CC @ C3 Spectacular - Part 2
Posted by: Bill Cable 05.04.05 12:01am
Welcome back! Ready for more C3 insanity? Good. Now, before we get to Saturday, I have something to take care of...

Now, if you remember from last week's story, on Thursday night I attended the Collectors Social Hour. At that event some of the guys from the collecting track, myself included, handed out Ewoks animation cels to those in attendance. I posted a couple pics of the people hunting through some of the cels I laid out. Well, it turns out I was captured in the process by my friend Tom Garvey from across the table. So you saw my POV last week, and now you can see his!

Look at that guy control the crowd and keep those rabid dogs at bay!! That was one masterful effort... if I do say so myself. Now... moving on to...

Saturday was the "big" day at C3. And it couldn't have gotten off to a better start. Friday afternoon, I stopped in the Press Room to do a quick E-mail check. I had a Press Pass, after all, and intended to use it to it's fullest benefits. But up until that moment, the benefits of the Press Pass really hadn't amounted to jack sh*t. Yeah, I could get into the building early, but I didn't get access to anywhere cool. Couldn't get into the Exhibitors room. Couldn't get into any of the talks or presentations without standing in line. I was expecting to be treated like a prince, but I was being dealt with no differently than your average plebe. And that sucked. But on Friday, the benefit of the Press Pass was finally revealed to me. And that benefit came in the form of admittance to an audience with the Flannelled-One himself!

I had been tossing around the idea of standing in line waiting to see Lucas, but really didn't want to deal with the weather and lack of sleep. So I'd pretty much resigned myself not to go. But on Friday, as I was checking my E-mail, a string of press people came in for details on Lucas. And I overheard the tale 3 or 4 times... "Show up in the morning at the main doors. Display your press pass, and you'll be escorted to a holding room. And then you'll be taken up to the ballroom for the talk." That's right. No rain. No sleep depravation. And the choicest seats in the room. I KNEW this web site would end up being good for something some day!! So I rolled out of bed at around 6:30am. Showered. Grabbed a muffin and some juice. And strolled over to the convention center where I walked right in and sat down in a cozy meeting room. After about 30 minutes, they paraded us past the thousands of people lined up inside the building and up to the front of the ballroom, just to the left of the stage.

And that's where I ran in to my first batch of idiots. It seems the "press" is incapable of figuring out how to choose a row and sit down. Everyone was sort of jockeying for position, nearest the aisle, and as a result there was just a mass of humanity. Being one of the few alpha males in the room, I chose a row and told the guys milling around ahead of me to move their asses. And then they started whining..."I don't like to be pushed." "Don't yell at me." Waaaa waaa waaa. After all the store lines I suffered through, I wasn't about to stand there and wait for these dips to get their sh*t together. I ended up making out pretty well... by herding a line of guys down the row I found myself just two seats from the aisle. And in a better seat than the whiners I moved out of my way. Score one for Cable!

So we ended up sitting there for almost 30 minutes, waiting for the crowd to get seated and Mr. Lucas to get in the building. It seemed to drag on a bit, but considering all the people who spent the night in the rain, I won't complain much. Here you can see the PowerPoint slides that entertained us with such phrases as "He's here! Really!" as well as the crowd getting in behind me.

Then it was the big moment. First Emcee Jay Laga’aia ran out to prime us a bit. Then Rick McCallum came out. He flubbed up his part during the first talk. He was supposed to introduce a movie, then call out Lucas' kids who would then bring out Lucas. Instead, he went right to the kids, who called out their dad, who said from behind the curtain "What about the movie??" His mic was on. It was funny. So then they did the movie and Rick called him out again... it was just a mess.

Lucas came out, and started mugging for the cameras. It was a blinding blast of flash bulbs for almost two straight minutes... which wouldn't be half as funny except for the fact that 99% of the people taking photos were well out of flash distance for their respective cameras. I was in a pretty good place... out of flash range but still close enough to get the money shot:

Yeah baby! I rule. So Lucas did his thing... made the big TV announcements... fielded a few questions from a few completely indecipherable fans. Maybe all the rain had soaked their brains... but the things they were asking were just... odd. And then they ushered us out of the room. I mean... I don't want to sound all negative. It was a great experience. And it made filling out the Press Pass application a worthwhile endeavor. I mean, I wouldn't have even been able to attend at all without the Press Pass due to a conflict during his two later talks. But before we get to that... enjoy a few more shots of Uncle George...

So I was out of there around 9:30-ish. And I had my big talk at 10am. That left precious little time for me to get prepped. The first thing I need to do was find a photographer... and thankfully CreatureCantina.com staffer Sandy Rivers was more than happy to help! So first thing I needed to do was demonstrate how the camera works. He insisted I include this shot in the write up...

My presentation was on Character Collecting. I was up there with Mike Mensinger and Chris Fawcett. And it was a fun talk. Mostly we just showed off our own collections, but we also gave some pointers on how to be successful and good stuff like that. I demonstrated some advanced eBay search tips that I actually got some compliments on afterwards. And people laughed at my jokes! That was a joy! Because I am the worst joke teller you'll ever meet. I know... you wouldn't know it based on this site... but I just can't deliver the standard "A guy walks into a bar" joke, or the ice breaker public speaking joke. It just never works for me. But when I did the bit asking if anybody knew where I could find a MOC ROTJ removable limbs C-3PO with an Anakin sticker offer... I had them rolling!! Unless that was just a pity laugh... but it sure didn't feel like one.

So here's us. I'm in the center. Mike is in the dark shirt. Cj is the other guy. And check out the photo of the fully-engaged, standing-room-only crowd! (It's not a good thing, being scheduled opposite the Lucas talks and during the time everyone was in line for C3 Vaders). The crowd wasn't the biggest in the hall that day, but they had a blast.

As you can see, Sandy doesn't really grasp the whole "flash doesn't work from more than 12' away" thing, either. But I do appreciate his efforts!

Whew... this is a lot of typing. I think it's time for a babe break. Enjoy these babes, and other various costume pics!

Nothing better than an Asian female Count Dooku. And that girl in the black Mandalorian armor had RED contacts... it looked freaky as hell. The Gamorrean Guard was probably my favorite (non-sexy) costume from the entire weekend... just TOP NOTCH!

Throughout the day I ran into a couple other celebs. I saw Steve Sansweet walking down the hallway and bugged him for a photo. He initially said no, until I introduced myself as Bill Cable. Then he was more than happy to pose. I also made my way into the Autograph Hall, where I scored a photo of Leeanna Walsman. I knew Tronzo took one of her earlier, but I wasn't about to pass up the chance to walk up and say hello to her.

Then there was the mustache contest! I was approached to provide one of the prizes, so I decided to stop by and take a few photos. And man... I've never attended a mustache growing contest before, but even with my limited experience I know this was a really weak field. I've never seen a sorrier set of mustaches. I can't grow a decent stache to save my life... but had I known this to be my competition I probably would have made a go at it. And it didn't help that Aaron shaved his two days before the judging. Everyone was so neatly trimmed... I was expecting some beastly staches. Just disappointing all around.

Check out these sad staches...

I do have to give some credit to Tim. The Star Tours uniform was fantastic! The gold glasses with attached sideburns was a bit overboard... but the uniform itself was spiffy.

After about 30 minutes of waiting for people to show up, we finally got around to meeting our "Celebrity Judge." And said celebrity was none other than Shannon McRandle (formerly Shannon Baska)! And she recruited the help of Michonne Bourriague and Leeanna Walsman on the final decision. The winner (FIXED) was contest organizer Dave Myatt! And his prize - THE BAG!! But Dave was gracious... passing around the bag for each contestant to pull out a prize. And I was pretty happy that my art ended up with Andre. I thought his was the best stache. I mean, Dave had a good one... but he was working the cowboy hat and everything. Andre was just like "I'm here... and here's my stache." You gotta be impressed by that gumption.

Saturday night, and it was more hanging out at the Omni. I got together with almost 30 of my favorite Vintage collector buddies for a meal at the hotel restaurant. The food was top tier gourmet. And priced as such. But it was worth every penny. I took a bunch of photos on Mark S.'s camera... but that fat Aussie bastard decided to tour the United States for the next month... so I can't get those photos from him yet. I had a couple Vintage guys pose with the sign before heading up to my room to get ready for dinner, but that was it. And damnit... I can't even get to my Blue Snag photo! I guess I'll just have to link to Shane's...

And then it was up to the hallway for some more wheeling and dealing. I hung out for a while with James and Josh... admiring one of James' Vintage carded figures I needed (a Luke X-Wing I sent payment out for this Monday)... and being serenaded by Josh's incomparable musical stylings. It was a lot of fun!

After hanging out in there listening to tragic stories for WAY too long, I decided to call it a night. After a very long day, I hit the hay.

By Sunday, I was completely exhausted. I barely broke out my camera at all. I got a couple good costume shots, including some amazing Padme costumes, and that neat Taun Taun that clogged up the main hallway most of the day. But that was just about it.

Sunday after cleaning up the PSWCS booth, some of us went out to dinner, then hung out for a while afterwards and had a blast. And then Monday it was a 9-hour drive back to PA. And that was the trip. It was one hell of an adventure.

I can't express enough just how much fun I had at C3. I tried to split my time between my PSWCS friends and my Vintage friends, and I think I struck a pretty good balance. Part of me wished I'd had another week to enjoy the company. The other part was so tired that I couldn't wait to get home to sleep in my own bed. That said, going to C3 was a blessing from beginning to end, and I enjoyed everyone's companionship immensely.

I'd like to send out apologies to the people I may have offended. I think I pretty much assured that I'll never be adding a couple of desperately-desired prototype pieces from Todd C's collection to mine after calling him a "bastard" repeatedly for having them. I was saying it in a joking manner... but I don't think he was amused. That was before he learned from Mark that "bastard" is a term of endearment Down Under. And I almost brought Joe Y to tears by commenting that he'd scare away anybody who might think to attend a panel he hosted on bootlegs. Again, I was saying it in a joking manner... but he seemed genuinely hurt. You may not be "generic," but you're still beautiful, man!! To all the women I ogled - that was your own damn fault... if you didn't want me to look then you shouldn't have been wearing that.

I left C3 with some really killer pieces added to my C-3PO collection. I picked up items that I wouldn't have even dreamed of scoring when I crawled into Mike's minivan before dawn on Wednesday. The only other thing I could have hoped to find was a MOC ROTJ removable limbs C-3PO with an Anakin sticker offer. I repeat... I'm looking for a MOC ROTJ removable limbs C-3PO with an Anakin sticker offer. If you know where I might find one... please send me an E-mail...

I'm already looking forward to C4 in 2007. I can't wait to hang with you guys again. Maybe next time the Press Pass will be worth a damn. Until then, I guess I'll have to keep pressing on with this CreatureCantina.com web site. BTW... if you haven't yet, click on some ads. Help support our endeavors! Please!!

What do I gotta do, bribe you? OK... I'll bribe you! As a thank you for clicking our ads at the top of this page, I leave you with these hot FemtrOOper pics!

Now go up and click the ads! Click!! CLIIIIIIIIIIICK!!!!

PS: Hope you enjoyed the write-up.

-Bill Cable