Current mood:

exhausted

Calgary Comic Expo
The organizers of the Calgary Comic Expo have done it again.  They've proven, without any doubt, that Calgary has been hungering for this kind of convention. 

This year, they moved into the Round-Up Center.  They went from 30,000 square feet to 50,000 in one year.  Rumour has it that next year's show will be a two day affair.  It is, simply, awesome.



mavmaw and I got up VERY early this morning, and ventured down to the Stampede Grounds.  We were volunteering with the 501st, of course, and wanted to get there early so I could suit up in time for the crowds.

We arrived, only to find the 501st booth barren and empty, with no one around.  We wandered about for a bit, watching the vendors setting up and preparing for the coming onslaught.  Shortly thereafter, we found out that many of our 501st friends had already arrived, and were in a side-room getting organized and changed.

In short order, everyone got the booth set up.  It looked amazingly professional.

We took the opportunity to stalk around the show floor before the doors opened, to see if there was anything really special that caught our eye.  The one thing that jumped out at us was a puppet-ized "Spike" from the Angel television program.  Sure, Spike never became a puppet, but it was too fun not to get.... plus now he's sitting next to our puppet Angel.  Wheee!

I'd debated about suiting up right away, as there was much to see, and we *DID* need un-costumed people to help out at the booth.  However, I caved, and headed out to our change room to strap on the ol' armour.  I was stunned to see how LONG the line-ups were to get into the show.  Un-freakin' believable!  I wish I'd taken a photo, but you'll just have to trust me when I say there were HUNDREDS of people waiting.  Wow!!

We decided to have a little fun with some of the crowd, and we did the first-ever Badlands "Droid Hunt".  People were given a small token (in this case a bright orange butterfly) that they had to wear.  If a trooper (or bounty hunter or Sith Lord) spotted someone wearing their "droid", they were supposed to say "How long have you had that droid?".  At that point, the player would hand their droid over and get a raffle ticket in return.  The Jedi in attendance randomly scattered "Jedi Mind Trick" cards amongst the people... if they got approached by a trooper, and asked the magic question, the card allowed them to wave their hand, say "these aren't the droids you're looking for" and make the trooper move along.  It was a lot of fun, and hopefully people enjoyed it.  Great little interaction.  Next year, we plan to have actual little droids, rather than butterflies.  :) 

I helped hand out the "droids", and then headed in to get dressed.  While I was getting prepped, Mavmaw managed to snap some great photos of the visiting celebs.  Very cool!

Once I was all armoured up, I proceeded to wander about the facility.  It was really nice to hear people saying "Wow!  The 501st is here!" and similar things.  Just hearing folks that knew WHO the 501st is was a real treat.

I headed over to our booth, and hung out for a bit, while Mavmaw went shopping for goodies.  She returned a little while later with a great Loonie Tunes figure set, featuring Bugs, the Mad Scientist, and an amazingly heavy Gossamer figure.  TOO cool!  She also found a HILARIOUS t-shirt that only a Warcraft fan would appreciate.

Once she came back, I wandered over to visit Morena Baccarin and Christina Hendricks, the "Ladies of Firefly".  They were both ... er... well... hot as hell.  They were also very friendly, gracious and charming.  They asked if my outfit was at ALL comfortable, to which I replied "nope".  Christina asked "why put yourself through that, then?"  I responded "because kids love it.  We raise money for charities and visit Children's Hospitals, and it's all worth it to see kids (young and old) smile."   They both smiled and seemed rather pleased with my answer.  :)

I could have stood there and ogled them all day, but I got a photo with them and moved on, thanking them profusely.  They DID ask a little more about the armour, and both of them touched it and checked it out.  *swoon*.  Mavmaw proclaimed them to be "beyond delicious", especially Morena.  Oh, the nasty turn my brain took.

...


Okay... I'm back.

The floor quickly became crowded.  It got uncomfortable in Celebrity Row, but everyone was respectful and generally nice.  Of course, there were the occasional folks who crossed the geek-line into creepy-land, but that's to be expected.  We made sure that our booth was well-guarded. Mavmaw and I continued to walk the floor and hunt for droids.  She was a great spotter, as seeing those little orange butterflies wasn't exactly easy when I had my helmet on.  We ran into friends, acquaintances and one or two folks we..er.... tolerate.  We also bought a few more things here and there.  :D

Eventually, we made our way back to Celebrity Row, and our "home booth".  I took the opportunity to hop into line to get Robert Picardo's autograph.  His line was short, and he seemed like a pretty decent fellow.  He looked up at me, grinned and said "wrong franchise!".  I said "isn't it okay to love both?"  We did the picture thing, and he was warm and kind throughout.  To my surprise, the lady behind us in line found a photo in Mr. Picardo's for-sale folder... a photo of "Cowboy" from "Innerspace".  It was a TERRIFIC shot... just wonderfully lit and dramatic...considering the character.  Wish I'd seen it!

The big attraction for the day was Ray Park.  Mr. Park is best known for Darth Maul in Star Wars, and Toad from Xmen.  I kept wanting to get in line, but his line up was a MILE long.  Constantly.  I watched him working, and I must say I was impressed.  He had genuine smiles for people getting his autograph, and expressed interest in each and every person.  It can NOT be easy to do that all damn day.

I turned around, and was just sorta taking the the crowd, when a fellow sidled up beside me.  I thought I should point out the parasite on his shoulder, but they seemed to be friends.  I wonder what happened to him?  Didn't see him later...

The day carried on.. and much fun was had.  There were some great costumes at the show, and some not-so-great.  Furries, super-heroes, pseudo-military, Trek, Xena and many more.

At one point, a newspaper reporter asked Ray Park if he would pose for a photo with our own Darth Maul.  He agreed, and hopefully the shot will be in the paper(s) on Monday.  After that, Mr. Park offered to spar with our Maul.  He taught Dave a few moves, and they got a little routine going.  What a TREAT!  (The guy who lent Park his saber was overjoyed.)  After a few go-rounds, they smiled and went back to their respective tables.   Hee!  COOL!

At this point, I'd been suited up for 3 or 4 hours, and couldn't take it any more.  The hall was just TOO hot.  I went and suited down.  Mavmaw took the opportunity to sit down at the 501st booth, and answered questions for folks.  She patiently waited for me to return in my civvies so we could continue to shop.  DANGER. 

I came back, and we did just that.  More wandering and shopping.  Of course, now that I'd suited down, mfiles suited up in his Imperial Officer outfit.  Damn!  Bad timing.  Ah well..

When we returned from our wandering ... we had a plethora of Sith Lords in the booth.  It took us a bit, but we found our Darth Maul, and got him in there for an awesome group shot.  (That photo features Darth Nihulus, Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Darth Manly (hee!) and Darth Revan.  Revan and Nihulus are from the "Extended Universe".)

Finally, after he'd had a lunch break, I ventured into Mr. Park's lineup.  It wasn't TOO long at this point, but quickly grew behind us once folks realized he'd returned.  While I was standing in line, I got a chance to chat further with Robert Picardo.  Nice guy.  He'd been out wandering downtown last night, had a cigar, and dropped in at a pub for a pint or two.  He just had a nice quiet evening.  I took the opportunity to shake his hand, and said I hadn't wanted to do that when I was in my trooper gear... didn't want to inflict sweaty gloves on him.  He laughed and stated he appreciated that.  I wished him well, and hoped he got a chance to see more of Calgary and/or Alberta. 

We finally got to Mr. Park's booth.  We found an awesome photo that featured Darth Maul and Darth Vader, and David Prowse had autographed it already.  OURS!  Ray signed it, took a pic, and chatted with us for a bit.  He said how much he appreciated the 501st and what we do, and hoped to get a group shot with us later.  (Not sure if that ever happened.) 

A little while after, we wandered over to Lou Ferrigno's booth.  Got an autographed photo, and the usual photo op.  Mr. Ferrigno was rather quiet, but he smiled and was quite nice.  (I'm assuming he was quiet due to being tired, as well as his impaired hearing.)  He was also HUGE.  His biceps were just scary!!!

With that, our day was coming to an end.  It was closing in on 3 PM.  The show was going until 6, but we were just EXHAUSTED.  We made some quick goodbyes, and gathered our various and sundry goodies.  I was a little shocked to see that we'd purchased 3 bags of stuff.  We're screwed if we ever make it to the San Diego ComicCon.  :)

We headed home, and stopped at Nick's Steak House for a slab of meat and a cold beer.  Oh yeah, was THAT needed.

We got home, unpacked our goodies, and laid 'em all out to see what we'd gotten.  Nice.



Now, we're tired and happy.  We can hardly wait to see what next year's Comic Expo will feature!!!  :D