COMIC-CON 2006: ANY BETTER THAN LAST
YEAR?
So, many of you sitting at home reading this have contemplated
making the trip out this year to Comic-Con. You thought about the
cost of plane tickets, hotel rooms, rent-a-cars, restaurant bills,
registration fees, collectible receipts, and even some of you – bail
amounts. After every show, every year, many ponder the question,
“Did I miss anything?” Was this show better than any other before
this one?
Being
one of largest gatherings of freaks and geeks, fans and collectors
in the entire World, I am always most surprised by the sheer number
of crazies dressed up in their Matrix, Marvel, DC, and of course
Star Wars costumes, just to name a few. Not crazy in a bad way
(nutty maybe) but crazy by the weight, obvious discomfort, and
claustrophobia these costumes have been known to torture these
people to the brink of dehydration and delirium. The temperatures
can sometimes get into the 80’s inside, with humidity levels not
helping much either, especially to help dissipate the occasional
mixture of vinyl, rubber, and bodily ripeness that walk down each
aisle. However, after stopping to take a look around, one comes to
the realization that this is what the show is all about (though some
do need to carry around and use that personal size of Speed Stick).
Every Con tries to do better than the one before, offering new and
better exclusives, presenting more popular celebrities, bringing the
most popular ones back, and ensuring that there is everything for
everyone who attends. For me, this show was a little different than
years past. Being my first time covering this event, I have viewed
this from a completely different perspective.
Bottom
line is, I love the Con. This year’s exclusives I feel are some of
the best that have ever been done. The Gentle Giant Shocktrooper
mini bust, the 501st trooper from Hasbro, the Anakin Sideshow, even
the Darth Sidious character key from Acme; all items that many would
argue were some of the best ever to be presented as Con exclusives.
The introductions of many new items apart from those we have only
seen in pictures were all impressive. Sideshow collectors will be
mind-blown by the size and detail of the Jabba the Hutt and the
corresponding accessories. We can post pictures and describe it as
best we can, but it is one of those things you have to see in
person, or better yet, add to your collections. Gentle Giant
premiered many new busts and statues such as the Jango Fett, the
long-awaited Jedi Luke and the racy Leia in Slave attire.
As most of us on this site have been waiting for, Hasbro has decided
to step it up a bit themselves, introducing a plethora of new items,
including a 3.75" Republic Commando set, and more than 10 of the 25
Toyfare figures from which voting just took place. We will still see
the ever so often repaint/rehash, but I believe Hasbro has listened
to all you collectors out there to get you what you want, maybe not
all at once, but they are making strides.
So should you have packed up the SUV and made the trip out here, to
brave the heat, the lines, and the fans? You bet. It has been a
perfect blend of all the aforementioned reasons, but none more than
the fans. You learn to deal with the lines, the cattle-like
crowding, and that ever-so-often security guard that knows less
about where you need to go than where you have just been. As the
next few days offer more and more, I can only anticipate that this
year’s Con will be the best to date.
PHOTO GALLERIES Click on the links below to see
the different photo galleries.
Being
one of largest gatherings of freaks and geeks, fans and collectors
in the entire World, I am always most surprised by the sheer number
of crazies dressed up in their Matrix, Marvel, DC, and of course
Star Wars costumes, just to name a few. Not crazy in a bad way
(nutty maybe) but crazy by the weight, obvious discomfort, and
claustrophobia these costumes have been known to torture these
people to the brink of dehydration and delirium. The temperatures
can sometimes get into the 80’s inside, with humidity levels not
helping much either, especially to help dissipate the occasional
mixture of vinyl, rubber, and bodily ripeness that walk down each
aisle. However, after stopping to take a look around, one comes to
the realization that this is what the show is all about (though some
do need to carry around and use that personal size of Speed Stick).
Bottom
line is, I love the Con. This year’s exclusives I feel are some of
the best that have ever been done. The Gentle Giant Shocktrooper
mini bust, the 501st trooper from Hasbro, the Anakin Sideshow, even
the Darth Sidious character key from Acme; all items that many would
argue were some of the best ever to be presented as Con exclusives.
The introductions of many new items apart from those we have only
seen in pictures were all impressive. Sideshow collectors will be
mind-blown by the size and detail of the Jabba the Hutt and the
corresponding accessories. We can post pictures and describe it as
best we can, but it is one of those things you have to see in
person, or better yet, add to your collections. Gentle Giant
premiered many new busts and statues such as the Jango Fett, the
long-awaited Jedi Luke and the racy Leia in Slave attire. 