3 Day NYCC Report - A Tony Ruben Production

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MrTonyRuben
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3 Day NYCC Report - A Tony Ruben Production

Post by MrTonyRuben »

Well damn. It took 34 years, but I finally made it to New York City! The catalyst that got me there was NYCC...which was one hell of an experience.

I came up Thursday via 3 hour train ride from DC...cheap rate which was nice and arrived at Penn Station just before 11 AM. Somehow I managed to find my hotel, then it was off to the Javitz Center via Uber. Once I arrived, I had to take a few to soak things up because just from the trip itself, being in NYC for the first time and the size of the convention center, it had caused a sensory overload! I saw people standing in a LONG line, but it was apparently for will call tickets so I went to an entrance and went right in. I found my way to the autograph area to scope everything out. I had downloaded the official NYCC app and one of the first notifications I received was that Ethan Hawke’s autograph line was capped. I went and found his table and I asked the volunteer if he was indeed capped. The volunteer said it will be when 7 more people enter. Lucky me, so I entered. He was autographing his book that he co-wrote, Indeh, along with the other author, Greg Ruth. I purchased the book and the graphs were free with the purchase which was nice. Ethan was very cordial and glad I got the graph but no selfies were allowed though. A volunteer did take a photo of Ethan signing the book...of course you can’t really tell it’s Ethan because he was wearing a hat and looking down, but I’ll take what I can get.

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My next thing to do was to make it to the photo op area and get my first op done with Jack Gleeson. Game Of Thrones actors are a must for me, since it’s my favorite show going on right now. While waiting in line, I spotted Woodmo & Lanza. I said hello and briefly chatted with them before I got back in line for the photo. Jack was very nice, shook my hand immediately then posed for the photo. I thanked him and I was ready to rest for bit.

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After finding somewhere to sit because I was already drained from the travel and lack of sleep the previous night, I went to my next photo op, Matt Smith. I’ve had chances before to get a photo at other cons, but I’ve always put them off. Well, no more. His line was pretty decent wait since I held out from buying a ticket til I was at the con and ended up in group 3. One of the only times I’ll carry a prop, I asked Matt if he wouldn’t mind posing with my sonic screwdriver and he obliged! I thanked him after and extended my hand...he paused and said thanks to me but went for a fist bump instead. A little odd considering he just held a prop I provided, but I’m cool if he just wanted to fist bump.

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After the photo, I was completely drained so I made my way out and luckily hailed a cab to take me to my hotel room so I could rest up for the next day.

I woke up early Friday morning and did a little bit of sightseeing and some touristy stuff before heading down to the con at 10 am. I walked right up to the front and they sent me in a line that was basically doing loops up and down 34th Street. It seemed so odd so I got out of line and asked a volunteer and he confirmed everyone was doing 2 full rotation laps down 34th before entering. Well I found a new spot in line and was able to enter at 10:30.

I went down to the autographing area and went into the line for J. August Richards. While waiting in line, I found out that at the Marvel booth on the show floor had a raffle drawing exactly at 10 for an unannounced signing for the 3 cast members of Agent of Shield. :facepalm: What a bummer since I couldn’t even get into the building. They basically told me I had to be at the convention center before 8 am if I wanted a shot at it. Anywho, J. August Richards came out and he was extremely friendly and very personable. We talked a bit and I found out he was a DC area native and he grew up in the city right next to mine! Very cool to hear and I got a nice combo from him. He thanked me by calling me his DC brother! :like:

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I had some time to spare so I went exploring the main show floor for the first time. After looking through many different thing and walking by the Marvel booth, I spotted a guy with a sign that said “Evangeline Lilly signing at Titan Books booth until 12:45 pm." Surprised by this, I checked the time and it was 12:30. I made a mad rush to find the both and got there just in time. She was only signing the book, along with the artist, but I’m by no means picky and just wanted to meet her in advance to free up time for Saturday. She was a sweetheart, told me she liked my shirt and eventually asked me what my favorite fandom of hers was and I immediately said LOST and I gushed about how the show was so unique and well acted, which she thanked me for. I took the book along with 2 extra signatures on a little flyer for her upcoming book and a bookmark.

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I made my way back down to the autograph area, where I had some luck in winning a raffle I saw on Facebook. They were offering cast signings for different TV shows and movies and I ended up winning a free signing with the cast of Black Sails. It’s a good show so I was happy winning this raffle. I asked the crew if selfies were allowed, they said no because of time factors, but they said we could take as many photos while in line and off to the side. I just did the former. The whole thing was filmed and mic’d up by the Starz network, so that’s something I’ll be on the lookout for. They provided an 18x24 poster and 8 people signed it. 3 producers and 5 of the main actors (Hannah New, Luke Arnold, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Tom Hopper & Clara Paget) All were extremely nice and I talked to each of them about looking forward to the final season. I initially had one thing left to do and that was to get a dual photo op of the Stranger Things cast, but as I was carrying such a big poster, I wanted to find something to put it in. I didn’t want to risk a poster tube because the poster was very thick so I was thinking of getting a toploader. I ended up finding the right sized toploader at a booth after my photo ops...which was a freaking nightmare of a wait.

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I lined up for the dual phot at 2:45 because it was supposed to start at 3:15. Well...that didn’t happen because the young actress, Millie Bobby Brown’s solo line was moving at a snail's pace. I found out from a volunteer that she was taking multiple breaks. Around 4 PM, I spotted Woodmo, Greg & Lanza. I went up to them for a few, basically shooting the shit and irritated with how long the line was taking. I made my way back to my spot in line. Right at 5 pm, the dual line finally started to move! 5:15 and it was finally my turn but they took a brief hydration break. I noticed David Harbour was wearing a walking boot so I assume he needed long breaks as well. They finished their break and before the photo was taken, Millie asked me what my shirt was, which David replied “It’s Seinfeld, you’re too young to know them.” We both chuckled and she said she knows about Seinfeld. The picture was taken, it came out great, I shook hands with David and thanked them both. I exited the con, tried for an Uber but after waiting 20 mins and the driver nowhere near the area, I cancelled it and just walked back to my hotel. Day 2 complete.

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Day 3 is here. I took the advice from people on Friday and showed up before 8 am because I wanted to be early for the Carrie Fisher autograph line. I had a cab drop me off at 34th & 11th and I saw a small line...but that ended up being a will call line. I went to the entrance that I had been using the previous 2 days and they pointed me down towards the 39th street entrance and said go to the end of the line. Well I got to 40th and the line curved all the way down to 12th St. The line kept curving as I continued to walk to the back of the building and made it to 34th again. The line had curved up towards 11th where it finally ended...which is exactly where I was dropped off by the cab! :angry14: Amazingly within 20 minutes, the line started to move around the building and eventually we were let in through the 39th street entrance and into the queue hall. At 10, they let us roam free and ended up being one of the first 10 people in her line. It was going to be a long wait, but Carrie ended up arriving 45 minutes early! My turn came and I had my geek face on for our convo, even talking about her travel in while sharing a plane with John Mayer. After she signed a photo, she had her glitter gel out and she doused the top of my head with it. I’m probably in the minority, but I loved it and wore it as a badge of honor! Hell to me it’s like Princess Leia gave you a gold medal at the awards ceremony during the end of A New Hope. :lol:

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Next I made my way to Evangeline Lilly’s photo op. While waiting, it was the 3rd day in a row I ran into Woodmo and the first day I saw Ira. We talked a bit about the previous day’s shenanigans. The line began to move and damn, did Evangeline look great! I shook her hand and thanked her after the photo.

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Once done, I bumped into Joresky and we walked and talked for a bit. Afterwards, I went to go for another autograph session, but I changed my mind at the last second...wanting to save as much as I can for RICC next month. So I instead went back to the photo area and charged my phone while waiting for Carrie Fisher’s photo op time. About 45 minutes before it started, they had everyone line up in a pre-queue for her photos. Once the pre-queue was filled, they told us they would be breaking us up into our individual groups once the other lines died down. That happened at just around 4:30, the original scheduled time. I made it into group 1 of 5 and waited til around 5 before the lines started to move. Carrie was great during the photo and her dog Gary looked cute as well.

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Once done, I called it quits and walked back to my hotel. Notwithstanding the sheer volume of people, long unnecessary waits, I had a good time at the con and good first trip to NYC. It was great seeing all you MarkedOut guys and I’ll probably see most of you again in Rhode Island next month!
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djknightrida
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Re: 3 Day NYCC Report - A Tony Ruben Production

Post by djknightrida »

Excellent. Glad it went so well. Hope you enjoyed your first time.
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lanza218
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Re: 3 Day NYCC Report - A Tony Ruben Production

Post by lanza218 »

Great stuff. Sorry couldnt talk more but was running around like a maniac hahaha. Great stuff
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Re: 3 Day NYCC Report - A Tony Ruben Production

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Great seeing you Tony and great haul!!

I had no idea this was your first time visiting our great state! I hope you had a good time
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overthetop17
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Re: 3 Day NYCC Report - A Tony Ruben Production

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Great report :clap: ...enjoyed reading it.
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MrTonyRuben
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Re: 3 Day NYCC Report - A Tony Ruben Production

Post by MrTonyRuben »

Thanks guys!
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Re: 3 Day NYCC Report - A Tony Ruben Production

Post by AsianDave »

Another NYCC virgin off the board! Glad this was a successful trip for you, Tony! Will u consider future NYCC, or was this simply too much for u? LOL
Love ur Matt Smith photo, great use of the sonic screwdriver prop buddy. And that Black Sails piece is awesome (plus it was FREE!)!
Hope to catcp up w/you and markedout members at RICC.
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Re: 3 Day NYCC Report - A Tony Ruben Production

Post by Greg2600 »

Great stuff. The raffled signings are terrible, but when I would only stay inside the building these kept frustrating me and then I just gave up. I think the Ethan photo is still nice, and so are the others. Congrats on being glittered by Carrie!
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class316
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Re: 3 Day NYCC Report - A Tony Ruben Production

Post by class316 »

Damn you must have paid a ton for hotel and cabs in NYC :yikes: Two things I avoid like the plague especially in NYC.

I know you're new to NYCC but when they say no selfies you do so anyway. This is the con where you break the rules to get things done. Every day I always mooched a front spot in line to get in. It's just too chaotic no one will ever notice. It's the type of event where chaos is your friend, your true friend, and your only friend.

For the Lilly book signing, did they allow photo ops? Good discovery no one else knew that because NYCC were so great to deliver the info :smh:
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Re: 3 Day NYCC Report - A Tony Ruben Production

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She had the signing on her blog, which shocked me, the fact she had a blog! It stated multiple times no photos or merch. Frankly whatever photo could be mooched at that signing probably would have been pretty crappy.
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Re: 3 Day NYCC Report - A Tony Ruben Production

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class316 wrote: I know you're new to NYCC but when they say no selfies you do so anyway. This is the con where you break the rules to get things done. Every day I always mooched a front spot in line to get in. It's just too chaotic no one will ever notice. It's the type of event where chaos is your friend, your true friend, and your only friend.
You're right, but quite frankly, we're animals. I wouldn't necessarily expect someone to behave like us, ever, never-mind right away upon their first taste of the show. But in general, waiting on the line to get in the building is unnecessary. I cut it every day and just walked right in the front door.
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MrTonyRuben
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Re: 3 Day NYCC Report - A Tony Ruben Production

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class316 wrote:I know you're new to NYCC but when they say no selfies you do so anyway. This is the con where you break the rules to get things done. Every day I always mooched a front spot in line to get in. It's just too chaotic no one will ever notice. It's the type of event where chaos is your friend, your true friend, and your only friend.
Good to know about the line cutting...only reason I went so early Saturday is because I wanted to guarantee the early spot for Carrie Fisher graph.
For the Lilly book signing, did they allow photo ops? Good discovery no one else knew that because NYCC were so great to deliver the info :smh:
No photos were allowed during that signing. I have seen some come out (oddly on her instagram account) while she was signing but those were to people in the back of the line. She was pushing the pro ops on people that asked.
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Re: 3 Day NYCC Report - A Tony Ruben Production

Post by Greg2600 »

FWIW, Ethan Hawke has done several book signings, and he hardly ever does photos inside, you have to bug him on the way in or out. This place is super easy to "merge" at the front of the line. Perhaps when they queue people inside like the old days you cannot, but even that was avoidable unless you were waiting on the main stage panel. I got stuck down there one time, in 2011, because they had the celebs in the annex section, and wouldn't even let you in there early, so rather than stand outside in what was 80 degree weather I opted to go into the basement and sit on the concrete!
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Re: 3 Day NYCC Report - A Tony Ruben Production

Post by AsianDave »

Tony! Don't do it! Don't listen to these blood sucking, line cutting, photo op mooching, celeb chasing heathens! Don't allow yourself to be swayed and succumb to the Dark Side!
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Re: 3 Day NYCC Report - A Tony Ruben Production

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AsianDave wrote:Tony! Don't do it! Don't listen to these blood sucking, line cutting, photo op mooching, celeb chasing heathens! Don't allow yourself to be swayed and succumb to the Dark Side!
Tony will be seduced by the power of the Dark Side
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