A few things made me decide to undertake the trek. Joresky and one other guy wanted to go for it. I wanted to get a Jonathan Coachman photo op and correct a mistake I made a few years back (when I was mostly about autos). He was after all an integral part of the attitude era so having no Coach photo op was a black mark in my wrestling collection. And I also wanted to add another major Back to the Future character to my collection: Crispin Glover AKA George McFly. He was doing two book signings that weekend and from what Joresky told me photo ops are pretty much guaranteed with him. Plus some other celebs I wanted to get (and the fact that we may get tips for celebs while there). The Friday before LOTR we arrive in NYC and it is pounding rain. Probably more rain than I ever saw. So it made perfect sense to do an indoor event. We arrive at the museum and according to security we cannot go downstairs to the book signing cause it's closed
Considering I wanted to get Crispin Glover and I had other plans for Saturday night when it won't be raining, this was something I did not want to worry about the next day. Sitting through his films, attending the Q&A, etc would cost me a lot of combos! So no George McFly Friday night was just not acceptable to me, regardless of security's wishes. Joresky decided to go to McDonalds while I just sat down 10 minutes, gathered my thoughts, and began to think how I could do things. I tried to find a glitch in the mannerisms of security, in the setup of the building, praying to the mooching Gods, basically something! Then I realized people were going up to the restaurant in the top floor. So I ask if I could go to the restaurant and they say yes. Instead I go to the theater where the book signing is taking place. YES! VICTORY WAS MINE!
To add to the sweetness of the victory, admission to the museum is $20 and the charge to see his movie was $15. So that's $35 I did not have to spend. That plus the fact that we could not get in, I essentially orchestrated a pretty damn good mooch 
Thank you oh mooching Gods. I did pay for the book though as a way to guarantee me a spot in the book signing and in case anyone says anything I can wave the book in their faces and say I paid money. I choose the book that looks the nicest (which was tough given these books) and by sheer coincidence, of the three books that were on sale I picked the one with Swastikas in it 
Now there was another problem. My phone had no reception and Joresky was not here. But I wasn't about to leave the area and jeopardize my spot. Thankfully someone lent me his phone and I managed to text Joresky and another friend on how to get here. Told them exactly how to do it, and bam! Here they were. Joresky also bought a book.
Sadly the sweeping victory came with a disappointment. Glover himself was sporting a stupid beard ruining his George McFly look
As is the case many times, gotta take what you can get in the world of combo hunting.
The line was moving slow as he was taking his time with everyone. We finally get to him and he asks us to line our items on the table and knock out the photo ops. We each get a photo op. Then I get my items done. I had the book and two 8x10s. I ask just for his name and character on my George McFly 8x10 but he says he signs it a certain way to avoid fakes. I didn't care to argue with him. Now with Joresky he wanted to get his poster out of there, and this really upset Glover. Most celebrities are normally happy to be doing less, not so in this case.
He said he was going to do a nice thing and sign his poster and Joresky was rude for taking it away after asking him to sign it. He said he found it weird that he wouldn't want his item signed in a very personal way and with info about his film event. And that Joresky treated him like an object named George McFly and not as a person. Eventually Joresky gives in and lets him sign his poster. He says he wants to do nasty things to his poster but he won't.
During this whole thing, I was just enthralled gazing upon them with this face
as I simply could not believe all I was seeing and hearing. After this mind blowing conversation we then left the same way we came in so security would think we did in fact go where we said we were going. Now back in the rain.
We get a good tip for a movie shoot featuring Eric Bana (Bruce Banner in the 2003 Hulk movie, Star Trek reboot) and Joel McHale (Ted). Sadly it was still raining BUT we knew someone that got him earlier in the day and it was raining just as bad. So apparently he is nice. It made sense to wait despite the rain. We stayed under an awning so we were somewhat dry.
Now the location of the filming really was a
neighborhood. So I did not want to park my car where I could not see it. I parked it illegally across the street. I figured better to risk a parking ticket than risk a break in. We were four and one of us had already met everyone on this set so I placed him in the driver seat to minimize our chances of a ticket. He of course was sleeping while we were waiting in the rain. As it turned out the NYPD passed my car like 3 times during the course of the evening and no one cared. At one point while we were waiting a
began acting like movie security asking what we were doing here. I just said we're hanging around. He asked if we were with the movie crew and according to him, and I quote, we "don't look like we're from these parts" and we were being suspicious. I don't know if he was actual movie set security or just a random guy being a smart ass but these are the type of people they normally hire to play security for movie sets. He even threatens to call the cops and of course I tell him to go ahead and call them. Most people would be so afraid if someone threatened to call the police but not me. I just say to bring it on because I know better. He moved along and I wondered if he was going to report us to the movie crew, but we would not hear from him again. A few hours later it stopped raining and shortly after Eric Bana shows up. Sadly he blows us off for photo ops and says he can't right now
But a few minutes later he comes out of his trailer and does photo ops Next up we see Joel McHale walking down and he was very nice and does photo ops as well!At this point it was super late and we were super tiered. So we head out to the Legends of the Ring hotel. Sadly our socks were wet so we needed some dry socks before napping. We found a CVS and painfully bought a pack of 3 socks for $8 (when you can buy a dozen or more for that price at Walmart and Target). But I did not feel like wasting an hour finding a Walmart or Target and I needed sleep and dry socks. Me and Joresky split the cost of those socks. We then parked by the LOTR hotel and got some much needed sleep. Luckily I could sleep for some time because I did not need very many people (and needed nobody from the first superticket block). It was a long and grueling night in the rain, but overall well worth it as I got 3 first time photo ops.
After that evening I got every living Bruce Banner in some form:
Eric Bana (photo op)
Edward Norton (autograph)
Mark Ruffalo (photo op)As for as actual Hulks go there is only one and that is Lou Ferrigno as the rest are CGI'd.
I wake up and it's now time for LOTR. My want list for LOTR was very small. Basically 911 from the vendor line up, and Coach from the superticket line up. It's truly a wonderful feeling. So most of the time I could just BS with everyone and say hello to everyone. Conventions are actually stress free when you don't need any combos. I got a photo op with 911 and he did awesome chokeslam photo ops. Most people are all smilies in their pictures but I actually acted like I was in distress while being chokeslammed. While I didn't need Edge I went in the Edge room with another friend who did need him. He bought the $250 VIP ticket. While I didn't get any autographs or photo ops with Edge, I did actually mooch some face time with him. He was very cool and talkative. Then when the time came I took my friend's photo op. After Edge I went to the second superticket block for Coach. He was very cool and talkative with people and I got a combo. Had him sign my WWE_E V1.
After LOTR we had to Carteret, NJ for a Chinese Buffet. For $8 I was able to feast like a king and it tasted and felt so good, especially after I had eaten nothing during the day or the night before. After stuffing myself it was back to the city for more meets.
We go to a spot where we hope to see Berenice Marlohe from Skyfall. The 3 members of my crew decide they want to go to a Starbucks to drink some water and use the bathroom. I on the other hand decide to stay right where I am. While they are all gone I spot Anton Yelchin (I had just googled him 2 minutes before to see how he looks like) and I score a photo op! That marks my second actor who played Kyle Reese, as I already met Michael Biehn. I see Olivia Thirlby but she does nothing. I don't really care as I got her twice already. When Joresky and my other friend arrive the movie crew guy fends us off and rushes the stars away. But personally I can't complain as I already got my score.
Now there were other bigger things I could have tried after that, but I chose to set my sights where the odds of success are one step short of a paid convention or signing. Namely, a good spot with two ultra friendly celebrities, Jenna Fischer and Leslie Bibb. I already met Leslie Bibb before but never got Jenna. And I had 8x10s for them to sign. They were both as nice as can be. I got a combo from each plus an extra from each, and I also got a Josh Hamilton photo op. Though my Leslie photo op is actually a downgrade as she was wearing a stupid hat. We see Jesse Eisenberg randomly but I already had him so I let my friend who did not have him get the photo op. We then rush to another spot to get Michael Cerveris and John Glover but unfortunately we missed them by minutes. We did get Stephen Kunken though.
However, these misses were made up by an unexpected surprise. We saw actress Holland Taylor (The Truman Show, Legally Blonde, Two and a Half Men, among others). She was overly ultra nice making sure she stood in front of a nice background and making sure we all got good photo ops. When holding my camera she even asked ME if I wanted a photo op before I got a chance to ask her. How refreshingly nice!
While nothing that I would call epic or extravagant this time, all in all this round tasted so damn good especially after the bitter failure that was the last round after Wizard World.
Eric Bana
Crispin Glover
Anton Yelchin
Jenna Fischer
Holland Taylor
The Coach
Full list of photo ops
Crispin Glover autographs
An instance of the Swastika in the book
Coach autograph
Jenna and Leslie autographs
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