I purchased my 3 day passes for my boyfriend and myself earlier this summer, started my countdown clock on my iPod, and planned out what I would Cosplay for 2 of the 3 days. NYCC was held at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan, a place I am quite familiar with because of my day job. I do customer service for a trade show company who uses the Javits Center frequently throughout the year. I felt quite confident that with my knowledge of the JJC and with the help of the NYCC app on my new smart phone, and especially when the news that Mark Hamill himself would be there, we would own this con and it would rock. I clearly set the bar far too high.NYCC Day 1:
We woke up on time and got our costumes ready for the first day of Cosplaying. I went as Raphael from TMNT and my boyfriend went as TinTin (because he IS TinTin). We arrived around 9:15am at the corner of 38th st and 11th ave to discover a group of people in what appeared to be a line with lots of "volunteers" in green shirts yelling incoherently. We somehow interpreted that the line wrapped around the corner and down the block a ways, so we walked confidently down the block. And we walked. Then walked some more. And a little more. Now, I live here in NY. I'm used to walking and I am used to lines, there are lines for everything here, but this was the longest line I have ever stood in. There had to be at least a half of a mile of people standing 3 deep on the sidewalk. Now, this isn't a complaint so much as a statement of "Holy hell, that's a lot of people!" (Again, this is coming from a girl who lives in a city with 6 million people.) Our friend, Max eventually caught up to us in the massive line, and we chatted and fiddled with the apps on our phones trying to plan out the day. That's where things started to go downhill. First off, the NYCC app itself is terrible. Why design something meant for nerds (who notoriously seem to have a very delicate love/hate balance with technology) that sucked so much?! I would be willing to just blame the app's shitiness on too many people using it at once, but it was never a very good app even in the weeks leading up to NYCC. I could (and probably will) write a blog on everything that is wrong with the app and how it can be made better. But, I digress...
We finally shuffled into the JCC and were ready for the awesomeness to commence. But first-things-first, we needed to grab lanyards. But there were no lanyards to be found. We walked up and down the entrance looking for a box of lanyards or a "green shirt" to ask about the lanyard situation, or-even better-a "green shirt" handing out said lanyards. We finally found some at the other end of the entrance hall. (Just for perspective, the JCC spans about 5 square blocks, a mile is approx 12 blocks, the line we were in to enter wrapped around the JCC.) Ok, so, a small stumble in the awesomeness and a lack of "green shirts" was irksome, but on with the day! Next, we needed a program. Once again, no programs. Anywhere! No "green shirts" and crappy cell phone service inside the concrete building. Super.
We eventually found programs and one guy in a green shirt directing people. So far, NYCC is dropping the ball. But, we go into the Felicia Day/The Guild panel hosted by Chris Hardwick, which was awesome! All 3 of us couldn't find unobstructed-view-seats together, so we had to split up. The guy I sat next to was trying to explain to his girlfriend who Felicia Day was, and failing miserably!
Guy Next to Me: "She's the girl with red hair, she's funny, and cute."
Girlfriend: "Oh, um I think I like her."
Guy Next to Me: "Yeah, I don't remember her name, but this might be fun."
I took it upon myself to kindly explain Felicia Day to them and The Guild and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and they both looked at me like cows looking at an oncoming train. They had no clue who Felicia Day was! And they took up precious seats that 2 fans could have sat in! #Nerdfail.
The panel was fun and interesting and hilarious and we had a great time, especially when Boyfriend, Max and I snagged 3 seats together from people who left early. #Nerdscore!
Lunchtime was surprisingly good and not too expensive. Things were looking up. Then, the heartbreak: We learned that getting an autograph from Mark Hamill was $100!
ONE. HUNDRED. DOLLARS. We assumed it would cost something, but $100?! We were crestfallen. There was no way Boyfriend and I could afford to drop 2 hundos even for Luke Skywalker himself. I considered splitting it and having boyfriend get one autograph for the both of us, but they wouldn't let you near the Hamill unless you bought a ticket, so I would be forced to watch from afar while he had all the fun, so we begrudgingly opted to not, and settled fro trying to get into his panel that night. So that put a damper on the day. Then we realised that apparently $30 was the new $20. Most of the autographs cost $30-$40! Yes, I am a New Yorker and I was suffering from sticker shock at Comic Con! What does that say to you? On the shiny side, we got to take a picture with "Dante" from Clerks for free! It made me think of my pals Lincoln and Kanderson from college who got me into Kevin Smith movies. We paid $20 to get a picture with Kevin Sorbo (totally worth it, he was super nice and chatted with us for a bit).
We explored the show floor and I bought a Domo plush I'd been wanting and we looked a lot of cool art, and drooled over the furniture at the Geek Chic booth.
By that time, we decided to get in line for the Marvel/Spiderman panel which was packed and we had to sit on the floor. But it was worth it because 3 seats in the 3rd row emptied up near the end of the slide show/discussion and we had prime seats for the next panel: Mark Hamill Spotlight!!! We were 20 feet from the nerdgod himself. #nerdgasm!
He was amazing! He did voices, he told random stories and even let out some political rage for a brief moment. Hilarious! The pounding headache I had developed late in the evening (probably due to lack of coffee and/or minor dehydration) could not spoil the awesomeness of Mark Hamill. *Cue chorus of angels*
To sum up the day, it started with high anticipation with a letdown in the middle that sort of bogged down the rest of the afternoon, but we left on a high note after listening to Mark Hamill speak.
NYCC Day 1 = 3.5 lightsabers out of 5
Thank you for the image, Mr-Obi-Wan
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