No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on October 17, 2011

Short version, got in Saturday after some awful traffic.
Watched the table when Peter had panels
Saw a lot of people we knew.
Caught up on news with friends.
Met a lot of fans
Explained Puppets to people
Met up with Stan Lee and introduced him to Caroline.
Peter introduced Caroline to Mark Hamill
Left at the end of the day
Had dinner about 9 pm
Slept

Sunday
Got up at 6:45
Walked the floor for an hour before the crowds came pouring in
Caught up with more people
Did silly things with puppets
Met more fans
Explained Puppets to people.
Caught up briefly with Mark and spent more time talking to Mrs. Hamill.
Started losing voice and energy
Took the Train Home
Collapsed

Longer version under the cut with some photos

Saturday it was a bigger pain to get into the city than it is on some weekdays. We still don’t know what happened but we took one of the alternate routes into the city.

We got to the table and set up. Peter went off to a panel and Caroline read Scary Godmother. I set up his table and the puppets. I put them at the corner of the table and they became quite the conversation piece for people. I was pleased that everyone who knew the movie could tell Chuck from Erik right off the bat. And a lot of people recognized Lockheed right off the bat.

I did make some people’s day letting them take photos of themselves and the puppets. One gentleman was particularly happy to have his picture taken with Lockheed since that was his favorite Marvel character. I impressed a lot of people with my X-Men first class jacket. When “where did you get that” turned into “you MADE that?!?!?!?”, my heart felt a little warmer.

I got to show Lockheed to Chris Claremont who had a few editorial comments about the snout but overall like it. Chris can be blunt but he is honest. He did recognize Lockheed when he saw it.

I also got to hang out briefly with my friends Janet Lee and Jim McCann who have been doing very well with their graphic novel “Return of the Dapper Men”. I have known those two longer than any of us care to admit. It is nice to see friends who had dreams see those dreams come to fruition.

We set up a time to talk briefly to Stan so Caroline could meet him. It went OK Caroline was being a little silly about it but we did get a nice picture together. Peter and Stan traded some stories and we found out that he IS the voice of the Mayor in Super Hero Squad. Caroline found that impressive.

Later Peter went with Caroline to catch up with the Hamills. I kept the table running and answered a lot of questions about the puppets. This was the right crowd for these type of puppets.

The Table on the first Day.
(For the Visually Impaired: This is a picture of Peter’s Table at the convention. We were at a corner table so we could be seen from two directions. Peter is to the left behind the table which has a white plastic cloth with his books, comics books, and scripts on top of it. To his right is the top of Caroline’s head since she is reading a book. To her right is the purple Dragon known as Lockheed. His head is sideways resting on a sign that says Peter David on it. In front of him is Charles and Erik in their X-men First class uniforms which are yellow and blue with a black harness and silver buckles.)

The room shut down about 7 pm and we got out of there and got the car. We stayed in the city because we had to be back bright an early the next day. So dinner wasn’t until close to 9 and we didn’t get back to the hotel until after 10.

We got up at 7 and had a very nice breakfast. We cabbed over to the venue and got there when it was open for exhibitors. It is nice being able to walk around and see things.

Peter got to play the video game he wrote the dialogue for

(For the VI: Peter is standing in front of a TV screen holding an X-Box controller. His back is to us. He is wearing a blue hoodie with a red and black spiderman symbol on the back. Above him you can see part of a very large Spiderman which was the box art for the game)

We played around at the Marvel booth on the Avengers set they had there. Later Caroline and I went back and got our pictures taken with some Shield Agents. The young female Shield agent looked at my jacket kind of puzzled. I said “Yep, we’re mixing the movies.” She laughed and we took the picture.

(For the VI: This is the Marvel Booth at NYCC this year. It is a recreation of the set for Shield Headquarters. It looks very metallic. There are futuristic consoles to our left and right. We are standing on the steps between two actors dressed in blue Shield costumes. I am wearing my yellow and blue X-men Jacket and Caroline is wearing pink pants, a pink hoodie and a grey shirt. Above our heads it says Marvel (in red) AVENGERS (in metal).)

Caroline got to meet Jem from Jem and the Holograms at the Hasbro booth

Caroline is a little out of focus because she was vibrating with excitement.
(For the VI: This is a picture of Jem and Caroline. Jem has pink hair, a pink dress with a silver belt with a blue accent, pink tights and books. Caroline has pink pants, a pink hoodie, and a grey t-shirt on)

Caroline also got silly with the Action Figure photo station.

I have to say the pose was all her own doing. I didn’t coach her at all.
(For The VI: This is Caroline in front of a large version of a toy pack. It is a Darth Vader with the red light saber from Revenge of the Jedi. Caroline is standing in the “blister pack” with right hand around her throat and her left hand outstreached. She has her tongue sticking out like Darth Vader is strangling her.)
After the crowds started in, Caroline and I booked to the Hasbro booth to get Caroline a toy that she had earned. They gave us a bag large enough to hide a small child in. Which is what Caroline did the rest of the convention. That bag became her fort. She played her harmonica and amused the crowds. She was happy the rest of the day.

It was kids day at NYCC so there were activities that were for the kids. One of the things they did was have Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani doing a Tiny Titans draw off. It was truly silly and a lot of fun to watch. Franco “cheated” at one point and became the villain of the piece. The kids just loved it. Afterwards they handed out the drawings that they had done to the kids. Caroline got a Starfire drawn by Art which she treasures.

We went to say Hi to Mark and talk to his wife who I hadn’t seen since Caroline was a baby. Again catching up on news and it was nice to see them both.

We went back to the booth and my back started giving me fits so Caroline and I decided to head home. We checked the schedule and figured out the rest of the day.

Finally, right before we left, we did a recreation of that scene in X-Men First Class with profanity

Thanks to Wolvie (who’s name I didn’t catch sorry) and Reid Cooper who lent a hand with Charles. Yeah, we get silly as the day goes on.

Caroline and I got home about 5. Peter arrived back about 9.

In other news, I sold one of the ship-ships and Charles and Erik so it was a good weekend professionally for me.

In fact it was a good weekend for all of us.

My thanks to everyone who makes that convention possible.

I am grateful that we all had fun at NYCC

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