Ok... I think I'm recovered enough to make a post on the entire thing.
FRIDAYI was running around trying to get things finalized for the Joe Meet, so I got down to Raptors place later than I expected. Still, it was cool to finally see 'The closet' that I've heard about for years, and to see Charles impressive set up. It's also cool to know that I inspired portions of his collection - like his PITT, it'll never be the same as the one my dad made me as a kid, but it was damn cool! I met Nova, Lance, Amazon, and Moto-Viper - all of whom I've spoken to many many times, but never met until then. I also saw Scramble, Tank Girl, and Viperlord. I made a request that Viperlord bring me up a 'couple' of Butterfinger chocolate bars from the States..... I don't like the Canadian ones, and the American ones are just heaven. The dude brought me at least 20 of these things!? Thanks for supplying me with something to snack on as I watch Lost for the rest of the year VL! ;-)
I checked out some Sigma Six figures - Let me say this. I've always kinda liked the Destro figure from the line, and Snake Eyes (one of them) piqued my interest as well. But after seeing Ryans Zartan - I'm friggin' hooked. I have to have one..... and that's not a good thing. :shifty:
Speaking of Loop, people seemed to absolutely LOVE his art prints of Shiver. I know of about 7 people were dying to win one - and none of them did! I don't even know who did win them - besides Jon S. Once again I have to thank Loop. Not only is his work amazing, but he does the art for the Joe Meet figure for free. If you need ANY art done, seriously consider hiring Loop for it. You won't get his services for free - but any price he asks will be too cheap in my opinion.
A little known fact: I HATE talking infront of people. All my life I've hated being in front of a group of people. Due to these Joe Meets, I'm now over that. I noticed that on Saturday when I starting 'YELLING' to announce the draws. You see.... you guys all have your stories and such about the Joe Meets - and I'm right there with you. But the Joe Meet has now gotten me over one of my only 'fears' in life. And that's damn cool.
I helped judge the Speed Painting competition. I thought it would take me a short while to do.... MAN was I wrong! Alot of great figures were done. I think it was Stealth that said "I look at that and think - holy crap they did that in one hour?". That's how I thought of it as well. Each one was a great job. I look forward to adding the Speed Painting competition to every Joe Meet from now on. (Assuming Scramble and / or Raptor run it again!).
The wrestling tournament was welcomed by all again.
Someone tossed out the sheet, so this is the best I can remember it:
ROUND ONE[/b]
Erin vs XHairs (Xhairs)
Pete The Greek vs Viperlord (Pete The Greek)
Mike vs Tank Girl (Mike)
Metro vs.
(Metro)
Scramble vs. Morgardee (Scramble)
Raptor vs.
? (Raptor)
Loop vs GSmiley (draw: BOTH move on)
JOn S. vs.
? (JOn S.)
ROUND TWO[/b]
XHairs vs. Pete The Greek (Pete The Greek)
Mike vs Metro (Mike)
Scramble vs Raptor (Scramble)
Loop vs GSmiley vs. Jon S. (Three Way Match) - (Loop)
ROUND THREE: SEMI FINALS[/b]
Pete The Greek vs. Mike (Mike)
Scramble vs Loop (Scramble)
ROUND FOUR: THE FINALS[/b]
Mike vs. Scramble
The match stared out better than Scramble is letting on - it was back and forth for awhile. True, Scramble getting a chair did remind me that they were ALLOWED - but the fact that I didn't bother means I'm better than him anyway.
Scramble went to clothline me in the match, and hit the 'Guest Ref' = which was the 'real life' version of Raptor. After he hit Raps, Raptors character got up and started hitting Scramble. I took the chance to beat on him, mistakenly kicking Raptor in the process. Scramble knocked me off my feet, and Raptor screwed me out of winning! It's a conspiracy I tell you.... and I want a rematch.
Since we're on the topic of the Joe vs. Cobra Wrestling, let's get back to Morgardee and his 'wrestling' obsession. For years, Morg and I have jokingly become rivals in the Wrestling game. It started the first year when I kept tossing him out of the ring. (Loop holds the record at going over at the 4 second mark - by me). So Morg and I would have a 'match' between us to see who the better man is. The first time, I won. The next time, I won.... see a pattern. Last year the game had a 'Create A Title' feature, so we pitted our titles against each other - I won, and in doing so became the 'Bastard' Champion taking his Bastard Title. So this year Morgardee got the game early and played the heck out of it. Mastering moves, techniques and such. He created a special character to use against me this year, and yes - both our titles were on the line again. He created Ronald McDonald. A clown so dear you could bust him open with a good chairshot to the head. (Trust me, I know!). Morgardee did pretty good... he got in more than 10 moves this year. But I squashed him. Seriously. I put him through the announcers table, made him bleed, jumped off a 2nd floor level and put him through a table. Yep, Ronald died at the Joe meet. Dave lost graciously, with everyone watching on, and I now own his 2007 Title belt as well. Next year, I won't even practice so he'll have a fair chance. ;-)
When it was time to clean up - people took over as I packed my items up. Denise, Jen, Jon, Pete, and others all helped put the tables away, close the windows, lock things up, and put all the garbage into one corner. Then EVERYONE grabbed a box of my items and helped bring it down to the van so we could leave. That was the QUICKEST I have ever packed up from a toy show. Wow. Thanks to you all - again, and I'm sorry if I missed anyone.
Like others said, we hit my place to see the Toy Room (it was on Viperlords list of things to do), and everyone seemed to enjoy seeing it. Some people like Pete, Ed, and Radio guy didn't come by, but they've all seen it before. After being here we realized we had to eat. I picked Kelseys, and as we sat down I remembered we had people waiting for us at Hooters. I'm SO sorry guys. It's completely my fault. I picked Hooters originally since it was so close and you guys would find it easy enough. After the day of being busy and stressed, it just completely slipped my mind. Hopefully you guys still had a great time at Hooters without us. Next time things should be planned out before-hand to make sure it doesn't happen again.
With dinner over, we said our good-byes to folks, and Denise, Nova, and myself headed back to my place. Nova and I (once again) were in the toy room talking about the day and all the stash he picked up. That bag of Bats was impressive. I should also say that this was the first time I ever read the Red Ninja file card. WTF was Hasbro thinking when they did that one!? ;-)
SUNDAY[/u]
I woke up MUCH earlier than anyone else and went downstairs to use the 'half finished' shower - it's not used much... as was evident by the wall of spider-webs I walked into when I got in... but that's another story. Anyway, I figured this way I wouldn't wake anyone up. Nova woke up about an hour later, followed by Denise. Ready to leave, we headed out the door to Raptors. The small group of us were going to visit Niagara Falls. The plan was to hit Raps, head to Steath's - then to the Falls. I had the great idea to get some free parking for us - so we parked at the Casino - more on that later. We parked our cars, and went down to the 'floor' level. Made a beeline for the Herseys Store, and Scramble had a grin on his face that went ear to ear. He was like a little kid in a toy store - looking around with 'wide-eyes' at the plethora of choices he could make! Would he buy the 2 foot long Hersey Bar that weighed 5lbs? Perhaps the Giant Peanut Butter cup? It quickly didn't matter when I told him there was FREE fudge in the corner. We didn't see him again for about 10 minutes. After that, we decided to eat. Hard Rock Cafe was our choice, and Scramble was thrilled to get a picture with a guitar that belonged to his idol "Bryan Adams". While waiting for dinner, I told folks that to get the 'free' parking in Niagara Falls, you had to go inside the Casino and 'sign up' for a 'Players Card'. So, once we ordered, I took Scramble, Tank Girl, and Nova inside to 'sign up'. Denise came with us - but only to tell the slots how much she missed them by inserting a $20.00 bill into them and 'pushing' their buttons. (She won her money back - plus $5.00). While teh other 3 were filling out their information for the 'Cards', I put $20.00 down on the Roulette table. I picked Red...... and I won! Woo Hoo for me! So, the guy gave me all my winnings, and I put it all on Black..... and I lost. Damn. The guy sitting at the table looked up at me and said "Well, that was 'Almost' impressive". I went back to wait for the other 3 (Denise was back in the restaurant), and watched tank Girl donate $10.00 to the slot machine of her choice. That was quick. ;-)
After our overpriced dinner with the crappy service, we headed into the Marvel Comics Fun Factory, then to the MGM Studios store before hitting what I 'know' was Viperlords favorite stop - WWE Niagara Falls. Ok... VL hates wresting, but he liked women, and there were pictures of them there... so it evened out.
After WWE, the group got split up. Ryan needed to get some Fudge from the 'only' place you should buy it from on Clifton Hill : The Fantasy Fudge Factory, and Moto, VL, Nova and the rest wanted to see the Falls. I've seen them so much, that it's now just water to me.... it's not so impressive when you live 30 minutes away. ;-)
Tank Girl and Scramble followed Denise and I to Hamilton until they knew where they were and could safelt find the way home. Denise and I then headed home and called it a day.
I enjoyed myself this weekend, but not 'as' much as past Joe Meets. The size of it this year (about 200 people through the door), and the fact that I was set up at it this year meant I couldn't talk to people as much or do anything really.... so next year, I think I'll just be 'there' and not sell anything. Don't get me wrong, I talked to a ton of people - but it's hard to talk to them, run my table, and the meet all at once. I could EASILY run my table and talk to people.... but then who would run the Joe Meet? :-)
Thanks again to everyone.
Mike
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Topic: Joe Meet 2007 : Thoughts and Comments! (Read 27557 times)