Letters From The Loft

Stuff From The Desk Of Chuck Thornton

Comicon 2008 Journal

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DAY THREE – CONT'D

Ben’s registration/badge pick-up went smoothly, since Sam persuaded me not to argue with the volunteer. We were there early enough to get into the exhibit hall right when it opened. We made a bee-line straight to the Warner Bros. booth, because we had learned that every morning they distributed free oversized tote bags that slung over one’s shoulder and could comfortably carry a family of four. I was determined to get one of these puppies. So were the rest of the 10 billion attendees. The area around the elevated platform in the WB booth where studio personnel were distributing these bags looked like the floor of the NY stock exchange, only without the civility.

After very little bloodshed and a quick visit to triage, we had our bags, and started browsing the exhibit floor, picking up where Sam and I had left off the previous day. I snapped a few more pictures. There was a Lego Indiana Jones that I had previously missed:

Indiana Jones lego sculpture

I’m not yet convinced these are really constructed from a freight-container full of individual Lego pieces… I’m thinking the Lego people could have a machine that sculpts these things at the factory from raw Lego material poured into a mold. But admittedly, after countless times of stepping barefoot on their product, I’m not inclined to be charitable toward the Lego people.

Star Wars was again a big presence this year, because of the upcoming release of the animated Clone Wars movie. Here’s one of the rather large booths:

Clone Wars exhibit

Later on, I caught a couple of the Stormtroopers taking an oxygen break, and helping out a mother who was trying to get her youngster to the signup desk for the Evil Emperor internships that were being offered.

Star Wars Stormtroopers

And, of course, no Star Wars exhibit would be complete without Jabba…

Jabba The Hut

… who, as the quintessential couch potato, always has the fans’ affection.

 One publisher is coming out with a comic book based on the old Greatest American Hero TV series, and we spotted Robert Culp at their booth. I’ve always liked Mr. Culp’s work both as an actor and a writer, so I was glad to see that he was still up and around. I thought about going over to him and saying hi, but as I got closer to the booth, I could see a sign posting prices for different levels of Robert Culp interaction:
Autographs - $5.00
Photographs with autographs - $15.00
Picture taken with Mr. Culp - $10.00
Autographed scripts written by Mr. Culp - $10.00
Breathing the same air as Mr. Culp - $1.00 per gasp
Recognizing Mr. Culp - $2.00

 I was already in dutch for $2.00, so I scrammed. Later on, we spotted William Katt (who played the title role) but I didn’t get close enough to see any posted prices so I felt like I was off the hook.

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