I went to two interesting places Saturday morning (8-26-17). The first was an estate sale put on by a former co-worker of her deceased brother’s possessions. This guy was a serious collector of comics, memorabilia, and toy soldiers. The house was filled with comic book trades, models, and hundreds of painted soldiers (packed in individual slipcases). I’d been there before, but hadn’t seen the items on display for sale, so I wanted to go back to get a better look. The comics trades featured a lot of Conan books and pulp heroes, like The Shadow. There were a few X-Men trades, which were the most conventional superhero fare. The rest was stuff like The Authority and various comics from the late 90’s and 2000’s. Most of the trades were new, like they may not have been read at all. I suspect even the older comics I saw, like some old Gold Key Man from UNCLE comics, had probably been bought recently. Unfortunately, his tastes were pretty specific and not in tune with mine.
The figures were mostly Zulu and 1800’s British troops. There were also WWI Palestine theater troops: Turks, Arabs, and British, including a TE Lawrence figure. Unfortunately, none of them were on display, which might have helped sales. I’d gotten a look at them during the previous visit. They were gorgeous, hand-painted, about two-inch high, lead figures. A model kit that caught my eye was a large Gundam support vehicle kit, still in the box. I also liked a GI Joe doll in sniper gear. I’d seen a Batman cowl before there. The crowning piece was a signed Franzetta Conan print. Affording any of this stuff wasn’t so the issue as not desperately needing them or having anywhere to put them.
The whole collection had to be worth tens of thousands. On the one hand, this was very cool and impressive. On the other, it was all left to his relatives to get rid of. It was kind of sad and awesome at the same time. You could almost see it as a warning. I picked up a three Osprey military history books, some WWII history magazines, and a couple of toy soldier catalogs. (If the figures had been Napoleonic, I wouldn’t have been able to resist getting some.)
There was a sign on the figures at the sale estimating the value of the collection that I could not have possibly read right. [Monday edit: The sign was right, $70,000. The individual figures were $30 to $40 a piece.] I wouldn’t be surprised if a representative of the company, based in Hong Kong, didn’t come to the funeral if the number was right. There weren’t any prices in the catalog. If you have to ask, you can’t afford it, I guess.
Just up the road from the sale, the Las
Cruces Comic Con was this weekend. A
very nice co-worker left me two tickets to the event. That was very sweet of her. Unfortunately, coming into work at 5:00, I
was only able to ask a couple of people if they wanted to go with me, which
didn’t work out. Since I was going past
the Con anyway on the way back from the estate sale, I stopped in for a
while. If I’d been with somebody, I’d
probably have stayed longer.
For $30 for a day pass, I’d pass on the
event. For free, I’m there. Other people were not deterred, a whole lot
of other people. The convention center
parking lot was full. I didn’t know it
was this big a deal here. The main
hallway and dealer room had to be near capacity. This might be the convention center’s main
event of the year.
Many of the people were in costume. This accounted for a lot of young women being
there. There was a vendor stall
featuring some professional female cosplayers.
Wonder Woman was popular, especially the movie version. One young woman working at a vendor stall in
the main hall probably had the best one.
With her good looks, she didn’t need a costume to attract
attention. I noticed news crews making a
bee-line towards her for interviews about the Con. There was another large industrial vendor
booth that was making costume props. A
beautiful young woman, not in costume since she was working at crafting, was
sitting out front and getting attention from guys there (which might have been
the intention).
There were any number of different
characters represented in costume from superheroes to anime to probably
original creations. I saw three really
good ones. There was a Batman/Robin
pair. They were fully up-armored
versions of the characters. There was a
great Star-Lord costume, right out of the movie.
But the best was a Tony Stark impersonator. He was a double-take vision of Robert Downey
Jr. with the hair, goatee, and sunglasses.
He just had on a t-shirt, but with the glowing core underneath it. (Yes, I know.
I don’t have any pictures.)
As for me, though I have two Star Trek
t-shirts and a great dragon t-shirt, I went with my Aggie Empire shirt with the
Stormtrooper on it. As usual, I got a
compliment on it. I did have the coolest
t-shirt there. The Star Wars cosplayers
had a booth, but I didn’t see any Stormtroopers, who would have certainly
stopped me to compliment me on my shirt. There
was a full size Chewbacca suit on display.
Did you know Ghostbusters apparently has a national cosplaying
organization? They had a booth too.
The main hallway was filled with a line
of vendors and there was a ballroom filled them as well. For a comic book convention, it was kind of
sad that there were only three comic book sellers there and they all had small
stalls. So much for finding stuff on my
long-term wish list, which I carry with me for just such contingencies. I decided I was going to buy something while
there to support the vendors. I picked
up three old Gladstone Disney comics.
(One has Donald and the boys dressed as Batman-like characters going out to
fight crime. This should be good.) I got an issue of Guardians of the Galaxy,
but annoying I already had it, just with a different cover. Grrr.
At least it has a nice cover.
Other vendors had all sorts of
crafts. The Estate Sale was there with a
booth. They had some older Conan comics
and some large superhero figures. There
was some kind of snake and reptile handling area. Dave & Busters had a ball toss game area. (I don’t think there’s a D&B anywhere in
the area.) The Girl Scouts had a
recruitment booth. I’m not sure how it
worked for them, but I think most of the kids there were actually little girls,
so it wasn’t a bad idea.
Then there were the groups that were
there that I couldn’t figure out why.
The public library had a display with a strange collection of magazines
and books. I think they have comics
trades there to borrow, but they had old teen magazines featuring Justin Bieber
sitting out on their table (for the little girls at the convention?). A hip hop dance troop had a booth, maybe to coach
cosplayer groups for a routine for the costume contest? A local radio station had a table. They weren’t doing a remote broadcast. It was a guy with a table and a sign. I hadn’t even heard of the station.
I also decided I’d buy something from one
of the writers or artists that were there.
There were a couple of authors selling novels. I think they were aimed at young women. The protagonists were probably having affairs
with sexy, but sensitive vampires in a dystopian future. (GD it!
As sure as I publish this, somebody will start writing it.) Then there was a small comics publisher,
Vault Comics, that looked kind of interesting, but I wasn’t sure what their
main title was about. Ah, there’s a
small sign summing it up: “Lesbian Vikings.”
It’s from one extreme to another.
On the one hand, given the number of little girls present, this didn’t
seem entirely appropriate. On the other,
the high female population made me feel a bit out of place and alienated AT A
FREAKING COMIC BOOK CONVENTION!
I finally decided on patronizing writer
Meredith Finch. She was a pleasant
looking lady that was nice to the fans she was talking to. I wasn’t familiar with her work, so I asked. She’s best known for working on the New 52
Wonder Woman. In a more quiet setting, I
might have had some questions, but even then, I haven’t even seen the Wonder
Woman movie, much less read any new 52 comics.
She was pleasant and nice; I’m just too awkward with strangers.
I picked up her new comic, Rose, without
even asking what it was about. (I think
its aimed at young women since it features a young woman in a medieval dystopian
future with a sexy vampire boyfriend.
Sigh. Just kidding, sort of,
maybe. Haven’t read it yet.) I got the comic and a print, both signed, for
$5. The comic has a parchment-like cover
and the print is really nice. I may need
to get a frame for it. I felt slightly
bad about not buying more (like a few more issues of Rose or something from
another small comic publisher that was there that might have been local). I just didn’t want to feel dumb later, like I
did when I found out I’d bought same Guardians comic again.
I don’t feel bad about not visiting the
cafeteria. $2.50 for a soda? I waited to get a couple of pizza slices from
a local place on my way home. The panels
didn’t interest me, so I didn’t go into that ballroom. I wasn’t around long enough anyway. The one I might have wanted to attend would
have been Meredith’s, which ended right after I got there.
The PA announced that Gary Busey, the
Con’s main guest, was available for photographs, though I noticed later that
his panel was canceled. No, I’m not sure
what the Sci-Fi/Horror/Fantasy relation angle was with him either. I understood last years’ guests, the guy from
Starship Troopers and another guy from Walking Dead. (They got introduced on field at halftime
during the Aggie football game that weekend.
Football hasn’t started yet this year.)
I think the lady that got me the tickets was going to see an actress
there from Walking Dead, one of her favorite shows.
I strolled around the large game room
before leaving. This was one area that
wasn’t crowded. At the tables there were
demos of a bunch of different miniatures games, all of which are insanely
expensive and I wouldn’t want to be getting into.
There was a table playing Settlers of Catan. A Magic: The Gathering tournament was
scheduled earlier in the morning, but I would have thought it would have been
still running. I might have had some
interest in the D&D Adventurer’s League, but I would have had to have stuck
around for another couple of hours waiting for it. The room was also listed as the video room,
but I didn’t see any videos. What is a
comic book convention without an anime room?
Answer: not geeky enough at all.
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