)Crypticon 2008 ♥ Radisson Hotel - Roseville, Minnesota |
Although nothing to do with music, I thought I'd report on my recent attendance at Crypticon 2008 today (November 15th).
Although a pleasant experience with the Q&A with various guests
(the two I attended was Fright Night's Chris Sarandon and The
Cryptkeeper John Kassir), I thought the rest of my time spent there
dragged on a bit. The turnout was really good, I even ran into people I
knew, which is unusual as I don't really know anyone.
So what does one do at these conventions ? Usually buying stuff, like 8x10 signed actor portraits and sometime overpriced merchandises. My sister did get a nice deal on the Lost action figures Todd McFarlane put out a few years ago. I contemplated on buying bootleg Hellraiser and Evil Dead stuff, but instead got an autographed Hellboy II. Was disappointed that there were not more obscure horror DVDs and packages for sale (it seems I already own 90% of whatever they were selling).
My brother took most of the photographs, including James Duval (Frank the Bunny), Chris Sarandon (famous for playing Jack Skellington), Doug Jones (Pale "Jazz Hands" Man), and here's a picture with Michael Berryman (that The Hills Have Eyes dude). Berryman, no offense or anything, is such a nice guy, but he's really scary-looking. He even seems like a fanboy as he was collecting autographs from the other attendees!
My complaints and suggestions for future shows is to keep the cost down. $30 per day is really expensive, and adding on additional purchases, you can easily tap out $100. The other problem is that the convention extends for three days - perhaps just keep it to the weekend. I also think that it would've been better to have it in the Summer or perhaps closer to Halloween (but I can understand that October might be too insane to try and organize anything).
Other disappointment was that legendary make-up artist and actor Toni Savini canceled out.
Other than that, it's worth checking out these conventions if you want to meet actors and get more merch. I wouldn't mind attending a Star Trek convention one of these days if they held one closer to home.
So what does one do at these conventions ? Usually buying stuff, like 8x10 signed actor portraits and sometime overpriced merchandises. My sister did get a nice deal on the Lost action figures Todd McFarlane put out a few years ago. I contemplated on buying bootleg Hellraiser and Evil Dead stuff, but instead got an autographed Hellboy II. Was disappointed that there were not more obscure horror DVDs and packages for sale (it seems I already own 90% of whatever they were selling).
My brother took most of the photographs, including James Duval (Frank the Bunny), Chris Sarandon (famous for playing Jack Skellington), Doug Jones (Pale "Jazz Hands" Man), and here's a picture with Michael Berryman (that The Hills Have Eyes dude). Berryman, no offense or anything, is such a nice guy, but he's really scary-looking. He even seems like a fanboy as he was collecting autographs from the other attendees!
My complaints and suggestions for future shows is to keep the cost down. $30 per day is really expensive, and adding on additional purchases, you can easily tap out $100. The other problem is that the convention extends for three days - perhaps just keep it to the weekend. I also think that it would've been better to have it in the Summer or perhaps closer to Halloween (but I can understand that October might be too insane to try and organize anything).
Other disappointment was that legendary make-up artist and actor Toni Savini canceled out.
Other than that, it's worth checking out these conventions if you want to meet actors and get more merch. I wouldn't mind attending a Star Trek convention one of these days if they held one closer to home.
Links:
crypticonminneapolis.com