Tuesday, May 3, 2016

The Great Philadelphia Comic Con, Chiller, and more meets

This weekend the plan was to venture with to Oaks, PA, Chiller, a Kirk Cameron meet and greet, AND to spice it all up with some NYC meets. This would also be the first time I am in Oaks since brought guests there. Wow so long ago. 

Convention wise my top want was Meat Loaf at Chiller followed by Julian Glover at Oaks.

Friday

First stop is Oaks, PA. The first guest we go for is Joresky's top want Kel Mitchell and I split the photo op with him. Next up Jullian Glover who is nice as can be. I then get Deep Roy who for some reason I never got at past cons. He was in The NeverEnding Story, he was Droopy McCool of the Max Rebo band in Return of the Jedi, he was in the Depp Willy Wonka, among others things. So definitely worth the pick up. I then get a photo op with Johnny Yong Bosch, the second black ranger. This means that I now have photo ops with all living members of the first and second Power Rangers cast. 

At the table of Robin Atkin Downe who I was not planning to get. But then I find out he had a voice role in the Clone Wars cartoons and voiced Doomsday in Batman V Superman. So I got a photo op. Carol Spinney AKA Big Bird was the last guest I got I got at Oaks. 

Jullian Glover

Deep Roy

Full list of Oaks photo ops


We leave Oaks and it was on to NYC. Our first goal was actress Britt Robertson (Tomorrowland, The Longest Ride). Sadly she is gone by the time we get there. Next up is a spot for Ricky Gervais and Eric Bana. I already have Eric but he is hooded in my photo op. 

First we see America Ferrara. I needed a better shot with her but sadly she doesn't do very much and I get nothing. Eric Bana comes out next, I manage to get a full combo. This has a photobomb from a Master (who can be cropped out) and a minion of his (who has to be photoshopped out). 

Ricky Gervais sadly sneaks out another door. At this point I believe that we will not find the next spot for Ricky Gervais. Vanessa the Jersey Shore stalker wanted to come with us to Chiller, and I was so hungry. I decided to go to a dollar pizza place where I could eat, wait for Vanessa to meet us, then drive to the nearby tunnel to NJ for Chiller.

On the way to the dollar pizza place a Master tipped Joresky with the info for the next spot. So I quickly changed my plans and rushed over there. We see other Masters and minions standing and we wait. One guy asked someone there "did you tip him this spot?". 

Ricky Gervais eventually comes out and we all get combos! YES! This night went from bust to success! America Ferrara does nothing leaving, then Eric Bana comes out and does one photo op and leaves.

At this point it's raining, we all leave the spot and go to the dollar pizza place where I feast on $1 slices and wait for Vanessa. I also went on facebook and sent a thank you message to the Master that told us about that spot because thanks to him the evening went from almost total bust to a worthwhile and successful evening. 

We arrive in NJ and meet up with our buddy Martin. Joresky and Martin sleep in the hotel room while me and Vanessa sleep in the car. I slept on the driver's side while she took the passenger side. I had my pillow and we got a pillow from Martin's room for Vanessa. Without any snoring I slept like a baby. 

Eric Bana with Master/minion 

Eric Bana no Master/minion

Ricky Gervais


Saturday

Wake up in the morning, and after mooching some breakfast we head to Chiller. My main concern was not being able to shell out money for all my wants. Thankfully between splitting photo ops and the fact that many of the photo op prices were reasonable, I was able to squeeze in most everyone I wanted. 

First stop was to RF's table for Billy Gunn. RF was telling Billy Gunn and X-Pac how I got so many great photo ops with actors, wrestlers, etc. He asked what I needed I said Gunn combo. Gunn then wondered how I didn't have a photo op with him. I said (truthfully) that I did but it needed improvement. Billy Gunn also remembered seeing Vanessa at Big Event. X-Pac looked out of it but I did get a DX suited X-Pac photobomb on my Bill Gunn shot. 

Then I get Bull Dempsey photo op. Vanessa wanted Vincent Young so we split that shot. After that me and her went our separate ways (only other names she wanted was Erik Estrada and Kevin Sorbo both of which I had). 

I then split with Lanza George Wendt, Ted McGinley, and Tara Reid. I then get Erich Anderson, 50's Actress Terry Moore, a dual shot with Robert Pine and Larry Wilcox, Dominic Chianese, and Motels singer Martha Davis. I split Patricia Quinn and Nell Campbell with Lanza, then get Geri Jewel ($5 photo op!), Bernie Kopell, Paul Trickey, and Tim Cappello. Split Barry Bostwick and Jonathan Lipnicki with Lanza. Then I got porn star Gianna Michaels and Mackenzie Phillips. 


The last photo op I got at Chiller was the main event, namely split a Meat Loaf photo op with Lanza. Unfortunately while we were at Chiller we found out Olivia Newton John did photo ops at a spot we knew about. So that was quite the PUNCH in the face. 

Meat Loaf

Billy Gunn with DX suited X-Pac photobomb

Tara Reid

Ted McGinley

Martha Davis

Full list of Chiller photo ops part 1

Full list of Chiller photo ops part 2


After Chiller me, Joresky, and Vanessa went to Costco to pick up Kirk Cameron prints that Greg2600 sent over and we had some hot dog, pizza, and ice cream. Martin would re join us after we leave Costco then we all head to NYC. 

We knew of a spot for Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, but photo ops with him are generally not easy to get. We want to another spot in the hopes of seeing Tilda Swinton and Josh Hartnett walking around but never saw them. Jim Gaffigan did nothing for no one and we didn't spot Nicky Hilton in time. 

We then go to a spot for Claire Danes, Hank Azaria, Phylicia Rashad, and others. The main things I needed there was an upgrade photo op from Phylicia (she has a cap in my shot) and an autograph from Hank (had some cool Gargamel shots for him).

At the spot the first photo op is Robert Joy. Hank Azaria comes out and I beg for an autograph he does nothing. Phylicia comes out I ask for a photo op she goes "not tonight" even though she did photo ops with ALL inside! WTF! The main things I wanted at this spot are failure. Now the only hope is Claire Danes who was the person I needed the least. She comes out the front, does photo ops no issue. I get an update just because. Then I chase her across the street to get my item signed and she signed it. WOW, out of the three main names it was Claire Danes that was the nice one? I couldn't believe it. This shows you how unpredictable combo hunting can be. 

Thus far my trek in NYC is basically a waste. Cause all I really got is one Claire Danes auto. 

We go back to the first spot and I am bummed. Then I see Joresky take a photo op with someone. I get the photo op. Joresky was shaking and jizzling his pants as I asked him who it was. Turns out it was Josh Hutcherson! Damn, a decent name! While he is chatting with 3 girls I run to the trunk of my car and frantically go in my folders of random 8x10s. I quickly pull up two 8x10s for him and ask him to sign them which he does! 

We waited a bit to see more names but to no avail. We dropped Martin at the bus station, stopped for $1 pizza slices, and left the city. 

While I do not consider the evening extravagant, getting Clair Danes a autograph and Josh Hutcherson combo and extra means it was at least fruitful. Sadly it was not without a couple of PUNCHES in the face. 

At the Billie Joe Armstrong spot Joan Jett showed up, and she is a want of mine. And Olivia Newton John did combos for people. Damn, I won't lie I would have preferred Olivia Newton John over Josh Hutcherson. But I guess I could have not had Josh, so I should just look at it that way. 

Josh Hutcherson

Claire Danes

Robert Joy


Sunday

After pulling over and sleeping, we continue to Vienna, VA to meet Kirk Cameron. On our way we find info on where Deadpool director Tim Miller is staying in Washington DC. So we head there, park, and wait. We also confirm that he is still in the building. Sadly we never see him and it came to a point where we had to head to Vienna for Kirk Cameron. I must say it sure was painful to leave the spot. Cause I knew for a fact he was staying there, and I knew for a fact he was in the building still. Knowing this much for a fact is a rare luxury when it comes to street meets. 

We arrive at church, park, and find our way to the second floor where the event is. Before the meet and greet was a speech and q&a by Kirk. While I generally loath speeches and q&as and how they eat up my time instead of going directly to combos, this q&a was actually pretty quick and painless compared to all others I ever had to sit through. I still would have preferred they do combos to begin with, but compared to other similar experiences this was a breeze and no where near as nerve wrecking at most others.   

After this we are directed to the m&g area and they announce he will do photo ops but will not personalize. They also announce one photo op per couple but since me and Joresky are thankfully not a valid couple this means we should have no issue getting our individual shots. 

We get to him and he is nice as can be. Signed all our 8x10s, took photo ops, and even commented on the photos I had him sign. 

Honestly, of all the celebrity paid meets I've ever participated in, this was one of the least stressful ever. As sick and disgusting as it is to say, in this hobby/jobby even when you pay it's not stress free. For instance the Steiner Chevy Chase m&g where they charged 3 figures they didn't use flash and the photographer didn't check the pictures for validity (about 10-15% of the photo ops were invalid cause of blinking). All I can say is lucky for Steiner I wasn't there cause if I got an invalid shot after paying 3 figures Steiner would have really felt my wrath across all social media outlets. And at the Cameron Diaz book signing I had to fight tooth and nail for a retake. But this one was nice and smooth. No harassment from anyone, no one rushing you, and the celeb was friendly and appreciative. I suppose it's possible as the signing progressed they rushed people through, but we didn't stick around after we got our combos. 

We left and thought about going back to the Tim Miller spot, but we both decided we were beat and just wanted to go home. 

Kirk Cameron


Full list of weekend autographs

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