Met HBK, Jake, Steamboat -- report, Mattel auto pics!

Hey y'all -- had the privilege of meeting three of my all-time favorites earlier today, Shawn Michaels, Ricky Steamboat and Jake "The Snake" Roberts. All three were at the Niagara Falls Comic Con ... had a blast meeting/hanging out with fellow fans and collectors and am sure several people on this board were there. Pretty pumped about how the autos turned out so thought I'd share.

Figured I'd share a recap along with the photos of the autos -- I know I love reading these stories on here.

HBK was my No. 1 goal so I got in line for him pretty much as soon as I got there, around 11:15 ... he was scheduled to sign from 11:30-2. I wish I was able to get in line earlier because he was by far the most popular celebrity at the entire convention. Line was looooong. Auto tickets came at a premium, though -- $100 for each auto -- and since Shawn was only there a little while they kept the line moving, which was great. Maybe took an hour to an hour and a half. Didn't really have any time to say anything once you got up there because Shawn was signing and moving along, which I certainly can respect. I cringed when he was about to sign them with a traditional black sharpie ... politely asked for the two paint pens he had on the table (I had two ready just in case). He was confused when I said I wanted "paint pens for both" ... lol, I wanted gold for one and silver for the other. Not both on one figure, ha, didn't think it sounded that weird. Oh well.

Thought long and hard beforehand about which figures to get signed and settled on DM and E19. If autos weren't $100 each (luckily it was Canadian, exchange rate helped) I would have gotten the RSC exclusive signed too. The price was a hard pill to swallow but I figured I'll never get the chance to meet one of my absolute favorites again and/or want to stand in that line for him again.







Next was Ricky Steamboat. Another favorite. On the plus side, Ricky was easily the most conversational of the wrestlers there -- he spent a lot of time with most people and was happy to take pictures. The minor downside to this was his line took forever ... his was the second-longest at the convention at the time I was there (but maybe 1/3 as long as Shawn's). Probably waited two hours for him because of this, but again, I'll never complain because a guy is too nice.

Guy is still in incredible shape. If he died his hair black, you'd think it was 30 years ago. By the time I got up there, I didn't have much to say (it's always kinda weird in such a formal setting) so I just said I was a big fan. He looked at the Legends fig for a while and turned to his left to Jake and said, "Hey Jake, remember this?" -- pointing to the dragon, referring to the classic SNME encounter between the two. That was really neat.

He and his handler were really impressed by how the paint pens looked, and so am I.





Last but not least was Jake The Snake. His line was by far the shortest of the three, only had a few people when I lined up ... which surprised me. It's Jake The Snake!

Quick backstory -- I've got a complete Legends/Flashback set loose, but also have a complete Legends set MOC. (Those clearance days helped, lol.) Or, at least I thought I had a complete set. Late last night when I went to grab the figures, I couldn't find Jake anywhere ... three hours later after turning my house upside down, turns out I'm missing Jake and Kamala MOC. Ugh. Awful timing.

Luckily an obsessive collector like myself has way too many items and I remembered I had a Jake Hasbro MOC. As much as I wanted another Mattel signed, Hasbro is the line I grew up with and it will always have a soft spot in my heart. It's nice to have something different signed, in hindsight.



Jake was in a great mood, great to see given his situation. He didn't have much to say when I met him but he and Ricky were joking around while we were all in line. At one point, Jake put his photos on top of the photos on Ricky's table when Ricky stepped away. Pretty funny when Ricky came back. 

I passed on photos because of the sheer sticker shock of HBK's prices ... a few hours later, I really wish I got pictures with Ricky and Jake. Oh well, next time. HBK had separate pictures later in the afternoon for another $100 ... again, too much for me.

All in all, it was well worth it. I'd like to thank the members on here who suggested paint pens when I asked a while back ... it's amazing how much better they look compared to normal markers, etc. Bret's coming to Hamilton, ON this fall so I think I'll be heading back over the border for another auto session then.

Lastly, here's a pic with Tetsuya Naito from last month's War of the Worlds in Toronto. Complete different story, but that event was a blast. Thanks for reading!