So I had my guarantee (3 dog), I had what was the closest you can get to a guarantee without it being a guarantee, at least photo op wise (Oz), and I had lots and lots of wrestlers I needed, plus whatever else may pop us. For all these reasons Summer Slam week became a no brainier for me.
So I arrive the evening before Oz's flight out. I crash with
We leave the next day to catch Oz before he leaves at 11 AM. We go to short term parking. As soon as we park I notice the first hiccup of the day, his flight is delayed till 2 PM! We quickly leave short term to find better parking. As we're doing so his flight is immediately back to leaving at its original time! Back to short term parking, we go inside and begin our wait. This mishap causes Capman to go back to work.
11 AM is approaching and no sight of Oz. I was panicking! But when it seems like he should be in the plane I find out he changed his entire reservation
he was now due to leave at 6 PM! WTF? With that news Capman was officially out. With that change came some good news and bad news.
Bad news:
First, we were now stuck there all day. We could have in theory gone back to Greg's place, but we were already committed to short term parking (which would be more money if we left and came back), we would have had to pull some strings to get back to our current post, and by the time all that is done we'd have to come back couple of hours later. So it wasn't worth it. It was much easier and more practical to simply stay.
Second, I wanted to hit up other celebrity spots including a Jennifer Lopez movie shoots. Those plans were sadly no more.
Good news:
The fact that he did change the reservation meant he had every single intention to travel. So short of him dying between now and 6 PM, there would be zero chance he would not show up.
So we just had to kill time. And sadly that also meant grabbing some overpriced food. A tiny sandwich was $10! But I could not get myself to flush money down the toilet like that. So I had to settle for a quadruple Twix bar. Cost like $1.25 at walmart but here it was under $5
But I couldn't stay the whole time without eating anything. So hopefully this would tide me over. Here's an example of how pricey this place was. So the waiting game continues. I turn my phone off to save power then back again. When I turn it back I had a tip from Vanessa! Apparently there's a wrestling flight coming in! Shit, hope we didn't miss it. Seemed like I did. But when we went to check turns out we didn't. Sadly I had all the wrestlers there (Miz, Maryse, Naomi, Tyler Breeze). Greg got a Miz shot. We both got Tyler Breeze with hat and shades. Only reason I got him was because I didn't recognize him and was afraid it was someone I didn't have. I attempted a Miz/Maryse dual shot but was denied. I didn't fight hard for it since I have multiple individual shots with each.
We wait more and the new witching hour is upon us. Finally we see Oz in a wheel chair (he had a broken foot) with an airport worker wheeling him and another woman who was likely his wife. He sits on a chair, the worker and wife leave. We wait a few minutes and approach him. We start a conversation.
At first he was ignoring us, but then looks at us with a mixture of these faces
as if to imply "what? me?". We played it out like it was completely random. When he asked us where we were flying out to we said we were going to Wizard World Chicago (which was that weekend). We brought up cons he said he doesn't like to do them but said he did a "Star Wars Celebration" but we corrected him telling him that was Star Wars Weekend by Disney and NOT Star Wars Celebration. Finally we asked for a photo op and he goes "Ohhh, suuuuree" and we pose. Then I ask for "one more thing" and he goes "what?" I told him we had Star Wars items to get signed at Wizard World and wondered if he would sign. He goes "what do you have" and I showed him my laserdisc. He goes "well I don't sign anymore but I'll do it for you guys just don't tell anyone". He signed one each. I got him on an Empire Strikes Back laserdisc (first ever appearance of Yoda).When this happened his wife came back as if worried but then he told her "oh these guys are cool". We then thanked him and were on our way. We exited the airport victorious!
Despite mishaps, this was honestly the most perfectly executed meet ever. Concrete info, we were in a PERFECT postilion to make it look random, talked our way through just the two of us no crowd, AND we got a full combo from someone who stopped signing.
However, it goes to show you there's no such thing as a free meet. At minimum wage the time we spent there was easily about $50 after tax, plus the price paid for parking and overpriced food. Not to mention the stress of him possibly denying us after all that time and effort was put into it.
Another thing of note, despite us getting a combo from him NO ONE else sitting around cared. After he signed it should have been obvious he was valid, but still no one cared. While I'm grateful most people don't care, it does shock me how indifferent people are to someone like Frank Oz while I essentially moved mountains to score that photo op.
With that victory I thought maybe I could catch Robert Smigel AKA Triumph the insult Comic Dog in NYC in order to virgilize him, but with traffic I decided I likely wouldn't make it in time. I decided to go to subway, get a meal, then chill a little at Greg's place and charge my phone. In hindsight that was a good move because apparently Smigel wasn't even at the spot.
I then go to NYC and my next stop was the WWE hotel. Wow that spot was blown. It was chaos. But I manage to get photo ops, both new and upgrades. My best wrestling score for the evening was a first time Enzo Amore! He said "of course I'll take pictures but make it quick cause I'm tiered". This was the only time I saw a friendly Enzo for the rest of the week. Also got a first time announcer photo op in Greg Hamilton, and the rest were updates or upgrades.
I then find my free parking spot in Brooklyn and prepare for the next day.
Frank Oz
Enzo Amore
Full list of Day 1 photo ops
Day 2 is upon us. I start at the ever so crowded and chaotic WWE hotel. I knew when Bayley was flying out for Chicago so I waited for her. She then denied me but did it at the airport! WTF! I then take a train to check out a filming spot for Jennifer Lopez but I see NO signs of activity. I quickly leave to go back to the WWE hotel. When I got back I found out I missed a bunch of photo ops but only one I didn't have (Alexa Bliss). And I'm then told the filming crew arrived at the spot shortly after I left. WTF?
Now back to wrestlers. I knew when Rusev and Lana were coming in, but apparently Lana came in without Rusev and when she arrived at the hotel I managed to get a hat and shades photo op. Then I got another major first time meet, Karl Anderson! Also got first time Carmella shot (cap and shades) and another Charlotte shot. Sin Cara arrives with a mask on and does combos for all! I have the original Sin Cara so Hunico headed/faced Sin Cara was a cool score. Auto wise I got Carmella on the inside cover of the WWE_E V2 and Sin Cara on the Sin Cara entry of the same book. I tried getting him on the Hunico entry but he said he doesn't sign those.
I leave the WWE hotel to go for actir Michael Cera. I arrive at the spot and it seems he's inside. But he's about to exit soon. I wait and I am joined by a Master! We chat a bit and he tells me about a spot Sharlto Copley and others. YES he is a want of mine. I offer the Master a ride. Having a Master in my car can only help me. But before that we still wait for Michael. He comes out and says he is not good with photo ops but will sign! I get an index card signed and fail on the photo despite more pleading. Damn, this is a crushing bust. So me and the Master drive to a spot, but we're not sure if the celebs stayed at that spot so we go to the next spot where they are practically guaranteed to arrive. I also had my Three Dog Night m&g at about 10 PM (after the show). According to the Master arrivals should be done about 9:30 giving me plenty of time to get to my m&g.
So we wait and it doesn't feel like a NYC spot because it's only the two of us and one pap. Must be a very low key spot, especially since these are nice celebrities. And sure enough before 9:30 the celebrities arrive. And they are SUPER nice which is oh so refreshing. I get photo ops with John Krasinski, Sharlto Copley, and Margo Martindale. Sharlto is a huge want of mine especially since he is the main character in District 9. I told him I loved him in that movie and he thanked me. Emily Blunt was with him but I didn't notice her since I was focused on scoring Sharlto. This would have upset me IF I didn't already have the shot with Emily.
After this sweeping victory I thanked the Master for this info and headed on to my Three Dog Night m&g. This Master also helped me out in the past, so I really hope I can properly repay him one day.
I arrive at the City Winery for Three Dog Night. Sadly out of the six band members, four of them are barely valid. The only ones left to get are one of the three original lead singers and one guitarist. But besides that this m&g is probably the most perfect m&g I ever attended. First off, it wasn't even priced in the 3 figure range. It was 2 figures! Second, you did NOT need to buy the concert ticket to attend the m&g. This works great for me since I have less than zero interest in the concert.
Now I arrive and give them my name. He takes me downstairs to the m&g area and I wait. The concert finishes a few minutes later. Apparently only like 7 people bought the m&g. So no being rushed! I was the only one with no wristband since I didn't attend the concert. And you could even use your own camera! Wow what a luxury!
I give my camera to the tour manager, ask him to take it from closer, and I stand between the two valid members and get my photo op. Then I ask if I can get my albums signed and I wasn't treated like I had a bomb strapped to my waist. Instead the tour manager goes "SURE!". For one album the front is in rough shape so I got the inside signed (it was $1). And I get the second album signed. The manager handed the album to one of the barely valids but thankfully I manged to stop him from signing it as that would not be correct for him to do so. But here is where I got a punch in the face and the ONLY snag of this awesomely run m&g. One of the barely valids (who was white) pointed to the black guy on the front of one of my albums and said "this is my daddy" and the guitarist wrote "papa *insert name*". WTF? I was livid! Though I managed to rub off most of it off when I got home.
I then rushed to the Jennifer Lopez spot i went to earlier but I got there and like earlier in the day NO activity. Supposedly she was there at some point but I would think that I would have seen some kind of indication. There were no people removing equipment, nothing.
Back to the WWE hotel, but nothing much there except a HUGE crowd. I just get another shot with Byron Saxton. Then it was time to sleep.
Sin Cara
Michael Allsup and Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night
Sharlto Copley
Full list of Day 2 photo ops
Now to showcase some autographs
First off here is the album with defacement
And here are all the non-wrestling autos obtained the past two days
The blemish could be further masked one day. I need to find Chuck Negron and have him sign the album and inscribe "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" over the blemish (preferably this would be at a con). Or perhaps have the black guy sign over the blemish in really thick marker.
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