Pittsburgh Comic Con

[mousedroid]

Bear in mind Jades, that the show isn't very Star Wars-centric.  At least not in my experience in the past. 

That's true; Star Wars is typically a small, but integral, part of the show.  I'd love it if we could have half a dozen Star Wars stars every year, but we have to cater to many other interests as well.  And before anyone says it, the Dawn of the Dead people come on their own, we don't pay for them anymore.   

While we only have three guests this year, we do have a fair amount of Star Wars programming, thanks in large part to the Star Wars Association of Pittsburgh.  For those of you who haven't seen the schedule yet...

Friday:

The Stars of Star Wars
Take a trip to the stars with our Star Wars guests, Ray Park (Darth Maul), Daniel Logan (Boba Fett), and Bonnie Piesse (Beru Whitesun Lars).
4-5 PM, Showroom

Special Viewing: Star Wars Fan Film-Reign of the Fallen
Star Wars inspired fan film by Writer/Director: David McLeavy and Producer Jon Wang. "In the times since great wars laid waste to the Planet Prias, its people have learned to embrace a simple life, away from the perils of technology and war. As the mighty Sith army spreads across the galaxy, one of 2 Jedi's trained by Master Oram Bren will be chosen to be the future leader of Prias, but little do they know that one Jedi's dark secret could spell their doom."
5-6 PM, Butler Room


Saturday:

The Tragedy of Star Wars
The original trilogy has long been accepted as an example of the classic heros' journey of Mythology. Explore the idea of the prequel trilogy as a greek tragedy with it's hero doomed to fall because of his fatal flaws. Sponsored by the Star Wars Association of Pittsburgh.
11 AM - Noon, Monroe II

Star Wars Collecting
The basics of Star Wars collecting, including advice on buying, selling, condition, grading and displaying. Sponsored by the Star Wars Association of Pittsburgh.
2-3 PM, Monroe II

Building Your Own Lightsaber
Learn techniques of building a custom lightsaber hilt using a varity of approaches, materials and skill levels. Sponsored by the Star Wars Association of Pittsburgh.
4-5 PM, Monroe II

Saturday is also "Star Wars Day" in the free movie marathon room (Butler).  The schedule is:

10:00 am  THE PHANTON MENACE
12:30 pm  ATTACK OF THE CLONES
3:00 pm  Encore Presentation: STAR WARS FAN FILM: REIGN OF THE FALLEN
4:00 pm  REVENGE OF THE SITH
6:30 pm  A NEW HOPE SP. ED.
9:00 pm  EMPIRE STRIKES BACK SP. ED.
11:30 pm  RETURN OF THE JEDI SP. ED.


Sunday:

Star Wars Costuming
A presentation on costuming from developing a pattern to the finished product, including a question and answer peroid. Sposored by the Star Wars Association of Pittsburgh.
11 AM - Noon, Monroe II


In addition to the above, the Star Wars Association of Pittsburgh is presenting the North East Fan Force Awards at a banquet on Saturday night from 6 PM to midnight in the Monroe room at the Radisson hotel (attached to the Expo Center).   Visit www.pittsburghfanforce.com for info on banquet tickets.

[jadesfire]

Well, I didn't make it to Pitt today and tomorrow is out of the picture so you guys will have to fill me in on all the good stuff I missed out on  .

[Jesse James]

I got a report from my buddy that went Friday...  I didn't go either Jades, and I'll give details why when I get a moment.

EDIT:

So anyway my buddy went to the con...  He said admission was $17, which was pretty sky high IMO.  I mean, the toy show has a lot more to entice me here (at the same con center) and to get in early it's only $10...  I don't know if Comic-Con does less foot traffic or not though, or if their overhead is really just that much more... 

He said he was there and that they had a weird mix of vendors...  Hardly any toys, and what they did have wasn't really all that good I guess...  He said the vendors were a weird mix though, and they had like some woman selling crafts.

He said the SW guests signing stuff were cool if you hadn't seen them before but that they had "people" outside of them that wouldn't allow you to really talk to them, or get pictures which I guess they've been able to get in the past.  THe guy I talked to was gonna have someone (one of the SW actors) take a picture with a sign for Bill Cable's site, and to just get a picture with the actor they told my buddy it was going to cost him.  So out of principle my friend didn't bother and left dejected at the whole situation since he said they're more accessible other times he's met the actors.

So I don't know...  $17 was enough for me not to bite honestly...  It's a 50 minute drive for me to the con, and I only wanted one autograph at it, so I'm looking at 1/4 or 1/2 tank of gas, $17 to get in, $20 for an autograph, $5 for the photos they sell you to get autographed...  And the stuff I'm generally enticed with like a good toy/collectibles show or whatnot was just not there...

It's tough to put the shows together though as mousedroid has told me, so I can empathize with that, but for me it wasn't financially worth it to go this year.  I doubt I go ever actually unless the entry fee comes down to at least $10.  Even then I'll be irked if I paid $10 and got the run-around from some show volunteer telling me not to speak to the stars...  In the past I've had some great conversations with the actors so that would've bothered me tremendously.

[Jesse James]

Pitt Toy Show's back...  Weekend of July 29th they have Mr. Billy Dee Williams himself signing autographs and from what I heard the show's to have a couple DT figures on-hand but not for sale I believe...

I can't wait.   I just hope I have $$$.

[mousedroid]

Pittsburgh Comicon - April 27-29, 2007

Still a few months away, but I wanted to give everyone a heads up, as the first Star Wars guest has been added to this year's line-up -  Wayne Pygram  - who made a cameo appearance as "Young" Govenor Tarkin, in Revenge of the Sith. 

I've never seen Mr. Pygram at a con, so I'm definitely looking forward to meeting him.  Hopefully there will be several more Star Wars guests to follow, and I know there will be lots of Star Wars programming.  So if you can't, or don't want to, make the trip to L.A. for C4 in May, plan a trip to the 'Burgh for your fill of springtime Star Wars goodness.

[Jesse James]

Interesting guest in a young Tarkin...  I don't recall seeing him either, listed for any signing anywhere.  That's definitely cool.  I may have to see about obtaining his signature one way or another...  While I love going to cons the cost usually prohibits me from hitting up the Pitt show since I'm not into comics and comic art and all that...  I'll wait'll I see how the guests line-up fleshes out though before I decide, like every year.  Usually a friend goes that will get me the autographs I need/want anyway that are there for the other things comic going on at the show.

It'd be sweet if Comic-Con and the Toy Show somehow were related and coincided (and you could get some kind of discount rate to get into both shows).  That'd be sweet.  I'll have to keep an eye peeled on the guest list as we get closer.

[Jesse James]

I generally don't attend Pitt's Comic-Con's anymore because of cost but the show is this upcoming weekend...  And 3 SW actors are on the bill this year.  An Ewok I've not heard of is listed, the fellow who voiced Grievous, and the biggie, Peter Mayhew (be a cool autograph to get for sure).

The show's pretty large in general, and if you're a big comic fan it's a great show...  The SW collectibles are slimmer pickin's so that's why I tend not to want to spend the $$$ to get in but there's a LOT that goes on at the show every year too so it's a cool stop if you're a comic fan and love the art and things.

They've also done a lot of horror/Dawn of the Dead/Night of the Living Dead stuff in the past as well. 

[mousedroid]

Thanks Jesse, I've been kind of remiss about posting updates, sorry about that.

An Ewok I've not heard of is listed...

We have an Ewok coming???  That's news to me!  lol  What's the name?

[Jesse James]

Angry...

j/k that's ours.

Actually Bob (Raspet) was saying he thought it was the Ewok that flew the hanglider, however the actor's name didn't ring a bell with me at all...  I'm not always familiar with all the actor's names though, ala Grievous there (I just know his name's Matt and wouldn't mind his autograph, haha).

[mousedroid]

The hang-gliding Ewok was Felix Silla, who is better known for portraying Twiki on Buck Rogers.  He'll be at C4, but not at Pittsburgh.  No Ewoks this year as far as I know.

[Jesse James]

Ah ok, I thought I saw somewhere on the list someone was going to be coming in...  Maybe I just got bad info though and didn't actually see it.

[bobafett14]

The ewok is coming to the Pgh toyshow in July.  (mixing the two cons up)

Anyhow, hope to see you Sat.  I'll be there around 10AM, and plan on doing the usual drunkfest around noon at Harvards then stumble back to the con.

Later!

[bobafett14]

Quick recap of the show.

There were a few new CIV prints uncveiled.  The Boba Fett orginal on display I was told will be used for a 3-d sttyle lenticular.  The 501st Empire print was on display as was a work in progress print

There's some pics over at http://www.pswcs.com  click on events and pick Aprils pics to view.

Got Wayne Pygrams autograph o nteh ROTS fig, as well as Woods auto on a greeivous fig.  Passed on Mayhew, seen hom about a doz. times.

Got a nice original art piece of a watercolor style Vader.  Comics...Ron Frenz signed a few Marvel issues for me, Tim Truman signed the Aurra Sing series, and Adam Huges was there signing as well.

Walked the show with some of the local PA collectors, got some "night of the living dead and dawn of the dead autographs as well, and did lunch which was a blast as always.

Looking forward to the Summer toyshow now.