next year ;-)
Thanks again, everyone and be sure to take your Comic Con collectibles all the way to the bank, brother!
I'm also a very proud Browncoat. These are the Firefly prototypes from the Quantum Mechanix booth.
This Serenity replica is just too awesome for words. You can look in the cargo bay and actually see the crew walking around. However it's...
These can all be found at http://qmxonline.com
These are awesome. I didn't get the name of the booth but they were already sold out.
Here is the mother load. I didn't get the exact name of this booth but I know that Colossal Titan statue goes for around $675.
Attack on Titan has been so insanely huge this past year. I love it. I've been watching it on Adult Swim (Saturday nights at 11:30pm) and it's awesome. The cosplay too was off the charts. I'm pretty sure every 5th person was dressed like a member of the Survey Corp. The statues are also incredible collectibles. I highly recommend the show and get your hands on ANYTHING Attack on Titan. There is a live action movie on the way, too!
Pretty awesome to see the Batman statue from The Dark Knight Rises
Every Batman movie costume. Had no idea how short Clooney was.
Some very cool Batman: The Animated Series figures that are on the way.
Some more very cool Batman: Lil Gotham figures designed by Dustin Nyugen
This Smaug head from The Hobbit at the WETA booth I'm sure you've seen 100 pictures of already. I've yet to see any of The Hobbit movies. Loved LOTR, seen the old cartoon movie. The screens in the eyes were very cool. Made it look like it was looking around.
I don't know who or what this is from The Hobbit but it's awesome.
Here's a little model of the new Marvel Experience that is going to be coming along. I think it's something that will be coming to the IZOD center in NJ soon. They really didn't provide much detail about it.
I can't remember if this was at Hollywood Heroes or a booth next to them. (Hollywood Heroes is the booth where Jordan Hembrough from the Toy Hunter resides). I didn't even know they made a play set or action figures from the Filmation Ghostbusters.
I did get to talk with him for a second. He has the 4 GIANT Ninja Turtles from my past entry of "What's in my parents basement" but in the box. I asked him how much they would sell for loose. He said around $25-$30 bucks. Cool of him to take the time to answer my quick question. He seemed like he was really rushing around.
I had to take a picture of these. I love these. They are lights/statue Riddler Trophy's from Batman: Arkham City. Surprisingly they have not sold out or gone up in price. So I guess they aren't big time collectibles but definitely cool to have.
And here is everyone's favorite. The shot of the main entrance hallway. This was real late in the day. maybe around 4pm. Still pretty packed.
So here are a few other things I picked up:
I got my HULK #1 signed by Ed McGuinness and Dexter Vines. Ed is one of my favorite artists of all time. It was cool to meet him and sign it.
I picked up the convention exclusive variant for Sabrina #1. Afterlife with Archie has been amazing and I'm sure Sabrina will definitely follow suite. There was a signing I think, I missed it. Would have been nice if the guys running the booth actually provided me with that information.
Probably the highlight of my con was that I got to me Gabriel Rodriguez. The amazing artist of Locke & Key. He was an incredibly nice guy. There wasn't much of a line at all for him. Here is a picture the Locke & Key one-shot "Guide to the Known Keys". Gabriel said this is his favorite story of from the entire run. I might agree, it's an amazing story. Super powerful. This is the greatest comic book series of all time.
In my past entry of bashing CGC I stated how much they sucked for how they get to the Signature Series. I spoke with someone there who actually knew what they were talking about and they informed me of what I had originally thought. In order to get a Signature Series grade, you have to have someone from the CGC booth come with you to physically witness a signing. Only half the people there know what they are doing but they were actually great and really friendly this year. It cost me about $48 to send my book out to get encapsulated. They said it should take about 2 months to get back so as soon as I do, I'll be sure to put a pic up right here.
Also, I picked up these NYCC variant "Love it" and Hate it" Harley Quinn covers. Picked em up for $10 a piece, they should sell for at least $20.
I also picked up an NYCC 2014 exclusive lapel pin. Which I collect.
So that was pretty much my day. It went really fast and was there for almost 11 hours and I still feel like I missed a lot. I hate only going one day. It was still a blast and I can't wait for next year but this year just seemed a little stale. All the same booths in all the same spots.
I will say that this year was NOT very comic book oriented. I had no problem at all getting any of my signatures. Humberto Ramos, current artist of Amazing Spider-man had absolutely NO line in artist alley. Tons of people walking around artist alley but no one actually getting any books signed. No line for Gabriel Rodriguez or GARTH ENNIS! Not one person in line for Garth Ennis, crazy. I just didn't seem to get the comic vibe at all. Neal Adams, who had a GIANT booth this year, which is saying something from previous years, seemed to have no action at all.
It was just a very different vibe this con. I see pictures all over the internet of some insane cosplay and I really don't remember many that I saw. Not sure what my vibe was but I just wasn't nuts about it this year. But it's still Comic Con and there is nothing else like it.
So thanks for stopping by and sticking through this HUGE update. Bye Bye from the Teen Titans
Be sure to follow me on Twitter @TheUNcollected
Also, go like my page on FACEBOOK
And FINALLY, thanks to those who have been using my Amazon links. Be sure that whenever you buy on Amazon to visit Collect the UNcollected first. Click on the Amazon banners and shop the same as you normally would. Whenever you make a purchase, Amazon kicks back a little portion back to the website so I can keep searching, keep collecting and keep providing you with what to get your hands on before you no longer can...
...and on a personal note, I've got a wedding coming up next year ;-)
Thanks again, everyone and be sure to take your Comic Con collectibles all the way to the bank, brother!
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