Well, my dad and I attended Cybercon in New York today. Transformers and other geekdom galore. What a blast! Still, where to begin? Getting there was interesting, especially after getting into NY state itself. The directions we had proved insufficient at one point, and we ended up driving around for almost an hour. Fortunately, my dad & eye have skills that tend to complement each other's at times. We ended getting there about an hour early (around 1:00 P.M.) for our pre-registered entrance. In light of that, we began to search for a parking space. My dad decided to take a side street, and I spotted a parking garage just as we were about to pass it. Lucky us. What we found to our dismay was that the autograph session we hoped to attend was scheduled for 7:00 in the evening. We both gained miniature Transformers (called MyClone) as door prizes, and a signed Transformers: Armada comic (each, both the same) for preregistration. The convention was somewhat boring at first. However, I set one goal to take my time: Finding a Generation 1 Terrorcon Hun-Grr with accessories. So many were either bagged sets priced around $100, sealed set boxes (rare at that) around $700, or $10 figures w/out even the gun! Finally, I settled for a $25 set of japanese Terrorcons in mint condition. I have all the ones except Hunn-Grr, but some of these had accessories for the others that I had lost years ago. Besides, two of them are in different colors. Shortly before making that purchase, disaster struck: I misplaced my folder (with my autograph ticket)!! mg: My dad finds me without it and becomes a bit pissed, but as he says so, an announcement is made, calling for my father (who paid for these tickets) to come to the stage to retrieve the folder. I got it from the guy (with some jokes abound). Lesson from that: My dad = guardian angel. :joy: Time and time again today, dad proved his saviorhood. He gave the idea that we had some Dunkin' Donuts drinks before the convention (it was rather humid outside) AND he decided on touring the outside area to kill some time. Around 5:00, a panel discussion was formed to discuss the (cult) classic Transformers movie. They reviewed the screening process --mostly the drawing of it, and how accurate the sketches were to either the actual movie or the Marvel comics. At times, many scenes were syncronized to the audio of movie (and to the actual scenes in motion), showing their accuracy. Deleted scenese, blooper footage, and trailers were shown as well. In the end, I took part in a contest, amongst 2 other contestants, and 5 questions. Unfortunately, me and another contestant guessed 1 answer right each. Fortunately, we were able to split the prize: I got 2 Transfomers Marvel Comic trade paperbacks, signed by the writers of the comics themselves. The other guy got a Transformers: Generation 2 (another Marvel series) and (IIRC) a Dreamwave TF comic - both signed - as his prize. Around 7:00 P.M., though, my ultimate goal was reached: getting the autograph. My dad showed his most cleverness by asking the staff where the autograph lines would start. I took the initiative and waited at the bottom left stairs of the stage, finding myself the 2nd person (the 1st being a staff member) to get my autograph. Who is this signer, you ask? Who else but Peter Cullen, the voice of THE original Optimus Prime! And I was just a foot away from him as he entered, I gasping a surprised "Oh my" accompanied by his own wide-eyed "Wow". And so I went up stage when ushered, put my ticket in the box, and presented the screen cap I took -- a scene from the 3rd season of the Transformers showing an alloy-clad Optimus Prime grappling a blow torch-bearing Rodimus Prime. As he did this, I remarked of Optimus being my hero, and quipped a famous line from Optimus' arch nemesis, Megatron (maintaining a pinch of Frank Welker's voice): "I would have waited an eternity for this!" Cullen smiled and responded with a bit of Optimus: "Autobots, transform!" I walked off that stage feeling like a weight was lifted from my shoulders, like darkness had passed. Me and my dad helped each other get out of the facility and New York. In the end, that was a true adventure in such a mundane world. Good luck to you all! Autobots, transform and roll out! :doublethu
