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2014-08-28,29,30 - Amazing! Houston Comic Con

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Time for another con review. Hope you find it interesting.

 

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Dates: Friday through Sunday of Labor Day weekend (29-30 August 2014)

Venue: George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, TX

 

Venue Size: ~160K Square Ft (Hall E)

 

Telecommunications:

I have AT&T and had no issues throughout the first floor. Several vendors were using Square and their connections went through. Never the less, a wise vendor has their phone on AT&T and their iPad on Verizon or vice versa to ensure that they can ring up sales.

 

WiFi was not free and is a source of contention for all vendors to all GRB shows.

 

Parking:

The GRB has an underground parking lot across the street. There is also parking at the Hilton Hotel, the nearby (4 blocks) Toyota Center, and many surface lots within a short walk.

 

There is ample parking in the area though the CC Garage ($12 per day) sold out on Saturday. The surface lots nearest to the CC bumped their rates (as they normally do). However, $15 a day, IIRC, parking was less than 4 blocks away.

 

The George R. Brown is huge and the con in its first year used only Hall E plus check in on the 2nd floor and (I think) some panels on 3. The GRB is downtown and easily accessed from all directions.

 

Guest List:

The headliner was Jim Lee making his first appearance in Houston in nearly 20 years. However, he was at the show for one day only (Saturday).

 

Though Jim may have been the headliner, I think as many people were there to see Rob Liefeld as were there to see Jim.

 

Other guests included Houston’s Terry Moore (SiP, Echo, Rachel Rising), Herb Trimpe (Hulk, GI Joe), Bob Layton (Iron Man), Tom Scioli (GI Joe), Tony Fleecs (MLP), and probably a dozen reasonably well known people.

 

Tickets: The usual assortment of VIP, 3 day, and single day passes were available.

 

Pros:

  • The Guest List was good especially for a first year con.
  • The venue is convenient and efficient.
  • Wide aisles and lots of space between the back-to-back vendor tables
  • Spacing was excellent – it was never hard to move around the con though there were lots of people each day.
  • Pass pickup worked well on Friday; I didn’t check the lines on Sat or Sun.
  • Food was available.
  • Layout was good. Dealers at the front and Artist Alley at the back. Theater for the big shows to the left. Large signing area (used for Jim Lee) to the right.
  • Sunday Kid’s Day – a great idea that really seemed to draw a lot of people to the show on what is often a slow day
  • Jimmy Jay, the owner, was all over the place working to ensure everyone was happy as were other staff and volunteers

 

 

Bedrock City Comic Company had a booth on Friday near Artist Alley to facilitate CGC Signature Series signings. That was probably more useful in theory than practice and the moved an artist into the spot later.

 

 

 

Cons:

  • The value of the VIP pass was very limited. (See Special Topics below)

 

 

Executive Summary: I had a great time, but I’m wasn’t that impressed with the VIP status. It was worth more at Comicpalooza. Everyone that I met in Artists Alley or the Dealer section seemed very pleased with their business. That’s a very good thing.

 

 

Pictures and Reviews:

· My Pictures: https://www.facebook.com/alxjhnsn/media_set?set=a.10202563313787963.1073741847.1349825773&type=3

 

· Houston Press Review: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/artattack/2014/09/amazing_houston_comic-con_a_good_first_run.php

 

· Houston Chronicle Pictures: http://www.chron.com/.../Amazing-Houston-Comic-Con-92613.php

 

· ABC13’s Pictures: http://abc13.com/entertainment/photos-fans-dress-up-as-favorite-characters/288462/

 

 

Special Topics

 

General Buzz

This was one of the happiest cons that I’ve attended. Every artist I visited with told me that they had steady to exceptional business. Only a few had long lines, but all of them had lots of buyers. That’s a very good thing. This was also true with the dealers that I visited. Each of them said that business was really good. One said that Saturday was better than some 4-day cons that he has supported. That’s awesome.

 

As for the guests, there were lots of happy faces and the people that I met in line were in good humor and were pleased with the show.

 

 

VIP Passes

I want to make a few comments on the VIP situation. I believe that the value of the VIP for this Con was not there.

 

Before I begin, I want to make clear what I expect from VIP passes:

  1. Early access to the show – generally an hour
  2. Line skip privileges for the longest lines
  3. VIP times for the major guests
  4. Swag

 

The first one is pretty universal. Heroes Con provides early access to people that buy passes for the entire show. Comicpalooza sells more expensive tickets for early access.

 

The second expectation varies in its implementation. For example, line skip might apply to particular people only since con staff has to be allocated to ensure proper flow. At Comicpalooza, the Drs. Who had a special VIP pass that allowed line skip for the Doctors signatures plus line skip in the photo area.

 

The third also varies. Sometimes, the pass includes access to a guest or guests for a special signing. AHCC did that for Jim Lee on the original VIP pass. Comicpalooza sold that separately for celebrity guests – Stan Lee, for example. To my memory, none of the other comic guests had “private” access or line skips.

 

The fourth expectation is one that I could do without to be honest. I seldom get swag that I collect, but it seems to be something that the cons believe is highly desired. I’m not sure that that is true and wonder if they wouldn’t sell just as many VIPs without any swag.

 

At AHCC, I expected items 1, 3 (for Jim Lee) and 4). Technically, they were available, but …

 

AHCC had three VIP tiers:

  • Original VIP
  • Jim Lee Platinum VIP
  • Rob Liefeld VIP

 

The “original” VIP was the only one on the site at the beginning. IIRC, it was to be strictly limited to 100 people and would provide “private” access to Jim Lee and some “stuff” in the VIP bag.

 

The surprising thing was that after the “original” VIP sold out, the other two tiers showed up and, frankly, it was not clear how these ranked relative to the “original” VIP or even if the original VIP would be honored.

 

The Jim Lee Platinum tier seemed to offer better access to Jim Lee, but it really wasn’t specific as to how it would work or the impact on the other two VIPs. Worse, the Rob Liefeld VIP seemed to be like the Jim Lee one, but there was no mention of a “private” signing or line jumping privileges though I know of at least one person who thought that such abilities were included.

 

 

So, how did AWCC do with regard to my expectations?

 

Expectation 1 – Early Access

The early entry failed on Friday. The 30m lead time dissolved to about 10 minutes due to failure to get Fire Marshall approval in time on Friday. That was disappointing, but not a disaster. I wasn’t able to get to the show early on Sat/Sun so I don’t know what happened on those days, but 30m is pretty short.

Grade: C- (average) (for short lead time and delay on Friday)

 

Expectation 2 – Skip the Line

There was only one line to which this applied – the Jim Lee signing for VIPs. It was at the signing that we discovered that the Jim Lee Platinum folks were placed ahead of the original VIP folks. One might consider that a violation of the original VIP package. We were especially concerned because it took Jim the full scheduled hour to work his way through the Platinum Line. The rest of us were wondering if we’d have to sit through is 1.5 hour break to get our signatures on top of the 1 hour wait for the Platinum folks. The good news is that Jim was a trooper and signed throughout his break to ensure that the Platinum VIPs and the other VIPs all got a moment with him and the appropriate number of autographs. Good on Jim; not so good on AHCC.

Grade: D (below average) (for selling Super-VIPs without being clear that they were priority; for selling Super-VIPs AFTER selling out the strictly limited VIPs; for not being clear on how we would be lined up; for not providing the skip the line for Liefeld; etc)

 

Expectation 3 – “Private” VIP Signings

Rob Liefeld did not have a private signing for his VIPs or the Original VIPs. One would have assumed that he’d have a parallel setup to Jim’s on Saturday with his VIPs going first and the Jim Lee Platinum and “original” VIPs going second.

Grade: D (for no private signing for Rob's VIPs and no skip the line for either Rob's or the other VIPs at Rob's table)

 

Expectation 4 – Swag

The swag bags seemed nice enough if you like that sort of thing. I will say that the Ryan Kincaid Commissioner Gordon Sketch was excellent and I was glad to get it. However, it would have been even better if it was clear who had drawn it.

Grade: C (typical swag bag so an average grade; I may be biased by a lack of interest in prints)

 

I believe that the Liefeld VIPs really felt cheated. Unlike the Jim Lee Platinum which seemed very similar in write-up, they did not have a “private” signing with Rob. Worse, it wasn’t clear if they were “VIPs” in the same sense as the original VIPs.

 

As for this “original VIP,” I felt that I really did not get my monies worth.

 

So, here’s my advice to AHCC management:

  1. Think the VIP plan through and be detailed in the descriptions
  2. If you sell out a VIP plan, leave the description up to it can be compared to the other offerings especially if you add new ones
  3. A table comparing the features of each ticket would be even better.
  4. VIP tickets are expensive and I believe that most are sold to avoid lines at the popular “rides;” think about what you can do to optimize the time of the VIP
    For example, adding a bit of line management for Rob or a separate VIP signing would have increased the value of the ticket.
  5. Save your $ on swag or make it unique, e.g., the sketch covers or a “raffle” ticket for a sketch cover by a major guest or for a raffle ticket for 10m with a major guest. These things mean more to most of us.

 

My conclusion is that the AHCC VIP tickets were not well thought out and were not worth the cost.

 

 

 

My Days at the Con

 

Friday:

The show didn’t start until 3pm on Friday so I arrived about 2pm to leverage my 30m early entry into the show. Nice idea, but no real luck.

 

I picked up my VIP badge quickly and easily and got my goody bag – a bunch of prints and a sketch cover by Ryan Kincaid of Commissioner Gordon that was quite nice.

 

I went back downstairs to go in my 30m early, but the Fire Marshall had not yet approved the show so we were held up. I’d say the 30m lead turned into 10m at most.

 

I waved at my friends in the Bedrock City Comic Company and walked to artist alley to see if Rob Liefeld was setup. He wasn’t when I got there, but there was already a line to see him.

 

That’s okay, I only wanted an autograph and I had three days to get it.

 

I took a walk down the alley to say hi to Robyn Moore, Publisher of Abstract Studios and wife of Terry Moore of SiP, Echo, and Rachel Rising. Kathy and I have met Robyn and Terry a few times at cons and it’s always good to visit with them. Terry was away, but Robyn mentioned how nice it was to be only a few minutes from the house and how much easier it is to pack for a con when a forgotten item is only minutes away. While there, my problems started. I thumbed through Terry’s artwork and found a piece that I liked. Drat! J I didn’t buy it immediately; rather, I excused myself and started walking the row.

 

I decided to walk the circuit before I lined up. The “main” artists (the ones featured on the website) were in the first two back to back table sets. There were two such rings of tables running North (left) to South (right) as you enter the con. The rings were split to allow traffic through the middle. Terry was in the SW corner of the first ring; Rob was the NW corner of the southern part of the first loop.

 

Sort of like this for the first loop:

 

 

Tony Fleecs, Marat Michaels…. Various …

 

Len Wein, Joe Rubinstien, … , Mat Natsos , …

 

 

As I wander from Terry’s booth to the North, I didn’t really stop until I reached Tony Fleecs’ (pronounced fleece) booth. Tony and his fiancé Shannon were both there and I introduced myself and chatted while I thumbed through their OA. Though I don’t consider myself a Brony (I’ve only read one comic and never seen the show), I do respect the work that I see done in the comics. I have to admit that I own pieces by Andy Price (his favorite and 2nd least favorite ponies; http://cafurl.com/?i=21490) and helped my daughter commission the Ponies as the Avengers by Thom Zahler (http://cafurl.com/?i=20441). It was while talking to them that I found a double page splash from MLP: Friends Forever #9 that “spoke” to me. I have an abiding fondness for crowd scenes featuring lots of characters. This piece (http://cafurl.com/?i=21491) does that. It shows the Apple family arriving at AppleCon and the hordes of ponies trying to get in (shades of SDCC!). So, I caved and bought it. Really enjoyed visiting with Tony and Shannon and they were glad I stopped by. J There’s a picture of Tony with the art on the Pictures link.

 

After leaving Tony’s booth, wandered down the aisle looking a various vendors and young artists. Eventually, I returned to Terry Moore’s booth. At this point, Terry was back and the Echo print OA was still there. Drat! J I bought it and got a picture of Terry and Robyn and me with the art. You can see it on the Pictures link. Here's the OA: http://cafurl.com/?i=21497.

 

So, barely into the first hour of the show and I’d spent a fair chunk of change. Unplanned, but still very nice pickups.

 

Next stop, Bob Layton. I see Bob at cons on a regular basis and I think recognizes my face at least he acts that way. Really nice guy and I loved his Iron Man work. There’s something in the way he inks Iron Man that really makes the armor standout. One day, I’ll actually buy something.

 

Herb Trimpe was next to Bob, but his line was long so I moved back to the end to visit Joe Rubinstein. I first met Joe at Bedrock City Comic Company when he called them on impulse while in town for other reasons and set up a signing. Joe is a wonderful inker. My experiences with Joe have been great. He’s done a number of inked pieces for me (http://cafurl.com/?i=21492) and has never been late enough to matter to me. I’d bought something from Joe at Comicpalooza (the blue-line inked version of my Swan Superman(http://cafurl.com/?i=19758)) so I didn’t buy anything this go round. Good to visit with him again. He has lots of stories.

 

After saying “Hi” to Joe, I moved back towards Herb. I’ve commissioned Herb (http://cafurl.com/?i=20192) and visited with him in Boston and Dallas. He was at Amazing Houston Comic Con with his wife who was selling craft jewelry. I offered to buy them dinner and they suggested Sunday since they weren’t leaving until Monday. That worked for me.

 

Next, would have Tom Scioli, but he had a little line and I skipped him (that didn’t last long).

 

Rob Liefeld was setup and working, but the line was way too long now so I moved on.

 

Mat Nastos (Phineus and Ferb) was signing. He was really friendly. Turns out his mother lives in the area and while we were talking his mom and kids showed up. Nice family. You can see them on the Picture link.

 

Now, I walked back to Tom Scioli’s area and talked to him about his Kirbyesque MLP cover mock-up (http://outside-affiliatelinksnotallowed.com/oy5ekph) that has been making the rounds. It was fun talking about it. The gist of the conversation was “I’m doing my best work on the GI Joe / Transformers book and I really love the story and art, but that one-off, half second piece of art is what I’m known for.” You could tell that under the very good humor, he really was a little frustrated. I added to his frustration by asking for – yep – a Kirbyesque Pony. He thought about it for a minute and I thought he might say no, but he agreed to do it. So, I have what is his 2nd Kirby Pony and what may be his last if he has his way. J Check it out: http://cafurl.com/?i=21493.

 

Another walk around ended with me stopping by Marat Mychael’s table. I know his name, but I’m not sure that I’ve ever bought a comic with his artwork. Nice guy.

 

Walking to the back of the first loop led me to the table of Wook-Jin Clark. He’s the artist on Adventure Time – another series that I’ve never read, but hear good things about.

 

Finally, after visiting with my friends at Bedrock City Comic Company in their CGC Signature table, I decided to get in Rob’s line. I’d been watching him throughout the day as he handled hundreds of people and probably thousands of signatures. So far as I could tell, he was as full of energy and good humor at the end of the day as anyone ever is at the start of one. You may not like his art (Worst Captain America ever: http://outside-affiliatelinksnotallowed.com/m4sjo36), but he is one seriously energetic and friendly person. I picked up a signature and I think he was a little puzzled that that’s all I wanted. Wish I’d thought to get a picture with him. He’s done a lot in his career publishing, drawing, writing, character creation (Deadpool), and I really respect that. Heck, forget the picture, I wish I’d asked him to draw a foot next to his signature. J

 

Near Rob was Chad Hardin of Harley Quinn fame. He’s another artist whose work I don’t follow though I’ve seen enough to know he’s good. Another nice guy in a good mood when I got there (late in the afternoon).

 

Throughout the day, I wandered around and checked out the comics vendors. Yes, Amazing Houston Comic Con had comic vendors. They had a good proportion of the dealer area floor space. Not a lot carried Golden Age books, but there was Silver Age in abundance. That’s a good thing.

 

I also saw that Mathew Weldon was at the Overground Comics booth. My youngest daughter had commissioned something from him after Comicpalooza; no money exchanged hands, but she hadn’t heard anything of late. At least, that’s what I thought. Friday night I asked her and she said Matthew was the artist and she asked me to check on the commission.

 

On to Saturday.

 

 

Saturday

I got to the Con late due to other conflicts so my VIP pass didn’t help. However, the crowd to get in was short and though busy Hall E did not feel crowded.

 

After visiting a bit, I went to the Main Stage (left side of Hall E) to hear Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee back to back prior to Jim’s VIP signing period.

 

Rob opened with a little background on his life and career. He then opened it up to questions. Since there was only one mic, he walked into the seating areas and took questions. He was funny and quick. The questions were pretty much what you’d expect. I asked one of the least original – Would you like to work on any non-Liefeld characters? Anyway, it was an entertaining hour. Several people were recording on their phones and cameras so you might be able to find the Q&A on YouTube or other social media. There are pictures on my Pictures link.

 

Next, Jim Lee came in for a drawing lesson. It was an okay session, but it was fun to watch him at work. He asked for suggestions – various names wer called out. He responded “DC characters.” More names. Finally, he picked – Batman. It was interesting to watch him build up a nice Batman head shot.There are pictures of his in progress on my Pictures link.

 

At the end of the day, he created two pieces: Batman and Harley Quinn on sketch covers. He gave them away to the audience – Batman went to a guy with an Astros’ ticket; Harley to a guy with a Q-Tip. Who carries that stuff? J

 

Then we filed over to the Main Signing area – the far south (right) end of Hall E. When I got there, 50 people were in the Platinum Line and ~200+ were in the VIP line with I don’t know how many after us. The signing session was supposed to be 1 hour with an hour and one half break before a general session. The first hour was consumed by the Platinum people who each had 15 items or so. Wow! Our line started feeding into Jim after an hour wait as he worked through his 1.5 hour rest time. All of the VIPs were handled before the general audience. The man is a trooper. I don’t know how he kept his hand from falling off. I did get him to sign two items for me (my pad and my ICONS book) and two comics for some clients of BRCC who could not stay.

 

By the end of that, I was shot and the day was drawing to a close. I visited a few folks (checked with Tom on my pony) and picked up Len Wein’s autograph ($5).

 

Before I left, I found Matthew Weldon. Turns out he’d finished my daughter’s commission, but she didn’t get the e-mail telling her to pick it up at the show. Since he hadn’t heard from him, he left it in Austin! It looks great though; he resent her the sketch and a picture of the final piece. He has a series of cat prints with the cats in various roles, e.g., chef. She had him do a cat (Kitty Potter) as Harry Potter and it’s excellent. Matthew and his wife are very nice people as well.

 

At that point, I left after chatting with a few folks at BRCC.

 

 

Sunday

 

I really got to the show late on Sunday – serving at church, visiting my mom, and running a few errands will do that.

 

My first stop was Herb Trimpe’s table to see if he was still coming to dinner, but he’d hurt his back and was too sore and tired (from lack of sleep) to make it. Bummer, but next time.

 

I thought for a minute and walked over to Tony Fleecs and Shannon and invited them. Tony was clearly hungry and agreed quickly.

 

The time between then and dinner was spent walking through dealer booths and visiting over at BRCC as the con ran down. Just before 5pm, I went to Tom's table and picked up my pony.

 

Dinner was a blast. Despite not knowing if they were being driven to their deaths, Tony and Shannon showed up in the Hilton lobby and we drove to my house. I think the fact that I used Thom Zahler’s name lowered their fear factor, but I don’t think that they called him. Two of my daughters could not make it, but Kathy and Rebecca fixed a feast Lasagna (Turkey and Veggie), Salad, and dessert. Tony and I spent a bunch of time looking through my portfolios.

 

There were several that he seemed to enjoy, but my David Wright Carol Day strip made the biggest impact. I later sent him links to the Carol Day collections created by Roger Clark available on Kindle from Amazon and a few other links.

 

 

That's about it. It was an excellent first year show and I look forward to next year. The rumor mill says that they have options for the next five years at the GRB.

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Great con report! I was actually at Terry's booth when you purchased that Echo OA. What a beautiful piece! I thought it was a really great con and all of the artists in attendance seemed to genuinely be having a good time. Can't wait for AHCC Year 2!

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Great report, Alex! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed the report. I really enjoy writing them (and reading yours). I wonder sometimes if they are so long people won't read them.

 

Great con report!

Thanks for saying so. Nice to know people do read them.

 

I was actually at Terry's booth when you purchased that Echo OA. What a beautiful piece!

I remember talking to you. Yeah, it's a very nice piece. I like the look on Julie's face. Not to mention everything else in it. Terry not only draws well, he tells stories well. Hard to do it all, but he does.

 

I thought it was a really great con and all of the artists in attendance seemed to genuinely be having a good time. Can't wait for AHCC Year 2!

I'm excited about it, too.

 

Over on FB in the Rate That Comic Con page, Jimmy Jay, one of the con owners, said

Absolutely beieve that the community wins when there are two quality shows servicing the fans needs, and wants. I can say with absolute certainty that Amazing Comic Conventions will have the best comic creator guest list in all of SE texas for 2015

Looks like we are going to have some serious competition between Amazing! and Comicpalooza. That's great news.

 

BTW, feedback on what people like and dislike in my reviews is appreciated. I need it to improve.

 

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I can add to your report also. I went Saturday:

 

Jim Lee signed everyone's autograph that day! I even walked up to him and asked him for a picture. He said yes! He did some sketches at the end.

 

I should have asked for a sketch. Usually, I am the bossy/ ballsy type, but I was too tired and was happy enough to get the picture.

 

There was no high price signing ticket like Stan Lee...or elevated CGC charges!

 

Pioneer Graphics (Is that right?) charged a reasonable $43 for a CGC SS... Jim Lee is "almost" as big as Stan Lee in achievements.

 

I didn't bother with any one else except Tony Fleecs! I had a good time talking to him and he drew an awesome pony for me. His financee was sweet.

 

Now, the best part of the day on Saturday was the dealers.

 

I was able to pick up some items at a good price. The Pop culture company had the best prices by far! He's my favorite vendor by far as always!

 

The items I picked up pretty much made my day!

 

Bedrock's owner, Richard was there and helpful with some questions I had. He's always nice to me as well.

 

Now for the ugly:

 

I purchase 3 varients online and I was unable to pick them up at the show as the lady at the ticket booth wouldn't give them to me because she didn't have the list she said. On a whim, I bought an extra tmnt varient because I had a bad feeling about it all. I never got the comics shipped to this day and I had to claim a charge back. Bad luck!

 

I'm just glad I bought the one varient. There were 3 varients but most of the people who did them were not there...which didn't make sense to me except for Rob Liefeld and perhaps one other guy.

 

The groupon I bought came with a print. The print was a joke because it was a cheap postcard. I know it was a cheap groupon, but still..

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Thanks for the kind words. I try to make them interesting.

 

I've never been to Emerald City Con. It's on my list because of the favorable comments from artist friends. However, my brother lives in Portland so I usually go to Rose City instead - the weather is better in Portland in Sept than Seattle in March, too.

 

Still, it is really tempting and he could easily drive up to Seattle.

 

Anyway, all of my reviews are on my FB Photo's page: https://www.facebook.com/alxjhnsn/photos_albums.

 

 

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For what it is worth, these are the reviews (and the term is loosely used on the early ones) that I remember (CGC OA Boards and FB Albums):

 

I'm going to RCCC again this year. I might go to Dallas Fan Days (one of my girls wants to see the "Weasly" twins).

 

Next year, Kathy and I are thinking of London and the whole family will go to Megacon.

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Just read this review, very nice !

 

Ive never been to an American comic convention (I live in Europe), so this is the first time I hear about this, but I must say I have mixed feelings about this 'VIP Passes' thing. I guess that it's common practice, but I would feel at least a bit funny if I paid for tickets to see/meet/get-autograph someone present at a con, and then would have to pay extra in order to actually get that autograph.

 

Oh, and if I had actually paid for such a VIP Pass, like you did, I would feel seriously ripped off about the later addition of these additional Jim Lee VIP Passes.

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