Fanboy Expo, autographs and some toys

This past weekend, my family and I went to Fanboy Expo in Knoxville, TN.   This is an annual trip for us.   We really love this con because it is a family friendly event and our kids enjoy it too.   Which makes life a lot easier when you have three kiddos in tow.

This year's Fanboy had some great celebrity guests.  The list included:  Lee Majors,  Joey Lauren Adams, Elvira ( Cassandra Peterson),  Billy Dee Williams, Jeremy Bullock, several signers from "The Walking Dead", and Dirty Sanchez himself, Dustin Diamond, just to name a few.  

Walking by Dustin Diamond's booth, I could not look at him.  All I kept thinking was that someone made a sex tape with Screech!  Why??  I know that whole scandal has been years ago, but still I am just mind boogled by it.   Although, I did hear some attendees say that he was very nice and they were happy that they met him.



My husband was interested in meeting "The Walking Dead" cast members. He recently got into the series  and
decided to start getting a poster autographed.   I personally felt some of them were a little overpriced, especially considering that their characters were no longer on the show.   I am not a fan of the series, so it didn't really interest me.

 The poster was signed by:  Chandler Riggs, Madison Lintz, Daniel Thomas May, Tyler Chase, Sonya Thompson, Theodus Crane, Kylie Syzmanski, Josh Stewart.   He is hoping to add a few more signatures  later in July at another Con.

I was excited to meet Eric Bauersfeld.  He is known for being the voice of Bid Fortuna and Admiral Ackbar.    Since I had the opportunity to meet Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar) last year at this same event, I wanted to get the Ackbar voice actor as well.    It was a rare appearance, since Mr. Bauersfeld is 91 years old.  But he was lovely gentleman and it was truly a pleasure to meet him.   I got this great Ackbar print signed.  Hopefully, Tim Rose will return to a Con somewhere nearby and I can get this piece signed by him as well.

We also took some pictures with the Batmobile and as an added bonus, someone drove a General Lee to the con.  Can you imagine having a General Lee as your ride?  Sadly though, I saw them park and
they didn't climb out the windows.   As a kid, I always thought that was the best part.

So what kind of toys did we pick up?  Well, I finally broke down and bought the Kenner Preschool Ewok Treehouse.   It is something that I have been wanting for some time, so I got it.  There are a few pieces missing. But with it, I got 8 Ewoks (Wicket included) and parts for both the Ewok Fire Cart and Woodland Cart.


I also picked up a nude Jem and the Holograms Aja doll.   I am hoping that I will be able to trade her for something Monster High or possibly some Barbies.   I also picked up a bag of Gobots,  and a few other miscellaneous figures that I will blog about later.   I haven't really had the chance to clean anything up yet, but more to come on all the goodies from Fanboy Expo

Admiral Ackbar, The Highlander, and some vintage toys

This is a re-post from October 2012 from my family blog.

This past Saturday, my family and I took a little road trip to Knoxville, TN to attend the Fanboy Expo.   This year the sci-fi convention had some really great celebrity guest in attendance.  For us, we were most excited to meet Adrian Paul from The Highlander tv series and Tim Rose, puppeteer and Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

My husband really loved The Highlander tv series so meeting "Duncan MacLeod" was exciting to him.   I do have to say that I love Adrian Paul's accent.  Listening to him talk during is Q&A session was great.   He was funny and genuinely seemed to enjoy meeting his fans.

I know my husband had wished that he could have spoken with him longer.  DH has always loved The Highlander.   As a gift one year, I bought my husband all 6  seasons on DVD.   We had this epic Highlander marathon one weekend.   That of course was before we had children and our TV got hijacked by Nickelodeon.

We took a short break after meeting Adrian Paul.  His line was the longest of the day for our family.  The kids were ready for a change of pace.    The venue for the event was held at a park, which was great! The kids were able to get outside and run around for a little bit.  After a bite of lunch, they were happy again.

For me, the highlight of our time there, was meeting Tim Rose.   Since, my Star Wars costume is Admiral Ackbar, it was a true pleasure to meet the man who actually portrayed the character. As a puppeteer he has worked on some of my favorite movies.  Return of the Jedi, Howard the Duck (cheesy but awesome), and Dark Crystal.   I went total nerd and brought my costume for 2 reasons.  1.) To get a picture with Mr. Rose and 2.) to enter the costume contest.    I mean, how often do you have to opportunity to meet the actors?

I really wished that I had the opportunity to speak with him a little bit longer.  I would have loved to have learned more from him about being Ackbar.

I am proud to say that I did win  for best costume in the "Best Sci-Fi" category.   I won an autographed poster.  It was signed by a graphic novel artist.  I am totally finding some place to display it.  As far as I am concerned, it is a trophy of sorts.

We did meet several other Star Wars actors.  My husband added their signatures to one of our multi signed pieces.

Of course, you can't go to a con without hitting the vendors area.   I only picked up a few items to add to my assorted toy collections.  My first purchase came in the way of Mr. Staypuft.   I have been fighting starting a Ghostbusters toy collection.  But, I just love that movie so much!  I never had any of the toys as a kid.  So I gave in and got the beloved marshmallow.  He really is in excellent condition.  The color is still white, no yellowing and no marks.

I need 2 more Ghostbuster figures, Slimer, and maybe an Ecto1 for my collection to be complete.

My second purchase was a bag of assorted Harry Potter action figures from the first 2 movies.   I paid $15 for the bag, which was reasonable for the 15 figures it contained.    I finally got a Ron Weasley in Hogwarts robes!  Which to me, made the bag.   I also picked up a Griphook figure and 3 of the Slime Chamber figures (2 Harrys and a Malfoy).   Some of the figures are extras or upgrades to the ones I already own.   I also was able to upgrade my large Hagrid figure by adding his pink umbrella accessory to him.  Now, if I can locate a baby Norbert, he will be complete.

I really love the mini Quiddich Harry and Hagrid figures.  I have been researching  more information on the "mini" figures.   My HP figure short list is growing.  I am now on the look out for a Ginny Weasley mini figure.