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Guest
Well, my first ever SDCC was so much better than I thought it would be. It had so much stuff I could enjoy it was impossible to actually see it all in the short time I was there. This was nice for me since I did wonder without a strong LOTR presence how much would I enjoy the Con.
Time for some thanks. I want to thank both Shadow and Flame members as well as SideShow Freaks members. Dave, Bob, Adam, Rumi, Sam, Sara, Danny, Scott, John, Chuck, Jesse, and Mirabella6666. You board members really added to my experience and I hope that I get to go next year as well as you get to go next year. You all are the most excellent of people and the time with you was a blast. I hope I only added some to your time there cause you did with mine.
Thanks to all the folks at SideShow for allowing me to bug ya a lot on Friday and get to know some of you better than just a screen name on my PC. Brant, your a really cool guy and being able to just talk with you several time was really cool. You are as great of a guy as I thought and more!! Dusty, very cool to hang around with you at the show and let me interact with the people in the chat. Though you did make me do the Robot
Also thanks for letting me help set up the Party on Friday night. It was cool getting to know you as well and finding out your an even cooler person in person. Chris, like I said with Dusty thanks for letting me hang out at the booth. Your a awesome guy to hang around as well and thanks for doing such a great job with the web chats and web cams. Thanks to your other half as well for helping out. Robin thanks for talking at the party about some of the things that go on with ES, finding stuff for the waitlist etc. It was very insightful and gives me at least a better knowledge of how or why things happen. Again, like with the others its very cool to hang around you as well. Matt Falls, thanks so much for letting me talk your leg off and the great suggestion you gave me. Who knows maybe I will follow your suggestion Like the others you are as cool as it gets. Corey, thanks for understanding why sometimes I ask the question about the affiliate program I do. 
Thanks for being so cool about letting this little affiliate run contest every so often and yes I think you are very cool as well. SSBob you are so awesome!! Thanks for letting me ask shipping questions about som things and especially for helping me out with my little problem. Your are a really awesome guy!! Thanks guys for signing my #8 Catalouge.
Final thanks to Dave and SS for the party Friday night. This was the best thing ever!! I loved being able to mingle with the board members some more and you SS folks in a really relaxed atmosphere. It was some of the most fun ever!! I look forward to next year of being able to do something at least similar.
Ok so now to what I saw and felt. I will do it by booth. Since Rumi kind of said some of what I expereinced with her. I will say that when I got there on Friday and got to the hotel I headed straight for the con. When I got there SS was the first place I headed for and talked to Brant and it appears from the log kind of messed up the chat.
I'll start off with Gentle Giant.
They had a very cool booth set up. With the Harry Potter stuff displayed in Castles with Windows. The HP stuff is very nice if you love these movies or books these items are for you. The detail in them is very very good. It was hard to take pics of this booth cause the lighting in them gave you some bad reflections. They had some Clash of the Titans stuff which was cool not overly interesting to me but cool none the less. The SW stuff was awesome!! The Lando Bust and the new Leia bust look very cool if you've seen pics of these and you liked them you will like them when you get them. The Luke on Taun-Taun statue is really pretty cool.I don't think the likeness is all that great and the statue itself doesn't really grab me but its a nice piece. The Boba Fett is really nice!! I like how beat up the statue looks in person as far as his armor goes. The detail is very good IMO and yes its a static pose but for me that doesn't bother me. The Maul statue kicks ass big time. Very detailed and actually the pose is pretty cool. I do wish in the face he was showing his teeth like with the Koto but overall its a dam nice piece.
The Hasbro Booth
If you like the SW Hasbro action figures you will like whats coming out. They have a ton of exclusives and battle packs with some awesome clones in them. Some cool holographic figures as well which are going to be hard to grab. You can see more of what I'm talking about in the pics I'll show here in a bit.
Weta Booth
This was a cool booth. Looking at the Kong and Narnia stuff they are dam nice pieces and for those that get some of these you won't be upset with your purchases. They are all very large pieces and very detailed. The most impressive piece to me was the Kong Vs. Rex piece that thing is worth the money and then some. I got a chance to meet both Ben Wooten and RT (who I got an auto from).
Saved the best for last. The SS booth.
All of the stuff was so dam impressive!! The 1/4th scale stuff is way way better than I thought it would be. That will be a line I will snag some pieces from Out of that line the GG figure was just "WOW" he may not have been more than a bit part in the ROTS but this statue is something you have to own. He is going to take up some serious space so make sure you have room. The Predator figure was :eek I was shocked how big it was and how impressive it was in person. The detail on him is amazing as well and is well worth the price and maybe actually undercharged a bit. The Marvel stuff is so impressive all of it is detailed like crazy. Doom is really well done and looks very very cool and I would consider him a steal at him a steal at his price tag. The new diorama is very cool with the lights and very catching to the eye cause of the lights.
Now, to the LOTR stuff. Sauron, holy :eek that thing is huge, massive, detailed, etc. This is the statue to own in the LOTR line bar none. The pose is so cool and as I said when we saw it they captured what was in my mind and made it a statue. When we start getting this be prepared to be just so blown away by what you will see. Aragorn @ The Black Gates, is the best rider piece they have done!! The detail on his armor is simply amazing. The chain mail is probably the best of any of the pieces I've seen that have it. Anduril has the text written down the center of the blade like it should and it doesn't look bad at all. The likeness to Viggo is really good actually seeing it in person. The pose is very striking in person as well something that you can't totally get in person. The coloring on this is freaking great!! Anyone calling it cartoony is just plain DEAD WRONG!!! The colors are very subdued and noplace close to being as bright in person as they appear in the SS pics. You want to see cartoony go look at the GG Clone Wars Maquettes thats cartoony. Legolas/Gimli is the same as with the Aragorn piece nothing about it as bad at all the colors I have the same opinion with this as I do with Aragorn. The likeness to Orlando is dead on the SS pics didn't do it real justice. The pose is awesome and impressive in person and you get a real sense of action in it.
Galadriel looks very very nice in person. Actually, its a pretty stunning piece and mirror or no its a dam good piece to own. The detail on her outfit is masterfully done. Pippin looks really good in person to I think those that got him will be pleased and the face in person looks really well done. Nothing bad about it at all IMO at least seeing it in person. The Battle Troll looks really cool. The detail in it is awesome and yes its a little small but comes across bigger than I expected. The soldier in his hand actually is really well done I think most people will like it. The KOTD is really awesome!! It looks as kick ass as I thought it would when it was announced and those not getting it will kick themselves in the ass for not getting it. The detail in his outfit is really well done as are the colors on him. The rotted face looks so very cool and creepy which I really liked. The Mumak. This thing is not small at all. He is really decently sized something you can't get from the pics but will have to wait to see in person. Alot of the talk about it not being one to own I think will be changed once this guy starts arriving in homes and the word of mouth gets around. The PJ piece is pretty cool and well done. Its a fitting end to the line and one I will be glad to own.
This was just a really great time and something I will enjoy the memory of for years to come. I really am going to try with all my might to save money to go next year and do it all over again. Again, thanks to the board members and SS for making this one of the funnest things I have ever gotten to do.
Pics coming in a few mins.
Time for some thanks. I want to thank both Shadow and Flame members as well as SideShow Freaks members. Dave, Bob, Adam, Rumi, Sam, Sara, Danny, Scott, John, Chuck, Jesse, and Mirabella6666. You board members really added to my experience and I hope that I get to go next year as well as you get to go next year. You all are the most excellent of people and the time with you was a blast. I hope I only added some to your time there cause you did with mine.
Thanks to all the folks at SideShow for allowing me to bug ya a lot on Friday and get to know some of you better than just a screen name on my PC. Brant, your a really cool guy and being able to just talk with you several time was really cool. You are as great of a guy as I thought and more!! Dusty, very cool to hang around with you at the show and let me interact with the people in the chat. Though you did make me do the Robot
Also thanks for letting me help set up the Party on Friday night. It was cool getting to know you as well and finding out your an even cooler person in person. Chris, like I said with Dusty thanks for letting me hang out at the booth. Your a awesome guy to hang around as well and thanks for doing such a great job with the web chats and web cams. Thanks to your other half as well for helping out. Robin thanks for talking at the party about some of the things that go on with ES, finding stuff for the waitlist etc. It was very insightful and gives me at least a better knowledge of how or why things happen. Again, like with the others its very cool to hang around you as well. Matt Falls, thanks so much for letting me talk your leg off and the great suggestion you gave me. Who knows maybe I will follow your suggestion Like the others you are as cool as it gets. Corey, thanks for understanding why sometimes I ask the question about the affiliate program I do. Thanks for being so cool about letting this little affiliate run contest every so often and yes I think you are very cool as well. SSBob you are so awesome!! Thanks for letting me ask shipping questions about som things and especially for helping me out with my little problem. Your are a really awesome guy!! Thanks guys for signing my #8 Catalouge.Final thanks to Dave and SS for the party Friday night. This was the best thing ever!! I loved being able to mingle with the board members some more and you SS folks in a really relaxed atmosphere. It was some of the most fun ever!! I look forward to next year of being able to do something at least similar.
Ok so now to what I saw and felt. I will do it by booth. Since Rumi kind of said some of what I expereinced with her. I will say that when I got there on Friday and got to the hotel I headed straight for the con. When I got there SS was the first place I headed for and talked to Brant and it appears from the log kind of messed up the chat.
I'll start off with Gentle Giant.
They had a very cool booth set up. With the Harry Potter stuff displayed in Castles with Windows. The HP stuff is very nice if you love these movies or books these items are for you. The detail in them is very very good. It was hard to take pics of this booth cause the lighting in them gave you some bad reflections. They had some Clash of the Titans stuff which was cool not overly interesting to me but cool none the less. The SW stuff was awesome!! The Lando Bust and the new Leia bust look very cool if you've seen pics of these and you liked them you will like them when you get them. The Luke on Taun-Taun statue is really pretty cool.I don't think the likeness is all that great and the statue itself doesn't really grab me but its a nice piece. The Boba Fett is really nice!! I like how beat up the statue looks in person as far as his armor goes. The detail is very good IMO and yes its a static pose but for me that doesn't bother me. The Maul statue kicks ass big time. Very detailed and actually the pose is pretty cool. I do wish in the face he was showing his teeth like with the Koto but overall its a dam nice piece.
The Hasbro Booth
If you like the SW Hasbro action figures you will like whats coming out. They have a ton of exclusives and battle packs with some awesome clones in them. Some cool holographic figures as well which are going to be hard to grab. You can see more of what I'm talking about in the pics I'll show here in a bit.
Weta Booth
This was a cool booth. Looking at the Kong and Narnia stuff they are dam nice pieces and for those that get some of these you won't be upset with your purchases. They are all very large pieces and very detailed. The most impressive piece to me was the Kong Vs. Rex piece that thing is worth the money and then some. I got a chance to meet both Ben Wooten and RT (who I got an auto from).
Saved the best for last. The SS booth.
All of the stuff was so dam impressive!! The 1/4th scale stuff is way way better than I thought it would be. That will be a line I will snag some pieces from
Out of that line the GG figure was just "WOW" he may not have been more than a bit part in the ROTS but this statue is something you have to own. He is going to take up some serious space so make sure you have room. The Predator figure was :eek I was shocked how big it was and how impressive it was in person. The detail on him is amazing as well and is well worth the price and maybe actually undercharged a bit. The Marvel stuff is so impressive all of it is detailed like crazy. Doom is really well done and looks very very cool and I would consider him a steal at him a steal at his price tag. The new diorama is very cool with the lights and very catching to the eye cause of the lights.Now, to the LOTR stuff. Sauron, holy :eek that thing is huge, massive, detailed, etc. This is the statue to own in the LOTR line bar none. The pose is so cool and as I said when we saw it they captured what was in my mind and made it a statue. When we start getting this be prepared to be just so blown away by what you will see. Aragorn @ The Black Gates, is the best rider piece they have done!! The detail on his armor is simply amazing. The chain mail is probably the best of any of the pieces I've seen that have it. Anduril has the text written down the center of the blade like it should and it doesn't look bad at all. The likeness to Viggo is really good actually seeing it in person. The pose is very striking in person as well something that you can't totally get in person. The coloring on this is freaking great!! Anyone calling it cartoony is just plain DEAD WRONG!!! The colors are very subdued and noplace close to being as bright in person as they appear in the SS pics. You want to see cartoony go look at the GG Clone Wars Maquettes thats cartoony. Legolas/Gimli is the same as with the Aragorn piece nothing about it as bad at all the colors I have the same opinion with this as I do with Aragorn. The likeness to Orlando is dead on the SS pics didn't do it real justice. The pose is awesome and impressive in person and you get a real sense of action in it.
Galadriel looks very very nice in person. Actually, its a pretty stunning piece and mirror or no its a dam good piece to own. The detail on her outfit is masterfully done. Pippin looks really good in person to I think those that got him will be pleased and the face in person looks really well done. Nothing bad about it at all IMO at least seeing it in person. The Battle Troll looks really cool. The detail in it is awesome and yes its a little small but comes across bigger than I expected. The soldier in his hand actually is really well done I think most people will like it. The KOTD is really awesome!! It looks as kick ass as I thought it would when it was announced and those not getting it will kick themselves in the ass for not getting it. The detail in his outfit is really well done as are the colors on him. The rotted face looks so very cool and creepy which I really liked. The Mumak. This thing is not small at all. He is really decently sized something you can't get from the pics but will have to wait to see in person. Alot of the talk about it not being one to own I think will be changed once this guy starts arriving in homes and the word of mouth gets around. The PJ piece is pretty cool and well done. Its a fitting end to the line and one I will be glad to own.
This was just a really great time and something I will enjoy the memory of for years to come. I really am going to try with all my might to save money to go next year and do it all over again. Again, thanks to the board members and SS for making this one of the funnest things I have ever gotten to do.
Pics coming in a few mins.
