Wizard World Philadelphia and more

With the cancellation of Charlie Sheen I was no longer excited for Wizard World. I was still going due to the Gene Simmons photo op and admission that was gifted to me by Martin before his untimely death, but seeing that I only had upgrade shots to get, it was a "meh" con for me. But then they added Chuck Norris and I was once again pumped. I grew up watching action movies. They were always my favorite. At the top you had people like Arnold, Stallone, and Bruce Willis. Then on second tier you had people like Steven Seagal, Jean Claude Van Damme, and Chuck Norris. Then of course they added more lower names that I wanted which made this even better.


My Wizard World adventure would actually start with a tip from for Tim Tebow. While I don't normally go for sports, Tebow is a novelty name due to the Tebowing phenomenon. Plus it was somewhat in the vicinity of Joresky's place so it made some logistical sense to try before going to his place. 

Sadly when I got there the crowd grew to 30 people and he did nothing for no one. Bust. After a fun conversation with CM Showstopper I drove to and crashed for the evening. Wake up in the morning, set the GPS to avoid all tolls and began the drive to Philly. We also managed to score a free parking spot! Always a victory when you go to WW Philly on a Saturday and you find a free spot a few blocks away from the venue. Also at Wizard World was quite a few NYC combo hunters and Masters. A good indication of how tough combo hunting has become. 

Line outside was long, so I simply mooch to the front of the line, go in, and get my wristband. Most guests weren't even at their table so I look for He-Man and Disney animator Mike Toth. First I get a photo op which he was more than happy to do. Then I have my 8 He-Man/She-Ra DVD inserts which I present to him. I hope to get them signed free (as I did with Tom Cook at a previous Wizard World) but then he stops and asks Tom what to do. I thought he was gonna say $5 per item in which case I probably would have gotten just one so as not to look like a total asshole. But then he said $10 for all of them signed. I figured that was fine. 

Next up we go to Chuck Russel, who directed such movies as The Mask starring Jim Carry, Eraser starring Arnold, the third Nightmare on Elm Street, among others. He sent me, Joresky, and markedout's AJLe to the ticket booth but as we thought they weren't selling tickets of his. He was truly dazed and confused as to what the rules were. Luckilly me and Joresky managed to get a free photo op just for purchasing the auto, but after that he began charging pro op prices at this table. WTF. I got him to sign my Mask laserdisc and he even asked me who I had on it (Peter Greene and Jim Carrey). 

I got Monster Squad's Andre Gower and Ryan Lambert with my friend Suzanne. One of them (I think Lambert) was wearing shades but she was too afraid to ask him to remove them so I was the one tasked to ask. I got voice actor Steve Blum which brought me one step closer to completing my Star Wars Rebels cast. 

I pulled the switcharoo with  and split Gregg Sulkin. I don't know who he is yet, but he will be in a Marvel show and is up and coming. I normally don't pay to pokeman but while that may be a pokemon name now I'm sure it will pay off in the future. 

Thanks to markedout's overthetop I got a free Don Dokken shot. He didn't care for the photo op so he paid the autograph price and I got the photo op free, which I thanked him for. Don mocked me by asking if I wanted him to undress after I asked him to remove his shades (which he did). But then he just kept the shades off after that. 

Noticed someone being interviewed. I asked who it was turns out he's a valid name. I got the producer of the upcoming Tupac movie. The director was also around but sadly I missed him. 

The two pro ops I got were Gene Simmons (upgrade) and of course the main event himself, Chuck Norris. When he signed by 8x10 I told him "Chuck Norris doesn't battle, he just allows you to lose" to which he chuckled at. Telling Chuck one of his Internet facts was quite an awesome treat I never imagined that would happen (incidentally this fact was also used in the Abraham Lincoln vs Chuck Norris Epic Rap Battles of History). 

Last photo op I got at Wizard World was a Rider Strong upgrade. I got him on the street but here his beard was much slimmer and he also has a beanie in my street shot. So I consider this an upgrade. I can see Shawn Hunter in this photo op a lot more than in my street shot. 

Chuck Norris

Gene Simmons

Chuck Russell

Steve Blum

Rider Strong

Don Dokken

Full list of photo ops

Autographs


After Wizard World we head down to a venue for the singer and actress Lulu. I know her best as the singer of theme song of the bond movie "The Man With the Golden Gun" starring Roger Moore. We arrive and wait. There are like 40 people I couldn't believe the crowd. I have been to this venue many times and don't think I ever saw a crowd that big, even for much bigger names. The crowd was mostly older stock so I guess she must have been huge back in the day. I was honestly the second youngest in the crowd, with Joresky being the youngest. 

When she came out she was nice as can be. It's amazing how so many, even lower names, are nasty for even 5-10 people yet here was Lulu doing combos for everyone who asked. Granted I'm not a celebrity but seeing Lulu take care of everyone it seems to me like it's not that difficult to be nice to a crowd. I got her on a Bond laserdisc and some 8x10s.

Lulu

Autographs

Sadly all this was not without a HUGE PUNCH as I found out a Master racked on everyone from Iron Maiden except the lead singer Bruce Dickenson. This was so painful as I am a huge Iron Maiden fan and would have loved combos from Steve Harris and Dave Murray and upgrades from some of the lower names. I could have done them but I've failed on both Steve and Dave in the past so I veered my time and effort to what was either a guarantee or close to a guarantee.