It was that time of the year again. The Fall weather had just essentially started to make itself known over here on the East Coast and as October worked towards its middle, the Sixth Annual NY Comic Con would take over the massive Jacob Javits Center for the next four days. Four days you say? Yes, you are reading that correctly because this time around the event would move its Press and Professionals only access to a day before the masses arrive and also open it up to those lucky enough to purchase one of the limited edition four day passes. As expected I would be braving this mega-event as a member of the press but this time I would be joined by our good friend and comrade in arms Peter Parrella, who many know by the name Skeleton Pete. As I would be attending all four days of the Con, I would be taking a lot of photos and hence giving you a lot more to digest. Last year’s coverage was served up in several different portions per day and I will strive to do that again. On your mark, get set……..GO!!!!!

Here’s one of the many banners hanging in the main lobby just before you enter the Con. Awww, we love you as well Comic Con. Thanks for having us.

A straight wall banner. This went from floor to almost ceiling and was massive. I will guess and say that it was a good 25-30 feet in height.

As mentioned, even though this was the Press Day, many of the fans were among us as well. This chap was down on the line with the other professionals so I guess he was just getting more into the spirit. This is how Bane should look by the way. Not the way he will look in the upcoming “Dark Knight Rises” film. Sorry, I just had to say it.

Once inside we were greeted by a gigantic Optimus Prime from The Transformers. He was guarding the aisles of the Hasbro section of the Con. Yes I realize we are not discussing Toy Fair, but in all fairness The Transformers did also have a comic book of their own.

As we walked in we met the lovely April O’Neill and one of her Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles. She amused me greatly as she was press in real life, and also press in cosplay.

When I turned back around I saw that Cobra Commander was in the room and I asked him to strike a pose. The sinister villain obliged me, as long as I vowed to not let any Joe’s know where he was today.

These lovely ladies were a part of the Metro PCS booth that was somewhere in the massive Con. They were wandering around with a little Droid, but I wanted a solo shot of them for you all to enjoy. I guess they were a flight attendant and a pilot. Nice work either way.

Here’s the Droid.

A quick idea made me snare the Droid and the Transformer in a single shot. Now there is a team-up that I think might be fun. I wonder what kind of OS the Transformers use. Probably Linux.

Continuing along I saw some cool Marvel Plushies. Great price for them, but I steered clear. I have enough things I collect already and don’t need anything new added to the mix.

Here we find the booth of Her Universe. This is a clothing line designed by Ashley Eckstein and its centered around the Star Wars universe. It was cute stuff for sure.

This little eco-friendly bag was loaded with sweets and it was just what I needed to keep my energy up at the Con. The sweets I mean of course. Even though the bag was charming.

Here is Ms. Eckstein herself at the booth. Nice girl. Good luck with this line.

I headed a little deeper into the Hasbro section and loved this giant Kre-O Optimus Prime.

There was also a more realistic version of the mighty Transformer made out of the Kre-O bricks. This is similar to Lego in case you were wondering.

There was also a great Emperor’s throne in the Hasbro section. Fans could sit in it and be flanked by both Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper. Skeleton Pete obliged me with a photograph that I need to get for one of the other chapters. This really looked authentic I had to say.

There was also an unmasked Darth Vader near the section for the game “Star Wars: The Old Republic”. This is one of those MMORPG’s and for the uninformed that means a “massively multiplayer online role-playing game” – whew! The line was incredibly long to even look at this and we were in press day so that surprised me a little bit. I am glad that the fans got to examine and try it earlier but I would have liked to leave with more information about it for you all. Oh well. Such is life.

Further down the aisle I met Yuffie Bunny who was representing her Head Kandi line of coolness. This is designer Cyber Falls and I will admit to not being all that much up on this kind of thing but they sure looked nice on Bunny. If this is your deal, then by all means check them out.

If you recognize these little stuffed oddities as Hangry & Angry you get three invisible gold stars and get to pass Go from wherever you are on the playing board. They were once again set up with the clothing designs of h.Naoto. I gave them a lot of attention the last time around with this article so please check it out when you have time.

These two kimono wearing ladies were offering up Japan Manga Tours. As I understood it, the tour brings you to the famous studios that make the Manga and the surrounding regions. Sounds interesting if this is your deal. I did however feel that this belonged up in the Anime Festival section though.

Do any of you remember Joe Palooka? Well, you younger fans might not, but he was a heavyweight boxer who lived in a comic strip many years ago and he was very popular. In today’s world Joe Palooka has returned and is an MMA fighter. Talk about keeping current. Welcome back Joe.

Everyone’s favorite vampire infants were back in style at The Vamplet booth.

This time around we noticed how there were even bottles of blood for the Vamplets to drink. Cute trick. A must for any of you “Twilight” fans.

Some cute and freaky hats.

This was a strange but fun idea. “I Am A Stuffed Animal” allows you to send a photo of anyone you know, or yourself and have a doll made out of it to your design. It’s reasonably priced as well. Now that is a gift that will be talked about for sure. Maybe I will get one using that photo that Skeleton Pete did a couple of years ago. Keep my cats company when I am out and about covering shows or adventures like this one.

Here’s a freaky little section for the folks of the Gemini Company. As a Gemini I was instantly taken by the sign and then their special wares. Wow was this stuff creepy and cool.

They make all sorts of things from brain soaps, candy and a whole lot more. I think I might want to get down to their Brooklyn shop and snoop around a little more.

Here’s the booth of “Eight Bit & Up”. Their located in NYC on St. Mark’s Place and that is Marcus with one of their assistants for the Con. She didn’t seem to happy to be included in my photograph.

Next up was the booth for Pigfish. I didn’t know much about them, but loved the display so gave them a few photos worth of attention in this narrative. The Pigfish and his creator hail from The Bronx and here we see Mike A.

Here is Mr. Pigfish himself. He is one of the Freaky Dinky’s I am told.

and here is his official comic book. It deals with city living, pollution and all that other fun stuff.

another character from the title. It seemed like a fun, and perhaps even socially acerbic kind of title but I was not able to snare one during the Con. I had other plans for the financials this time around.

The Marvel section had a massive Avengers stage setup, and the fans were able to come up and pose on this with a replica of Thor’s hammer Mjolnir. Before you ask me, no, I didn’t do this but I sure wanted to. You probably already know that the famous team will come to big screen life next year and has been led to by the Iron Man, Thor and Captain America films. I am VERY excited about this.

Here is the booth for Hi-Chew candy. These are awesome treats and last year I chased the Hi-Chew King who carried a bucket of them. The Con really drains you so I was like a vampire on a quest for sugar every now and again. I told the rep just how much I enjoyed these candies.

Here’s Dave Rankin and his fine art designs on Effigy Skateboards. If you have not yet seen Dave’s work on this medium or otherwise, please do yourself a favor. Really nice stuff. Keep up the good work Dave.

Behind The Avengers stage was this great mural of the team. Just had to shoot a photo of that.

Last year when I was leaving the Con, I met a couple of representatives for the comic book New-Gen. This year they had a whole booth set up and a bunch of their characters presented in larger than life fashion for the fans to appreciate and pose with. I really liked what I saw and snared a copy of the free comic book that they were offering passerby.

 

Some more of the New-Gen cast of creatures. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into this title and see what its all about.

Continuing along I saw a rack that was loaded with super-hero glasses. I used to have a lot of these. They eventually wore down though or broke.

I just call him Mr. Adios

This also caught my eye

These next group of designs did not really have too much information around them. They sure looked cool but your guess is as good as mine. The artist was not at the Con nor were these for sale, so I was unsure why they were being displayed in this fashion.

Here is the section for Robotection, the robot iPhone protectors. Being a Droid user these might work for me as well, but I did not ask to try one out.

Here is Ohiya’s booth. They make plastic and plush toys.

That brings us to the end of the first part of the whole shebang. I’ll be continuing along with the fun-filled adventures at NY Comic Con 2011 over the next few days and in several different parts based on how many photos I took. Stay tuned for Part 2 of the “Official Press Day” edition of the segment and be sure to check out the links to some of the stuff that you enjoyed in this posting.

Official Websites:
Her Universe: http://heruniverse.com/
Kre-O: http://www.hasbro.com/kre-o/en_US/
New-Gen: http://apngenterprises.com/
Pigfish: http://freakydinkys.com/
Head Kandi: http://www.head-kandi.com/
Vamplets: http://www.vamplets.com/
The Gemini Company: http://www.thegeminicompany.com/
I Am A Stuffed Animal: http://www.iamastuffedanimal.com/
Effigy Skateboards: http://effigyskateboards.com/