Marklud's autograph reports thread
Jun 24, 2017 20:31:27 GMT -5
punksnotdead, TheChamp617, and 2 more like this
Post by marklud on Jun 24, 2017 20:31:27 GMT -5
Hey guys, thought I'd follow the lead of some esteemed members on here and create my own thread for autograph signings.
Drove from Buffalo to Syracuse today (6/24/17) to stop by Salt City Comic Con. Was free this weekend and the Con had a good lineup ... some of the lesser-known wrestlers canceled recently but the big ones to attend were DiBiase, Typhoon and on Sunday Sgt. Slaughter will be there. Would like to get Slaughter one of these days but DiBiase was a higher priority, one of my favorites from back in the day. Danny Davis, Bobby Fulton and Robbie E (don't watch TNA so hadn't heard of him) were also there.
I've had some really good experiences so far in a couple years of going to these things, so I think I was due for a mixed bag. This turned out to be a mixed bag.
I got there around 1:15 and they were in the middle of a "Legends of Wrestling panel" that went from 1-2. Nothing special (and I think I could have done a way better job of moderating than the podcast host I have never heard of, but whatever). It was hard to hear the panelists because it was in an open space and people were walking by/participating in the con immediately nearby. Highlight was when Fulton talked about how storylines are too rushed today because the shows come so quickly, which is something I completely agree with.
After that, I went to the tables where the wrestlers were set up. Short line for DiBiase. Friendly and accommodating. Best part was when he took the Entrance Greats figure and said, "Does this thing still work?" and pressed the button to play his theme song. He laughed and said, "I can do a better job than that" -- and proceeded to do his legendary Million Dollar Man laugh. That was worth the trip by itself, lol.
As I said, this was all a mixed bag though. Had a couple of figures to get signed, handed him a gold paint pen ... and either the pen crapped out at the worst possible time, or he switched markers after the first figure, or he didn't use it right or something. The Entrance Greats one is passable but doesn't stand out like the paint pen should, and the HOF elite ... well, it's super faded and barely there. This was a bummer, first auto I've gotten that really turned out bad (again, I was probably due after some great experiences). Still happy to meet him and I bet he'll end up in the area again someday so I can get a do-over.
Ottman was next. Again, frustrating part -- the promotion handling all the wrestlers seemed to have a lot of hangers on who were too busy talking to other folks behind the tables rather than help the customers. I stood here by myself for what felt like an eternity even if it wasn't that long overall because it was just awkward. Ottman was speaking to a con worker during this time so it wasn't his fault. After he was free, he had to get the "handler bro" to turn around and help out. Luckily for me, "handler bro with an ugly beard" couldn't do math so I saved $10 (4 autos at $15 a pop and a photo, he forgot to add the photo).
Ottman was friendly. I had a white paint marker for 3 of my figures and he offered to sign the Shockmaster in his two different colors of paint pens (he had one on display to show what he meant). Sounded good to me. Unfortunately I think these were Decos, which I'm not completely used to, and it took longer to dry than my Sharpie paint pens and I smudged a letter (also smudged a bit of the DiBiase Hasbro cause he signed right at the top where I grabbed it, lol). Also I accidentally took his paint pen for a second after he signed Shockmaster, leading to the fantastic "That's my marker" from THE SHOCKMASTER, lol. (My bad!)
We took a photo, he said to make sure I'm happy with it, I said it looked great. Then I said I have just one question for him, thought this would be a good one -- I asked him how close we really were to seeing Sheik Tugboat for Wrestlemania 7. (Legend had it, and Bruce Prichard confirmed on his podcast, that one of the original plans for WM7 was to turn Tugboat to an Iraqi sympathizer to face Hogan. Later they went with Slaughter.)
I don't know if Ottman couldn't hear exactly what I asked, didn't want to talk about it, prefers kayfabe, didn't remember or whatever, but he didn't seem interested in discussing. Just said "pretty close ... pretty close." After a pause, I tried to get him to elaborate but he just said the same thing. Didn't think it was out of line or anything but, hey, you win some you lose some.
Danny Davis was friendly while I was waiting for Ottman, laughing at some of the bizarre costumes people were wearing as they walked by, asked me about my hat. I was going to get an autographed photo from him afterwards but after Ottman he wasn't at the table anymore. I waited a few minutes before getting the itch to get back on the road. (Next time, Danny!)
Glad I went, just wish the DiBiase autos turned out better. Oh well!
Drove from Buffalo to Syracuse today (6/24/17) to stop by Salt City Comic Con. Was free this weekend and the Con had a good lineup ... some of the lesser-known wrestlers canceled recently but the big ones to attend were DiBiase, Typhoon and on Sunday Sgt. Slaughter will be there. Would like to get Slaughter one of these days but DiBiase was a higher priority, one of my favorites from back in the day. Danny Davis, Bobby Fulton and Robbie E (don't watch TNA so hadn't heard of him) were also there.
I've had some really good experiences so far in a couple years of going to these things, so I think I was due for a mixed bag. This turned out to be a mixed bag.
I got there around 1:15 and they were in the middle of a "Legends of Wrestling panel" that went from 1-2. Nothing special (and I think I could have done a way better job of moderating than the podcast host I have never heard of, but whatever). It was hard to hear the panelists because it was in an open space and people were walking by/participating in the con immediately nearby. Highlight was when Fulton talked about how storylines are too rushed today because the shows come so quickly, which is something I completely agree with.
After that, I went to the tables where the wrestlers were set up. Short line for DiBiase. Friendly and accommodating. Best part was when he took the Entrance Greats figure and said, "Does this thing still work?" and pressed the button to play his theme song. He laughed and said, "I can do a better job than that" -- and proceeded to do his legendary Million Dollar Man laugh. That was worth the trip by itself, lol.
As I said, this was all a mixed bag though. Had a couple of figures to get signed, handed him a gold paint pen ... and either the pen crapped out at the worst possible time, or he switched markers after the first figure, or he didn't use it right or something. The Entrance Greats one is passable but doesn't stand out like the paint pen should, and the HOF elite ... well, it's super faded and barely there. This was a bummer, first auto I've gotten that really turned out bad (again, I was probably due after some great experiences). Still happy to meet him and I bet he'll end up in the area again someday so I can get a do-over.
Ottman was next. Again, frustrating part -- the promotion handling all the wrestlers seemed to have a lot of hangers on who were too busy talking to other folks behind the tables rather than help the customers. I stood here by myself for what felt like an eternity even if it wasn't that long overall because it was just awkward. Ottman was speaking to a con worker during this time so it wasn't his fault. After he was free, he had to get the "handler bro" to turn around and help out. Luckily for me, "handler bro with an ugly beard" couldn't do math so I saved $10 (4 autos at $15 a pop and a photo, he forgot to add the photo).
Ottman was friendly. I had a white paint marker for 3 of my figures and he offered to sign the Shockmaster in his two different colors of paint pens (he had one on display to show what he meant). Sounded good to me. Unfortunately I think these were Decos, which I'm not completely used to, and it took longer to dry than my Sharpie paint pens and I smudged a letter (also smudged a bit of the DiBiase Hasbro cause he signed right at the top where I grabbed it, lol). Also I accidentally took his paint pen for a second after he signed Shockmaster, leading to the fantastic "That's my marker" from THE SHOCKMASTER, lol. (My bad!)
We took a photo, he said to make sure I'm happy with it, I said it looked great. Then I said I have just one question for him, thought this would be a good one -- I asked him how close we really were to seeing Sheik Tugboat for Wrestlemania 7. (Legend had it, and Bruce Prichard confirmed on his podcast, that one of the original plans for WM7 was to turn Tugboat to an Iraqi sympathizer to face Hogan. Later they went with Slaughter.)
I don't know if Ottman couldn't hear exactly what I asked, didn't want to talk about it, prefers kayfabe, didn't remember or whatever, but he didn't seem interested in discussing. Just said "pretty close ... pretty close." After a pause, I tried to get him to elaborate but he just said the same thing. Didn't think it was out of line or anything but, hey, you win some you lose some.
Danny Davis was friendly while I was waiting for Ottman, laughing at some of the bizarre costumes people were wearing as they walked by, asked me about my hat. I was going to get an autographed photo from him afterwards but after Ottman he wasn't at the table anymore. I waited a few minutes before getting the itch to get back on the road. (Next time, Danny!)
Glad I went, just wish the DiBiase autos turned out better. Oh well!