CV – A play-by-play, day-by-day (Thur.)

by Darth Danno
on 2010-08-24, 08:06:15

Woke up, got dressed, and did a quick assessment of things. Cash, check! Backpack to carry everything in, check! Cellphone, check! Sinus infection...check. I guess the little sleep I got this morning didn't hurt, but didn't help. However I was not going to let this ruin my trip. We left our hotel room and headed out to where we would catch the shuttle to the convention center, we got there just as the bus pulled up, climbed aboard, and waited to depart. After what seemed like an eternity to an over- anxious Star Wars fan like myself, we were finally on our way. We were dropped off at the convention center and made our way to the holding area where everyone was lined up waiting for 10:00 to come. Not sure what the delay was, but it was after ten before the doors opened and the flood of people onto the convention floor commenced.

Upon seeing this huge room, lined wall to wall with Star Wars displays, memorabilia, merchandise, and the like, it was enough to bring a tear or two to the eye. We decided to methodically walk up and down the isles taking in all there was to see. Before we knew it, we were in front of the artist's area and I knew I needed to stop there first, considering most prints only had an edition size of 250, I figured they'd be sold out (at least of the ones I wanted) if I waited until tomorrow. It was rather an odd set-up, at other cons, you pay the artist, you get your print, and the deal is done. Here you told the artist you'd like to purchase “X” number of their prints, they gave you a receipt, you then went to pay for them, then you brought the register receipt back to the artist and he gave you your print. So I got receipts for the three prints I wanted, then went to stand in the llllllllloooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnngggggggggg line to pay. I was told that Lucasfilm felt only one cash register would suffice, but that turned out to not be the case as I got in line to pay at 11:30, and finally got up to the register (no joke or exaggeration here) at 4:00! Took my receipts and went to pick up my prints, and wouldn't you know it, one of the artists had already left for the day. At least with my receipt I was guaranteed a print, and he had left a note in his booth stating he'd return on Friday at 10:00, so I wasn't too worried.

With three hours left on the clock and about $90.00 left in my pocket, I decided to see what the vendors had to offer. Bought a couple figures from the Legacy Collection I was looking for, and was surprised to find that the exclusive Bounty Hunter figures and Comic pack weren't sold at the Celebration Store, but in fact, were sold at the Hasbro booth, and there was no line!!! Sweeeeeet!!!!! Bought those babies post haste!

I wasn't getting paid until tomorrow (Fri), but fortunately had direct deposit, so would do all of my autograph and Celebration store purchases tomorrow. Went over to the PSWCS booth to see if Bill was there, he wasn't, so I figured I'd try again tomorrow. There wasn't much time left in the day, I hadn't eaten, was tired, had a headache, and was still suffering with a scratchy throat, so we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel.

We boarded our shuttle and headed back to the Wyndham Orlando, no sooner did we disembark then it started to rain, and here I am with all my treasures that did not need, like, or want to get wet, and no way to get to our building without being out in the open. So here I was, trying to cover everything to keep it all dry. The Force was with me and I made it back to the room with nary a drop on anything important. We went out to eat at a Popeye's down the street and decided to spend the rest of the evening resting in the room rather than heading back to the Convention center to partake in any of the evenings activities, parties, etc...It's so much fun to be sick on vacation...NOT! Next week...Day II (Friday). Stay tuned!