Good times...

Amazing AZ Con 2014

I was ill prepared for the first con of the season. After 5 hours of walking the floor my legs, knees, and feet were aching. My story is Im out of shape, not old, and Im sticking to it. The wife and I walked to dinner at Majerles...as in Dan Majerles, of Phoenix Suns fame...after we had seen every vendor at least 3 times, headed back to the con for one final walk around, then headed home. I grabbed a beer out of the fridge and soaked my sore feet in the hot tub...ahhh...now Im writing to give you the highlights.

Unlike last year when we got there 30 minutes before the doors open, we chose to sleep in today and grab breakfast on the way so we ended up getting there about an hour after the con was underway, which was fine. First vendor I went to is a great guy who is there every year, Ed Robertson, and he has nice books at great prices so I picked up a couple decent copies of Tales of Suspense from him...I love the Cap stories. Then we walked around and tripped out on the cool costumes and scantily clad beautiful women...my wife doesnt mind that I look so long as I dont touch. There was one dressed as Black Cat, gorgeous...I will include a pic. It was funny, my wife said she admired the guts I showed by going right up to her and asking if I could take her pic because she saw several other dudes taking pics from far away trying to be all inconspicuous and she thought that was a little creepy. Just walk up there and own it dude...be like, your hot and I want your picture, is that cool? No I didnt really say it that way, but I was thinking it.

As we walked around I noticed a lot of steampunk and Adventure Time, which are both cool. There were only about a half dozen vendors that carried comics from the Silver and Bronze age...the others were all Modern which isnt my thing, so that was a little disappointing. Not a lot of high grade books period unfortunately, and MAN the prices some of these vendors charge. Saw several copies of XFactor 6 for 60 bucks, Cap 14 for 50 bucks, Hulk 271 for 100 bucks, that kind of thing. I was hoping to find high grade copies to fill my Xmen the Missing Years set, but no such luck. I did go back to the first vendor I visited and bought a couple more issues of Tales of Suspense, including a higher grade...maybe 9.2 with a press...copy of issue 82. I had been looking for a nice copy of this issue because it features the first appearance of the Adaptoid and Ive always thought he was a cool character...found out that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch also make an appearance so thats a bonus as well.

What else...oh yeah, I heard the funniest thing I think Ive ever heard at a con. You Liefeld fans should like this, ha ha. So this dude hands his books to Rob for his signature, and tells him...Oh man, I love your work. I think youre really talented, I dont care what anyone says. Dude...I was laughing out loud as we walked by, I couldnt help myself. You know the guy meant it as a compliment, but it sure didnt come out that way. I would have loved to hear Rob respond but his mouth was full of food at the time. SO funny.

While I didnt find any additional high grade books for my collection, I did bring 4 with me that I handed to Nicole at CGC for pressing and grading. These were submitted on the Economy tier without fast track so she said it would be about 6 months before I got them back, which is fine. I think she was a little irritated with me...my books are each in a bag and board, then placed inside a larger bag and board with the cover facing the other board so its protected all around. Well, she started pulling out the comics, and after the first one I was like...youre making me nervous. She said I could do it myself, which I did, but they had to see each comic to verify that the book on the invoice was the book being submitted. I get that, but didnt know that was the process...had she explained that from the get go I would have been cool with it, you know. Oh well, no harm no foul. I would have liked to submit more books, but as it is Im looking at 25 per book for pressing and 35 per book for grading...does that seem expensive to anyone else. Makes you appreciate getting a good deal on a CGC book thats for sure.

OK, thats enough for now. I need me some leftover pizza and another brew.

Enjoy the pics, and feel free to leave comments.

Til next time...

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