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We got up to the Cross Center about 20 minutes before the doors opened, and headed straight for the guests' booths as soon as we were allowed in. About five minutes after hitting the floor, Colin Baker arrived. We ended up being second in line to see him! He was quite pleasant - and quite hungry. He had his convention coordinator person run out to find him breakfast and coffee at Starbucks. Mr. Baker was quite pleasant - my cousin had a "bow ties are cool" shirt on, and he told her that she needed a "dotty ties are cool" shirt, since dotty ties are better. All three of us got photos signed, and we had a group photo taken with him.
I headed over to Tim Rose next, probably best known as one of the puppeteers on Star Wars; he did the puppet work for Admiral Ackbar in Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. I ended up getting a photo from Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal - his first Dark Crystal photo of the day! I knew he was the puppeteer for one of the Skeksis in the film, but he told me that was just the role he was credited for. A friend of his working on the film got hired to play Barkley the Dog on Sesame street and had to leave filming, so he ended up doing a number of other characters in the film as well. Nichelle Nichols arrived while I was talking with Tim Rose. Luckily, my cousin and fiancee were right up near the head of the line - so I was able to run over and join them. As with Colin Baker, we were right up near the front of the line. Ms. Nichols signed a nice headshot for me, and we had out photos taken. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to meet her again before she retires. I was sad to see that she was moving a bit slower than she was in 2013, but she is in her mid 80s. After seeing Ms. Nichols, the three of us went wandering around the convention floor. Somewhere along the way we lost my fiancee - so my cousin and I kept wandering on our own. After taking a look at the vendors, we ended up at Verne Troyer's booth. He did have much of a line - which I thought was a bit surprising. I ended up getting a photo of him as Mini Me in Austin Powers. My cousin, a big Harry Potter fan, had him sign two photos of himself as Griphook in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - one for herself, and one for one of her friends. Mr. Troyer only played Griphook in the first film. He was the actor on screen, but Warwick Davis dubbed the voice. In the later films the role was recast to be ALL Warwick Davis. my cousin and I also had our photos taken with him. Later in the morning we swung by Denise Crosby's booth. As with Ms. Nichols, I had the opportunity to meet Ms. Crosby three years ago at Star Trek Boston - I was first in line then, and quite nervous (I hadn't met many film/TV people at that point). I'll never forget it - she just started laughing and said "You're so cute!" My fiancee has never forgiven her for that :-P. I ended up getting another photo signed - one of her as Tasha Yar in Star Trek: The Next Generation - and, again, my cousin and I had our photo taken. We also caught her Q&A panel that afternoon. The final autograph stop of the day was Brenda Hickey. I'm not exactly familiar with her work, but she's one of the artists who draws the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic books for IDW Publishing. I ended up picking up a comic book for my fiancee - she she LOVES My Little Pony - and one for myself as well. All in all, it was a fun and successful trip! With any luck we'll head back up again next year. I think all three of us are going to keep an eye on it to see who they have for guests.
I was planning to go see him again (and try for that CD a second time) when he came through Maine again this coming fall, however the news broke about a week and a half ago that Mr. King was in hospice care at his home in Los Angeles. It seems unlikely that I'll have the chance to see him perform again. I feel extremely lucky to have seen this living legend perform in person at least once. As soon as the news broke, I went out and purchased this photo from a reputable dealer, realizing that, while Mr. King's signature has been heavily forged for years, a new wave of fakes would be hitting the market and it was likely that prices for authentic items would skyrocket.
B.B. King (born Riley B. King, b. 1926) is an American singer songwriter, guitarist and living legend - noted by Time Magazine and Gibson as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and one of the three most influential blues musicians of all time. Up until he reached his seventies, B.B. performed 250-300 concerts per year and into his eighties continued to play more than 100 shows per year. On May 1st, 2015, B.B. King announced via his website that he was in home hospice care following two hospitalizations for high blood pressure and diabetes. ***EDIT*** R.I.P. B.B. King
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AuthorA blog documenting autographs as they enter my collection - usually with some extra information and a brief biographical statement. Archives
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