Monstermania, Big Apple Comic Con, and More

The week before Monstermania I was living in fear. For fear that one of my two top wants at MM (Cusack and Brimley) would cancel. Especially Cusack since he cancelled NYCC. Indeed people did cancel, including someone I wanted, but thankfully Thursday came and went and no news of either one of those cancelling surfaced. In fact I even saw an airport photo op with Brimley which was a sigh of relief right there. 

Me and  planned to attend MM Friday through Saturday morning (Joresky wanted the Stranger Things kids) then attend Big Apple Comic Con in NYC and possibly do more stuff in NYC. 

Before I would meet up with Joresky I had a flight for singer and actress Vanessa Williams. Not a fan of her music but the main reason I wanted her was because she co starred with Arnold in the movie Eraser. 

Get up early and get to the airport. She is one of the first people out. She takes a picture and signs but doesn't want to do multiples. 

I then pick up Joresky, and we head to NJ about an hour past Cherry Hill to try for the original lead singer of Styx, Dennis Deyoung. 

We wait at the venue. Since it is our first time at this venue we consult some combo hunters who we thought would have experience there. Luckily for us one person that got back to us is a Master from Philly and he advised us on the place where most people at this venue stay. Upon this tip I scout out the area and indeed see the place in question. So we kept an eye out at both the hotel and the venue. In the process we also get one of the scrubs in the band. As time passed Joresky spots Dennis DeYoung entering the spot. We approach him and ask he says it's arctic weather and to follow him inside. He does photo ops no issue and says to pick our favorite two items to get signed. 

Pre Monstermania combos: 

Vanessa Williams

Dennis DeYoung

Autographs



After this success it was off to MM. And I knew someone who couldn't make it so I picked up their John Cusack photo op at a reduced price. 

We get to MM and Cusack is our first stop. We split the shot sadly he is wearing a cap but considering what I paid and considering he wore hat and shades the next day, I am ecstatic with what I got. 

Then I go to my second biggest want Wilford Brimley. Thankfully a combo hunter gave me money to get his vinyl done. And the money he gave me covered the combo price. So free photo op for me! Wilford couldn't believe I had that vinyl and he marked out for it. 

Went to CJ Graham and got a free table op. Sucks I would have to miss his Jason suited photo op the next day but at least this is free. So I'll be happy with that. 

Then I picked up free photo ops with Richard Masur and Thomas G Waites. I had more names to get but I thought I'd wait and see if I could mooch them or split them the next day since we were staying for the Stranger Things kids anyway. Me and Joresky feasted at the Chinese buffet then came back to the hotel. 

We tried to mooch but sadly 1) most names I wanted I didn't see and 2) most people were not allowing themselves to be mooched. I did however mooch both composer Alan Howarth and cinematographer Dean Cundey who I wanted to get. We saw the Stranger Kids come in but they were unmoochable. 

Now it was so freezing cold that hell froze over. Joresky paid for a room and I gave him $20 for the room. Due to his snoring I slept in the bathtub as there was no way we could have slept in the same room. His snoring was the equivalent of a bulldozer. Not even exaggerating to make a point. When I got up to piss I wanted to record it but sadly my movements woke him up. It truly amazes me how he has managed to sleep in NYC hostels with other people present. It truly defies all comprehension. 

The next day we eat some hotel breakfast then go back to Monstermania. I split actor DB Sweeney with James Wong, Ashley Bell with, and get Rex Brown from Pantera. At first he had shades but removed them slightly for my shot. Then later I saw he had them all the way up so I asked the vendors for another shot and got that. 

Got all those names while waiting in line for the Stranger Things kids. Then when it was finally time for those I split those with Greg. 

Finally we head to NYC. I found a free parking spot like two blocks from Big Apple Comic Con, which in that cold was a blessing. 

Sadly with Joresky having no desire to split and no mooching possibilities I had to bite the bullet for this con. We enter and first guest is Spencer Wilding who played Darth Vader in Rogue One. Got a photo op. 

Needed both Geoffrey Cantor and Peter Shinkoda photo ops but sadly no photo op price so had to buy the autograph for the full combo. Got a photo op with Gideon Emery who voiced Krampus, then got voice actor Neil Kaplan for free. Saw Ashley Massaro and figured I'd pick up an upgrade. My best shot with her was at a free WWE signing that's over the table and taken with an old digital camera from a distance. I have airport shots with her but she has shades in all of them. So I figured what the hell. Got a great shot with her holding the women's title. She had a cap on but I asked her to remove the cap and she did whilst complaining about her messy her. 

Next up voice actor Marty Grabstein who played Courage the Cowardly Dog, a cartoon I enjoyed. His combo price was $5 more than the photo op price so I opted for the full combo. Jackson Bostwick who played Captain Marvel is next. He didn't have a photo op price but had a small photo you could buy for $5 and get the full combo. So I jumped on that deal. 

Ended my time at BACC with a couple of artists then headed out. Since it was arctic level cold we decided to simply head out of NYC. 

I would like to add, coming Friday was a fantastic decision. First off it landed me Dennis DeYoung, and second off I got Cusack no shades. Cusack hat and shades would have pretty much devastated my whole weekend especially since he was my top want for the whole weekend. 

John Cusack

Wilford Brimley

Spencer Wilding

Full list of Monstermania photo ops

Full list of Big Apple Comic Con photo ops

Big Apple Comic Con autographs