Carl Lumbly SpaceConSA October 2025

Everyone knows Carl Lumbly from Alias or The Marvel-verse. I never watched Alias, although I should. But for me, his role in Buckaroo Banzai overshadows his work in Marvel-verse.  It’s me. Don’t think about it too much.

Carl’s table was full of photos from Alias and Marvel. As I talked to the handler, I showed the photo and asked if he thought this would be okay. I also asked his opinion about pen color and placement. We both agreed on blue sharpie and the location. Carl’s signature wasn’t too big to get lost in the image.

When it was my turn, I showed the photo and the smile that Carl was wearing got brighter.  He did exactly what I hoped. He made a few comments about the movie and filming and the people he met. He said the same, I had heard often, it was a lot of fun. This director/writer’s first movie and everyone wasn’t sure where it would go.

I mentioned I was more or less babysitting a couple of kids when I was college and they suggested this movie. I hadn’t heard another about it. they ended up not liking the movie but I was very entertained. I have watched the movie a few times since and little details keep popping out.

Carl mentioned he liked the behind scenes photo. He picked up a black pen but the handler stepped in and said he thought blue would be great and pointed where we agreed earlier. It’s nice to have a good handler helping.

As I stepped away, we were both still grinning. This was my favorite encounter at the show.

AH

PS I could have used 'B's' help on this. This photo looked awesome as an 11x14. 8x10 is nice but resizing would have been great.

Grace Park SpaceConSA October 2025

I enjoyed Battlestar Galactica in the early 2000’s. They re-visioned it, but not in a way that made it unwatchable.

I have picked up a lot of the actor’s autographs from that show. Grace Park is one of the few missing holes I have.

Grace was all smiles.  I handed over the photo. She got distracted by her handler.  I was looking over the color pens she had.  Thy actually had a photo with different pens tested. This way you could, hopefully, choose the the best color and placement.

When she came back, I suggested a color and placement. Her handling explained what I did with the test photo. She was impressed. We chatted and I made her laugh a few times. Then she told me I was funny. I told her she needs to tell The Wife that. That made her laugh even louder.

She signed, not in the best pace but I liked it. Then she handled it back.  I stepped back as two of my buddies were next.  They chatted and she mentioned something about me being funny. And they said I make then laugh too.

But maybe the best and last laugh is on me.

I looked at the photo, I see she added the character name of Kono and not Boomer.

AH

Ivanna Sakhno SpaceConSA October 2025

Over the years, I have met fellow collectors at events and conventions. Sometimes, it’s a nodding acquaintance and other times, you exchange phone numbers and keep in touch. I had lost touch with ‘B’.  I was very surprised when he poked his head to the side and said hello. It had been a couple of years.

As we were waiting for Ivanna Sakhno to arrive, I mentioned my photo. I said I liked the image but I could not crop it in a meaning way. It was too large. He paused. Shook his head in disappointment. He said I should have reached out. He basically does that for a living. Well, he does a lot more than futz with image sizes but he could have resized it for me.  I need to remember that.

Chatting with him made the time pass quicker. Ivanna had a long line but still took a few seconds to chat and smile.

After I was done, I looked for ’B’ and just as mysteriously appearing, he disappeared. Never saw him at the show again.  Odd how that happens.

AH

Grant Gustin SpaceConSA October 2025

I’ve had Grant Gustin cancel a couple of appearances on me. Well, he didn’t cancel on ME. He just cancelled appearances where I thought I would be meeting him. I think the last cancellation was a year ago at this very show. I’m glad SpaceCon got him back.

Grant was friendly and all smiles.

When I handed over the photo, he looked at it, trying to place it. It wasn’t one of this table photos. He asked about color, suggesting white. I asked for yellow and explained that his suit had the yellow highlights. It’s a matching in a subtle way.

Then he asked where to sign and suggested the ’void’. I had not heard anyone describe the space that way before. I liked that description. It told me he ‘got’ why I cropped the photo that way.

After he signed, I commented that The Wife remembers him from Glee. He laughed. He was in a few episodes but it’s interesting what sticks in the back of our minds.

AH

Wilson Bethel SpaceconSA October 2025

I like that Wilson Bethel has a quote and symbol he automatically adds to his signature. He embraces the role and he is having fun.

As he was about to sign for me, we got interrupted by the owner of the convention. The owner came by and had to a few words to say to Wilson and to take a few selfies. It was a short delay and no real harm. Afterward, I just did my normal ‘thanks for coming to San Antonio and hope they feed you well’, routine.

AH

Gil Gerard SpaceConSA October 2025

I returned to San Antonio the weekend after Big Texas ComicCon for another show. The show that made me drive another 4 ½ hours was SpaceConSA. I have been to this show before, along with its sister convention, Superhero ComicCon. These shows are well organized solid shows with exciting guests not often seen across the country.

This particular show was less than thrilling for me as I had met many of these guests. I have attended a lot of ComicCon over the decades. Most of these people, I have bumped into in the past.

One of them I had seen before was Gil Gerard. As I was checking my list of autographs, I noticed, I had him on a photo with Erin Grey but not by himself. This was my time to correct that.

Gil arrived a little late. He apologized. He was in a wheelchair. When I got there, he was still trying to get comfortable in the chair used at the table. He mentioned he fell a while back and is still recovering.

He signed and I thanked him. I mentioned my sister and I always watched Buck Rogers as kids. He thanked me and I was on my way.

And of course, after I left, I remembered I wanted to ask about the episode with Buster Crabbe.  I’m sure he’s been asked a million times. I do remember watching Buster in Buck Rogers AND Flash Gordon on a UHF channel in Philly. It was one of the reasons, I watched Gil’s version in the 70’s.

AH

Maggie Grace Big Texas ComicCon 2025

I overheard this was the first time that Maggie Grace has done a ComicCon where she signed for paying fans. When she arrived, she mentioned she was nervous. She had just come from the photo ops and she wore a slightly off-white pant suit with low heels. She hair and makeup were done. The blouse she wore had long frilly sleeves that she was constantly pushing up her arm as she talked and signed.

When I finally got to her, she signed and asked if she could add the quote I agreed. I think this is perfect for this photo.

I mentioned she was part of the reason I got to go to SDCC so often.  The first year I went was just after the first season of Lost aired. She and Josh Hollway were on the Lost panel. The Wife was infatuated with Sawyer. After The Wife asked me a dozen times to confirm that Sawyer was there, she declared we would go next year.  And the unspoken part was to see Sawyer.  Josh Holloway did not attend that next SDCC. Grace laughed and said, you never know, Josh might do a ComicCon and then The Wife would be happy.

She shared a few brief memories of SDCC and the crowds before I left.

AH

Jamie Campbell Bower and others Big Texas ComicCon 2025

I need a little latitude on this one. I’m going to ramble.

For me, one of the longer lines at Big Texas ComicCon was the line for Jamie Campbell Bower. The girls were in line for Twilight or Stranger Things.  And before you guess incorrectly, I was in line for Stranger Things.

When I finally got in front of Jamie, I handed over the photo and he gave me a suggestion on color to use.  I vetoed and suggested another and he said his pens of that color were crap. So, we compromised with the light blue, which I actually like.

Then I mentioned SDCC. Yes, I’m known to do that. I told him I got his autograph there for The Prisoner. He looked up with shock.  He paused. Then asked me how long ago was that.  I told him I don’t remember but we were both a lot younger. (I checked and it was 2009) He smiled. Then he said wistfully, he could drink a lot more back then.

We briefly threw names back and forth about that show. Jim Caviezel and Lenny James were at the table and also signed. Then he mentioned Ian McKellen and Hayley Atwell were also in the show…which I did not know. They were not signing. Or at least I wasn’t aware of that.

He asked how I got the autographs for The Prisoner. He asked if I was press or a studio employee. I briefly said SDCC did a raffle and I was lucky. 

The AMC booth at SDCC also did credit card sized ID card. As a fan, they took your photo and assigned you a number.  I remember watching this updated version of the Prisoner not liking it. The version with Patrick McGoohan is a favorite and it was hard to see a re-visioning.

I’m posting an image of the signed item from SDCC. The signatures for Jamie and Lenny are much different from 2009. 

AH

Kristen Schaal Big Texas ComicCon 2025

The person in front of me painted a portrait of KristenSchaal. It was her character from What We Do in the Shadows. That is a tough act to follow and the only thing to do it compliment the fan and the art piece.  The painting was much better than anything I can do.

Kristen laughed with me as I said, I only have ‘this’ to sign. She repeated she was honored that someone would spend the time to make a portrait of her. The painting was pretty good.

I mentioned that I know her from The Last Man on Earth and only just started watching ‘Shadows’. We only recently got Hulu. She pointed out Harvey Guillen who was seated a few feet away and a big part of ‘Shadows’.  It’s nice when actors want to share attention and make sure others are not overlooked.

AH

Cobra Kai Big Texas ComicCon 2025

Big Texas Comicon brought in more Cobra Kai actors this year. I was able to add three more to my collection.

Dallas Dupree Young was friendly. As we chatted, it was odd to say, I live north of Dallas, when that is his first name. It’s odd to me. I’m sure most people don’t think twice. Since he grew up in Houston, he was no stranger to San Antonio.

Tanner Buchanan was very nice. He did something for the fan in front of me. He tracked down the paint pen that Dallas used on this photo so it would match. I mentioned that because it’s a small kindness that is very fan friendly.

Mary Mouser asked me if I minded if she added ‘Bonsai Badass’ to the signature.  She didn’t want to offend. I did laugh. It was sweet that she was thinking about the family atmosphere.  I was more than happy that she added it. 

I’m very happy I got these three in San Antonio. I have a few more cast members from that series to track down but I have a majority. I hope the actors still continue doing the convention circuit. The show seems popular even though it is finished.

AH