2018 Autographs: A Year in Review

Ok folks, I hope your 2019 will be an awesome one and you get all the autographs you want. Here is my, albeit small, 2018 autograph review.

January:

This was my son and I’s first time going to an IWR (Imperial Wrestling Revolution) event. The name has since been changed. But that night was really cool for the most part. The autographs I got that night were from WCCW legend “Iceman” King Parsons and Lisa Marie Varon aka WWE’s Victoria. I also got to see Ross & Marshall Von Erich.

February: zip

March: zip

April: Actor Ed Gale was having a sale on his website. Four 8x10’s for $20+shipping. Could not pass up that one of a kind deal. 

My friend Paul in the UK went to a signing with Russell T. Davies. Out of the kindness of his heart he got Russell to sign the photo of him and I when I visited Cardiff last year. 

May: I purchased a small handful of sports autographs including Byron Hamspard (8x10 card), Bert Emanuel (8x10 card), David Murphy (8x10 photo), Keshawn Martin (signed card), Ian Kinsler (8x10), Michael Choice (signed card), Todd Collins (8x10 card) , Vernand Morency (8x10 card), Yatil Green(8x10 card), & Albert Connell (8x10 card)

June: Tina Packar from the Doctor Who series “The Web of Fear” as Anne Travers. She signed my 8x10, a print out, & two index cards. 

My friend Paul attended Utopia 2018 in Whitney and had Waris Hussein sign a postcard for me. Waris directed 11 of the original series including “The Unearthly Child”

July: Bonnie Langford aka Melanie Bush from Doctor Who. My friend Nigel attended the London Film and Comic Con and picked up this awesome autograph for me. 

Corpus Christi Hooks pitcher Riley Ferrell. I met Riley when we visited watched the Hooks take batting practice off of the USS Lexington. A couple weeks later my friend Greg surprised me with a signed card from Riley since I wasn’t able to get his sig in Corpus. 

August: I had won tickets and meet and greet to the Lost 80’s Live concert. I met and got autographs from the following people. 

Mike Score (A Flock of Seagulls) , Nick Feldman (Wang Chung) , Valerie Day & John Smith (Nu Shooz) , Astrid Plane & Bill Wadhams (Animotion), Clive Farrington & Andrew Mann ( When in Rome) , Dale Bozzio ( Missing Persons ) , Christopher Anton, & Michael Aston (Gene Loves Jezebel) 

I placed an order for a small handful of Doctor Who autographs from Tenth Planet in the UK. I got signed 8x10’s of Frazier Hines (aka Jamie McCrimmon), Louise Jameson (aka Leela), & Daphne Ashbrook (aka Dr. Grace Holloway). To make my order even sweeter they had a private signing with Paul McGann (The Eighth Doctor) and he signed my photo at no charge.

September: David Newell aka Mr. McFeely from Mister Rogers Neighborhood. He sent me and my three kids signed photos, me a personal letter, two books of Fred Rogers, and a children’s book of Mr. McFeely. To say that I was very floored by this would be the understatement of the year.

My friend Craig in England had an extra David Gooderson autograph and he sent me one. Mr. Gooderson played Davros in Destiny of the Daleks on Doctor Who. 

October: This was a total surprise. Actor Jamie Hill. I have spoken of Jamie so much that even those who have never heard of him before know who he is now. For the few that might not, Jamie played some really cool characters in recent years on BBC’s Doctor Who. I met Jamie when my daughter and I visited Cardiff, Wales for the closing of the Doctor Who Experience. That day I had taken a couple photos with Jamie. I had sent my photos of him and I along with a photo of a Mondasian Cyberman (that Jamie portrayed). As a surprise to me Jamie signed all three of photos along with seven additional signed photos of various characters he has portrayed.

November: I purchased a ticket to the Dallas Comic Show: Holiday Special 2018. I personally only got one IP autograph from the show and that was from actor Ray Wise.

The next day I took my son to the show for his first “Comic Con”. I made a custom t-shirt that said “My First Dallas Comic Show” on it. I give him a closed sharpie and we just walked around meeting everyone. Five celebs signed his shirt. Actor Ray Wise (Fresh off the Boat, Robocop, & Swamp Thing), Harry Goaz (Twin Peaks), Jason Douglas (Preacher, The Walking Dead), Cynthia Cranz (Dragon Ball Z & YuYu Hakusho), and local artist Terry Parr. He had an awesome time meeting everyone and seeing everything. And everyone seemed to have loved meeting him.

My friend Mark (Who owns and runs the Dallas Comic Show) also sells autographs that he’s pick up over the years at various conventions. Well I was able to pick up two gems from him. Actor Michael Jayston (The Valeyard in Doctor Who) and actor Nicholas Hammond (The Amazing Spiderman & The Sound of Music).

Most who know me know of my fondness of Mister Rogers Neighborhood. Well to round out my November, I received some really awesome autographs from Officer Francois Clemmons himself. Mister Clemmons sent seven really cool autographed photos that I will always treasure.

December: This month started off pretty darn cool. My friend Angel who goes by the name Saqman sent me a Christmas gift. It was a t-shirt with his latest Doctor Who (Jodie Whitaker) designs on it.

To my surprise my friend Dave surprises me with two Doctor Who Christmas cards (I didn’t even know there was such a thing) signed by the great Penelope Wilton yes Harriet Jones herself and by the talented Lee Evans aka Malcom from Planet of the Dead. Then to go even further, he sends me two Doctor Who Target books (Doctor Who and the Hand of Fear & Doctor Who and the Time Warrior).

As I said with my success from November, most know of my love of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Well I had sent “Handyman” Joe Negri a First Day Cover of Mister Rogers’ stamp. To which he graciously signed as well as sent me a signed photo of himself as well. Absolutely love this as well.

And to round December off with a bang. Dave comes through again. He was doing some in person autographing around London and thought of old Riley. He was able to get me three index personalized signed index cards of a few Doctor Who (and other things) actors. He was able to get:

Ron Cook (Sean the Irish bastard in the first series of The Black Adder or George Merchant in Hot Fuzz, or even as Mr. Magpie in the episode “The Idiot’s Lantern” in Doctor Who)

Phyllis Logan (Some would know her from the Doctor Who episode and series finale “The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos”, or in Lovejoy as Lady Jane, or even in Downton Abbey as Mrs. Hughes)

 Bill Bailey (Some might know him as Droxil in the Doctor Who episode “The Doctor, The Widow, & The Wardrobe”, or in Hot Fuzz as Sergeant Turner, or even on the hilarious Never Mind the Buzzcocks)

And also an interview I did with Jamie Hill was printed in the latest issue of Cosmic Masque from the Doctor Who Appreciation Society. http://www.dwasonline.uk/CM7_STD_format.pdf 

Well that’s it for 2018. For autographs it was a pretty good year I must say. Got a new son, got some cool autographs, and made some cool friends. 2019 has got to be better and I wish it better for you. Thank you for your time and good luck with you collection.

MERRY NEW YEAR

BEEF JERKY?

Dallas Comic Show: Holiday Special 2018 review

My Dallas Comic Show 2018 Holiday special review.

                As some may know, I don’t get to that many Comic/Celebrity conventions that much anymore. One reason is the money factor. They have just skyrocketed in cost nowadays, I just can’t afford it. The other is time. Time, especially free time, is almost nonexistent these days. But one I do try to go to is the Dallas Comic Show. This is actually only my second time being able to attend the DCS. Once again as I said before, there are two main factors. D.C.S. is put on by a friend of mine, Mark Walters. I’ve known Mark since the first Dallas Comic Con way back when. He puts on a great show that is affordable and has a variety of guests. Plus the venues are remnant of “back in the day”. To be honest it’s what I preferred back then. The cost of admission is great and most of the celebrities that are brought in are affordable.

                Now to the actual experience at the show. I purchased my ticket months ago around the time when they went on sale with the anticipation that some really cool guests would be added. It wasn’t long after actor Ray Wise was added. Being a fan of his from so many roles including Robocop and Swamp Thing and now Fresh off the Boat, I had to meet him. I noticed a theme lately is actors from the show Twin Peaks, to which Ray was on as well. I personally never really got into the show. I had seen a few episodes back in the day. But that’s about it. I know people who just absolutely love it. Another addition was Twin Peaks alumni Harry Goaz. He’s mainly known for Twin Peaks but I remember him from the short lived Eerie, Indiana. Then there was Michael Biehn (Kyle Reese from Terminator), Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), Jason Douglas (The Walking Dead), and a handful of voice over artists including Monica Rial and Cynthia Cranz. Plus many many awesome artists (including my friend Terry Parr from Shonuff Studios).  

                Since I had purchased a VIP ticket, I was able to get “perks”. Usually this means you can get into the show early as well as priority placement for certain autograph lines and Q&A’s. You also get a special lanyard and “goodie” bag. The bag is usually some comics and a couple other things. When I had walked in I instantly saw all the familiar faces. First face I had seen was Paul. I’ve known Paul for years through the convention scene. He provides Mark with security for the show now. We usually don’t get to chat much, but it’s always good to see him. So I decided to take the opportunity of my “extra” early time to walk around without bumping into people and checking things out. Firstly, I go visit my buddy Terry with Shonuff Studios. It’s always good seeing him at the shows. His wife didn’t make the show this time. But it’s good seeing her too.

                I then decide to walk back to the media guest area and check it out. I walk straight up to Ray Wise’s table and look at his photos. He had a wide variety of Twin Peaks photos and a couple really good shots of him from a show called “Reaper”. Didn’t know the show. He had a couple photos from Swamp Thing as well as Robocop. Two out of the three from Robocop were fuzzy. I get it, it’s hard to get high res scans of older shows and movies. So I picked the third option of the Robocop photos. I was chatting with him for a few minutes and was talking to him about my son and that I was bringing him back the next day. He told me to make sure I brought him by to meet him. Will do I said. Shook his hand and was on my way.

                I then walked over to Michael Biehn’s table. He had some pretty cool photos to choose from his most iconic roles (Kyle Reese, Johnny Ringo, Planet Terror to name a few) and some lesser known ones as well. He also had some shots with his wife Jennifer Blanc-Biehn. I then saw his price list. Some may think it was a decent price to pay. But I wasn’t willing. I heard that he raised his price again from the last time someone had recently seen him. So I reluctantly passed. The same with Alan Ruck. Like Michael Biehn, I’ve loved just about everything I’ve seen him in. Ever since I had first seen Ferris Beuller at the drive in when I was a kid. He wasn’t as much as Biehn, but I just couldn’t do it. So I passed on him as well.

So I just I just wondered around the dealer’s room like some kind of on foot nomadic nascar driver. Just around and around. I had brought a handful of my Funko Pops that I didn’t want anymore and sold them to a dealer. Made a little money. Went over to Mark’s table and checked out what he was selling. Because as well as being the promoter of the show he also sells autographs he picks up at various shows he is part of and attends. I knew he had some Doctor Who autographs, so I pick up a classic shot of Michael Jayston as The Valeyard. As well as a cool signed shot of the first live action Spider-Man, Nicholas Hammond. After that I just walked around a little while longer then I headed out. I had seen a couple guys I know, but everyone was kind of doing their own thing. So the day got boring fast. The next day is going to be better I thought to myself.

I had designed a shirt for my son who is 20 months old today. I put the design together and bought some comic book heat transfer vinyl. I gave my design and vinyl to my sister in law and she printed it out on her cricut (sp?) machine and ironed it on his shirt. I also wanted “Sign here” with a line across the back. It turned out awesome. My plan was to take him to his first Comic Book convention and maybe some of the artists could sign it for him. So we wake up and get ready to go to the show. The night before, I find out that my daughter wishes she could get Cynthia Cranz’ autograph on her Yu Yu Hakusho book. Cynthia voiced the character Botan on the anime. My daughter has been a fan since it first came out. I wasn’t planning on getting anything signed that day, but I took my daughters book as well as a comic I wasn’t able to get signed the day before.

Of course the little guy falls asleep in the car on the way. But we make it to the convention in about half an hour. We get there and he wakes up. He’s happy but wanted me to hold him. Of course that’s no problem at all. Once we get into the venue I take his sweater off and I hand him “his” sharpie then we start to walk around. As soon as we walk in, we see some friends of mine I haven’t seen in a long time. I introduced my son to Scott and David and Joseph gave them his trademarked high five and fist bump. It was good seeing them, even if it was only for a few minutes.

Afterwards we go over in the direction of Ray Wise’s table. Ray remembers our conversation from the previous day and he sees my son. His face as well as the face of the young lady assisting him lights up as we walk over. I’m introducing him to them and Joseph quietly responds back. Again he does the high five and fist bump. They do it back and Joseph smiled. Ray had read Joseph’s shirt and loved it and he also noticed the “sign here” on the back. So he asked Joseph “Do you want me to sign your shirt Joseph?” Joseph shook his head yes. Even though he had no idea what he was talking about. He then asked, “Can I use your marker?” Joseph hands his the marker and he signed it for him. His handler was taking photos of the entire thing for me and then Ray posed with the two of us for a photo. I was already a huge fan of Mr. Wise before this, but even more so now.

We then head down toward the dealer’s room. Most people reading this know what that is. If by chance you do not, it’s a huge room consisting of various people peddling comics and other comic/sci fi collectibles. Every now and then you can find a bargain, but a lot of times the prices are quite inflated. But you can find some hard to find collectible there. So on the way to the dealer’s room we stop and talk to my friend Terry Parr with Shonuff Studios. Terry is an amazing local artist that I have known for many years. I walk over and introduce my son to him. After a couple minutes I ask Terry to sign his shirt and he was more than happy too. We were then on our way. We didn’t want to take up too much of his time as he was there to make money.  We also stopped by and said hello to Mark. Mark absolutely loved his shirt. So much so that he had to take a photo of it.

Well, little man wanted to walk now. So we walked into the dealer’s room. His face looked like mine when I first when to Toys R Us as a kid or when I first went to Kennedy Space Center as an adult. Lol. He grabbed my hand and we were off. He had his sharpie is the left hand and my hand in the right. It was his show, we went where he wanted to go. So we walked around checking everything out. Then he wanted to go out of the dealer’s room and walk around the autograph room again. So we walked out there. As we were walking Jason Douglas from The Walking Dead and Preacher said hello to him. So we walked over and said hello. Fist bumps and high fives. Then Jason asked him if he wanted to sign his shirt, Joseph said yes and so he did. I took a pic of Joseph, and Jason was pointing at Joseph in the background, just a cool guy.

We then made our way to Cynthia Cranz’ table to get my daughter’s book signed for her. We chatted for a minute about voice over and acting as well as Joseph and Sydnie. She absolutely loved that my daughter Sydnie was such a hardcore Yu Yu Hakusho fan and she just absolutely loved Joseph’s shirt. Even more so when she found out that it was a custom made shirt. She signed my daughter’s book as well as my son’s t-shirt. As we were walking away there was a small bantha next to the table of the 501^st. Well they weren’t there but Joseph wanted to see the bantha. So we walked over. Not sure what he thought at first. He was looking at and then started to pet it. Lol I took some great photos of him with it.

As we were leaving the bantha, Joseph walked right over to Harry Goaz’ table. Harry waved at him and said hello. Joseph waved back. I picked him up and walked him over and introduced him. Harry was talking to him and Joseph was being shy. Answering a little but in a very low voice. Without missing a beat my son hands Harry his sharpie. When Harry grabbed it, my son started to reach for Harry’s cup of sharpies. They chatted for a few minutes and Harry asked him if he wanted him to sign his shirt as well. Joseph said yes and immediately laid down on my chest so Harry could sign it. Lol. He picked up on that fast. I shook Harry’s hand and told him thank you so much. Joseph reached out and gave Harry as well as the young lady helping him high fives and fist bumps.

I decided to get one more thing completed that I wasn’t able to get done the previous day. I needed Frank Cho to sign my one comic. It was a Wizard World Texas Jungle Girl sketch variant that I’ve had for ten years. Every time I went by Frank’s table he wasn’t there. Multiple times I would ask if he was charging to sign and if he would charge to sign my one book. Every time I asked, same answer. No he will not charge. So my son and I walk over to his table and he is there. There is a huge line around the corner. I ask the lady running the line if I could use my VIP skip to get my one book signed. The answer I got was a little shocking. “This is a small show, you really don’t need the skips”. WOW! Ok. I really wanted my book signed so we got in line. You ever try to stand in a line juggling a 1.5 yr old. Then I noticed a guy taking money from people in line. So I asked him what the money is for. He said its five dollars per signed item. I told him every one has told me there would be no charge. “Don’t know what to tell you”. That and the lady’s response just rubbed me the wrong way. So we immediately got out of line and said our goodbyes to everyone and left.  

As a whole, I had a great time. Especially the time I spent with my son. Everyone we met was absolutely fantastic. Some people only think there is only one choice for quality comic conventions in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Let me tell you that is not the case. A certain big box convention not saying any names (But it rhymes with Dan Fexpo Allas) only cares about your money. I would recommend the Dallas Comic Show convention to anyone.  You should definitely check them out. Follow them on social media on most of the platforms. (FYI: I am no way connected to the show and am not being endorsed for my review.)