Review San D Comic Con 2009

[Michaelangelo]

Well today started off the convention.  Miki and I were able to get passes thanks to Ebay and is now sitting here at the convention center.

Today was great, we got here with Brinatello went through registeration than went down stairs and found Neca.  Where I got to see the April toy that is for sale.  Than Miki and I looked at some of the other cool things they got for sale at the Neca booth.  We got split up from Brin there than went to the Heavy Metal booth where we saw...

Brinatello, Ninjara, Blue, Leonardo, Dawnatello, Mikey, Amanadatello, Mica, and so many more!!!  It was an amazing line of friends.  We said hi to so many, this is when I learned just how far the Ubisoft booth was from there as I was dragged there to try and get a head band they didn't have anymore for the day.  Went back to Kevin's booth.

I spent a lot of this time talking with Ninjara, Greenwillow and Amanadatello.  When they got their autographs, we went over to Neca and hung out near there for a bit.  Than the con closed for the night.


Right now Miki and I sit in line for Hall H in the morning.  More news as it comes.

[BubblyShell22]

Sounds awesome. Can't wait to hear more details.

[RGKameko]

It sounds like the Con is pretty cool!
I'm super excited, since I've never been before!
See you Friday!!! 

[Shredder]

And this from someone who claimed they would never go to San D if memory serves

Any info at the NECA booth about the status of wave 2?

[Michaelangelo]

Trust me Shredder, I don't like this con.

[Raphael]

Just curious, why spend the money to go to a con you don't like?

[Shredder]

Everyone's gotta experience it at least once . And it's better than sitting outside

[BubblyShell22]

Why don't you like it, Ivey?

[CriticalCrittles]

Yeah, I'm curious too....what's wrong? 

[Leonardo_Mystic]

I'm going to guess too many people? It is one of the largest cons on the West Coast, if not in the entire U.S.

[Michaelangelo]

Everyone is right it's too big, I like Cons with a bit of spirit to it still.  This con is all push and lead... it was the problem Anime Next had in 2004... the workers all treated us like cattle leading us around... pushing us in areas we didn't want to go and not helping us in areas when we need help.  I saw this in 2007 when I came as well, I'm only back because of the tour thing.  And since people we did want to see were in there.. but just as I saw in the other years... getting to talk to the guest at San D.. is very slim and not likely.

THOUGH the Turtle panel was another story, we all know these guys are great with the fans.  And the party... yeah the party is going to have a topic of it's own.  Let's just say... wow here and say check out the party review when that topic appears.

If people want to go to a convention for their first time, I recommend something smaller and getting use to cons before attempting San D... and if you go and do like it, that's great.  Though you'll see a different side there than you'll see at the small cons.

I will do a review soon, gotta do some stuff first.  But I do got a lot to say about both Thursday and Friday... esp Friday.

[BubblyShell22]

Oh, I see. Well, at least you get to see some cool stuff.

[CriticalCrittles]

Yeah I suppose I understand...I saw that with New York Comic Con this past year too...the autograph line after the Venture panel, sheeesh...even Michael told me afterwards that he didn't care for that, he didn't get a chance to talk to a single fan or take pics or anything, just had to sign and sign and sign.  I definately prefer smaller cons, they seem more intimate. 

[Michaelangelo]

Here's a small clip that was requested by a friend to post... not my best video work since I did not have a tripod!  Brinatello makes a short appearance in it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o54vkf_nxEg

[Nethious]

Keno lol I would have never thought of them putting Keno in the next movie lol, That's brilliant! 

Hey Michaelangelo, is the next tmnt movie gonna be fully live action or are the Turtles gonna be CG?

[Michaelangelo]

It's going to be live action

[Nethious]

Like the first three? That's is awesome!

[ResidentEvil7]

Seriously I wish I had the money and ability to go on these city tours.  I did get to go to Chicago on the first day of that tour, but I wish I had done it all.  Not to sound like a downer or a complainer, looking at the images of Las Vegas and Los Angeles, I still think most of these cities got short changed; again, they killed off Donatello and Raphael, and sometimes you got April and sometimes not.  Chicago didn't have her.  And speaking of Vegas and LA, I can't imagin what it must of felt like wearing those costumes considering they've had highs over 120 at some points.  Just standing out in the open is hot enough, then you put on suits that are made of unbreathable material.  Ugh!  And I haven't seen images of the San Diego tour yet, but I'm assuming they will have Donatello and Raphael, because it's the other biggest event of all the tour locations.  Personally I don't understand why they did that; took two of the turtles out for most of the tour and barely had April on the others.  I'd hate to be a Donatello or Raphael fan and show up dissapointed.  And some locations didn't even have Leonardo, and being from the Chicago suburbs, I was lucky to get to meet Leonardo after all these years.  Too bad I didn't get his autograph, but I understand it's not easy to sign with those suits on.  Yet, they could of done it in the tent they take a break at.  But it's not a total loss, I can take the images I printed and maybe get my own autographs from thier orignal voice actors just like Michelle (user ID: Michelangelo) did with a gray t-shirt LOADED with signatures.

And I'm assuming now being July 27, that the Ninja Turtles Shell-Ebration tour is now offically over with?  If so, what's next?  I mean what are they going to do with the whole tour thing now that it's all over?

And lastly, I updated my website, containing pictures of the Las Vegas and Los Angeles (which was VERY dull with only 2 images) tours.  And to be fair to those who actually went across the nation to take these pictures, I only included just 9 images and I made them in cheap quality, because it wouldn't be fair if I gave high quality images that the Ninja Turtle Team gave.  Again you can view my site and all the Ninja Turtles of 25 Year History collection at www.ninjaturtles25years.webs.com.  And the Shell-Ebration Tour Page is http://ninjaturtles25years.webs.com/shellebrationtour.htm.  And I feel since no one has suscribed to my Ninja Turtle Forum page, besides myself, I'm going to remove that page and and save that 1 soon-to-be-unused page for something else later.  Since I'm only allowed 20 pages free of charge, I'll take away that page that no one has used ever.

[Michaelangelo]

- - to talk about the live action movie please go here:
http://www.tmnt-l.com/index.php/topic,4170.0.html

-- to talk about web page updates please keep it in the website update area we don't want to go off topic by replying to those sorts of up posts.  So for people to be able to reply with staying on topic please keep it in an original topic in the Web Site section here on TMNT-L.

Ok going back on topic San D Review for Thursday:

Miki and I spent the night in the line for Hall H, we made friends with the guy who was sitting near us.  We gave him some cash when he ran to the store and he picked us up some chips and Mountain Dew.  Early in the morning Miki and I went in and got our real weekend badges and than went back to the Hall H line, it was during this time that Brinatello showed up and joined us in line.  We didn't feel too bad, cause everyone seem to have friends joining them.  One group went from 4 to 32 people... talk about saving spots in lines...

They started to move the line into the convention center for Hall H.  A big line it was, as they filled their full panel room up.  These are mainly people there for Twilight... which I don't really know much about.  It was like the third panel in, I was there for the Disney panel with Tim Burton.  When they finally got us all in and seated we were to the far right... with taller people in front of me so not much of a view of the stage even though we weren't that far from the stage.  

The Disney panel started... they did one movie at a time... the first was the Christmas Carol with Jim Carry as well 8 of the lead characters.  Looks interesting and I do want to see it.  Than was Alice in Wonderland, which is why we were there.  Tim Burton came on stage and they showed the trailer, it looks GREAT!  I can't wait to see it.   Though what really got the crowd going was when he introduced his imaginary friend as Johnny Depp came out on the stage.  The crowd just kept screaming sadly, I believe this scared him off of the stage.  So he was only on stage for like a minute or two.  The last movie they showed in this panel was Tron, which brought out a full panel of people who worked on the movie.  

Over all the movie I'm most excited about from this panel is Alice in Wonderland, than at the end of the panel they let us know that there was some tea party to watch twitter for more information.   Brin and I sat through one more panel to try and save seats for her aunt and sister that wanted into the Twilight panel... but they were not able to get in, so we left when Twilight started.

This was when we went on the great button hunt.  We went around and gather buttons from each of the booths than went and found the Turtle Bus for Brin to get her ticket for the party.  It was not that hard to get the buttons for the party, hardest part was finding where the Turtle bus was, wish I knew the blue bus would of taken us there without having to walk that.  Once we found it, I said hi to the guys.  Brin got her ticket than went for a Disney Panel.

I met up with Amandatello, GreenWillow, Blue and Mandy.  We had pictures at the bus than went up to a Japanese place and got some food.  After eating we headed back to the convention, which is where we split our ways.  I went off to find the Mirage guys and say hi, and pick up a few things from NECA.  When I got there I realized how late it was in the day, and that Miki wasn't there yet.  She was going to head to the NECA booth to charge her phone since both of us had dead phones.  I went over to the Mirage booth and saw Blue Wolf and Ninjaplease.  I talked with them a little and said hi to the Mirage guys.  

After visiting Mirage I went back to Neca and sat down near a wall and charged my phone.  As I charged it I tried to call Miki, her phone was still off.  This started to get me worried.  Than I called Brin, her mom wanted to leave.  And here I am not able to get a hold of Miki!  So I start to get worried, as I go to find Miki I head to Hall H, they got one last panel and I knew it couldn't be full.  So I went to the guy at the door and held up my badge...

"I think my sister is in there, her cell phone is dead and I need to get a hold of her"

"Wait near the exit doors over there."

"But our ride wants to leave, I have to get a hold of her."

"You can't go in!  Go wait by the exit door."

So I went sat and waited as my chest was starting to pound... I was feeling sick, I didn't want to make Brin and her family wait for us... and I didn't want to sleep on the grass again.  I watched a lot of people leave, looking and looking for my sister and it was a bit of a wait.  Finally I saw Miki coming out, I waved her to me she had a limp!

Miki went to change seats in Hall H and some guy kicked her leg out from under her to get to the seat she was heading to!  She's got bad ankles so it swelled up on her big time.  Here she was in that panel room, needing help and I wasn't allowed in to her and she didn't have a phone to call and say she needed help!  One of the many reasons I am NOT a San D Comic Con fan!

Brin called, I told her I was with Miki, but than Brin mentioned they weren't coming  back in the morning so at this point Miki and I thought we were going to spend the night out there after all cause she had a morning panel she had to be at.  So we told Brin to bring the car around and we'd put some stuff in the car so we didn't have to carry everything.  We went to meet up with them and saw Tokka.  

This is when Tokka heard we were going to spend the night again... so he got worried about us.  Though when Brin showed up they saw how bad Miki was and said we'd get a ride back in the morning.  So we all piled in the car, we got Tokka in the car as well giving him a ride back to his hotel.  Than we came back to Brins to get a real nights sleep after that night out on the grass.

We can't thank Brin and her family enough for giving us rides and letting us stay here!  They're really awesome people!  Even when things weren't what they were originally planning they worked with us.  Thanks so much!

[Michaelangelo]

Friday morning we woke up to a new problem, my badge was missing!  We searched the house than I remembered that while at the store the night before I heard something drop.  So we went back to the store where I heard the drop noise and no luck... we could not find my badge!  I was freaking out...

So we got everyone from the house and drove out to the convention center, Brin's sister joined me in going to registration to report the lost badge.  They charged me $12 for a badge replacement.  Than we split our ways as I ran off to join Miki at the "Coraline" panel.  Which was very cool because they brought out the real figurines used in the movie.  They had Coraline, both of her other mothers evil forms, the cat and Mr. Bobinsky... they were so cool to see in person, so Miki took lots of pictures.  The panel had people who worked on different parts of Coraline including director Henry Selick and the author of Coraline Neil Gaiman.  We also had artist and voice actors.  It was just over all a good panel.

After the panel, we went out in the hall way and Miki got to say hi to Henry, they met back in New York.  Than we went on our way to meet up with Brin and her family.  We all headed to the Tea Party that was going on for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.  We had no clue what to except, when we got there it was a walk through museum type thing with props and costumes from the movie!  Talk about a real TREAT!  It was amazing to go through there, I'm really excited about this movie and can not wait for it to be released!

After that we headed back to the convention center, and split up again... I wandered a little in the dealer room than headed up to the TMNT panel.  The line was already wrapped around the panel room area.  So I went and sat down, I didn't want to cut in line, cause I've seen most of these guys a lot and these other fans deserved their spots they got there before I did.  I sat in line and talked with other fans, making new friends. 

After talking for a bit, the line moved in.  Brin saved me a seat in the front row, though it wasn't the easies seat to get video from it was still a good seat.  A few seats away from me (on the other side of Brin) was Santino, Ernie Reyes jr. brother.  Looking around I saw Michael S. sitting on the floor to our left, Sam Regal was sitting front center with Roseangelo.  It was great to see the guest just mixed in the crowd with us fans.  Everyone got to talk someone they wanted to meet at this event, which was really cool.

The panel started, if you ask me there wasn't enough time for fan questions to the panelist and there should of been some actors up there too.  Having three right there near the front, they could of done something about that.  As important as the behind the scenes people are, the actors play a major row in the history as well.  I did enjoy the panels, Kevin told a lot of behind the scene stories and they showed video clips from the beginning of the TMNT Road trip.  Which was cool to watch.  (just wish this wasn't the end of the road trip).

After the panel was over (it's up on youtube for anyone who wants to see it, thanks to Archon_Turtle, we went up and talked with the guest.  This is when Gobbledygook came up and talked with me, I met him for a brief second on Wednesday night when I was lead to where the Ubisoft booth was, but I had to run because the person I was with was going to take off without me and I don't trust the crowd he was to young to be alone in there and would of got lost.  We talked a little, and I showed the movie props I had in the back pack I was wearing.  We talked turtles for a little bit, but I also had others I was catching up with there, as this is also when I met Andrew Modeen.  We talked for a little, I was surprised that he didn't know about the buttons to go to the TMNT Party that night!

I went up and talked to Michael S. and Sam Regal as well, also got to say hi to Ernie a bit.  We realized the time and noticed we had to go get ready for the party.  So after we all parted ways, Miki realized her wallet was missing and we started to freak out.  We sat down to go through her bags to try and find it... of course this is when a con staffer comes over "You can't sit here" was about to come out of her mouth as I looked up at her and asked where the lost and found was.... took her totally off of what she was going to say... we told her that the wallet was missing... than Miki decided to go with me to the party.. but we were both sick...

We walked a long ways towards the party, saw Seth Green walking down the street.  Brin called we told her about Miki's missing wallet, so Brin went and checked lost and found for us since they were driving to the party.  We were so happy when Brin called back saying they had Miki's wallet and she'll bring it to us.  So we went and got in line at the party.  As we stood in line we talked with the Turtle fans next to us, as Amandatello was there, Greenwillow, Cynlee and so many others.  Brin got there just as they were starting to let the line in, so we were able to get in with our IDs yay.

For review of the "Turtles Forever" party please read : http://www.tmnt-l.com/index.php/topic,4328.0.html

After that we took Tokka back to his hotel than went back to Brin's for the night.... on a high cause of just how cool the party and video was!

[Michaelangelo]

Yay I didn't have to go to registration again!  (hehe)

We got up and went to the con, Brin and I raced right to the Voice Actor panel, where they had a group of voice actors, one of which was James Arnold Taylor.  I was happy to see him again, and wanted to get a photo with him so badly since I didn't get to the last time I saw him.  Also there was the voice of Goofy, which I had to tell him how much Goofy meant to me on this trip since we listen to the Goofy Movie sound track a lot while driving across country.  The panel asked the normal questions - what voices are you best known for and which voices are you not known for at all and give samples of the voices.   How they got their jobs, ect... I'm sure you can find it on youtube.  After the questions part they acted out a script to a superman radio show, though I didn't enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the Flash Gordan radio show done at Youmacon last year, the voice actors don't have total free rang to just play with the script cause the guy doing the panel will say change and they have to re read the same line over again in a different voice... it takes the ease out of doing it and the fun that I saw before.

After the panel I went up to get autographs, I had both Goofy and James sign my badge.  Than I waited off to the side to get my photos with them.  I didn't pose with any of the other voices there, though they were good I didn't really know them and they had their own crowds. 

Miki, Brin, and her sister decided to go back to the Alice in Wonderland set up.  As I wandered around the con for a bit.  Than I headed over to where the Turtle Bus was, when I got on the shuttle to go there I saw Buslady and waved to her, she jumped on the shuttle too.  She wanted a break from the con, and decided to join me on the ride to see the Turtle Bus. 

When I got to the area the bus was, to my surprise they were gone!  I stood there in shock for a bit, I had no one I could call to find out what was going on.  I tried calling a few people to see if they were near the Mirage booth... but no one was... so I walked in circles... than walked the full mall when I got to the other end I sat down in disbelief...  the bus was always where it was suppose to be during a stop... they never just disappeared before... and I know, I was at each stop!  I got up and walked back to the front after sitting there for a bit... Buslady stayed with me this full time.

When we got there I finally noticed some of the ATA members, Mark and Jason (Jason was one of the judges for the Foot Solider try outs!).  I went up and asked them where it was... found out someone jumped off the top of the mall onto the bricks near the bus killing themselves earlier that day!!   The bus was moved after that happened, but didn't have a set spot!  This made me feel very very sick... I mean... I've never been a fan of suicide.. you always leave people behind who do care about you!  But to do it in an area where there's children.... I was in away hoping that it happened before anyone got there that morning...  though this left a deep question in my head... 'will I get to say good bye to the guys running the tour' 

I went back to the convention center, and split ways with Buslady.  As I wandered into the con, I went to the Heavy Metal booth, where he already knew of this... Kevin told me that he heard that the person lived... though other sources tell me they didn't.  While there I saw Gobbledygook again, and we talked a little.  But I realized the time and had to race off to the Venture Brother panel.  I should of been there with plenty of time to get in, though the line was wrapped all the way around again, this time I learned in the same room right afterwards was the Dr. Who screening and people were in the Venture Brother line for that!!   Though the room was filled before the line even got to the corner there was no way into the Venture Brother panel... they said for everyone who's in line for Venture Brothers to get out, it's now for the Dr. Who screening line, it was sad to see how few people got out of line... the Dr. Who people made it so Venture Brother fans couldn't get in... it was also hard to find someone in line to talk Venture Brothers with, cause I did try to talk to the people around me about Venture Brothers.

So I went back down to the dealer room... we met up with Ninjara.  We over heard stuff about a group dinner, though Ninjara already ate so we headed over to her hotel and hug out down in the food place there for a bit.  A few other fans did end up coming there.  So it was a tiny meet up, would of been cool for all the fans to be together though.

After that we headed back to Brin's place for the night.

[Michaelangelo]

Sunday we got up and went to the convention, went straight to the voice acting panel.  Beast Boy from Teen Titans was there.  So was Jess who did Wakko from Animaniacs.  They did the same questions as the group from the day before and the same script reading of Superman radio show.  I don't know why, but I enjoyed this panel more.  It seemed to have more indept answers and such to the questions.  A lot of laughs.  hopefully someone has a video of it on youtube for any who wants to see.

After that panel Brin pointed out that Frank Welker MIGHT be at the Scooby Doo Panel, so I went with Brin and Miki to that panel... wishing it wasn't at the same time as the Stan Saki panel.  We sat in there, and I was thinking people would just come out and talk but no, the lights went out and a NEW Scooby Doo live action movie came on the screen.  New cast as it's the gang in High School when they first meet.  I liked it more than the other live action movies, but still didn't want to sit through this esp at San D con... after the movie was done MOST of the cast came out we had all four of the humans... but all I wanted to say was "SCOOBY DOO WHERE ARE YOU?"  because the only main cast member not there, had to be the one I wanted to see Mr. Frank Welker.

After the panel I got up and went down stairs.  Brin and Miki wanted to walk the floor I wanted to find the Turtle Bus so we split our ways.  I went by Heavy Metal, Kevin wasn't there so I went to Mirage.  Gary told me that the bus was driving around town there was no one area for it to be parked.  So I went to go to the ubisoft booth cause that's where I saw the Turtles the most over the weekend, but when I got there a huge crowd was gathered.  They were throwing free stuff out to the crowd... so I got into the back of the crowd I wanted one of the headbands so I could have one to wear...  I over heard the people in front of me say "I'm only here because they're throwing out free stuff"  I mumbled "I'm here because I'm a real fan."

It was after that I saw a toy flying through the air, I wasn't going to lift my hand to catch it... mainly cause I wanted a headband and besides, I was already hurting from the weekend... at night I was having a hard time all the way back to Brin's house each night.  So last thing I needed was pain to my right arm, but when the toy fell to my feet I bent over to grab it.  It was a Bebop 25th toy, I didn't have it yet so I thought I was in luck getting this.  But as I grabbed it someone knocked me over from behind and everyone dog piled on me, people were reaching under me trying to grab the toy from my hand.  Talk about pain.  I didn't let go of the toy though at this point I felt I earned it.  I was really upset.. some guy in a red shirt pulled everyone off of me.  I got up leaning heavy on my cane now, they were done giving things out the crowd disappeared.  I got in line for a picture in front of their blue screen than made my way outside. 

Limping around San D I searched for the bus, I found myself back at Horton Plaza where the bus originally was... I took a few pictures with my cell phone of the spot it was at.  Than went on my way... walking back towards the convention center.  I bumped into Andrew Modeen and another friend (whom I don't have a nick name for yet).. we talked for a bit.  Than I went to the convention center, hearing it was closing soon we went to the Heavy Metal booth and spent out last bit of time at the convention with Kevin. 

Raka joined us here and hung out with Miki and I till we had to catch a bus to go to where our ride was waiting for us.

We met up with a few people to say our good byes as we got to our ride....  than headed back to Brin's where I took a morphine to help with the evil that was the dog pile.

Thanks to all the great fans I met at San D for the wonderful time.  It was really good seeing so many faces!

[Gobbledygook]

Ernie Reyes Jr. wasn't only Keno, but he also played Don's rubber suit stunt actor.  He is highly involved in the Martial Arts film/choreography community.  He is very professional.  Seemed to be a really cool guy too.  He as a pretty impressive line up, check his IMDB.  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0721205/

[Lisardo]

Everyone is right it's too big, I like Cons with a bit of spirit to it still.  This con is all push and lead... it was the problem Anime Next had in 2004... the workers all treated us like cattle leading us around... pushing us in areas we didn't want to go and not helping us in areas when we need help.  I saw this in 2007 when I came as well, I'm only back because of the tour thing.  And since people we did want to see were in there.. but just as I saw in the other years... getting to talk to the guest at San D.. is very slim and not likely.

THOUGH the Turtle panel was another story, we all know these guys are great with the fans.  And the party... yeah the party is going to have a topic of it's own.  Let's just say... wow here and say check out the party review when that topic appears.

If people want to go to a convention for their first time, I recommend something smaller and getting use to cons before attempting San D... and if you go and do like it, that's great.  Though you'll see a different side there than you'll see at the small cons.

I will do a review soon, gotta do some stuff first.  But I do got a lot to say about both Thursday and Friday... esp Friday.

I do remember that even back in 2001 when I went, it being packed then.  And admittedly it has gotten HUGE nowadays, to the point of 4-day badges being sold out like 5 months before the actual event!  Geez...yeah that is a bit too busy and over-hyped.  Although at the same time, I do like all the panels they have like upcoming shows, movies, etc.  So I'll give it that.  Plus lots of West-coast TMNT fans, which would be me now , go to it.  So for those reasons, I'd love to return some year.  However I agree that smaller, closer cons are nicer for all the reasons Ivey just said.  It gives you time to be a little more chummy with some of the guests, unlike San D con.  Plus, esp. important for me right now, way cheaper than San D too.  That's the reason I dunno when I'll return.  I just dunno with the way money is right now when I'll be able to afford to return.

[Brinatello]

Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Ivey, Miki and I arrived very late to the Convention Center, well after 6:30 in the evening.  I constantly tried to call Cynlee to try and see if I could store my luggage in the hostel.  I wish I had known then her phone was not working too good.  I gave up and Mom went back home with my luggage in the car.  Christine had to work that evening and couldn't make it.  She'd have to drive down later.  Yes, I could see this was the start of several round trips for my poor vehicle!  Ivey and Miki won con badges from eBay and had to collect them at registration.  The three of us went to get our badges at the Pick-up area of the Sails Pavilion.  It turns out their badges were not there and would have to be picked up on Thursday.  Wonderful.  Instead, they wore a yellow sticker that said Preview Night.  We then walked down to the Exhibit Hall and over to the NECA booth first.  We questioned about the five buttons to collect for the TMNT party and they couldn't help us.  We walked away and went over to visit Kevin Eastman at his Heavy Metal booth.  Almost every TMNT fan I could think of was there.  Of them I was glad to meet Amandatello, her first time ever to San Diego and to a convention.  I got in line to purchase the $20 book of the TMNT 25th Anniversary special.  Said hello to Kevin with a hug and kiss before moving on.  By the time we were done visiting Kevin, it was 8:30, thirty minutes left of Preview Night.  We walked over to the final aisle to check out TMNT Smash-Up and get information on the five buttons that would lead to a ticket in to the Galabunga TMNT party Friday night.  By then it was time to head out for the night.  Ivey and Miki went to get in line for Hall H to stay there all night while I was offered a bed at the Lucky D's hostel in Mica's room.  I was very appreciative of that and went with them.

Photo Highlights:


The adventure begins...


Kevin's got the BOOK!


Drawing Don in my book.


Amandatello meets Kevin

[Brinatello]

Thursday, July 23, 2009
I woke up at 6:30 and walked out alone to make my way to the line of Hall H.  As I walked over, I was told by Ivey by phone that they had to get out of the Hall H line and into another long line to pick up their con badges.  They left their belongings with a British guy named Jamie for only twenty minutes, but I was determined to get to that line and guard their belongings myself.  After walking along the huge zig-zagging line for badge pick-up, I found them.  Miki walked with me to find Jamie and their belongings.  I jumped in the line while Miki went back to get her badge.  Jamie and I talked for a while as we waited in the line.  Nice guy, cute too.

At around 9:30, I got a text message from GreenWillow to say that she and Amandatello were in the Hall H line and were looking for us.  I told them they should try and get in line with us because they were so far behind, I knew they would not get in to Hall H from where they stood.  They decided to stay where they were and never got in.  The 11 a.m. panel was Disney 3D and featured trailers for "A Christmas Carol," "Alice in Wonderland" and "TRON Legacy."  Patton Oswalt (voice of Remy from "Ratatouille") was the moderator and spoke with directors like Robert Zemeckis and Tim Burton.  When Tim was asked if he brought anything else other than the "Alice in Wonderland" trailer, he started to say he had this invisible shadow that tends to follow him around...and out walks Johnny Depp!  Millions of flash bulbs went off and the room roared with high-piercing screams.  It was quite unpleasant.  OK, it was so awesome to see him, but the constant girls shrilling scared him off-stage!  I heard he would have stuck around longer if they didn't do that.  At the end of the "Alice in Wonderland" section, there was a mention on the screen about visiting Twitter to learn about a secret place to have tea time.  Miki immediately logged into my Twitter account (since I had one) and looked up the information.  There was an exhibit for the movie over on Seventh Avenue.  The hours to pick up an invitation were betweent 8:30 and 10:30 in the morning.  We figured we'd give it a try on Friday before the convention started.

As we sat in the room, my phone starts ringing.  It's Christine saying she and my Aunt June arrived and are heading towards Hall H.  Now, my aunt is a huge fan of Twilight to the extent of getting a one-day pass through Christine's voice actor friend, Neil Kaplan, to see this panel.  Mom got a one-day pass too, but I didn't see her till much later.  Seeing how GreenWillow and Amandatello didn't get in, I had a bad feeling Christine and my aunt wouldn't get in either.  The time was going on 1:30 and both Ivey and I were upset to see we were missing Spotlight on Kevin Eastman.  I kept calling Christine to ask where they were and they kept saying they were getting close to the entrance but not close enough.  I finally told her to ask a security guard if it were possible to let just them inside and Ivey and I would give up our seats.  Not a chance.  The security guard said it would not be fair to those who were standing longer in the line before them.  We finally gave up and walked out to greet Christine and my aunt in the lobby.  My aunt was devastated, but I assured her Ivey's sister was still inside awaiting the panel with Terry Gilliam.  She promised she would take lots of pictures during the Twilight panel.  To make up for it, we gave my aunt some Twilight freebies.

They went to go eat at Seaport Village while Ivey and I began the TMNT four-button hunt around the Exhibit Hall.  Once we got them all, we had to walk over to Horton Plaza to find the Turtle Bus to get the fifth button.  It's not exactly around the corner and it was very hot.  I had a 3 p.m. panel that I didn't want to miss and it was not quite 2:00 when we arrived at the Turtle Bus.  I receieved the fifth and final button and was given my ticket into the TMNT party.  We stood around and talked for a while and at that point I told Ivey I had to head back to the convention for the 3 p.m. panel.  I should have taken a little extra time to tour the inside of the Turtle Bus because after leaving there, I never got the chance.  I still regret that even now.

The panel at 3 was for four Disney folks talking about Walt Stanchfield, a mentor to them.  The four on the panel were Eric Goldberg (Genie's supervising animator), Glen Keane (Ratigan's supervising animator), Ruben Procopio (key-assistant animator for The Great Mouse Detective) and Don Hahn (producer of The Hunchback of Notre Dame).  It was so dark inside the room and I was so exhausted from the walk back over, I collapsed on the floor and didn't get up until the panel ended.

I then waited outside as the guys were rushed for autographs and photos.  I chatted to Ruben and had him sign my GMD DVD slip cover and insert and Christine's "Hunchback of Notre Dame" slip cover.  Ruben worked on that film as well.  I shook his hand and then moved on to wait for Glen Keane.  As I waited, Christine, my aunt and my mom caught up with me in the area.  They approached me and were getting bored waiting for Glen, so they left to find a restroom.  A nice girl named Brianna was waiting to talk to Glen and spotted me.  I've met her before and also know her from deviantART.  All she wanted was to ask a question to Glen while I had my GMD DVD papers to sign.  I asked if she could help me with the photo since my family left me and she said she would.  Once I got up to Glen, I showed him the GMD papers and he was glad to see the movie was still popular.  I gave him my business card for my fansite and he put it in his pocket.  I later noticed he wrote, "Ratigan's Dad" on the slip cover!  Brianna took my photo with him and I left to make my way to the Autograph Area.

In the AA section, Don Hahn and Ruben sat behind a table to sign autographs.  They had a few people at their table and no one else in the line.  I walked up to them and had Don sign Christine's "Hunchback of Notre Dame" slip cover, forgetting to do so outside the panel room.  I gave Ruben the History of Art pin from Japan of Basil and Olivia.  I got a duplicate and he didn't have one.  He thanked me for it and I got my photo with the two.  Before I got too far away from their table, I quickly turned back and dropped off my GMD business card, one each for the both of them.  I found the others through the doors of the lobby near the Exit side of Rooms 6.  When Christine heard I saw Don and Ruben, she wanted to return to their table to get a photo with them.  I went back with her and saw Ruben was drawing a picture of Belle for a girl.  Christine fondly remembers Ruben drawing one for her and I lamented on not having paper so that he could draw me a sketch of Basil.  The girl getting the Belle sketch overheard this and offered a blank sheet of paper from her sketchbook!  Ruben claimed he hadn't drawn Basil in over twenty years, but with the help of the History of Art Japanese pin I gave him, he had something to look at.  It came out beautifully.  I reached over the table to hug and kiss him and in the process, knocked over his water bottle.  Yes, the cap was off and water spilled all over his pants.  I was mortified.  Don looked to his pants and said, "I wouldn't get up for a while if I were you."  We walked away and I couldn't stop talking about the incident.  Christine assured me not to worry about it.  She's known Ruben for years and he's the type that is totally cool with such things.  By the way, this is the other half of me no one seems to know much about.  I'm deeply into keeping the GMD film alive and popular, so it was an honor to meet these people after the Walt Stanchfield panel.

Christine and I returned to Mom and Aunt June and we made our way out of the convention.  My aunt had enough of it and we needed to meet up with my uncle somewhere outside the Convention Center.  As we got downstairs and near Hall A towards the Marriott, we ran into some Twilight cosplayers.  Oh, they looked fabulous.  My aunt had to stop and pose with them.  She also told them about missing the Twilight panel and they felt so sorry for her.  I really did too.  I knew how much it meant to her, but it was so crazy trying to accomplish getting her inside.

We all met up with my uncle and he took us over to our car parked in Seaport Village.  He and my aunt went home as the three of us piled in our car and went off to get me something to eat.  I realized I hadn't eaten a THING all day and the hunger headache was agonizing.  We found a McDonald's away from the convention and ate the food in the car.  I tried to call Ivey to see where she was and she said she was back at the convention trying to get a hold of her sister.  Miki's phone died and could not be reached from Hall H.  Tokka met up with her.  We touched base by returning along the street curb near Hall H where the three of them reached our car.  At first they planned to stay over outside Hall H again and were only dropping off stuff for us to take home, but there was something more important than panels.  Miki sprained her ankle badly and was limping to our car.  Seeing this, Christine forced the two to go home with us and we'd return to the convention on Friday.  We stuffed Tokka and his belongings in our trunk so that he had a ride to his hotel at the Coronado Inn.  Yes, that's over the toll bridge!  We headed for the bridge, dropped him off at his hotel and made our way home to Escondido.

Photo Highlights:


The Turtle Bus


With Disney artist Glen Keane


With more Disney guys Don Hahn (left) and Ruben Procopio


April O'Neil with the news!

[Brinatello]

Friday, July 24, 2009
We left our home very early and arrived to the Gaslamp Quarters around 8:00.  I really wanted to see the WB panel at 10:30 since they were going to talk about "Sherlock Holmes," but it was in that damn Hall H room again.  I would have had to sleep outside over night just to get in!  I later heard Robert Downey Jr. showed up.  Nice.  I also missed the 12:45 Disney panel with Tim Burton, Hayao Miyazaki, Ron Clements, and John Musker.  Ron and John were two of the four directors to "The Great Mouse Detective," so you can bet I really wanted to see them talk about their upcoming movie, "The Princess and the Frog"!  Nope, Hall H is way too crazy to access, so I never got the chance to see either panel.

Instead, we first drove over to Seventh Avenue to check out this Alice in Wonderland exhibit.  We each got a card with a brass key dangling from it on a red, fancy thread.  Our tea time was set for 12:30.  We turned and left to make our way to the convention.  Miki and I raced off to get good seats for the 10:30 panel for Coraline while Ivey went to get a new badge to replace the one she lost at Vons in Escondido Thursday night.  I didn't stay for the panel and ended up going with Mom and Christine to the Marriott to meet with Christine's friend, Vicky, in her hotel room so that she could help her put on her Alice costume.  As she got ready, Vicky's husband, Scott, put on his Phantom costume, or the comic version protrayed by Billy Zane.  While up there, Christine called Neil Kaplan and left a message to see if he could get Mom a temporary badge so that she could enter the convention.  We then left the room to make our way to the convention.  Now with Christine dressed as Alice, we barely got far at all.  Scott had to bring a friend a bag of fudge at a booth, but getting there was half the fun.  The minute we stepped into Hall A, they were constantly asked for pictures.  Christine also caught her friend Toby dressed as Jack Sparrow.  His girlfriend was there dressed as Slave Leia.  We took pictures before continuing onward to deliver the fudge.

We eventually get to the booth and find Ruben hanging around there.  He posed with Christine in her Alice costume and I asked for a photo as well, realizing I didn't get one with him by himself on Thursday.  He joked to me, "I hope you don't have a water bottle with you!"  Ugh!  I will always be remembered as the fan who knocked over his water bottle on him!  Moving on, we had to start making our way to Seventh Avenue for our 12:30 tea time.  At that point, Neil called Christine back and told her to meet him outside Hall A and he could give the extra badge to Mom.  I also saw Buslady for the first time and shouted out to her.  As she followed us out, Christine got stopped to do a dance with some German guy for a video.  I gave him my business card but I doubt it would do any good!

We waited for Neil as well as Miki and Ivey to meet up with us to head over to Seventh Avenue.  It turns out they already started walking over and we needed to get going.  Neil eventually showed up and gave Mom the badge.  She said she owes him big time for doing that for her.  Buslady parted ways and we began our long trek to Seventh Avenue.  The best part about this tour was Christine was in her Alice costume.  It gave us the royal treatment to the people running the show.  It wasn't a real tea time consisting of food and drink at all.  It's mainly a traveling tour of sets, costumes and props from Tim Burton's new film.  Miki and I took lots of pictures of Christine lurking about the rooms.  Due to wearing her costume, Ray, the nicest tour guide of them all, allowed us as much time as we needed.

Returning to the con, we roamed around the Exhibit Hall to see some of the booths we've missed the last few days.  We paused at one point to buy some food at a Cafe and ran into Amandatello and Tokka who was dressed in tattered rags.  He was the Rat King and looked so awesome.  I took more pictures as we ate lunch and the two hung out with our group.  After lunch, I wanted us to get our photo taken at the TMNT Smash-Up booth while Ivey went to go say hi to the Mirage guys at Artist Alley.  Christine, Amanda, Tokka, and myself all got in the picture.  It came out hilarious.  As we were standing there, Tokka entered a contest to try and win a poster at the booth.  In that waiting time, Ivey called to tell us she got two extra tickets for Mom and Christine to enter the TMNT party.  That was great since neither one had no idea what to do to pass the time as the rest of us were inside the party.  They would have had to wander around San Diego until 10 p.m.!  After leaving TMNT Smash-Up, Christine and I also posed with Tokka at another booth that gets a postcard type photo called "Greetings from the Dark Void."

Next up was making the walk to get to the line for the TMNT panel at 4:15.  Amanda and I popped in to the front of the line where friends like Quartermane, Dawnatello and Leah Nardo were waiting.  This is where I also met Spacefille, the girl that drew a Don and April picture and I colored it.  She was so thrilled to finally meet the colorist of her art.  Oh, and, Christine also snuck in the line next to me.  But that didn't matter.  I ended up moving to the front once I got inside the room and sat down next to a nice guy dressed in black.  Before the panel started, he asked me if I could switch seats with him so that he could get a better view of the stage where his brother would be sitting.  I said that was fine, but first I got up to say hello to Roseangelo who sat on the other end of the room.  I asked if I could sit next to her but she said the row was reserved for the press.  No worries.  Sitting next to her was someone I recognized and he introduced himself as Sam Regal.  Oh!  Duh!  I told him who I was and said how I met him at Anime Vegas in 2005.  He remembered me and asked how I was.  The usual, been a crazy but fun time so far at the convention!

I returned to where I was sitting and offered my seat to the guy dressed in black.  Out of curiosity, I asked who his brother was and he began with, "Well, he played this pizza delivery boy in the second TMNT film and then he was the stunt double inside a turtle costume of the first film, actually he was that turtle on your shirt."  I was wearing my Donatello shirt, but he didn't have to continue, I knew exactly who he meant!  I calmly ask, "Are you Ernie Reyes Jr.'s brother?"  He was and he introduced himself as Santino.  We talked briefly before the panel started.  It was a very interesting panel yet full of much information I already knew about.  Though, Mom didn't know much of the origin and enjoyed listening to the history of the fandom.  During the Q&A, Ernie Reyes Jr. came up to ask the final question: will his pizza delivery boy will appear in the next movie.  This caused an uproar of vast cheering, clapping and photos snapping off.  Thus the perfect ending to a perfect panel!

Mom left to move the car from Seaport Village since it had been there for too many hours and planned to move it closer for the TMNT event on Broadway.  She parked next to a drop-off zone near the Marriott to wait for Christine to change in Vicky's room and bring her Alice costume to the car.  After Christine got in the car, the three of us headed to the TMNT Galabunga event since Ivey and Miki were already there waiting to go inside.  The party really was a lot of fun.  Fans were treated to free food (though I didn't get any of the cake!) and watching the new movie, "Turtles Forever."  It was so hilarious and so awesome, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The atomosphere was very relaxed with the fans mingling with official stars such as Ernie Reyes Jr., Sam Regal, and Mike Sinterniklaas.  Also said hello to C.E.O. Gary Richardson, Dan Berger, and Emily Laird.  The party basically ended when the club switched to its normal nighttime routine and the extremely loud techno music started booming out in the room.  I swear I could feel that base thumping inside of me!  We said our goodbyes and rushed back to the parking structure.  We first took Tokka back to the Coronado Inn (yes, across that toll bridge again!) and then onward for home in Escondido.

Photo Highlights:


The Alice in Wonderland Exhibit


Entering Wonderland, it really was a cool tour


"Alice" with Kevin


With Ernie Reyes Jr. at the TMNT panel

I'll submit photos of the TMNT Galabunga event in the Turtles Forever topic.

[Brinatello]

Saturday, July 25, 2009
Left home around 10 in the morning to make it to the 11:15 panel for Cartoon Voices.  I may never break into the voice over business, but I still enjoy these panels very much.  They always do a cold reading of a script and it is often downright hilarious.  On the panel was sweetness to the extreme Chuck McCann, Vanessa Marshall, James Arnold Taylor, Bill Farmer, and Laraine Newman.  Christine was on her way to the panel and found a Mad Hatter to latch on to for photo-taking the rest of the day.  His name was Connor and he came along with her to the panel with his girlfriend dressed as Alice Cullen from Twilight.  A female Mad Hatter nick-named Panda also latched on to Christine.

After the panel, we got some pictures with the voice actors.  Got to say hi to Bill Farmer and get a photo with him and also give a hug and kiss to sweetie Chuck.  We were soon booted out of the room and off to the Alice exhibit to get some pictures of Christine and Connor.  On the way to Seventh Avenue, I looked over my photos and saw the picture with me and Bill Farmer didn't come out good!  Or, I was looking away from the camera as if frightened to be standing next to him.  I was incredibly bummed, but there was nothing I could do.  He was long gone and I had to accept the photo as is.  We continued on and ran into Jess Harnell (voice of Wakko Warner) on the sidewalk.  He loved the costumes and posed for pictures.  Then it was off to get loads of awesome pictures.  We got Ray again, the tour guide who was so understanding, and he gave us plenty of time in each room.

As we headed back, our cosplayers got bombarded by a passing group of bicyclists, or those guys you always see riding around on bikes with the seat in the back to offer transportation.  They all jumped at them shouting, "Oooh, ooh, Mad Hatter--ooh---oooh, Alice, take picture!  Take picture!!!"  I snapped some photos and laughed real hard at the same time.

Eventually, we made it back to the convention and we were once again pausing often to get photos.  Miki and I left Christine and her group while Ivey headed toward the panel room to get in line for the 6 p.m. panel of Venture Bros.  I somehow went off on my own to try and do some browsing around the booths.  I had not really seen much of the Exhibit Hall and it was already Saturday.  As I wandered around, I went to say hello to the Mirage guys at Artist Alley.  I talked to them for a little bit and then discovered Lea and Mairead were sitting there!  I exchanged hugs and hellos and talked for a while.  As I stood there talking, I saw Bill Farmer wandering around in the area with his son.  I used this opportunity to get my photo redone.  Lea helped me with that and the photo came out ten times better.  She returned to the Mirage guys as I stood to talk to Bill for a little bit.  I wanted to talked to him about Wayne Allwine and how his passing has deeply affected me.  It put me on the verge of tears and he gave me a big hug before introducing me to his son Austin.  Before I left, I found out he liked The Great Mouse Detective and gave him my fansite business card.

Returning to the Mirage guys, I noticed off to the side was Quartermane, Leah Nardo and Roseangelo.  Leah was dressed in a beautiful Renaissance attire.  I took her photo.  I walked with her and Rose up to their panel for Sideshow Collectibles.  I told them I was interested in buying Michael Dooney's San Diego TMNT drawing and it was far too large to fit safely in my satchel without getting ruined.  I asked if they knew of a place to buy protective plastic coverings to hold pictures.  Leah said there was a booth in the 4500 aisle that sold them plus tubes for posters.  I decided to leave and look for this booth instead of seeing the panel.  Sure enough I found a small plastic tube and bought it to roll Michael's drawing within.

Next, it was off to look for a poster Ivey asked me to get for her at aisle 100.  It was a TMNT limited edition poster for $10.  I made my long trek from one end of the Exhibit Hall to the other and found the poster booth.  They also had small bins of movie buttons and found some of Hunchback of Notre Dame for Christine and The Great Mouse Detective for myself.  I stood there long enough for Christine, Ivey, Miki, Ninjara and her grandson Devon, to meet up with me.  They couldn't get into the Venture Bros. panel and decided to do a dinner meet-up arranged by GreenWillow.

This is where it got fun...and crazy.  We first settled on meeting at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  We all walked over and met up with Mica and Jenn.  Then, it was decided that the others wanted to eat at the Elephant Bar and Castle Pub at the Holiday Inn on the Bay.  Fabulous.  That meant walking back over to the Convention Center, jumping on the pink shuttle to the hotel, and eating there.  This requires much walking and dealing with crowds.  Christine was about ready to say 'screw it' and walk over to Subway with Panda.  The two girls munched on a pretzel as we waited in line for the pink shuttle.

To make a long story short (too late!), we arrived at the Elephant Bar and Castle Pub and waited to get seated.  As we waited inside, I noticed flashes of a camera going off outside the restaurant.  Christine came inside to tell me her friend, Ron Rodriguez, was outside.  Now, Ron is a bonifide Johnny Depp look alike and someone I had been wanting to meet.  I ran outside and saw him pulling away in his SUV with his wife in the passenger seat.  I walked over to his side and told him who I was with an exchanged handshake.  I returned to the restaurant and went to look at the pictures Miki got of them on her professional camera.

Not too long after, GreenWillow came over to us to see who was all there on the other side of the restaurant.  I told her how Christine's friend Ron was outside and she felt better after thinking she had just missed meeting Johnny Depp!  She was like, "I missed seeing Johnny at the Alice in Wonderland panel and now I thought my eyes were deceiving me when I looked out the window and saw Alice talking to him!"

The group was far too huge to seat everyone together, so we sat out on the patio overlooking the Star of India.  The wait time for our drinks let alone food was incredibly long and agonizing, but then again, the poor guy was serving well over 12 people at once.  The problem was we had to drive home to Escondido once again and Mom had to come down to get us first.  We ordered and the food took almost an hour to get to our table.  Panda, Christine's Mad Hatter, had to order her food to go at one point when her dad came to get her from the restaurant.

Once we finished eating and paid our bill, we had to jump on the pink shuttle back over to the convention to meet up with Mom at our pick-up spot near the Marriott.  Mica and Jenn joined us to switch buses at the convention.  We arrived with the time being almost 10:30 at night.  Ivey and Miki talked to a TMNT fan on the sidewalk as Christine and I went to find a restroom inside the lobby.  We then decided to venture up the escalator toward the area of Ballroom 20 and the Masquerade.  We continued onward toward the Sails Pavilion and saw many con goers relaxing and eating snacks up there.  A waitress walked up to me and offered a cupcake from her tray.  I asked how much and she said free.  Hot damn!  I grabbed one and munched on it as we headed back downstairs.  It was chocolate with white icing.  Delicious.  We ended up down by Hall A and waited for Ivey and Miki to walk over from Hall G.  While standing there, a Tony Stark cosplayer walked by and said, "Hey, Alice!"  Christine turned and posed with him for photos.  Soon Ivey and Miki caught up with us and we walked over to the Marriott where Mom was parked.  We didn't even find out if Tokka got a ride to the Coronado Inn.  As it was we had a long drive ahead of us back to Escondido and it was nearing midnight.

Photo Highlights:


Mad Hatter and Alice with Bill Farmer


Alice returning to Wonderland with Mad Hatter


The First Aid sign cracks me up so much


Venturing to Ballroom 20, I enjoy the sight of an empty hall during Comic Con

[Brinatello]

Sunday, July 26, 2009
Well, here it is, the last day of the convention, meaning anything you needed to do you had to do now or never!  This time Christine didn't want to go with us.  She'd rather visit her friend Toni and give her the Transformers autograph from Neil Kaplan.  Her birthday was on the 25th anyway, so it was considered a gift.  Mom drove the three of us down and we arrived early enough to catch the second Cartoon Voices panel at 10:30.  This panel had Jess Harnell, Gregg Berger, Tom Kane, Susan Silo, and Greg Cipes.  This cold reading of the script was downright hilarious.  I think I laughed much harder at this one.  Later on, I said hello to Jess and told him Christine also said hi but couldn't be there.  He posed for a photo with lip-locking on my head, but the girl accidently pushed the button to shut off the camera!  Jess goes, "Aw, come on, I've been holding this lip-lock for twelve seconds!"  It came out pretty funny, though I look drunk!

During the panel, Mark Evanier mentioned that June Foray would be signing her new book at the Van Eaton Galleries booth for a little bit.  I wanted to do that since I hadn't seen her in a while.  Then, someone seated next to me said that there was a Scooby-Doo panel happening at 1:30 and Frank Welker might show up.  I knew he wouldn't, but Miki, Ivey and I decided to enter the panel anyway.  The panel ended up being a new live-action movie called "The Mystery Begins" how the gang meets for the first time.  After the movie, the four cast members of Fred, Daphne, Shaggy and Velma came out to talk to the audience.  No sign of Frank Welker, just like I predicted.  After the panel, I bumped into Andre the Black Nerd dressed as Scooby and got my picture with him.  I told him I was the sister to the Alice he posed with in 2007 and he remembered me.

Being in that Scooby-Doo panel took time away from doing much at the convention.  We got down to the Exhibit Hall and to Van Eaton Galleries to find out June Foray had left a couple of minutes ago.  Aw, well!   At that point, I claimed I wanted to do my traditional zig-zagging of aisles starting at 100 and working my way up.  Ivey frowned and left Miki and I to do just that.  We walked up and down each aisle and found the booth with the TMNT plush dolls.  They had a Mikey, one that I was missing, and I purchased him for $10.  We continued making our way up as far as aisle 1000 when we stopped at a Cafe to eat lunch.  As we sat and ate, I heard an announcement saying that the con was closing in thirty minutes.  Thirty?!?  I checked my watch and saw that it was already 4:30!  Awww, and here I thought they changed the time to 7!  We got up and tried to do what we can within the last thirty minutes.  We first found Ivey at the Heavy Metal booth with Kevin along with Mica and Jenn.  Mica asked a favor of me, and it was to collect Sporkette from Amandatello at Lucky D's.  I said I would do that as soon as we left the convention, be it walking or driving over when Mom and Christine came to collect us.  I then looked to Ivey and told her my last minute requests.  I wanted a Donatello drawing from Katie Cook in Artist Alley and then I wanted to say goodbye to the Mirage guys.  Ivey handed me a lost badge from the Sony Pictures Entertainment booth and said that the aisle number to it was in that area.

Miki and I went on ahead all the way to Artist Alley with ten minutes to spare.  I put in my art order for Katie before racing over to the Mirage guys to give hugs and handshakes.  Ivey stayed at Heavy Metal so that we knew where to meet up with her.  We returned to her just as the convention closed and the security guards were doing their sweeps to get everyone out except for the exhibitors.  I gave Kevin hugs and kisses and we started to leave.  At that point I looked in my satchel and noticed I still had the lost badge from Sony.  Miki and Ivey stayed behind as I ran from Hall B all the way to Hall G to return the badge.  Ivey was not doing well at all after getting dogpiled at the TMNT Smash-Up booth.  Earlier, the guys were throwing prizes out at the crowd and an action figure landed at her feet.  She reached down to pick it up and two people jumped on her, knocking her to the ground.  More started to dog pile until a guy quickly rushed in and pulled them off of her.  Ivey clung to the figure for dear life but was in severe pain.  They obviously knocked into her bad arm and she suffered badly.

The security guard let me back inside the Exhibit Hall to return the missing badge to the Sony booth.  I wandered out into Hall G and called Mom to see where they were.  They hadn't left Escondido yet!  I groaned and said I needed to go to Lucky D's to pick up something from Amandatello.  Meanwhile, Miki called me to say we also had to go over to Holiday Inn on the Bay to pick up a monitor from Ninjara's car.  Eesh!  Too many errands!  I told Mom I was walking over to Lucky D's to get the item from Amandatello and that I would wait there for them to pick me up.  Then, we would drive over to Holiday Inn on the Bay to collect Miki and Ivey when they got on the pink shuttle from the convention.

I left the convention for good after that and made the long walk to Eighth Avenue to Lucky D's.  I arrived hot, tired and out of breath.  Amandatello, the sweetheart that she is, offered me a Coke as I sat down to relax.  Mom and Christine soon arrived and I was informed that Miki and Ivey were on their way over to Lucky D's as well.  I asked if Ivey were all right to walk and Miki said she was fine, she would rather meet up there and then we'd all go to the Holiday Inn on the Bay to get the monitor.  Amandatello walked me out of the hostel and waited on the street with my car parked alongside the curb.  Looking down the street, I saw Tokka walking with them!  He needed a ride to his hotel, yes, the Coronado Inn, to get his belongings and get to the airport!  We exchanged hugs and photos with Amandatello before jumping in the car and making our way to that dreaded toll bridge.

Now, we seriously had a bad feeling about leaving Tokka at the hotel with his stuff.  We offered to take him to the airport but there was simply no way all of his belongings, our belongings, and himself would fit in my car!  Not to mention we were heading to the airport where there's lots of security.  If a cop saw Tokka in the trunk without a seatbelt, we'd be so busted.  Besides, we still had to drive over to the Holiday Inn on the Bay to get this monitor, so that's more stuff piled in our trunk.  We left him at the hotel and continued on to the Holiday Inn on the Bay and to see Ninjara with her grandson for the last time.  We parked in the hotel parking, got the monitor, said our goodbyes, and hit the road for home.

We got as far as Convoy Street from the 52 East freeway when Ivey's phone started ringing.  It was Tokka.  His flight was earlier than we thought and he wouldn't make it!  He also didn't have a place to stay unless he got a hold of his friend Antonio to tell him he needed a place.  He was put on standby and charged $90 for the next flight to Colorado.  We pulled off the freeway onto Convoy Street and sat in a Wendy's, debating on what to do.  It was getting to where we thought about bringing Tokka home with us to Escondido, but that's having six people in our apartment!  We all felt horrible and sick, unsure of what to do.  As we sat in the restaurant snacking, Tokka called back to say that Antonio would let him stay over and he could get a flight out the next day.  We later found out he got the $90 waivered and he got home safely.  So good to know!  Ivey and Miki stayed at our place until Wednesday the 29th before heading up to Cynlee's place.

And that, my friends, is my 2009 Comic Con trip report!  *faint*

Photo Highlights:


Jess is such a nut, and I *do* look drunk!


Rooby-Roo!


I'm always unhappy with how I photograph with Kevin, but this one actually came out great!


Amandatello modeling her Tinkerbell shirt.

[BubblyShell22]

Awesome photos and highlights, Brina. I'm glad you had so much fun.