Review San Diego Comic Con 2007

[Leonardo]

I guess I should post something of a review....
This was the most fun convention for me in years. I really had a great time!

Getting to the Con and Preview Night

I didn't get out of work as early on Tues as I had intended. Instead of a bit after 3, it was after 4:30, and after dashing home to complete the loading of the car, got caught in the local rush hour traffic. (Note to self: doesn't matter if I block my calendar at work with Out of Office starting at 3 to keep from getting meetings then--they just run right over it. Sometimes being a Responsible person has drawbacks.   )
If one wonders why I didn't totally load the car in the morning? It's because of delicate costume things that should not be left in the heat, in case it got sunny during the day at work. Might find it funny to think a ninja turtle has a delicate side...but more about that later.  
I stopped for a fast visit to see my Tage horse, then pointed the car south to LA. I looove my new car! It handles so nicely, and flies along so nicely..."oh!...hm, I think I better slow down a little!!!" Helped make up for the much-delayed start of my trip. And it's great on gas, too. But I got to LA a lot later than I had wanted.
In LA, I stayed overnight at a LotR friend's place, and we had wonderful chats but that kept us both up late. Fortunately, I wasn't hitting the road to San D until after rush hour traffic would be over. So I even got to enjoy an awesome breakfast!
Then I had a fast drive into San D with only one short slow spot, the 15-thing rocks!!
At the hotel, I found a destroyed lobby and no Leah to be seen. The lobby area was being totally renovated. But when I finally got up to the desk, she had already checked in.
I have to say while the hotel is a ways out, it was super easy on/off freeway, and the room was huge!! The beds were nice and comfy, too. I don't really have any major complaint about the hotel aside from that lobby mess. And then Leah found this awesome dessert place right near it, too...but that was another night....
Slipping upstairs to the room, she was in bed, sleeping--no surprise at all considering she came in from Hawaii. I was sorry to wake her, but after I got the 3 loads done, I quietly settled in for some snacking and reading. Even took a short nap, too.
Mid-afternoon, she awoke and we grabbed a late lunch/early dinner at Horton plaza, aka the MC Escher-ese mall. Fun to realize I've been there enough times so I can navigate all the way up the food court with no wrong turns. But...I wonder if everyone else wonders why it was so difficult to find a way through there those first times, it just doesn't seem like it should've been that hard?  
Over to Preview Night, the lines flew into the place for fast badge pick up. I read that there were some times that didn't happen due to a glitch with computers, but overall, for the size of this convention, there are conventions that get less than 10,000, or less than 5,000 and pre-reg pick up can take over half a day at their best. I have to applaud the San D Con folks and the volunteers for their efforts on making badge pick up as painless as possible!!
Then it's the camp in line until opening time, and read through the program book for the unannounced surprises....which I guess is the theme behind this year's Con for me.
So...into Preview Night, one of the most crowded times of the Con--probably because there's no other events going on, so everyone's going in there for the exclusives and shopping. The floor was insanely packed.
I discovered the Sideshow "12-inch hobbits" Frodo and Sam on display as a special Con announcement (even though most LotR fans had already made a good guess on this.) They call them the 12-inch figure line, even though they are really 6-inch hobbits to go with the already created Aragorn, Boromir, Faramir and Legolas. Sam's packs are awesome, he's got all his stuff--even the sausages!! And then, I discovered--pre order!!! Now at the Con!! So 10 minutes later I was holding my paper that meant I didn't have to do any online pre-ordering.
Also fun to look at the other Sideshow goodies, the Chewie's 'chess set' is really fun.
I said the usual hello to Kevin E. and visited Stan Sakai, of course!!! I got my Usagi poster picked up, which was nice, because I didn't have to carry my poster tube for a whole day of the convention, just the Preview Night time.
For Kevin, the only thing I had him sign this year, was those silly silly bobble heads of "Biz an Buzz". I got them for Ninjara, because she had to cancel out coming to the Con....

Maybe I should have made notes, not much else comes back to mind about Preview Night.
I explored and did a little shopping. Then met or re-met up with most of the TMNT gang by the end of the night. Some of us went to Wendy's, and it was quite a boisterous group. I was really overtired by this time, had been up late for a number of nights leading up to the Con. I'd done my best to have my costume work 100% finished before the Con, and almost made it! I only had two simple things to do that didn't take long that I did at hotel over the next days. But I was on days of sleep dep, and the Angelo Crew was something else: Mica and the Mandy's.    I felt glomped even though I wasn't being glomped, they were overpowering!!!
       
 
(Makes more notes for that book I keep saying I will write: Too Many Angelos.)

Jokes aside, it was great to meet them!!

However, FOGU at Comic Con is dead.
There was not one GU to be seen. The Queen was not there and her loyal subjects were silent. No GU passwords, taunts, or songs....very relaxing, that.  
 

[Leonardo]

Thursday
I spent most of the day shopping, Bleach and Rurouni Kenshin goodies. Sought for the several Archie TMNT issues I am still missing, but the comics dealers brought next to nothing on TMNT comics. "We have stuff at our store...." Told some of them to bring stuff next year! grr  
And I attended the Viz media panel, my only panel for the day.
One thing that is confirmed, is there is no longer a "quiet day" at the Con, which Thursday's used to be. At best, in the late afternoons it clears out a bit. Mornings and early afternoon...packed.

Off and on I met up with GW and Brinatello. Heard a tale about an Ivey and Fae would be appearing....

All through the day, I couldn't get connected with the M-crew. We played tag-style games over phone, but by the time they couldn't get into their movie in the evening, I was already coming out of Ralph's with dinner.
Dinner was Ralph's sushi. They actually make very good stuff! Yum! I also picked up some fruit and other things to enjoy for breakfasts.
The only bummer was the shuttle bus...there'd been some sort of driver switch and so there was a loooong gap between buses. Then when an Orange bus finally showed up--we had a large crowd getting ready to rumble when the driver clearly wasn't going to stop to pick us up!! Other people got quite a show of a crowd of 30+ yelling people running after the bus. The "I didn't see you" excuse didn't exactly cut it once she did stop. So it was an Adventure in getting dinner!  
Back at the hotel, I watched tv and worked on the little cosplay stuff I had left to do. It was very relaxing and pleasant.
Sushi is a good thing.
 

Friday
Saw Ivey go by while we were in the Scholastic line for the Harry Potter bags. I had gone over to the line first thing in the morning with Leah. And we darn near missed her, too. I certainly didn't intend to get her bad arm, but if we hadn't gotten her attention, we might not have connected for many hours, or even another day.
After the bags, met up with Buslady, her son, Zkarlette, Brinatello...Cynlee.... goofed off, shopped...I got to catch up with Rob Kraus, the small press publisher I used to know and help from Ohio.
Then time was passing, and finally with Ivey and Fae's help, went to the hotel to get the Leo costume on. Fae is a wonderful costume dresser!! She did a great job. We didn't go through quite as much detailing on velcroing and pinning stuff like we had to for the Masq., and we didn't have the time. Ivey was a filmographer....
The buses are certainly not the fastest way to get around, but it was a mile to the Con from the hotel, and I wasn't going to walk it in the costume. (Too warm and humid in San D, plus it would have been really bad for the costume feet. I don't exactly have flip flops or zori to fit that foot size!! <smirk> )
Due to the crowd size, I decided I would keep the head off while moving between places, just a lot safer that way!
Missed the UY dojo meet up by the time we got there. But along with other people that wanted pictures, we met someone from Playmates, then someone from the 4th movie because they saw the costume!! It was great to talk with them!
Went to Kevin's booth for a short time, and did pics there.
Then to Stan's booth.
It was such a lot of fun doing all the pictures with kids, adults, even security guards!
I had that head off and on a ton of times, and I have to thank my helpers, they were wonderful spotters and costume assistants. Cynlee and Buslady, you are wonderful!
And then it was time for the panel....and I was not going to have enough time to change out, whiiiich we'd already had a feeling was going to happen. And then while I had my bags to put the costume parts into, change of clothes, wash rag and small towel, something to pleasantly scent myself with--the shoes had been forgotten at the hotel. This was combined with certain TMNTers saying I should wear the costume to the panel...I had to go to the Henson panel still in costume.
Buslady and I got a seat at the end of the front row.
The panel was awesome. I love the variety and creativity coming out of the Henson group. Dark Crystal news, Farscape news (yeah!!!), the Skrumps presentation, the Puppet Up demonstration....
Ben Browder as a puppeteer was hilarious!! I loved it.
I had a nice clear view of Michelan Sisti, too, dancing around in the rigging.
At the end of the panel, we went up to the front center group where Ivey and others were. Ivey and others were talking to him to try to set up a quick meeting with him. Someone helped me shove my head on, and helping shove me forward toward the stage--"he has to see you" I heard someone say in the dizzy crowd. When Michelan saw me in costume--and at that point, I could see him through my eye holes--he looked surprised--"I have to come down to meet you!!" he said to our group. So our group tactics worked! He loved the fact I was there in a costume, and said how we were rigged up like they had been. How he'd really hated the first suits in particular. I told him he and the others had been an inspiration for our group to do the costumes, and how to put them together.
I would like to comment that Michelan went above and beyond nice for us--he was supposed to help pack stuff up and they had to get out of there. And he made the time for us, to quickly chat with all of us, do pics, and then even sign things for us. He's awesome.
After that, I finally had my chance to meet up with Todd Shogun from the Usagi Yojimbo Dojo. He got a pass to get out the Hall H mess and met me for some quick photos.  
And at last it was time to go back to the hotel and change out for dinner. I really enjoyed wearing my costume into the hall. It was worth all the sweat and discomfort, to see how much other people enjoyed seeing a Ninja Turtle and wanting pics.

At the hotel, Leah helped me get my hands off (sounds real strange, doesn't it? ), then I was able to get the rest of the costume off myself.
And like dealing with a horse at a horse show, the horse comes first. Once I got all the pieces off, I got out the baby powder and did every piece before I took my shower.
Yes, as hinted, a ninja turtle has a delicate side.  
But the reality is if you leave the stuff not taken care of, it could stick to itself and be ruined. And the powder helps it dry out faster--and being scented powder, helps immensely with the distinctive latex smell.
All cleaned up, and stuff left out to finish drying overnight before packing in the morning--it was off for the walk to dinner at the Holiday Inn by the Bay with the other TMNTers.
Lovely sunset with the ships in the background, and although the service was absolutely horrible (way understaffed!!), dinner was very good. Shepherd's pie and the good company of fellow TMNTers.
Once dinner was done, I got on the bus to ride over the Con, and my Viz friend called me just as the bus was pulling up at the stop. She was free for the night. I went over to meet her at the Mariott, then we went to check out the late night anime, but weren't thrilled with any of the 3 rooms we visited.
So we sat at the tables in the anime area and talked with some other people she knew, then just her and I. It was the only chance I really had to spend time with her!! I went to two of the three panels she was on at the Con, and I saw her once at the booth....then I rode back to the hotel and happily went to bed.

And I'd like to make a comment here that goes beyond the Con itself....
In TMNT fandom, like ALL other fandoms, there are many personalities. It's sad we will never all be able to get along, those splits and schisms that go back in some cases to the first time the old TMNT-L list split in two, will never be healed. There are gaps in how people view the world and how they view TMNT, and other things that cannot be bridged. People make mistakes, none of us are perfect, but sometimes it's not possible to repair things. Sometimes people can't overlook another's faults or weaknesses, can't even attempt to communicate to see if there's a chance for at least peace and understanding, even if there can't be a close friendship. It's easier to cut others down than talk to them to try to understand their view, and then find it in yourself to respect where they come from if it's not your view. To drag people down, especially on public message board forums. Or step on or use others just to grab the most autographs, merchandise, contacts and secret inside info...negative focused things that good things cannot possibly come out of.
Things that go against the message in the original TMNT comics and movies and toons that we love. Things about family, sticking together, helping each other, respect....
And in this case, I saw something that reminded me of what true TMNT fandom was about.
In the speedy rush of those minutes with Michelan, one person did not get his chance for an autograph.
And another person had a fluke situation happen after everyone else had left, and used that moment to get that autograph for the person....
This is what fandom should be.
Thank you. I really needed that moment, too....

[Leonardo]

Saturday
This was my autograph day.
I started the day lining up for the Johnny Yong Bosch signing. One of his current projects is voicing Ichigo in the Bleach series, and he does a great job with the character! I had some Bleach cosplayers in line behind me, which made it even more fun. He seems like he's quite a comedian, and was very nice to meet!
Then I went up for the Farscape group signing, this time to get Gigi Edgly's autograph in my book with the others I've already met. (Also a signed photo for my dad.) Meeting her was a very enjoyable experience.
Not surprisingly, I was able to deliver the Henson panel Farscape news to the actors. As Lani says, they are the last to hear anything. I hope the news means good things for all of them, and they will appear on the new webisodes.
Then I had a Viz panel to attend, which I enjoyed. Arina may be a talented and popular mangaka, but she is also a lovely singer! With no warm up and on the spot, she sang a beautiful Japanese song for us. And I enjoyed seeing my friend up there as an editor. I know she worked very, very hard to get into the job as an editor. And I know she worked really hard at the Con itself, too, but how exciting to be involved with your dream in such a way. I got such a kick seeing her up on a panel like this.
Checking out the book publisher section, I found the new Dragonlance novel, with Margaret Weis there happy to sign them. She also gave out two of the Dragonlance animated movie cards, that's being worked on. (I hope it will be good!!) I really like the new novel series, because it goes back to my fave time for DL, before the 5th age chaos war stuff.
In the afternoon, I met up with some of the TMNTers, like GW, whom I hadn't seen too much of at the Con. I was hoping to hear a little of how the writing panel she went to had gone, but then my phone rang....(still getting used to the whole phone thingy.) Brinatello and Ivey had met up with the Bodes downstairs and wanted to let us know in case we wanted to meet them. Considering I had missed every signing Mark did the last time he'd been at the Con, and hadn't seen Molly since the mid-90s--I was going! So I announced it to the table to let everyone know, and off I went with Rosemary.
We met Molly first, with Ivey and Brinatello at the Starbucks. Mark was in the hall. Got to talk to Molly for a couple moments, she's changed since my last memory of her, but her lovely warm smile has not!!
Between the walk with Molly and then what we heard when we got to Mark, it sounds like he has some possibly really cool things that could happen for him! I'll cross fingers and hope it does!!
It turned out that because I had nothing with me for Mark to sign, having heard my story about missing him, he offered to draw me a sketch. I still don't quite know where that paper was found, but I am grateful! Mark drew me a great Mikey sketch (I'll post a pic of it soon.) I'm honored to have it!!
Then we wandered around shopping some more, and I still failed to find a medium Leonardo movie character tshirt. I believe that GW found the only medium they had at the Con!!
Said good night to Fae and Ivey, who were understandably tired and sore! With something like a 3 am start to the day for registering for the Idol competition? ugh!!
At last it was dinner time, and it was off to the Horton Plaza for dinner, to meet up with other TMNTers again. I selected sushi for dinner...hm, again.  
I finally got to see all the lovely Lolitas, the M-crew! With their TMNT plushies. What a fun bunch they make. They were trying to convince me I should make a Lolita costume.... while I applaud their efforts, that is not a costume I will make, nor wear. The closest I will come to such a thing is going to be my Renaissance Faire dress I will be making, and that is certainly not Lolita fashion....
Also got to see Tokka with his costume that was a bit like something of Little Shop of Horrors with his flower pots of venus fly traps he could animate with his hands! Wild!!! And see his current portfolio. Amazing stuff, and I hope someday he finds the right place that gets him published and making money with his art!
Dinner was a fun affair and we had a great time sitting around chatting on our last night at the Con, on the uppermost deck.
Last year, the Masq, this year...away from the Con.
On our heading for the hotel, there's a funny story to tell...although maybe I shouldn't tell it?? Ah, heck with it, it's the Con! These kinds of things are what make legends to laugh over later....
We guided Tokka down to the shuttle bustop at the Horton Plaza. Having stayed there one year, I knew where the stop was. Saying good night to Tokka, one of the Mandys was still with Leah and me, and we were going to get her to the other Mandy and Mica so they could head back to their hostel. Leah led the way with what she presumed was the direction the other Ms were.
We wound our way through the place, and then...I realized it. "We've been here before!" moment. I could see up ahead, there was the bus stop and there was Tokka still waiting for the bus. I hope we didn't confuse him too badly, as we went by laughing, having just made a big circle.
(I wonder if I should redub the Plaza the Emyn Muil....     )
Leah got on the phone again, and after some chaos about various streets and directions, we finally found them (we could hear Mica's laugh before we got there, letting us know we were heading in the right direction). Happy to reunite the Lolita's together, we bid them a good night.
As we started to walk back to our hotel, I enjoyed the view of the lovely Grand hotel (I think it was the Grand?) all lit up at night.
On the way home, Leah and I decided to investigate the dessert shop by the hotel, and to do that we had to double back a block--I shan't comment about Leah's wayfinding skills, because she WILL get to you where you are going (just may have some extra turns is all), and so far always in one piece for me!!
So there was the lovely oasis at the end of our dark walk...to find that even late at night, the "dessert restaurant" was open and it was jumping!! Full crowd. And oooh all the lovely choices to eat...hard to make a decision. But we did.
Back to the hotel, I forced myself to get some packing done before I enjoyed some of my dessert. yum!!!
And Leah showed off the goodies she bought at the plaza, a lovely dress, shoes so high I can't quite understand it with her height to begin with   ...and other things.
We ate our gold foil from our desserts and considered it for bringing luck. Then to sleep....

Sunday
And this was my cosplay day! (Along with being a 2 VA day.)
 
Leah got up and started packing...she had a fairly early flight out to go to Hawaii.
And for the Bleach costume, which was picked for Sunday because that's what the group voted on the boards--have to have one "disaster" it seems first time out for a costume. The hair stuff was not what I had wanted, and didn't work that great--but hey, as it turned out, the other cosplayers had a litany of woes of their own, hair, props, and otherwise, so I was in good company.
Leah departed and I finished with my costume, and the last bits of things to the car. I checked out and rode the bus over to the Con.
I had a little time before the Bleach group gathering, so I tried to find GW and Brinatello. Turned out when I saw GW I should have wished her a good bye, that was the last I saw of her at the Con.
As for the Bleach gathering? I had the best time!! Everyone of the cosplayers was great to talk to. And as we started gathering, Nancy paused by, and then Robb from work. Robb managed to get some nice pics for me on my camera.
Then we started getting in the bigger group, and it was like...a wall of people with cameras instantly formed.
The Masquerade had been a wild thing in terms of the photographers, but this was actually crazier....people on their knees, crouched, taller people standing behind shorter people, cameras held overhead....
 
Finally they gave us the countdown and let us free. So we could go outside and set up more shots!
We did lots of different groupings. I enjoyed watching the 7 Yoriuchi with the 2 Urahara, we all had some fun comments over that. We also had fun going through the 13 divisions, commenting on those with lack of representation, and the "guy character" shot with 3 crossplayer captains....
So I met some great people I hope to meet again. Had a lot of "you have to come to Anime Expo!" and I promised I'd post a tutorial on how I made my swords. (Even though I had to rush a bit to finish them and am going to back and fix the hilt work up a little over the next couple months.)
By the time we were done, I had missed Nancy's last panel....so I gradually made my to the Viz booth for the green screen pics. They were doing it from 2-3 and I had been waiting to do it with my costume. They'd take a pic of you with a green screen background, then drop your pic onto one of the several manga/anime backgrounds of your choice. Obviously, I was choosing the Bleach background. It came out great!! Much fun!!
Then I stashed the swords for a bit, taking someone up on an offer to stash them at a booth. And then I moved around a bit, looking for last things to do or see. Amazed the floor was extremely crowded, worse than Saturday!! The most crowded Sunday I've witnessed, and that's been every year since 93 but for 2 years I think I didn't go in the later 90s.
I think, though I won't claim to Know...that Sunday got crowded because Friday and Saturday were sell outs. So there may have been more day passes than usual for Sunday? And maybe those who avoided the hall on Saturday or were in the Hall H/Ballroom 20 all day were now shopping fiends??
Another fun moment was two of the Bleach cosplayers coming up behind me--"Ukitake--have you seen Urahara?" The fun of cosplay when you don't know people's real names, or maybe not even board names...I told them which way I had just come from and that I hadn't. They were wanting to get to the Viz booth for the green screen, I hope they made it!!
I headed over the Heavy Metal booth to get the Biz an Buzz for Ninjara--and while there, waiting for Kevin to come back from a break so he could sign them for her, I happened to turn my head to see Ivey a short ways off. And I just went over...to find she was talking to none other than Mike S.
I couldn't believe it, it wasn't a picture of him, it was him!
Ivey had hoped he was going to be there on Friday, but he was unable to make it. So I'd expected there was no chance to meet him. Maybe my gold foil on my dessert was a lucky thing after all!
Ivey introduced me, and Fae showed him a pic from her camera of my Leo costume from Friday.
When we went to take the picture with him, I laughed that I was wearing the wrong costume for it, but Mike said it was fine.
We only all had a few minutes with him, but it was great! He's like they said, really nice and awesome. I hope I have another chance someday to meet him under less hurried circumstances. (And I still want to meet the over VAs too...and Kevin Munroe....ah well, good to have things to hope for in the future, to keep one going, right?)
Then Kevin E. was back at the booth, and we finished up there with the stuff for Ninjara. Kevin was quite cheeky, and then Biz followed suit, oh yes....
And then more good fortune! Brinatello had gotten a hold of her sister and Wally...so we found them and I got to meet another Bleach VA for the English dub, for Renji!
I'd picked up the Bleach #5 dvd at the Viz booth, it was out before it hit the stores and I wanted it for watching on my work Chicago trip--seeing as I was going to have a laptop to travel with.... So I pulled out the dvd to show what Renji looked like in our group discussion. And we used it in the picture with Wally.    So awesome to get to meet him, too!! The gold foil was certainly working!
The rest of Sunday was the slow wrap up...and I took Mica over to meet Stan.
I'm so used to meeting Stan at the Cons, it's like you forget that for some people, it is their first time to meet him....and it's a joy to behold.
 
We met back up with Ivey again, I think we made our final good bye kisses to Kevin E.
Then visited the Skrumps booth. We chatted with John, Ivey'd visited before, but I said how much I enjoyed the presentation at the Henson panel, and wished them great success. We got signed postcards, soon after that, it was the end of the Con.....

We made our way out to the buses, I had the intent to get to the hotel, change out of costume, and clean up. Then Brinatello's mom would drive up with everyone to meet up with me and I'd follow them off for dinner.
The first parts went well. The bathroom off the lobby was spacious and easy to get changed and clean up, then up to the parking garage for the car. I liked the fact the car was in a garage out of the sun, even if it was a bit warm in there, meant stuff wasn't all hot. I'll admit it, being a coastal person, I'm not used to the heat and humidity anymore!
The cel phone was working and when they sounded like they were close enough, I went out to the street and found short term curbside parking.
But then they got delayed going the wrong way, and then they stopped at Ralph's...and I was doing math calculations on when I'd get to LA.
My problem was strictly due to the fact the next day, I was intending leave LA at around 5:30 am, and finish the 5 1/2 hour drive home, have a couple hours to empty the car, empty the luggage, and reload with the work stuff. Then be at the airport at 1:30 for a 2:30ish flight to Chicago for a week....
I regretfully had to bow out of the dinner. It made me very sad, but the good news was I got to LA at a reasonable hour. Had a nice simple dinner at my LotR friend's house, then went to bed at an early time.
The 5 am wake up was icky, a rude reminder that Comic Con was over...time to switch gears for work....
But I had a super smooth drive home, with no delays. Even had enough time to visit my horse for a few minutes as I passed by.

And I will say, in work's defense, that trip was a great trip, too. I had a wonderful time in Chicago, and getting to meet two of my direct reports face-to-face for the first time was awesome. Around the work we also managed to have fun.
And it doesn't hurt, that many of my direct reports, are geeks, too. And I showed them the pictures and told them tales of the 2007 Comic Con. One of my most enjoyable for a number of reasons, and thanks again to those who helped me with my costume, who helped me meet up with the special guests, or who provided great conversation and good times.  
 

[Brinatello]

Hey, all, just wanted to let everyone know that my Comic Con photos are up for viewing.  I also included some of the giftie/autograph photos I received along the way.  There's a total of 93 pictures, yes, I know, I went overboard this year.  Enjoy!

http://s14.photobucket.com/albums/a320/brinas-photos5/comic-con2007/

[Leonardo]

yeah! more pics!!!
Thank you, Brinatello!!
 

Nice to see pics from the Henson panel when I couldn't take pics.
 
I wish I had some pics from the angle we saw Michi at, that rigging from a side view was actually crazier than the view from your pics of it straight on. wild!!!