AnimateTed

EXHAUSTED!

    Lemmie just tell you... what a day.  So some quick anecdotes from the tinbetweens of Comic Con.

  After The Grayskull posession, I went back to my hotel room and took a lovely shower.  My friend Megan called to tell me she baked cookies, and she was bringing one down for me.  I prepared her that I was in a robe and I wasn't dressin fo nobody!  She knocked, came in, we chatted for 3 seconds, she gave me a cookie and I walked her out.  At which point I heard the click of the door behind me and that warm "OH SHIT" moment that starts inside your ears and drips down the back of your throat and runs down into your ass happened.  So Yeah, theres me, in a robe, on the 10th floor of th Westgate Hotel.  Locked out!  Fortunately a maintenence man was passing by and let me in.  :-P 

   I went back to the convention floor and met up with some coworkers. I ran into two of my adorable friends from one of my nerdgroups - He-Man.org.  I know it sounds like a porn group.  But alas... it's not.
And I also met the judges who recently granted me the winner of the Fwoosh (another nerd group) Marvel Classic Covers Contest!

   I ran into a few friends who mentioned some plans for tonight... but I think I'm calling it in early. I'll order some room service and eat while I watch some TV.  Tomorrow night is going to be crazy... Pace yourself Ted!

 

OVERHEARD @ COMICCON

"Dude... Just because you don't get it don't mean it's not true... Angel was a much better show than Buffy" - one San Diego police officer to another.

What Are The Odds?!?

So I get back to my hotel, hungry and sweaty... I need food and a shower DESPERATELY! But before I take care of my basic needs - I NEED TO EXAMINE MY LOOT!!! I don't know what compelled me to open both Grayskulls... Did I really expect to get the varient? NO... BUT I DID! I opened the amazing outer package. Inside a carton that unfolds into a miniature Castle Grayskull... I lowere the jaw bridge... And with lighting and sound effects- inside: One shiny bronze Grayskull!

I Have the Power!!!!

After hour of tediously long waiting... I stepped up to the counter. The guy in front of me had 3 people with him to get extra ones!!! You see, there is a varient of this figure, one in a hundred looks like this giant statue, the same way Prince Adam first saw him.

I guess... Well he wants to up his odds. I just wanted one for myself and one for my friend Tobias. The lady at the counter was very nice and she let me buy two! Now I walk away from the Mattel booth very happy! Now I need to go backto my hotel and shower!

A skeleton of hope

 

Yeah.  So...um...remember when I said that I could see the cash register.  Well what I couldn't see was that they were... Of Course... Sold out!!   There are emergency shipments on their way.  Like some sort of nerd disaster relief!  It's like Hurricane Grayskull!  So... We wait.

Behold the Masses

 

Still in line for King Grayskull.  This place is ridiculously crowded for a Thursday afternoon.  I can see the cash register from here!   I can almost taste it!

Chapter 2- the battle for Grayskull!

First stop, the Mattel booth where this
Years exclusive is King Grayskull, the first in a new line of highly detailed, articulated and beautiful He-Man and the Masters of the Universe figures! With this inaugural piece, a new character will be available online each month. For a He-Man fan like myself this is a big thrill. There is a limit of one per person, but thankfully, no raffle to win the chance to buy anything!

Just walking in, I ran into the adorable Will Hackner who inteoduced me to Justin Marks' agent. Justin was the guy, commissioned by Joel Silver and Mattel to write the new MOTU movie. A script which I got for my birthday from a friend of a friend of a guy who knows somebody. The script was great! So I look forward to meeting Justin at one of the parties tomorrow night. Ok, the line is moving!

The Comic Con Chronicles- Day 1

It's a gray and hazy morning in Los Angeles. Larry just dropped me off at the beautiful and historic Union Station. The early California Mission-style architecture is both beautiful and comforting to my still half mast eyes. And there's a faint scent of urine in the air that wakes me up, like Folgers in my cup, and says "You're in Downtown LA!".

But this gentle olfactory offense is nothing compared to the onslaught of bio emissions that I'm subjecting myself to this weekend.

The is the 8th San Diego Comic Con that I've attended since moving to the West Coast in 1999. And the massiveness that it's grown to is incalculatateable! Well I'm sure there are those that can calculate it... I'm just not good at math.

This year, the number of attendees has capped at 125,000 and the is no on-site registration. Which means if you were thinking of just stopping down on Saturday, but you haven't got a ticket- YOU ARE SCREWED. This event has turned Ito more of a media studios road show, that a nerd herd. There are as many suits as there are sweat stains, and the coolest parties- don't have 20 sided dice or cos-players. They have Jessica Alba or Jon Favrereau or the cast of Heroes.

I know the tone of this makes it sound like I'm bitter about Hollywoods usurping of my geek Mecca. But I'm not. Not at all. I'm grateful! Thankful that a legitimacy has been grafted upon the characters and events that I have known were valuable for years. And working for the studio machine helps me to validate MY level of nerd and rise above the mire... At least by a head or two. You see, there is an inner breakdown of the geek community. Oh yeah! Much like Ted Haggard or Michael Jackson, some nerds are ashamed of who they are! I mean, "I may READ comics, but I don't dress up!" Or "I collect action figures, I don't play with them!" or
"They cut out the entire house elf scenario from HP and the GOF (harry potter and the goblet of fire) but I don't care- it's not like I'm a die hard purist or anything!".

You see there are levels- gradations in the nerd scale- and they are not always harmonious. This weekend I will update as often as I can, even in quick pictures, the shades of geekdom and bring them to those who can't smell it for themselves.

Train leaves in 20 min!