Sorry I haven't replied for a bit. There's been an issue I was waiting to straighten out and unfortunately, it's hit an impenetrable wall.
I commissioned Kamakura from Joecustoms to cast my parts. He had a job with a props company in Hollywood and is quite proficient with molding, etch. He said he could cast any part except arms. So I gave him my shopping list and set about getting Big Ben arms, which were the arms used on the original custom and arms I thought would be easy to find.
They were. Kamakura won a few auctions with enough arms to cover the entire project. He sent them to me to dye and send back to him so he could colour match the torsos. Unfortunately, they never arrived, and I waited too long to accept they were lost and initiate my contingency. I dyed the few Big Ben arms I had left and was ready to send them to him. But I rushed the job and wound up with lower arms that were darker than the upper arms. So I watered down some red ink and gave the parts a wash. It evened the coat and didn?t clog the recesses in the joints. This led to a new complication.
Kamakura had trouble matching the glossiness of the arms, a glossiness I never intended the parts to have. I told him to worry about the shade of red rather than the glossiness and that I?d apply the same ink wash to all the figures if there were any problems. There were, one out of anyone?s control. If anyone saw the thread Kamakura posted, his cousin recently died in a car accident and he?s traveling to visit the family for a week. This week. He PMed me saying there was four hours of work left, and he could only do them when he got back. I replied asking if the four hours was work that had to be done to every one of a certain part, or if there were at least some parts ready. If it was the latter, then I could at least get enough parts to get them to the first few attendees. He hasn?t replied so I can only assume he?s already left and won?t receive my PM until he logs in some time at the end of the week.
So, I regrettably have to post-pone Canada Pride Back-Stop. All attendees will be asked to leave me their address at the door, and I will mail or hand-deliver the piece as soon as they are ready. I?m sorry about this, guys, but this ended up being quite an undertaking with Murphy?s Most Famous Law showing up several times.
There is some good news. An entire case of paint has been donated for the speed painting contest. And twenty bagged LBCs are ready for the brush strokes. There will be sets of dollar store paint brushes available, but you are encouraged to bring your own more-precise brushes for your own uses. You are also allowed to bring your own paints, but I draw the line at bringing crock pots and rit dye, because that stuff gets messy.
All the LBCs are assembled, so the parts fit reasonably well and all have the requisite screws and o-rings. If you?d like to bring your own unaltered pieces to LBC, you are allowed, and there will be parts for sale at $0.50 a piece (heads and waist pieces count as single pieces, torsos and two, and a pair of legs with a t-bar counts as two. Individual arms count as one). Just a warning, I had little more than 20 waists, so outside of Big Ben?s, I?m dry. There?s even a Snake Eyes v2 on one of the LBCs, and I?d been saving that one in case mine broke.
Speed Painting will start at 3:00 and last one hour. During that time, you can buy remaining LBC packs for $3.50 each. At 4:00, no more brush strokes are allowed. You then have thirty minutes to fill out a filecard for your creations. At 4:30, filecards are paired with complete customs and judging will be handled by myself, Tank Girl, and those manning dealer tables. Criteria include paint skills, recognition of original parts (the less recognizable the better), how well the name and specialty applies to the parts, and finally character. First place will win his choice of GI Joe Collector?s Club New Orleans Convention two Ferret with two corresponding troopers (two Coils and a green/gold Ferret, or two Skull Squad members and a brown Ferret). Second place will receive the remaining Ferret and troops. Prize valued at $35! Enter as many customs as you complete in that hour. Judges will not be allowed to participate. Please don?t fight over paints

My original estimate for attendance was 20. I?ve flyered local comic and toy shops, so hopefully there will be some off-the-street attendees. Otherwise, I would estimate about a dozen attendees right now. I?ll be making reservations at the Cage Au Sports across from Place Vertu, so if you will be bringing friends or significant others, please let me know.
I?m excited about the interest and personally can?t wait to see you all this Saturday, September 16th.