Sadly, the prices at this Chiller were insane. What should have been combo prices were photo op prices. I had to make a lot of cuts and a lot of improvising to get some stuff. It is horrible to think about that this is only going to get worse simply because people desire combos and their spending habits are inelastic when it comes to combos. Another example of an economically inelastic commodity is gas. Economics 101, no matter how high the prices people still fill up with gas. I of course concentrated on photo ops.
On the positive side of things, no pro photo ops were forced. You could get them if you wanted to but everybody did table ops no problem.
Friday
Friday
We arrive at Chiller Friday and thanks to someone giving Joresky a ticket I manage to mooch my way in (Joresky already had one thanks to his vendor friends). A good start. Thank you mooching Gods for helping me out.
The first person I go to is Ken Page, who I know best from Nightmare Before Christmas. I wanted to get him on my Nightmare Before Christmas laserdisc already signed by Chris Sarandon. Sadly it was $40 to get it signed because my LD was considered "premium" item and $15 more than an 8x10. I chose to pass on the autograph and get a photo op only.
Next up was Paige O'Hara who voiced Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. I got a combo from her on my Beauty and the Beast laserdisc. She actually marked out over the LD and began to flip through it and and marvel over it. HCIT!
Now I had a 2001 Space Odyssey soundtrack on vinyl that I purchased for $5 a year or two back. Would have been nice to get Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood to sign it. Sadly at $30 a pop I had to pass on that. I ended up going the photo op only route there. Gary even asked me where I was from.
Ace Frehley, an original member of KISS, is a semi
at Chiller. But I never paid for him. However, since I got Peter Kriss outside a hotel and got Paul and Gene at their book signing, this was the last original member of KISS I didn't have a photo op with. So I caved in. Sadly, the photo ops were taken with their crappy digital! Each time he does Chiller he has long lines. He cannot afford to go to Best Buy and pay $100 for a digital camera? Even THAT would have been a huge upgrade from the piece of crap they were using. Before the guy took the photo op I asked him to come closer to the table, which he did. Before leaving I also asked to look at the photo op to make sure it came out half decent. He showed me the photo op then I was on my way. Couple of days later it was posted on his web site. While the photo op is passable, for a paid photo op it is absolute shit 
I then go to Peter Fonda and grab a photo op. Then to the Christmas Story room where I get photo ops with the two bullies Yano Anaya and Zack Ward. Already had the others. Now it was off to the Willy Wonka room where I basically needed everyone. First I go to Diana Sowle. Her photo op price was a refreshing $5. She struck major conversation with me, talking of her kids, asking where I was from, and asked how popular the movie is in parts of Europe, who I was going to see in NYC, and much more. She just didn't stop and kept going and going and going. While she meant well I had places to be and people to virgilize. I just didn't have the heart to tell off an old lady like that. The stress I was feeling was like someone who had to take a huge shit but had to do all he could to keep it from bursting out.
When the conversation finally did end I managed to score free photo ops from the Willy Wonka Kids! All but Denise Nickerson who played Violet Beauregarde. Apparently she had some sort of medical emergency and had to go to the hospital! One less photo op for me
Periodically I would check to see if she made it back but no dice.
The Wonka Kids did have an $80 group "pro" photo op, but I happily chose to stick with my free individual photo ops.
After the free Wonka Kids photo op (thank you mooching Gods) I then get a photo op from Tahnee Welch. Wanted an autograph on a playboy but could not spend money on it.
I also decide reluctantly to get a Weird Al autograph. I figure that Weird Al has given me so much entertainment in my lifetime I can afford to pony up some cash for a guaranteed autograph and some face time with Weird Al.
My final guest at Chiller on Friday was C Thomas Howell from ET. I did want Corey Feldman but sadly he wasn't doing any photo ops on Friday.
After Chiller I mooched a few photo ops! John Savage, Peter Barton, Jill Schoelen, Robert Hays, Chuck McCann, Yukiko Kobayashi, Scott Wilson, and Angel Salazar from Scarface. Not too shabby. A decent round of blessings from the mooching Gods, and one that is much appreciated when money is so low. Perhaps one of the most humorous things of the evening was seeing Gary G Watson, who has photo ops with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Christopher Reeves, and many more, mooch a photo op with Andrew Anderson. The mind boggles.
The evening at Chiller was concluded with a bite of poison when we found out that one of our NYC allies got a photo op with Rick Moranis. Joresky had the text but he stupidly did not follow it up!
Gary G Watson offered Joresky a free room to sleep in. While I could have had that as well I didn't for two reasons. 1) I don't like to owe people and 2) I cannot stay in the same room as Joresky's snoring. So I elected to nap in the freezing car, no snoring, free, and without debt to anyone (though mainly for no snoring).
Full list of Friday photo ops part 1
Full list of Friday photo ops part 2
Paige O'Hara
Ace Frehley
Diana Sowle (Charlie's mom)
Michael Bollner (Augustus Gloop)
Julie Dawn Cole (Veruca Salt)
Peter Ostrum (Charlie Bucket)
Paris Themmen (Mike Teevee)
Both autographs I got at Chiller
Saturday
Round 2 of Chiller starts Saturday morning. I still needed Corey Feldman and also to see if Denise Nickerson would return. I find someone selling their extra ticket, and I get that. Saved money right there.
I have a spot held in the Corey Feldman line. He had a $40 "pro" photo op so I was essentially praying to the mooching Gods that he would do table ops. While waiting me and Joresky decide to split a Weird Al photo op. I have a street photo op with him but he is looking down at me rather than at the camera. We get the Weird Al shot though for some reason he is leaning towards me.
Then it's time for Corey, and YES he is doing $10 table ops! Victory! Thank you mooching Gods. Now I had a laserdisc of the first TMNT movie that I wanted him to sign (he voiced Donatello in that). I paid the combo price. Sadly his handlers said that he has to personalize. I simply told them if that were the case to refund me the autograph portion of the combo price and that I would just get a photo op. They agreed. So money saved right there. Now I could have in theory deleted the personalization, but I chose not to go that route. First off all the whole appeal of a paid setting is being able to be demanding, something you cannot do on the street. They were taking that away from me. If I don't want my name I don't want my name. I am paying money! And second what if I end up ruining the LD by trying to delete? I lose an autograph I paid money for. I deiced it was not worth risking. So I got the photo op and moved on.
Checked again for Denise Nickerson but sadly she is only doing autographs in her hotel room (where you give the items to her handler). So that did me no good. Besides that there were two guests I wanted that cancelled, namely Lou Gramm and Eddie Money.
My last Chiller photo op would be a free photo op with the Angry Video Game Nerd.
Leaving Chiller with mixed vicotry and defeat, we head to NYC. First we try for Arthur Darville cause Joresky needed a poster signed. David Patrick Kelly was also there but I had him. I got a couple of
names. No Arthur so that was a bust.
We then go to another spot to wait for Ian McKellen AKA Magneto. We see he but he politely blows us off saying to come back later. Ian was one of my top wants here, and I missed him a few months back where he was standing right next to me and I didn't realize it. So this was a mistake I needed to correct. Sadly I would have to live to fight another day here.
While we waited for him we did spot a very random Rob Van Dam. I got him before but I got a photo op just for shits and giggles.
After a while we headed to another spot to try to meet Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Glenne Headly, and Bill Pullman. Out of those four I never met three. Additionally I had an Apollo 13 laserdisc with Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon just waiting for Ed Harris' autograph. We wait and we see Pullman. I get an autograph from him since I don't need a photo op. Ed Harris and Amy Madigan walk out and chaos ensues. I manage to get Ed on my Apollo 13 laserdisc and my 8x10 but sadly no photo ops. I tried to follow, beg, and plead but to no avail. In the chaos I missed Amy Madigan as well. No one saw Glenne so she must have slipped out in the chaos.
With all the energy I could muster up, I then RUSH to the Ian McKellen spot thinking I missed out, but I made it with 10 minutes to spare! While waiting I get Billy Crudup to sign my 8x10 and one extra item (already had a photo op so didn't bother), got an autograph from Patrick Stewart, and a combo from Shuler Hensley. Then the witching hour comes, Ian McKellen shows up. He is doing some photo ops here and there and the security guard warns me no photo ops. As I get him to sign for me I remind him of our previous encounter and he goes "ohh yes" and posed for me!
VICTORY! Got one of my top photo op wants and corrected my mistake from May! I couldn't believe it! Didn't even have to beg for it! Feels so good to have won this round! Sometimes it does pay off when you cut your losses and live to fight another day.
After my victory, we headed to another spot where we were hoping to meet Edward Norton and Janelle Monae. And who shows up randomly and unexpectedly? Stephen Speilberg! Sadly, he didn't do photo ops. But I happened to have a magazine with Speilberg on the cover and my Jurassic Park laserdisc that I wanted Jeff Goldblum to sign. I got him to sign both! Tried to beg for the photo ops but to no avail. Still two items from Spielberg is no failure. One woman even asked us "how did you guys know he'd be here" and we responded truthfully, we didn't.
Edward Norton does nothing for no one going in or out. I get a Janelle Monae photo op going in and manage to beg for an autograph on the way out.
Full list of Saturday photo ops
Corey Feldman
Weird Al Yankovic
Ian McKellen
Sunday
After some sleep and some food, we go to a nice stress free indoor spot. At this spot I rack one person after the other. It starts with photo ops with John Glover and Ethan Hawke, neither one of which I had. Then my main want who has eluded me in the past Jeff Goldblum shows up and is very nice. We get photo ops and he says one per person but I manage to beg for a second item. Both my Jurassic Park laserdisc and my Lost World laserdisc. We then spot Laurie Metcalf. She has shades on but takes them off for photo ops! I get my two 8x10s signed. And finally Daniel Sunjata from Dark Knight Rises who does photo ops with us! This was a huge sweeping victory for me as I got five fresh photo ops with very little effort put into it! Plus autographs on laserdiscs! On our way back to try for Ed Harris again, we see a horse pissing on the street and I take photos of that. I had never seen such a sight before so it was pretty damn fascinating.
We stop at a spot to see if anything is cooking and we see 98 year old actress Ellen Albertini Dow. Joresky gets a photo op but I pass since I have one already. Now back to try again for Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, and Glenne Headly. We only see Glenne and she was very accommodating doing combos with everyone. I got a photo op and autographs on my 8x10 and Dick Tracy DVD. Joresky heads to the Ian McKellen spot so he can get a photo op. I wait this out more to see if Ed does come up, but to no avail. I then join Joresky. I got autographs from Billy Cudrip, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen. Joresky has to persist, beg, and plead for his McKellen photo op which he ends up getting. I even attempt to follow McKellen after he left the spot in the hopes of scoring an autograph, but he blows me off.
We then decide to call it a night when Joresky finds a hot spot. At this hot spot Joresky sees Rose Byrne and points her out to me. I then run to her and ask for a photo op and score the photo op! This ends a very fruitful round.
Full list of Sunday photo ops
Glenne Headly
Rose Byrne
Next up was Paige O'Hara who voiced Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. I got a combo from her on my Beauty and the Beast laserdisc. She actually marked out over the LD and began to flip through it and and marvel over it. HCIT!
Now I had a 2001 Space Odyssey soundtrack on vinyl that I purchased for $5 a year or two back. Would have been nice to get Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood to sign it. Sadly at $30 a pop I had to pass on that. I ended up going the photo op only route there. Gary even asked me where I was from.
Ace Frehley, an original member of KISS, is a semi
at Chiller. But I never paid for him. However, since I got Peter Kriss outside a hotel and got Paul and Gene at their book signing, this was the last original member of KISS I didn't have a photo op with. So I caved in. Sadly, the photo ops were taken with their crappy digital! Each time he does Chiller he has long lines. He cannot afford to go to Best Buy and pay $100 for a digital camera? Even THAT would have been a huge upgrade from the piece of crap they were using. Before the guy took the photo op I asked him to come closer to the table, which he did. Before leaving I also asked to look at the photo op to make sure it came out half decent. He showed me the photo op then I was on my way. Couple of days later it was posted on his web site. While the photo op is passable, for a paid photo op it is absolute shit I then go to Peter Fonda and grab a photo op. Then to the Christmas Story room where I get photo ops with the two bullies Yano Anaya and Zack Ward. Already had the others. Now it was off to the Willy Wonka room where I basically needed everyone. First I go to Diana Sowle. Her photo op price was a refreshing $5. She struck major conversation with me, talking of her kids, asking where I was from, and asked how popular the movie is in parts of Europe, who I was going to see in NYC, and much more. She just didn't stop and kept going and going and going. While she meant well I had places to be and people to virgilize. I just didn't have the heart to tell off an old lady like that. The stress I was feeling was like someone who had to take a huge shit but had to do all he could to keep it from bursting out.
When the conversation finally did end I managed to score free photo ops from the Willy Wonka Kids! All but Denise Nickerson who played Violet Beauregarde. Apparently she had some sort of medical emergency and had to go to the hospital! One less photo op for me
Periodically I would check to see if she made it back but no dice. The Wonka Kids did have an $80 group "pro" photo op, but I happily chose to stick with my free individual photo ops.
After the free Wonka Kids photo op (thank you mooching Gods) I then get a photo op from Tahnee Welch. Wanted an autograph on a playboy but could not spend money on it.
I also decide reluctantly to get a Weird Al autograph. I figure that Weird Al has given me so much entertainment in my lifetime I can afford to pony up some cash for a guaranteed autograph and some face time with Weird Al.
My final guest at Chiller on Friday was C Thomas Howell from ET. I did want Corey Feldman but sadly he wasn't doing any photo ops on Friday.
After Chiller I mooched a few photo ops! John Savage, Peter Barton, Jill Schoelen, Robert Hays, Chuck McCann, Yukiko Kobayashi, Scott Wilson, and Angel Salazar from Scarface. Not too shabby. A decent round of blessings from the mooching Gods, and one that is much appreciated when money is so low. Perhaps one of the most humorous things of the evening was seeing Gary G Watson, who has photo ops with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Christopher Reeves, and many more, mooch a photo op with Andrew Anderson. The mind boggles.
The evening at Chiller was concluded with a bite of poison when we found out that one of our NYC allies got a photo op with Rick Moranis. Joresky had the text but he stupidly did not follow it up!
Gary G Watson offered Joresky a free room to sleep in. While I could have had that as well I didn't for two reasons. 1) I don't like to owe people and 2) I cannot stay in the same room as Joresky's snoring. So I elected to nap in the freezing car, no snoring, free, and without debt to anyone (though mainly for no snoring).
Full list of Friday photo ops part 1
Full list of Friday photo ops part 2
Paige O'Hara
Ace Frehley
Diana Sowle (Charlie's mom)
Michael Bollner (Augustus Gloop)
Julie Dawn Cole (Veruca Salt)
Peter Ostrum (Charlie Bucket)
Paris Themmen (Mike Teevee)
Both autographs I got at Chiller
Saturday
Round 2 of Chiller starts Saturday morning. I still needed Corey Feldman and also to see if Denise Nickerson would return. I find someone selling their extra ticket, and I get that. Saved money right there.
I have a spot held in the Corey Feldman line. He had a $40 "pro" photo op so I was essentially praying to the mooching Gods that he would do table ops. While waiting me and Joresky decide to split a Weird Al photo op. I have a street photo op with him but he is looking down at me rather than at the camera. We get the Weird Al shot though for some reason he is leaning towards me.
Then it's time for Corey, and YES he is doing $10 table ops! Victory! Thank you mooching Gods. Now I had a laserdisc of the first TMNT movie that I wanted him to sign (he voiced Donatello in that). I paid the combo price. Sadly his handlers said that he has to personalize. I simply told them if that were the case to refund me the autograph portion of the combo price and that I would just get a photo op. They agreed. So money saved right there. Now I could have in theory deleted the personalization, but I chose not to go that route. First off all the whole appeal of a paid setting is being able to be demanding, something you cannot do on the street. They were taking that away from me. If I don't want my name I don't want my name. I am paying money! And second what if I end up ruining the LD by trying to delete? I lose an autograph I paid money for. I deiced it was not worth risking. So I got the photo op and moved on.
Checked again for Denise Nickerson but sadly she is only doing autographs in her hotel room (where you give the items to her handler). So that did me no good. Besides that there were two guests I wanted that cancelled, namely Lou Gramm and Eddie Money.
My last Chiller photo op would be a free photo op with the Angry Video Game Nerd.
Leaving Chiller with mixed vicotry and defeat, we head to NYC. First we try for Arthur Darville cause Joresky needed a poster signed. David Patrick Kelly was also there but I had him. I got a couple of
names. No Arthur so that was a bust. We then go to another spot to wait for Ian McKellen AKA Magneto. We see he but he politely blows us off saying to come back later. Ian was one of my top wants here, and I missed him a few months back where he was standing right next to me and I didn't realize it. So this was a mistake I needed to correct. Sadly I would have to live to fight another day here.
While we waited for him we did spot a very random Rob Van Dam. I got him before but I got a photo op just for shits and giggles.
After a while we headed to another spot to try to meet Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Glenne Headly, and Bill Pullman. Out of those four I never met three. Additionally I had an Apollo 13 laserdisc with Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon just waiting for Ed Harris' autograph. We wait and we see Pullman. I get an autograph from him since I don't need a photo op. Ed Harris and Amy Madigan walk out and chaos ensues. I manage to get Ed on my Apollo 13 laserdisc and my 8x10 but sadly no photo ops. I tried to follow, beg, and plead but to no avail. In the chaos I missed Amy Madigan as well. No one saw Glenne so she must have slipped out in the chaos.
With all the energy I could muster up, I then RUSH to the Ian McKellen spot thinking I missed out, but I made it with 10 minutes to spare! While waiting I get Billy Crudup to sign my 8x10 and one extra item (already had a photo op so didn't bother), got an autograph from Patrick Stewart, and a combo from Shuler Hensley. Then the witching hour comes, Ian McKellen shows up. He is doing some photo ops here and there and the security guard warns me no photo ops. As I get him to sign for me I remind him of our previous encounter and he goes "ohh yes" and posed for me!
VICTORY! Got one of my top photo op wants and corrected my mistake from May! I couldn't believe it! Didn't even have to beg for it! Feels so good to have won this round! Sometimes it does pay off when you cut your losses and live to fight another day. After my victory, we headed to another spot where we were hoping to meet Edward Norton and Janelle Monae. And who shows up randomly and unexpectedly? Stephen Speilberg! Sadly, he didn't do photo ops. But I happened to have a magazine with Speilberg on the cover and my Jurassic Park laserdisc that I wanted Jeff Goldblum to sign. I got him to sign both! Tried to beg for the photo ops but to no avail. Still two items from Spielberg is no failure. One woman even asked us "how did you guys know he'd be here" and we responded truthfully, we didn't.
Edward Norton does nothing for no one going in or out. I get a Janelle Monae photo op going in and manage to beg for an autograph on the way out.
Full list of Saturday photo ops
Corey Feldman
Weird Al Yankovic
Ian McKellen
Sunday
After some sleep and some food, we go to a nice stress free indoor spot. At this spot I rack one person after the other. It starts with photo ops with John Glover and Ethan Hawke, neither one of which I had. Then my main want who has eluded me in the past Jeff Goldblum shows up and is very nice. We get photo ops and he says one per person but I manage to beg for a second item. Both my Jurassic Park laserdisc and my Lost World laserdisc. We then spot Laurie Metcalf. She has shades on but takes them off for photo ops! I get my two 8x10s signed. And finally Daniel Sunjata from Dark Knight Rises who does photo ops with us! This was a huge sweeping victory for me as I got five fresh photo ops with very little effort put into it! Plus autographs on laserdiscs! On our way back to try for Ed Harris again, we see a horse pissing on the street and I take photos of that. I had never seen such a sight before so it was pretty damn fascinating.
We stop at a spot to see if anything is cooking and we see 98 year old actress Ellen Albertini Dow. Joresky gets a photo op but I pass since I have one already. Now back to try again for Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, and Glenne Headly. We only see Glenne and she was very accommodating doing combos with everyone. I got a photo op and autographs on my 8x10 and Dick Tracy DVD. Joresky heads to the Ian McKellen spot so he can get a photo op. I wait this out more to see if Ed does come up, but to no avail. I then join Joresky. I got autographs from Billy Cudrip, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen. Joresky has to persist, beg, and plead for his McKellen photo op which he ends up getting. I even attempt to follow McKellen after he left the spot in the hopes of scoring an autograph, but he blows me off.
We then decide to call it a night when Joresky finds a hot spot. At this hot spot Joresky sees Rose Byrne and points her out to me. I then run to her and ask for a photo op and score the photo op! This ends a very fruitful round.
Full list of Sunday photo ops
Glenne Headly
Rose Byrne
Now to showcase all the street meet autographs:
Ed Harris signed the Apollo 13 LD in black to the left of Bill Paxton. Tried to get him to switch pens but he wouldn't. Also signed by Kevin Bacon in silver.
Speilberg signed the Jurrasic Park laserdisc in silver on top, while Goldblum signed it in gold. Also signed by Wayne Knight at the bottom.
Goldblum signed it in blue. Also signed by Richard Schiff bottom right.
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