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Buck Biggins Mid Ohio Con report

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Hi folks,

 

FRIDAY

This was the first weekend con setting up as an exhibitor. Before I begin let me tell you a quick story. Leaving home on Friday morning my daughter handed me her pink cat. She gives me a hug and tells me not to forget her. How I love being a Dad. My sons on the other hand where sound asleep.

 

Back to the convention report.

 

I leave work at 3:00 and hit the road. I make a stop at the outlet mall to pick up shoes for the kids at Stride Rite. A request my wife asks me to do. In the end I spend way too much time looking for a kid’s 10.5. After I paid for the three sets of shoes I’m get back on my way.

 

As I approached Columbus the Mapquest directions have me going the wrong way. (Some folks think it’s the map reader but I’m certain it was the directions). As I looked into the rear view mirror I see the skyscrapers shrink. This is where I end up lost for a good chunk of time and pass a rather large cemetery too many times for comfort. Was this the sign of things to come?

 

Warlord calls my cell and asks, “Where are you?” With Warlord’s help and a kind stranger they are able to guide me back to the city and to the loading dock. We unload my Camry and begin setup. Pirate stops by and says, “Hi”. Anthony is a great guy who I enjoy seeing at the shows. I owe a big thanks to Warlord for helping me out Friday night.

 

My first set up.

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I get back to my hotel and call theDude. I tell him how the place looked and we arrange for him to pick me up at the hotel tomorrow morning. I then call my wife and I email a picture of the shoes to her. She is happy with the selection but I fall asleep missing her call telling me so.

 

Saturday

I get up on time, shower and get dressed. I wait for theDude’s call on the pickup. The call never comes and the show’s opening is approaching. Taking a gamble that he is late I get in my car and head out to the parking lot by the loading dock. I pull into the parking lot and the lady tells me $7. Realizing my wallet is in the trunk I pop the trunk and begin an archaeology dig. I dig into my show boxes that are taped shut. A line of cars forms behind me. I can’t locate my wallet and line continues to grow. This stuff always happens to me. Finally the lady tells me to just pull in and pay on my way out if someone is at the gate. theDude calls and tells me he is running a few hours behind.

 

I get to the booth and the show begins. Throughout the day I run into various Midwest board members. Pirate, Warlord, SeanF”ing, Detroit Mike and his buddy (who I can’t recall right now, sorry), BigMike and a few others.

 

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Just some comic fan diggin through the boxes. :insane:

 

 

A few things about Saturday:

 

Talk to some dealers and the word is slow sales. A few people blame it on the date change, (week after Baltimore and the same week as another con where artist where treated with royalty?); economy was another response and the last response was too many artists had canceled. However, a few dealers made some great purchases on preview night. A local guy had set up at the show and had a few superhero Timely’s priced at VG guide. The one I saw was VF+ condition. Talk about a great price.

 

I didn’t do much buying but Roy tells me he bought enough bargains to make the trip worthwhile as did Steve. Steve is a machine at buying books. I also talked to Warlord about his goal of collecting all the DC Whitman variants. This seems like a fun niche and he was able to score a few that he needed at the show. If I recall he now has 4 more to go. Pirate dropped by a few times and is pleased with his progress. He had an awesome sketch from Alan Davis and picked up some cool art. This leads into my next part.

 

I have been to various shows. I always look for books and maybe visit artist ally for a brief rundown. However, starting with Mid Ohio I decided to start a sketch book for each of my kids. In the past I would buy them a toy or something. I want to get away from that and give something they’ll appreciate now and down the road. The toys I buy last a few weeks and we end up donating them to Goodwill. However, the sketch books is something that I’ll start for them and once they get a few years older it’ll be up to them to fill it up. So on Saturday I called up the kids and I ask each one who is their favorite superhero. We have two DC fans and one Marvel fan in the house. In the end I was able to get a few sketches for each of the kids’ books. This was a chore and a half and I’m limiting it to 1 per show going forward. The one thing I hate most is line waiting.

 

As the day went on I pretty much met my sales goals. The response from people was great as they were surprised by the quality. They inquired about future releases and characters. BTW, our Black Terror #10 trading pin disappeared from the Mid Ohio VIP SWAG table pretty fast. So we got some good vibe for us from the show. Matt’s Shiverbones trading pins also sold well (perfect season to be selling them) and drew lots of lookers.

 

On Saturday I got sketches for the kids from Art Baltazar of Tiny Titans. This guy is a riot and really loves drawing. The sketches are in sharpie and he colors them in with crayon. A sketch is done in 2 minutes. Awesome. When I inquired about the price he told me, “$1 for love.” Such a great guy and he is great for kids. Thanks Sean for alerting me to him. ^^

 

Sketches for the kids back home. Each in their own book.

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Ran into Ted and he seemed to be having a good time running around.

 

Saturday came to a close and we hit the Hyatt bar. After a round of drinks we loosened up and chatted a bit. Hanging out with board members is always fun.

 

An excellent group to hang out with.

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Steve suggested we head over to Morton’s. This is where things got a little weird but fun. Steve stole a pig, stuck some vegetables in theDude’s ear and tossed asparagus across the dining room. Seeing the waiter’s expression picking up the asparagus was priceless. This was not you’re local McDonalds and we were about the only patrons inside.

 

Politics were about to be discussed and I tried my best to keep that from happening. Table split on Governor Palin’s attractiveness. A few more drinks and Steve was making offers on books from theCollector and theDude. We talked about grading, movies and music. Jokes flew around the table and were pretty much offensive. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Before we left the waiter took our picture. I’m thinking they saved a copy to hang in back room of banned customers. HA HA HA. My picure turned out terrible.

 

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As we leave we are standing by bathroom door. Steve and Pirate go in and we wait for them. After what seemed like 20 minutes I’m concerned as to what happened to them in there. The waiter kindly comes over telling us we got to leave. He points us to the bathroom door. Umm, the bathroom door is actually the exit door. Talk about enlightenment. We walked outside Pirate and Steve are long gone.

 

Back at the Hyatt Roy tries to ride the escalator in a nontraditional fashion why I have visions of being taken out dominion style. Another round of drinks and we discuss other stuff I can’t remember. Roy and Lou are great people and I enjoyed the company along with theDude and Sean.

 

Sunday

This is taking too long. So here is the short version.

 

theDude knew I got up early but he probably didn't know what I did. My stomach felt a little upset about 6:00 in the morning. Nothing major but irritating enough to be a bother. I decided to call the front desk for Tums or something. All sold out but I can get them at CVS 2 blocks down. Yeah that'll work. :screwy: So I ask them about the pool. I have no idea what I was thinking but a nice dip in the pool sounded like a good idea 6:00. Maybe it was the conversation I had with Brent (Qualitycomix) awhile back about swimming. I remember him telling me he would swim early in the morning or something to that effect. Clerk says its on the 4th floor. So I get my trunks on and walk down to the 4th floor. What a person_too_unaware_of_social_graces the front clerk is. It's an outdoor pool and the temperature 50 degrees outside. Yeah that's not happening on an upset stomach. What a bummer. So I hit the Sauna for a few minutes, get shower and do the treadmill for a mile or so. All the while with remote to get sound on the TVs. What the hell is the point of a TV with no sound. :frustrated:

 

I get theDude up and head to the show. Entering our booth we find a magnum rubber inside along with a bottle of ky jelly and various prescriptions. :censored::mad: Apparently the 60+ year old guy in the booth next to us (NOT BASEMENT COMICS) tipped over his personal luggage bag (size of a fanny pack) and didn’t realize it when he left the night before. I refused to touch anything and theDude kicks the junk back into his booth. When the old guy came to open his booth you could tell he felt really stupid. Then to top it off the guy wouldn’t even discount a Star Wars figure for theDude’s kid. What a piece of work.

 

Proof of the story. What a lamo. That guy have about zero chance scoring with anybody.

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I hear a sad story from the booth directly across from us. She tells me why she is at Mid Ohio Con selling all the toys. All I can say is that I have lots of respect to all the families with members in the public service.

 

The folks who do the signature series have my respects. I could never do what you do. Meeting the greats is awesome but waiting in line is a killer. Timing is everything is what I learned from Pirate and if a line gets capped you are out of luck. I wanted an Alan Davis sketch and the wait seemed liked forever. While I was getting my Joker sketch I chatted with Alan for a few minutes and found him to be a really nice guy. I asked Alan what characters he sketches the most. He says it depends on the geography. In the States Shadowcat is at the top of the list. However, this morning he already did two Black Canary sketches. I asked about the strangest request. Alan tells me about the time a guy asked him to sketch Rogue. While he was sketching the guy had a few requests. As he continued to sketch away the man looks Alan in the eye and tells him, “She has to be perfect. She is going to be the mother of my children.” Alan says the guy was dead serious in tone and it weird him out. After he finished my sketch (which is awesome) he asked about my other sketch book and I tell him it was for one of my kids. He grabbed my book and asked who he should draw. I tell him he didn’t have to do that because other people are behind me. He persisted and told me it would be free. After telling him again it was not necessary he begins to sketch a Batman. He makes it out to all 3 kids. What a great person.

 

My Joker sketch by Alan Davis all for $10 ^^

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theDude got a great Superman sketch. He should post it.

 

I then get my own sketch from Art Baltazar. I tell him I love Halloween and I would like something with his monsters Trick or Treating. He loved the idea and whipped this out in 5 minutes. I love it.

 

All for $5 and love. Love it. :luhv: You like it Matt?

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I would like to thank those that helped man the booth while I got this accomplished. To theDude, Warlord and Sean I owe you all big favors in return. A shout goes out to Big Mike for a favor asked at the end of the show on Sunday. It turned out beautiful and my daughter loves it. Guess I’m going to Nashville next year. (worship)

 

:o:luhv:

 

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Attendance seemed a little light but there were huge lines for big stars. It was a good show for me and this was my first time setting up. Thanks to Warlord and theDude with the dismantling.

 

Great times and the first show I didn't buy a comic. :( Too much other stuff happening.

 

BTW, I saved a few of the low numbered Black Terror pins for a board only sales thread. It should be up soon.

 

 

 

Some costumes...

 

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This guy just looked creepy.

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Great con report, great sketches, and great pictures!

 

Art Baltazar is a treat! My daughter got three sketches from him, Bat-Girl, She-Hulk, and Catwoman. She kept wanting to go back for more but I didn't let her get too greedy. :)

 

It was great seeing you and Art is awesome.

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One last story. Leaving the show on Saturday theDude and I are crossing the street. My cart falls over and my stuff falls into the street. Thinking we are going to get run over we make hast picking everything back up. Talk about pressure.

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Andrew, great sketches, photos and report, perhaps one day I might actually make it to Mid Ohio. Your setup looks fantastic, You have a GREAT product.

 

Although I must say, even though Alton has some big guns it was not very nice of you to make him hold up that sign all weekend. (tsk)

 

Steve throwing aspergrass around?, typical he considers it a yard weed.

 

Thanks for writing up the report for those not able to attend.

 

 

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DSC02603.jpg

 

yeah, and of course, it was a "Magnum", which made it all the more funny, or disgusting.

 

when Andrew saw it, I heard "Oh my God". and I looked, and I couldn't stop laughing. that Star Wars toy seller in the booth next to us was something else.

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DSC02603.jpg

 

yeah, and of course, it was a "Magnum", which made it all the more funny, or disgusting.

 

when Andrew saw it, I heard "Oh my God". and I looked, and I couldn't stop laughing. that Star Wars toy seller in the booth next to us was something else.

 

The only thing missing from this thread is the story of the Superman #11 :whistle:

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Heckuva con report! :o

 

It was nice to meet you! Thanks for hooking me up with your spare pass! (worship)

 

I'm just glad that during the Friday preview that the MOC staff didn't keep me out in the hall cooling my heels until you finally managed to locate downtown Columbus! :baiting:

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