Comic-Con Diary 7: Saturday

Michelle and I let Anita sleep in on Saturday morning while we went over to sell swag. Sales were decent - they topped Wednesday, but Thursday and Friday had been significantly better. Foot traffic in the dealers' room was brisk, but it wasn't turning into sales. Generally, the weekend is spent by many of the guests in panels and pursuing celebrity appearances, so I wasn't surprised.

Since we got over to the convention center earlier, I took another crack at the toy exclusives. This time, things went swimmingly - the Mattel ticket table (in the autograph area) was almost completely deserted, so I snagged my allotment (the ticket lasts for two hours - mine went from 9-11AM) and headed downstairs. I think I was only in the line for a half hour or so. I happily discovered that once you were at the counter with your ticket, you could get all of the exclusives if you wanted them (rather than having to get a ticket for each toy). I snagged a Justice League Unlimited Giganta figure set and one of the Cars Lightning Storm McQueens.

Anita was able to savor a hotel waffle, joining us later on - I had my sandwich for lunch, and was preparing for another run through the dealers' room when who should appear but John Landis! I'd met him a few years ago at a San Francisco screening of An American Werewolf in London and invited him to visit the studio. He gave such a good talk that it set a new benchmark for visiting lecturers - he's still mentioned as one of the best!

He's a Comic-Con regular, but he had an extra-special reason to attend this time - his wife Deborah was presenting her new book, Dressed: A Century of Hollywood Costume Design. We exchanged hellos, and he 'berated' me for not having seen his latest film, Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project. D'oh! He took his leave after a couple of geeky pictures, and I began another round of shopping and picture-taking. My camera was still battery-bereft, so I borrowed Anita's here and there. I did pick up some more toys, but the specifics have slipped my mind.

Anita went to watch Karen rehearse for Red Fraggle's Sunday appearance, and I wandered up to the Acme Archives Ltd. booth, promptly running into David Silverman and Mike Anderson, long-time buddies from my way-back stint on The Simpsons (season two)! Who needs celebrity panels?

Unfortunately, Mike had to bolt, so David and I caught each other up on our recent mischief. Acme's Lisa McLain and Chris Jackson had been chatting with David earlier - so we all began talking, and Chris mentioned he was a fan of my work, and would I be interested in contributing to Acme's line of custom, limited-edition Lucasfilm-inspired art? Well, yes!

Leaving David, I floated over to pick up Michelle and meet Anita over at McCormick & Schmick's for dinner. We were gathering there to celebrate Karen Prell's birthday, which we did in grand style! The Skellys joined us, as well as several more of Karen's puppetry friends. Mr. Silverman was going to join us, but sadly missed our group and wound up fêting elsewhere. The food was great and the conversation was lively - I was going a little hoarse from the week's relentless gab, but it was lots of fun!

I was so tired from the demands of the convention (and the previous late nights of blogging) that I collapsed without writing anything. More tomorrow about three days ago!

Comic-Con Diary 5: Thursday

Sales were up today - we managed to make enough to pay off my share of the booth costs, once that comes due. Very exciting! Anita marked down some of the older shirts, so they sold briskly, plus the watches sold unabated (I think we've sold at least eleven of the original twenty!). Usually, getting back the booth fee doesn't happen until Sunday for us, so Anita and I were psyched! I think Scott, Bill, Derek, and Ted all reached that point today as well, so it was a happy sales watermark for all.

Anita went over very early to set up and man the booth, so I slept in and made sure to eat a better breakfast this morning. I had a terrible headache the night before, partially due to the high-volume booths blaring away, but partially due to my erratic eating schedule. Michelle and I chatted over breakfast, I prepared lunch for her and Anita, and we took a cab over to the convention center since we were running late. Any time the ride saved us quickly disappeared when we took the long way through the dealers' room to reach aisle 4800. That meant I stopped to pick up the con-exclusive T-shirts at the Peanuts booth, and Michelle stopped at Steve Rude's booth to chat with him. So... we didn't get to the table until 11:30!

Anita left to help out at the E-ville Press table, and Michelle took off to explore the exhibit hall, and I stayed to man the booth for about ninety minutes. There was a flurry of customers just after Anita left, but then it got pretty quiet. I got a request for a drawing, so I started to work on it until Michelle came back to hold down the fort while I went to a panel.

I had wanted to see the How To Tell A Story panel, which featured a several science fiction authors, including David Gerrold and Walter Koenig. Unfortunately, it turned into How To Wait In A Huge Line While The Talk Goes On Without You. The line moved well after about fifteen minutes or so of waiting, but by the time I was allowed to go in and sit down, there was literally five minutes left. I ran into the Skellys again, so we waited in line together and chatted - they got even less time in the room than I did! The three of us wound up having lunch in the autograph area with Steve (Sam & Max) Purcell, so that was really nice.

I have to say, I was never much of a panel person, and the current scale of the con is doing little to change that. Do you really want to compete with over 100,000 type-A people who are willing to wait for hours and hours in line for one panel? Almost every premium, exclusive or event now involves a huge line or some sort of lottery in order to have any chance at it. I'm beginning to think the whole idea of a panel event needs to be adjusted.

Why not have all of the appearances taped, and when all is said and done, everyone who attended gets a free DVD of the events that happened on the day(s) that they purchased? Or sell a DVD of all the events to people who couldn't afford to go at all? Or post high-quality versions on YouTube? I know that the Comic-Con organization is a non-profit one, but it seems like recorded events would bring in a lot of money to help pay for even more cool guests, or pay any fees that the guests might like for appearing in the tapings. I know that it doesn't solve the desire for all of the guests to meet their favorite nerd luminaries, but the vast majority of the attendees can't meet a lot of the guests anyway. But I digress.

Lunch being over, I started sweeping the exhibit floor, looking for cool swag. I tried to stay on an even keel - I bought five Tezuka Moderno figures at one booth, which pretty much finished off the series of characters that are out/I wanted. I picked up Bwana Spoon's new Gargamel figure at their booth, the two Peanuts shirts, and a retro Snoopy lanyard. The rest of the time, I was chatting with friends or taking pictures of upcoming merchandise, or the costumed regulars. I walked around until the thirty-minute warning, then returned back to the booth to help put the merchandise away before the dealers' room closed.

A group of us representing both the Red Window and E-ville tables went out to dinner to celebrate our good sales day. Most enjoyable! Everyone else is either in bed or pretty close to it, so I'll sign off for tonight. Talk to you more tomorrow!

Comic-Con Diary 4: Preview Night

Wednesday started out calmly - Anita and Michelle brought some the hotel's free breakfast food back to the room as I got cleaned up and ready to go. Once we were finished eating, I stopped back at the front desk to check on the Happy Beaver t-shirt order. Happily, they'd arrived - I brought the box back to the room to check 'em out. They looked great! We all donned the new shirts so we could wear them at the booth.

I started over to the convention center first, so the ladies could get cleaned up. The pin-boards were there, but we didn't have any push pins yet, so I focused on re-folding and sorting the new shirts. I had most of them done when Bill, his fianceé, and his mountain of new books arrived! They started unpacking and setting up their section in short order. It wasn't long after that when Anita and Michelle arrived. I checked on some missing chairs at Freeman's exhibitor service area, but we were due to get them later in the afternoon. I took a lot more photos on the way over and back, while the others continued setting things up.

Once the booth was ready to go, my next errand was to get the empty luggage back to the hotel. Michelle and I took one of shuttle bus lines from the convention center to the Holiday Inn By The Bay (the pink line's last stop). There was a mix-up with our hotel's bus, so it took us a while to get back to the hotel. I took a short nap while Michelle returned with snacks for Anita.

I roused myself just in time for a barbecue at the hotel. I don't know what the free meals and elevated courtesy are about. It's a Marriott at Comic-Con. All they really have to do is exist, so I'm not sure why they're trying so hard. I mean, they sold out. As a manager, I'd say their job is done, but I'm glad they're so nice (I digress)!

I snagged a few extra burgers and dogs in classic college-student fashion, bundled them up (with some condiments) in plastic wrap, and cabbed it back to the Con. I ran into David and Jennifer Skelly in the pro registration line, which was cool. I thought I'd make it back to chat while they were waiting for badges, but they were already in by the time I'd dropped off the food and bought a few copies of Who Is Rocket Johnson?, the latest comic compilation by a gaggle of Disney story artists. As long as Dave and Jen had already succumbed to the dealers' room, I figured I'd check it out, too.

So I staggered about in an overstimulated haze until the room closed at nine o'clock. Along the way, I ran into my buddy Brant Bridges of Sideshow Collectibles, and checked out Go Hero's awesome Buck Rogers prototypes. I bought three copies of Who Is Rocket Johnson?, the exclusive Peter Parker / Spider-Man Mighty Mugg, a couple of wooden Pedro the Mail Plane toys from Japan, some Flintstones and Land of the Lost figures from Funko, and yet another vinyl Anpanman toy. I'll try to take pictures of them at some point this week.

We discounted some of last year's shirt designs, so we sold out of the Dirty Beaver t-shirts completely. Some of the other shirts sold fine (including the new design), but the biggest surprise was the Happy Beaver watch - six of the twenty are already gone! It'll be exciting if we sell out of them - I'll be sure to make more for APE if we do.

I'm pretty thrashed, so I'll wrap it up here. More tomorrow!

Comic-Con Diary 3: The Set-Up

Anita and I napped for a little while to recharge our batteries, then headed over to the convention center to pick up our exhibitor badges. That went more smoothly that it's ever gone for me in twenty years of Con attendance. Arriving on Tuesday is the shit.

Anita went to do some homework concerning when our chairs and pin-boards would arrive, while I stayed with the swag. I wandered around a little (not too far) and shot some nearby construction. For the most part, the floor was pretty quiet, but everyone was in a flurry of activity, scrambling to get their booths ready for the following evening. Cartons, wooden crates, carpeting, and electrical cables sprawled as mid-sized cranes loomed over the collage of half-built heroes.

I swapped places with Anita and headed over to Freeman (the booth supply rental company) so I could put a couple more chairs on my credit card. Everyone was great there, but the center wasn't selling anything to eat or drink yet. Off I went to get sustenance, especially water. There was hardly anyone inside, but it was muggy both inside and outside the center.

I picked up a couple of big bottles of water at a pizza shop, and a medium frozen yogurt from the fabled Pinkberry. Celebrities speak in dulcet, reverent tones of this southern California delicacy, and we both agreed that it was quite good - I got crushed Oreos® on top, but it was unnecessary. It was a sweet yogurt with a strong citrus flavor. Was it four dollars good? We're used to spending too much for everything during Comic-Con, so it was hard to be objective.

I went through the convention schedule, and marked off potential events to attend. I'm the most excited about the Spaced panel, and the fact that Paul ("Pee-Wee") Reubens will be autographing this week. I'm going to try to pick up DVDs of Shaun of the Dead and Pee-Wee's Big Adventure for them to sign. Keep your fingers crossed!

There was only so much we could accomplish today (the T-shirts won't be here until tomorrow, and the pin-boards haven't shown up yet), so we chatted with some aisle buddies and headed back to the hotel. After that, a quick trip to Ralph's to get groceries for the next few days, and dinner fixin's for tonight. Anita's whipping up some tacos, and I'm blogging until Michelle gets in - she should be here in about forth minutes. More news tomorrow!

Comic-Con Diary 2: Arrival

Well, here we are in San Diego! Not exactly an epic journey, since the flight is just a little over an hour. It was exactly how I like my plane trips, though - nice and boring.

We took a cab to the Marriott Residence Inn - we're not talking The Ritz here, but it's cozy, Anita likes it, and they serve free breakfasts until 9:30 (we partook)! Anita is pretty particular about her accommodations, so I'm happy she likes the hotel. Plus, there's free wi-fi in the lobby - that makes blogging a little easier. We'll see how my diary goes when the Con kicks into gear! Last year, I only posted once, so I'm already ahead of the game.

Anita's napping in the room. We're on the ground floor - we decided to upgrade a little so Anita's sister Michelle could have a real bed instead of a sofa-bed. She has back trouble, so hopefully she'll be more comfortable - hotel mattresses can really wreak havoc sometimes! There's two bedrooms with a little TV/kitchen area in between, and we got a good deal on the upgrade. Personally, I imagine the head of every hotel chain around here must buy a new boat or something after Comic-Con. Convention housing is pretty steep these days!

The new Happy Beaver T-shirts are still in transit - it turns out the printer got the days mixed up and thought his deadline was a week later than it actually was. OOPS. Well, everything's printed up now, and it'll all be overnighted down here for tomorrow morning - just like last year. Sigh. I was really hoping to avoid a last minute scramble. I guess I'll have to budget more time for the APE T-shirts.

I'll probably head back to the room and spruce up a bit before we go over to the convention center to pick up our exhibition badges and start setting up our table. I'll try and keep you posted!

Comic-Con Diary 1: Waiting For The Plane

Here we are at Oakland airport, waiting for our flight into San Diego. The Super Shuttle didn't have a lot of schedule options, so we had to leave horribly early for our already horribly early flight. Anita didn't bother to go to sleep, as she's not a morning person, and wouldn't have been able to rouse herself at 3:30 AM! I only slept a couple of hours myself, as the list of errands to do before bed seemed to keep getting longer and longer! We're all set now, though - even though our flight was cancelled (!), we got an earlier one. At least we won't have to wait at the airport for so long!

Today's Adventure

Today was supposed to be a kick-back, do-nothing day, but that didn't quite happen.

I did sleep in late, then noodled about on the blog until about two in the afternoon. Then Ken rang me up.

"Hey, dude," he said. "Why don't you join me and Beth at the Blackhawk Auto Museum? I'd like you to meet Eileen (Ed's widow) Roth and check out the exhibit."

"Sounds great," I said.

So I checked in with Anita, who was on her way back from Swazzle rehearsals in LA. "Go for it," she said. And off I went to Danville - about thirty-five minutes from the homestead.

Danville is an interesting place. Interesting in the way that it's probably the last place in the world that you would expect to have a car museum - especially one with a custom hot rod exhibit! The section of it that I saw was a huge, beige swath of planned communities. There was almost no one on the sidewalks, aside from the odd baby stroller or jogger. It made my college home of Valencia look like Mardi Gras!

The museum itself is very nice looking, but a big mall is sprouting up right in front of it - one of those malls with architecture that looks like a cross between Roman and American Southwest, and sprinkled with 'waterfalls' and 'streams' that make you feel like you're on Lastday in Logan's Run. It's so big that you can barely see the museum from the outside, and since the mall is still being built, the sign-age is not particularly good. I drove by the mall, and after looping through the plaza only to return to the street, I figured it had to be in there somehow!

Inside, I ran into a docent right away, and of course it was in full view right behind her as I asked. Sigh.

Eileen and Beth were busy selling Fink stuff under a tent in front of the museum. I got to meet her and give her a signed Happy Beaver toy. She seemed to enjoy it!:



I bought a membership to the museum, and went upstairs to find Ken. He was right at the start of the Roth section, painting away on a new piece for them. I got there at about three-thirty or so - it was quiet by that point, but apparently had been pretty busy all day. Baby Boomers + Father's Day + Rat Fink = Attendance!!

I wandered through the rest of the place while Ken kept working. Two floors of gorgeous classic cars, plus the Roth stuff! One floor of pre-1950 cars, another of post-1950 specimens. Just stunning!


My favorites were three Alfa-Romeo concept cars. Each of them was one-of-a-kind, and had all been sold and driven by various owners before their addition to the collection. Very bat-like - I hope someone makes die-casts of them at some point!

Ken wound up his museum day, and took the Fink painting home to finish up. Eileen couldn't stick around for dinner, and I hadn't eaten anything all day, so Ken, Beth and I met back in Martinez for Italian food...

...well, sort of. I didn't realize that the 680 freeway connected directly to highway 4, so I drove for fifty minutes to get to a place I could've reached in twenty-five! I guess that's why I have a hybrid - but I really need to get a GPS-thingy if I really want to save on gas. Once dinner was over, I popped back home to greet my baby after she'd been driving for six hours. I 'almost' matched her over the two days!

Anyhow, it was a great Sunday - so much for resting!

A Busy Saturday

I'd been up until three-thirty or four A.M. with some buddies, howling at Stooges shorts and celebrating my friend Beth's birthday. I got her a Border's gift card (as she specifically requested), and we got treated to Hawiian haystacks and hula dancing with Beth and two of her newest students. I'd have taken pictures, but it was already dark, and her pupils were already very self-conscious! They needn't have worried, as both were very good.

I was to meet my pal Ken the next day at Where The Magic Begins, but he got sick and couldn't make the signing (Bill "Voice of Goofy" Farmer was there, too). I was going anyway, so I threw my Sharpie® into the fray and drew a bunch of sketches for the attendees. Bill was a super-nice guy, so we shot the bull about voice work during the quiet spots. Cindy, as always, was sweet and gave me a nice statuette for my trouble!

I left earlier than I usually do - at around three-thirty P.M. - and hustled into San Francisco. Sam Phillips was performing at the Borders store in Union Square, and I didn't want traffic to make me late. As it turned out, I got there in plenty of time - with about ninety minutes to kill!

I stopped by the Disney Store (which is also closing, along with the rest of the chain, as I understand), and got a neat Oswald the Lucky Rabbit maquette for $4.50 - whatta deal! I picked up a very late anniversary gift for Anita, and swung by Jeffrey's Toys, Urban Outfitters and Karikter. The latter had some mind-blowingly good Asterix and Tintin maquettes, but they were a little too pricey for this visit. I clenched my teeth and headed to Border's, saving my bank account (for now).

I was still pretty early (it was about five-forty-five), so I got a good seat. Ms. Phillips was already there warming up, so I took a bunch of pictures. The lighting wasn't optimal, so most of them didn't turn out well, but between those and the ones I took during the set, I got two or three that were pretty good.

She played for about a half-hour, mainly songs from her latest CD, Don't Do Anything (which is great, by the way - you can buy it for $9.99 at iTunes, or for $12.99 + shipping at Amazon). It was a really nice set - very stripped down. She played acoustic guitar, accompanied by a back-up man who played an electric guitar, and on some songs, a period violin replica with a tin Victrola-style horn attached to it. The performance space was full, but not jam-packed - a comfortable and intimate show.

Afterwards, Ms. Phillips signed CDs and chatted. I was a little surprised how upbeat and playful she was, as the new album was a somewhat somber work, but it made a great finish to a wonderful evening. She was a total sweetie, so I invited her to the studio. Hopefully, she'll come and visit!

Holy COW!

I reached a new personal best in terms of visitor traffic yesterday - over 2,500 page views! Thanks for visiting and reading, even when work makes the original content pretty thin.

The Challenges Of Real Media

One of the reasons I've been so blog-quiet is that I'm working on some artwork for a charity auction. All of us story folk at work are donating/creating artwork so we can decorate our new story pod, Joe's Place. The trick is that, since it's being auctioned off, it really needs to be original, non-digital art. Eek!

I can't even tell you how long it's been since I've bought art supplies - I've been drawing digitally for years now, even on my own projects (like the Happy Beaver comics - I know, I know). I stopped by Blick's Art Supplies, and dropped enough cash that it made me wonder if it might not be better to simply give the story team the money! Still, the more I thought about it, the more excited I got.

My original plan was to rough out the drawings digitally (since that's the most malleable step), back-light some watercolor paper, and do the Sharpie 'inking' that way. I wouldn't have to worry about bleeding, since Sharpies are waterproof. If I still had any courage left (it usually evaporates after the line art is done), I'd color the art with Dr. Martin's dyes, just like the old school guys did!

As you can see, the line art is finished for three pieces - the poster design, plus two others. All of the planning has worked out so far - I bought a light box for the back-lighting, and it worked great - so well that I didn't need to use the sheets of treated acetate I bought as a backup. The biggest question mark was using the dyes, since I didn't have any experience with them.

I was going to try to hedge my bets at first and paint the treated cels - I could frame it with the art as an overlay, and if I messed up the color, I could grab another cel and try again. But even though the cels were supposed to be able to take watercolors, washes were just plain invisible on it. I took it to mean that God wanted me to grow a pair and paint on the original, so I did.

I started with the poster design, since I needed to get it finished first. The results were mixed - the parts that I knew what I wanted were labor-intensive (it took me four hours to paint one drawing) but successful. The part that I was the least clear on my approach going in - the auction crowd - was much less so, and I wound up really overworking it:

It turns out that these dyes aren't great for layering - they bleed in really unpredictable ways, and it's best to use them as solid colors. It's ironic, because that's the way I color ninety percent of the time - this particular piece seemed to ask for a little more nuance. I learned a lot about the medium, though, and I still have enough time to redo the line work and try again. If I run out of time, well, at least I've got something for Monday!

Goodbye, Justin

Justin Wright, a story artist who was working with me, passed away last night. It was a crushing blow to all of us on the crew - he was a sweet guy, and a lot of fun. He loved, loved, loved video games, and couldn't wait for the Iron Man movie!

It's upsetting to see someone so young, so happy to be where he was, get taken away from it all so abruptly. I need to remember, though, that he'd wanted to work at Pixar more than anything, and he got to do it, for over a year.

My deepest condolences to his family and friends. Rest in peace, Justin.

PS - If you're interested, you can see some of his artwork on his blog.

A Quick Trip To Wizard World

Since I missed WonderCon, I was still hankering (even after the toy show onslaught) for a good, old-fashioned convention. So I flew down to Los Angeles to hit Wizard World, which makes its way through a variety of cities over the year. It's not as good as WonderCon at its best (which I heard was quite good this year, if you dodged the nasty bug that went around), but it'll do in a pinch. I didn't have a table set up to sell toys - I was just going to feed the nerd-monkey on my back.

I emailed some of my southern California friends to see if anyone wanted to join me. I figured that most of them aren't all that into conventions (so odds were low that any of them had been to one recently), but maybe the combination of Old Home Week and nerd swag would be a good lure. I got a few "yes"-es: Juliana Korsborn, her boyfriend Noah Miller (from my CalArts and Simpsons days, respectively), and my pal Brian Stokes. That was great - I'd have some company for my hunt-and-gathering. I got up horribly early, took a free flight down to Burbank (thanks to some frequent flier miles), and cabbed it over to the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Wizard World has a different guest process than WonderCon or San Diego Comic-Con. It's not hard to register as a professional, but you have to pay ten dollars to get a badge, and your guests cost twenty-five bucks each. I'm spoiled by the other conventions (I don't remember paying anything for badges at WC or SDCC), so it was a little disappointing. Still, the badges are good for all three days.

I'm snootier about convention-going these days (though I'm not sure why - it's a comic book convention, for goodness' sake), so I was also disappointed that I was sent to wait in the regular guest line. Unless you pay for VIP passes, that's where you wind up! Fortunately, the aforementioned nerd monkey insisted that I get there at nine-thirty, so the line wasn't very bad yet. All the guests were nice, and the local Star Wars fan clubs had some really good costumers wandering about to keep everyone happy and patient. There were even a few radio-controlled Artoo-Detoos scooting about that were very nicely made!

The convention opened pretty close to ten o'clock, and it only took a short time to get into the dealers' room. It seemed smaller than I remembered. I worked my way through most of the tables - and the miniature version of Artists' Alley - before my friends arrived. We puttered about for a little while, then went out to lunch.

Initially, we were going to go to a local Italian restaurant, but we discovered that it was closed, so we went to a place called The Liberty Grill instead. The food was somewhat pricey (I think my pulled pork sandwich was over ten dollars), but good. Now that our potential blood sugar issues had been dealt with, we returned to shop in earnest.

I bought a fair amount of swag, but not as much as in the past. Here's a tip if you're concerned about over-spending: carry your loot bag around with you all day. Once the handle starts to cut into your fingers a little, you'll get less enthusiastic, I guarantee it!

So what did I get? The new Jack Kirby book, an Iron Man movie figure that debuted a little early, two DVDs (one for me, one for a friend), two T-shirts that look like the Star Trek uniforms (Spock's tunic for a friend, and I got the "expendable ensign" design) courtesy of roddenberry.com, and a Venture Brothers T-shirt. Good stuff!

I also got a chance to chat with Dave Kellett, the creator of Sheldon and one of the co-authors of How To Make Webcomics. He was quite nice, and very supportive of my desire to learn more about web-comicking. I'm about two-thirds of the way through the book now - some of it is common sense, but there's plenty of great things to keep in mind as you begin to build an online comic strip. I'm the most interested in the technical and business sections - the areas where I have the least amount of experience!

None of us were really interested in the events or panels, so we stuck to the dealers' room for most of the afternoon. There were some costumed folk competing for prizes, and this pair dressed as Mario and Luigi won top honors.

There were also some people playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero with/against each other, which was fun but puzzling. I know what it's like to have your hobby called a waste of time (that's too harsh, anyway), but I can't help but feel that video games don't give you much in the end (maybe gamers look at it like watching television, but with more interactivity). At least with cartooning, I have a drawing when I'm done, but gaming doesn't give you much but sore thumbs and an empty wallet. But hey, I'm a toy collector, and that doesn't give you much, either. Maybe I'm just bitter because I've always been awful at playing games! But I digress.

The four of us burned out on shopping, so we caught each other up on our lives (I don't think we'd seen each other since last summer), and all of a sudden it was time to get back to the airport. Juliana and Noah generously drove me back to Burbank, and... like that. It was fun!

The End Is Near...

... because I got a bargain at a toy show. Seriously. This never happens.

Here's how things usually go:

A) I buy something at a premium (before it hits stores) because I'm so excited that it's been released. Later on, I find it remaindered for half as much because it turns out that I was the only one who wanted it.

B) I buy a lot of movie merchandise at a premium because I'm so excited that its film is finally coming out. It premieres six weeks later, and I don't like it at all. The toys immediately becomes a monument to my impatient stupidity, and I give them all to Goodwill because none of my collector friends want them either.

C) I buy a vintage toy at a decent price, but wind up buying it again when I find one in better condition - I rationalize it by promising myself that I'll sell the other one. Of course, the object of a once-hotly-contested auction now sits on eBay like it's infected with the plague.

D) I see something that vaguely interests me, but don't buy it. Six months later, I change my mind completely, and wind up paying ten times retail for it.

But not this time. This time I waited, and it paid off.

I'd always liked the Kotobukiya Star Wars vinyl kits - the sculpts and paint jobs are really nice, and - compared to the quarter-scale Sideshow figures - more affordable and easier to display. But I picked the Sideshow line to pursue, so I decided not to go down two expensive paths at once.

Until I found out that Kotobukiya was going to produce a kit of Ralph McQuarrie's concept painting of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker dueling with lightsabers. It's one of my favorite concept paintings, so I was kind of screwed. It was going to cost two hundred dollars, but I had to have it!

It came out last summer for Comic-Con, but I'd bought a lot of other stuff already, and it was big and expensive to ship, so I held off. I kept checking on it, but it was always the same. Two hundred dollars. Two hundred dollars. Two hundred dollars. Plus shipping. So I kept waiting, firmly believing that I was setting myself up for another category D.

Like many times when great things happen, I wasn't even thinking about it any more. I missed WonderCon, so I was really ready for a toy show, and The San Jose show was right there to fill the bill. I got there as close to the opening of the show as I could, paid my early bird admission price, and started to wander. And there it was, at a booth.

For one hundred and twenty dollars.

I couldn't believe it. I walked on, past the staggering bargain, hanging on to my rule of "make one complete sweep before you buy". I'm not sure, but I do think I finished going over all the the tables before I went back.

The cheapskate Vermonter is chanting too good to be true, too good to be true, too good... in an attempt to be practical, I asked the dealer, "Is it in good shape?"

"It's unopened," he said.

"But that's... a really good price." I said, probing for a loophole. What the hell is the catch here? Will I be drafted into the Army if I buy it?

"I know," he said.

"Okay," I said, no resistance left. "I'll take it."

I lugged it about for a while, which did start some conversations (It's a big box). I bought a McFarlane Yogi Bear figure for ten bucks, a couple of Justice League Unlimited figures for another tenner, and four Dudley Spare toys from Cars that amounted to another sixteen dollars. Neat stuff, but most of it was utterly eclipsed by The Bargain.

I know eventually I'll open and display the Star Wars kit (otherwise, what's the point?), but for the first time, I'm wondering if it can really make any happier anyway. What if it's broken, or warped from sitting in the sun or something? Maybe it's better to leave The Bargain as just that.

Naaah.

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PS - I almost bought a category B, but it's for sale online - you can pre-order it for a couple of bucks less than it cost at the show, or wait even longer and get one at Toys 'R' Us for a few bucks less than that.

Under The Knife

Anita had her knee surgery today in Oakland. We knew that operating was a must some time ago, but decided to wait (until last year's puppet season was over) before proceeding.

Happily, everything went very well - actually, better than that! The meniscus fractures healed on their own (rare, but it happens), so our surgeon could focus on replacing her torn ACL. The new-to-her ACL is from a cadaver, so we'll have to wait and see if she inherits exceptional soccer skills, or simply becomes a zombie.

The procedure took about three hours, and being asthmatic, Anita took longer to recover from the anesthesia. Our original start time was at 7:30 AM, which meant getting up at 5:45 so we could get over to the hospital by 6:30. Things didn't really get going until nine, and we left for home around 2:30 or 3:00 PM, so it's been a long day.

Anita's now tucked comfortably in bed, surrounded by an arsenal of spiffy gadgets and happy pills. She's got a fancy leg brace and a high-tech wrap that circulates ice water around her knee continually. Pretty neat! We have to rent the wrap gadget for a week or so, and she'll have nurses coming in to give her shots of painkillers and monitor her progress while I'm at work.

The overall recovery period is about three months (with the most restricted activity in the first couple of weeks), which is why we're doing it now - she wants to be ready for the new puppet season in June. She'll be reading even more books and watching plenty of movies, but feel free to call or drop her a line - that much time laid up in a brace is going to get old fast!

I'm Back!

I was on a train trip over the weekend - a group of us took a private car from Emeryville, CA to Sparks, NV. We've done it (roughly) once a year for twelve years, and this was the last public excursion. It's always a great time to socialize, see old friends and make new ones.

Roger Colton (the event organizer) suggested throwing a Happy Beaver toy in the mix, and I jumped at the opportunity for pictures in a different locale!

Roger shot this one for me as we slowly made our way up into the mountains. It was really beautiful there, so I tried to take a lot of cool shots in the hopes that some would come out decently (I was using Anita's camera, so my technical confidence wasn't very high). More pics to come soon!

PS - I was in LA on a business trip today, compounding the blogging gap. Sorry for the all the radio silence!

PPS - I didn't take the train picture - Ryan Martin (one of Ken and Roger's fellow rail fans) did. I wasn't heavily dressed enough to perch out in the snow like that!

Another Great Week!

Emailing all the toy retailers last week bumped up my readership even more. I came pretty close to getting 2,000 page views on Wednesday! Thanks for visiting, everybody - I hope to have another Happy Beaver comic finished soon. I know it's been a little while!

The Long And Winding Road (To A New Memory Card)

I finally received the new memory card for my camera today! It took a lot longer to get than I'd hoped...

I ordered it from one retailer, and waited quite a while before finally calling them (I had to call information to get their phone number - ominously, it wasn't on their website). As it turned out, they didn't have the card that I needed in stock, and they'd canceled the order. They said that they'd informed me by e-mail, but I never heard from them. I started over.

I found another website that sold the same card, called them, made sure that they had it in stock, and ordered again. I waited and waited. Still nothing. So I called them back. Apparently, there was something wrong with my billing address. I got the necessary email contact, and sent the correct information to them.

Again, supposedly I was notified, but I don't recall seeing anything. If the emails went to work, maybe they got caught in a spam filter or something. I did get an email notifying me that the problem had been corrected, though, and that the order was now processing.

I've popped the new card into my camera, and happily my theory was correct - the camera works fine - it was the card that was faulty. Now that I know that, I might buy another card so I can keep the camera even longer - not to mention having a backup in case my new one fails.

Happy New Year!

Best wishes for a joyful, healthy, prosperous New Year!
-- from Jeff, Anita, Figaro & Piccolo

PS: Apologies to Michael Barrier for swiping his image.

Olympus C-3040 - R.I.P.?

My digital camera really started giving my guff this morning - I can't reload the memory card without getting error messages. I was getting infrequent ones before, but now it just won't load properly no matter how hard I try.

I've ordered a new memory card in the hopes that the card is the problem and not the camera. I think the set-up's at least six or seven years old, so maybe its time has come. Hopefully not, because I really like shooting with it - I know its quirks and how to get good pictures out of it.

I shot a few new toy photos yesterday, but until the new card arrives, that'll be it for a while. Stay tuned!

UPDATE (1/3/08): Still no memory card. I called the place in New York where I ordered the replacement (there wasn't a phone number on the website - I had to track it down through information... uh oh), and was informed that they no longer had it in stock. They'd sent me an e-mail, apparently, but I never got it.

So I found another website (memorysuppliers.com), and called before ordering to make sure that they had the card in stock. They didn't, but I was assured that the Samsung card would work just as well. Okay...so I ordered it. I doubt I'll get it before the break ends, but hopefully I'll at least get this one!

So...add Soho Electronics to your list with Toy Tokyo on it - the one of companies that you call before ordering anything, because they don't update their websites very well.

Expectations, Vinyl Toy Network, And Paying Dues

We're back from Pasadena, and my second foray with the Vinyl Toy Network show. It seemed like there were more tables than last year, not to mention the people waiting in the convention hall and in a long line that snaked down the block. Awesome! I knew that these folks weren't waiting for me specifically, but it looked like a lot of potential target-market customers, and Christmas was right around the corner. Except... I forgot about a couple of things. Primarily, this guy:

Apparently, Joe Ledbetter's Ringo Bear had an exclusive, only-one-hundred-made Toxic green version (through 3D Retro) available only at the VTN show. The first hundred guests got goody bags, and half of them got tickets reserving a Ringo for that guest, Willy-Wonka-style. If I remember correctly, it cost eighty dollars (a mid-range designer toy price), but it might not leave much left in terms of a collector's spending budget.

The other thing that I forgot was that the dealers' room - even though it was bigger than last year - is still pretty small. There's no other events like panel discussions or screenings, so once folks are done shopping... they're going to leave. A few designers - Frank Kozik, Joe himself, Bwana Spoons, Dan Goodsell, and Cameron Tiede - were there to sign their work and do sketches, but again, even if you got everyone's autograph, that's not going to keep you there all that long.

So. The room exploded with people at ten o'clock! Most of them came in, sat down, and feverishly dug through their bags. They lined up for the Ringo Bear and they lined up again to get it signed. After that, they browsed for about thirty minutes - an hour, tops.

And then they left. An hour or two into a seven and a half hour show, ninety percent of the crowd was gone.

I drew a lot of free sketches during the surge to keep people at the table, but we only sold five toys all day. I was as sick as a dog - I'd caught a bad cold a day or two before - and I was not a happy camper. I don't blame the show, and I don't blame Joe - he made a cool toy, and people were dying for it. I hope to be in that place myself someday! But I let my expectations run away with me, and it bit me in the butt, big time.

Ironically, the only toy that I bought was one of Joe's - it's my favorite of his work so far, the Kaiju For Grown-Ups' Gamorita from Wonderwall. Super-cool looking, and a bargain at $65.00!

Well, better luck next time...

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Photos by doc18 and VinylMadness. A special thanks to Bwana Spoons and Dan "Mr. Toast" Goodsell for their words of encouragement and support during the show!

Sleeping In Stanford, Part IV

I took my second sleep test at the clinic last night. This time, in addition to all the electrodes, sensors, and microphones I had on my last visit, I also wore the CPAP apparatus. It's got a hose that fits into your nose like a snorkel - that's attached to a harness on your head. The CPAP machine inflates your airway slightly so you can breathe better and sleep more efficiently - apnea can lead to other, more serious health problems, so I want to get it under control as soon as I can.

The visit was pretty much identical to the last one, except I arrived thirty minutes earlier (traffic was kind to me this time). I popped over to a nearby supermarket and grabbed a deli sandwich for dinner - not the best meal, I suppose, but it's better than the cup of Cheez-Its that I had last time (driving from 5 - 7PM eats into mealtime pretty thoroughly)! I watched a sizable portion of The Good Shepherd and ate my dinner while waiting for my assistant.

She arrived, and we went through the same procedure of gluing and taping electrodes all over me, and connecting all the wiring I'd need to collect my data. It seemed to go faster this time, but I'm assuming that was because I'd been through it before. Finally, everything was set and tested. I watched more of the film (it's a long one - almost three hours, I think) before going to bed. I was hooked up to the CPAP machine, and lights out!

It was much harder to fall asleep than it was in the first test. Imagine trying to sleep with a snorkel in your nose, and a huge, leaky inner tube whistling about a foot away from your head (if the seal on the hose's nose plugs leaked, it caused a high-pitched whistle that drove me nuts). If I tried to improve the hose's seal, it got a lot less comfortable. You can't open your mouth at all when the CPAP is operating, either - the machine will suck air in through there, too, so you have to be really conscious of it. On top of all that, I move around when I sleep, and the wiring and hose restricted my movements. I made sure I was wearing the mask properly, but it was really hard to relax and get comfortable - it felt like hours and hours before I drifted off.

I was awakened by the assistant, and I filled out my questionnaire as before. By the time I was finished, I was fully awake. It seemed like I'd only slept two or three hours (I 'm sure I'm wrong), but I did 'wake up' more quickly than I usually do, and I felt more refreshed than usual, so that's good. I've got a couple more follow-up appointments, so I'm assuming I'll get the prescription for the CPAP device so I can buy one of my own. Hopefully I'll get more used to sleeping with the equipment, and find a more comfortable mask!

Sleeping In Stanford, Part III

I picked up my sleep test results from the Stanford clinic this morning. While some details of the findings were surprising, the bigger picture they painted wasn't.

My sleep efficiency rating was 90.6%, and the number of apnea (total closure/blockage) events was zero. That sounds good, but there's another type of event called a hypopnea (partial closure/blockage) event - I had 167 of those, or 25.8 per hour, or one every two or three minutes. That's a lot of small interruptions, and it did take a toll. The lowest oxygen saturation level I had that night was eighty-eight percent - and ninety-two or higher is normal.

The upshot of it is - as I suspected - I do have sleep apnea, and it's in the high-moderate range. The CPAP machine still looks like the best option, as it's the least intrusive and the most effective. I'm going to try to lose weight and use the CPAP machine at the same time. A friend of mine lost a lot of weight and his apnea completely disappeared - if that happens, great, but that sounds rare and unlikely. I could stand to lose some weight, regardless of how it affects the apnea. Both goals will help reduce my risk of heart and blood sugar trouble, too!

I'm going to be using a nasal steroid spray to open up my nasal passages for about two weeks, then I'll go in for another overnight sleep exam. This time, we'll be determining what the pressure on my CPAP device should be for maximum effectiveness. I'll get a prescription for the machine, then use it for a while at the approved setting. There'll be a follow-up visit after all that to see how it's all going. More in a couple of weeks...

Sleeping In Stanford, Part II

I took my sleep test last night at the Stanford Clinic. I won't have the results for a while, but it seemed to go smoothly.

I left work at 5:00 PM yesterday, as my appointment was at seven. There was an accident on the 880 freeway, so traffic was pretty spotty for a lot of the trip. I think the original drive took about ninety minutes, but this one took even longer - I figured it would, since I was heading into rush hour. I budgeted two hours, and made it with fifteen minutes to spare!

The clinic experience was much different from a typical doctor visit. I brought a book and two DVDs for time killers, but didn't wind up needing most of it. I'd hardly gotten settled into the waiting room when my test room was ready! Ditto 'waiting' for my assistant to arrive - I barely got my laptop open when she showed up too. I filled out some more paperwork, and shortly thereafter, we got down to business.

If I remember correctly, I was told that I had about thirty electrodes fastened to me (half for my head, half for the rest), but it didn't feel like that many. It took a while, though - I think it took well over an hour to get everything hooked up. Of course, all the contact points had to be cleaned with alcohol and thoroughly scrubbed. The cranial electrodes were literally glued to my head with some sort of foul-smelling gunk - they clearly weren't going anywhere, regardless how much I moved in my sleep.

Everything was connected to a small, junction-box-like device that lead to the monitoring equipment. I had sensors inserted into my nose and a fingertip device to monitor my breathing and oxygen intake (it lit up red in the dark, just like E.T.). Most of this stuff wasn't too bad, just time-consuming. I can deal with a lot, as long as needles aren't involved! Fortunately, there's only three major connections that need to be unhooked in case of an emergency. I was shown how to do it, and where the flashlight, smoke alarm, and exit map were.

I was fitted for a CPAP mask, just in case my oxygen levels weren't high enough during the night. I wouldn't have to start off wearing it, but I would be awakened to apply it if things got bad. I was expecting that that would happen, so I tried to pick carefully. I liked the smaller one that was basically just nose plugs attached to a hose - the larger one wasn't very big either (it just covered my nose like a tiny laughing-gas mask), but I didn't feel comfortable breathing in it.

All of the electrode work was finished at about 9:00 PM. I followed some commands broadcast from the monitoring room so that the signal reception could be tested. Then it was just a waiting game until I was ready to go to bed. I watched Apocalypto until a little after eleven o'clock, then buzzed for the assistant to do the last connections and start the machine. The bed was an adjustable hospital bed, so it was pretty comfy.

I don't often have trouble going to sleep, and even all of the wiring didn't really bother me. I think it took about twenty or thirty minutes to fall asleep, mainly because I was in unfamiliar surroundings. I woke up at least a few times, but quickly dozed off again. A new attendant came in, but not because I needed a mask - it was morning! I filled out an exit questionnaire and headed back to Emeryville. A deadline was looming and I knew I'd get into the office around eight or eight-thirty AM (it was the latter). After I got back, I jumped into my work and managed to finish the assignment. Phew!

More later about the test results...

A Busy, Nerdy Saturday

Relatively speaking, of course. Most of my morning was spent photographing new acquisitions for my toy collection, as well shooting some of the old ones. It take too much time to do it on weekday mornings, so now it's all about Saturday and Sunday. I think I shot about twelve yesterday (and five today), so that was good - I like to shoot enough to make it feel like I added about two toy photos a day (to surpass the photo I'm supposed to use each day for my Toy OTD feature). I got some really nice shots, plus I finally figured out how to shoot my Real Action Heroes Trinity figure. Toys that are mostly black or really darkly colored are hard to shoot with just natural sunlight, but I finally figured it out!

I found out about a Castro theater film festival called Shock It To Me! at the last minute, so I was trying to figure out how to go on Fleet Week weekend. That's when the Blue Angels come into San Francisco, and there was a ton of other activities going on as well. Just thinking about the potential traffic and parking problems made my spine start telescoping into itself!

The reason I wanted to go to the festival was that Joe Dante was appearing to host screenings of some of his films, as well as some that inspired him when he was young. Since the get-together with John Landis had worked out pretty well, I thought I'd meet Mr. Dante at the screening and see if he was interested in visiting the studio and hosting a talk like Mr. Landis had done. I was originally going to try to see Gremlins 2 (my favorite of the films being screened) in the afternoon, but it took longer to wrap up my toy photography that I thought, so that wasn't going to happen.

At first, I was going to bail on the whole enterprise, but I'd wanted to meet Mr. Dante for quite a while, so I called the Castro to see how his appearance was being handled. As it turned out, the longest he was going to be on stage was in between Blood and Roses and The Howling, neither of which had screened yet. How could I go to the talk and go to the Super 7 Monster Mash/art & toy release party which was happening earlier in the evening - especially on such a busy weekend, and with the screening in the Castro district, notorious for its lack of parking (I've missed screenings looking for parking in the Castro)? Some juggling was clearly in order.

Anita and I drove into the city at about 6 PM - we headed for the Castro first, as I wanted to make sure the event didn't sell out. It hadn't, so I picked up a ticket and drove over to Super 7 and parked in the nearby Japantown mall. We got a good spot in line and checked out the party for about forty-five minutes, just long enough to say 'hi' to Brain and Dora, and snag some sweet Nathan Jurevicius Fauna figures. We left at about eight o'clock to begin phase two.

Anita didn't want to see The Howling, so I dropped her off at the nearby AMC 1000, parked there (they'd be open until I got back from my movie), and cabbed it into the Castro. That cost about ten dollars each way, but in my mind it was worth it to avoid the parking aggravation. I got over there at about 9:40 or so - in plenty of time, as it turned out, to catch the mid-double-feature talk. I wasn't very impressed with host John Stanley - he seemed to have a lot of his facts wrong and didn't always ask good questions - but Mr. Dante was funny and shared some good career war stories with everyone. This worked out great, and I have a feeling it was the longest talk of the day. I ducked back into the lobby after the talk was over, and met Mr. Dante.

He was on his way out to dinner, so it was a little rushed, but I managed to invite him for a talk, give him a business card with contact info, and get my Explorers DVD signed. NERD! He was very nice, and made a point of mentioning that he thought Ratatouille was one of the best films of the year. So we'll see if anything comes of that. If not, well... I tried. I ducked back in to check out The Howling again. It was okay - maybe a little better than I remembered it.

Happily, traffic was in my favor all evening! Once the film was over, I cabbed it back to to the AMC 1000 to meet back up with Anita. She'd checked out the Heartbreak Kid remake, and had a blast (which was great, because I had no interest in seeing it). We compared notes over a turkey burger at Mel's, then zoomed home and flopped into bed - phew. Fun, but hectic!

Sleeping In Stanford

I've been trying to become more organized lately, and one of the things I've meaning to do for a quite a while is to get an evaluation to determine once and for all whether or not I have sleep apnea. I'm pretty sure I have it, but I wanted to go and get checked out to be sure - plus, I'd pretty much need to anyway, if I really want to do anything about it. So I set up an appointment yesterday with the Sleep Disorder Clinic in Stanford, on the recommendation of one of my friends.

Traffic on the way there was sluggish, so I was about twenty minutes late. There was a few slowdowns en route, plus Stanford seemed to be one of those towns that has one main drag that you need to take to get anywhere - so being on it approaching nine o'clock in the morning is a bad idea (though the residential part is nice, even if I had no time to savor it). I pulled off once to check and see if I'd missed my turn-off, but I was on the right track. MapQuest was a little muddy on the location of the Psychiatry Building, but otherwise traffic was the main problem. The staff was friendly, and I was given directions to what part of the building housed the clinic (the sign-age was also pretty good). Fortunately, no one at reception seemed to care that I was late, which was a huge relief.

In a unusual burst for foresight, I decided to fill out my paperwork two nights before my office visit (they mailed me the forms after I called to set up the appointment). I was glad I did - the questionnaire had over two hundred questions - yikes! At first, I thought all of the questions dealt with apnea symptoms, and some of them looked really extreme. Daytime hallucinations? Dozing off in the middle of converstations? The hell? As it turned out, a bunch of those questions were there to rule out narcolepsy, which makes sense.

I had a couple of new forms to sign upon arriving, but since I'd filled out everything else already, the doctor could see me right away. The consultation took about ninety minutes, and a lot of it was a re-hash of what I'd filled out on the forms. Still, I was glad to have done the homework, as I was more focused and thorough in my part of the discussion. There were a few brief physical checks - mostly my nose and throat - but a lot of it was chewing over the test data and weighing the options if it was determined that I did have sleep apnea.

There's three basic approaches to treating the condition. Since it's caused by a narrowing of your breathing airway, the first option is a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine that literally inflates it. This works for a lot of people - so many that there's a website that sells nothing but these machines - but some people hate it, so there's other possibilities.

Option Two is surgery - they widen the airway by removing part of the back of your throat. This is a mid-level solution, but I was told that this wouldn't help me at all.

Option Three is more radical surgery - moving most of the lower/front part of the skull forward to widen the airway. It can change your appearance, it's expensive, and it takes months to heal. Needless to say, I really hope the CPAP machine works.

The next step is to basically have a sleepover at the clinic, and take a test to monitor my breathing. That'll conclusively determine if I have sleep apnea, and how severe it is. If it's really severe, my onsite sleep ranger will wake me up and hook me up to a CPAP immediately. Regardless, I'll probably have another visit to help figure out exactly what CPAP pressure my airway needs. My first overnight test will be next week, so I'll keep you posted!

PS - I've also been asked to take part in some research since I'm being tested anyway, but I'm not sure about it. Everyone I've met at the clinic is great, but that could be pretty time-consuming, especially since I live an hour away from the clinic!

So Long, Joe Riley

I got word from Ken Mitchroney today that his friend Joe Riley died on Thursday of a heart attack. The doctors managed to regain a heartbeat for a while, but he never woke back up. He was forty-three, just a year older than I am.

I never got to meet Joe in person, but I'll bet we'd have gotten along great. Joe had a neat blog called men-oo-she-a, which was loaded with all kinds of great pop culture junk. His artwork was really cool, and I was especially envious of how he could build model kits so that they looked better than they did on the box. Way, way better!!

Take care, Joe - I know Kenny'll miss you terribly.

Last Night's Super 7 Party!

Yesterday afternoon, Anita and I packed up the Insight with three boxes of beavers and drove into San Francisco. We we too early to go over to Super 7 right away, so we visited Double Punch in North Beach. I picked up a Mickey Mouse/Oswald the Rabbit vinyl set I'd been waiting for, as well as a Francesca figure from Mad Monster Party, a Sofubi-Monster mini-figure, some Little India stationary, and a couple of early Christmas gifts. After my loot was scooped up, we headed over to Japantown.

As usual, Brian Flynn, Dora Drimalas and the rest of the Super 7 crew were incredibly courteous. Everyone helped me to set up the "Happy Beaver" display, complete with refreshments. It was cool to see the team at work - my toy was available at the Super 7 online store before the party even got underway! Anita and I brought some wine, champagne, an iPod filled with party music, and prints to make the toy sales a little extra special. If anyone was put off by the toy's price, I figured the print would be a nice inexpensive thing for shoppers to buy (happily, no one bought just the print!).

Party time drew nearer, and guests started to arrive. Paul Mica and his wife Maria showed up, fresh off the plane from Vancouver! I hadn't seen either of them in quite a while, so it was a nice surprise. Sanjay "Little India" Patel arrived and clued me in on his new project. He's pulled a Melville and taken a year off to work on it. I can't tell you what it is, but I can't wait to see it finished!

A couple of my 'story buddies' from Toy Story 2 - Ken Mitchroney and Dave Feiten - also popped in to show support and throw their shoulders into livening up the room. It's never hard for those guys! Brian Stokes drove up from LA just to be there, and he talked some recent collector converts into attending. My good friend Jen Howard was in attendance, as well as graphic designer Heather McNabb. Support from all directions!

There was high-wattage toy support to be had from labbit guru Frank Kozik, who brought a big bag of enthusiasm and lots of pointers for my future toy projects. Mr. Flynn had lots of helpful information, too!

I couldn't leave without picking up some stuff - I got a Tetsujin-28 character toy, a Panda-Z toy that I'd been meaning to replace, and a couple of Anpanman figures (I have no idea what their names are). Brian also gave me a copy of Super 7's new book, Tokyo Underground - basically, a extremely detailed toy shopping guide for Tokyo. Yow! Just what I've always wanted, and probably shouldn't have!

It had been sprinkling off and on all day, and while I'm sure the weather forecast scared a lot of people off, it was still a great evening - shoppers drifting in and out, and I had a blast catching up with old friends, signing the odd toy here and there. The sales just keep ticking away, and it's terrific to see so much confidence and support in my work. Thanks so much, everybody!!

As Summer Fades

It's been busy the last week or so, even apart from storyboarding - Anita and Tim wrapped up their last performance of the season, and have moved on to booking Swazzle's holiday show. Anita re-injured her knee on a recent break with her family in Las Vegas, so we need to check with the doctor and see how severe the damage is. Her knee had been steadly improving for a while, so this is a bit of setback.

Last weekend, I went to the toy show in San Jose with my buddies Bob, Bill and Jerome. It was a small show again, but still very good, so everyone had fun. Jerome had never been to a toy show before, and I was worried that it wouldn't be enjoyable enough for non-addicts. Fortunately, that wasn't the case!

I picked up some of the new Cars die-cast releases, mainly because the local stores were pulling all of the cars off the shelves due to the lead-paint scare (that's happily not persisting, but it didn't instill me with a lot of confidence that I'd be able to find the new ones). If you've been keeping an eye on my Flickr site, you already know that I finally found the Abominable Snowplow, Bob Cutlass and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (and an extra for my dad). They weren't cheap, but I've got them now. Of course, they'll show up in stores at Christmastime for $3.00 each, and I'll bang my head against the wall then. Must... have... more... patience...

I also picked up a few Funkovision sets from a guy I'd seen there before - he always has Funko stuff for a little less than retail (plus I don't have to pay shipping), so I snapped 'em up! I found the Dick Dastardly & Muttley set, the Peter Pottamus & So-So set, and the Yosemite Sam & Dragon set for my dad as well(he loves those cartoons). The TV set packages are awesome, but I'm not even sure I'll keep one of them - they're serious space gobblers.

I weakened further and bought an old Yogi Bear plush from the late fifties. I don't think I'll beat that price, so I don't have any buyer's remorse about it.

Yesterday I had my first "Happy Beaver" toy sale at work. There were two competing events, so between those and work, I was limited to about fifty minutes. I sold eleven in that amount of time, so I was very pleased! Scott Morse is going to sell his new sketchbook at work sometime soon, so I'll probably try again at that point, when the event schedule is less crowded.

Last night, Ken Mitchroney, his wife Beth, Anita and I hit the Oakland Coliseum for Anita's first local ballgame. I go to basebally games so rarely that I knew no one would believe the I went (hence Ken's cel phone photo)! The weather was great (I didn't need a jacket all night), the game was a good one for the unconverted - quick innings, some great plays, some awful ones, a couple of home runs, and loads of fireworks - one of the best pyro shows I've ever seen (even compared to Disneyland), with a spectacular view of everything! Thanks, Ken!

PS - When I returned home, I had a package waiting for me! I had sent John Landis one of my figures (I thought he'd like one, since it feels a little like an old M-G-M cartoon character), and in gratitude, he sent me a thank you gift - a Blues Brothers card, a DVD of one of his favorite movies, and both sets of the Killer Panda Monster Theater toys! Cool! So I nerded out big time over that.

New Display Cabinet

This sale couldn't have come at a better time - I was in dire need of more toy display space, and this cabinet comes along. It's got twice the visibility for half the price of my other cabinets (and almost as much volume)! I'll get a shot of it filled up in a day or two.

"They're Heee-rre..."

The "Happy Beaver" toy shipment arrived today - all four hundred of them. My office is filled with boxes! I'll set up the Canadian and UK mail-order buttons as soon as I can. As always, please let me know if you want to buy my beaver toy, and live outside of the five-digit-zip-code US, Canada or the UK.