John O’Hurley Superhero car Show 2022

The last autograph I picked up was John O’Hurley. He was at a booth promoting pet adoption. The money for his autograph went to the pet adoption organization. That was kind of him.

The table had a very nice selection of photos. He is a busy character actor. When I saw the X-Files photo, I knew I wanted that one signed. He looked at the black and while 8x10 and mentioned that episode was nominated for several Emmys.

After he signed, my fellow hound and I rushed out. I drove him to the airport to catch his plane.  Yeah, sometime, we draw the line too fine when we collect. And yes, I had he X-File theme song in my head for most of the day.

AH

Ewan McGregor Superhero Car Show 2022

The main reason I drove to San Antonio was Ewan McGregor. He was one of the first guests announced for this show. While he does a few shows, I figured this was my best chance.

As luck would have it, I was in line with two fellow hounds. One of them was my buddy from Georgia. When Ewan showed, the line moved fast.  Georgia had printed out some photos that were not the normal Obi-Wan shots.  There were of Ewan with some motorcycles.

Ewan looked at the photos and said, he liked those.  Georgia had a big smile on his face. Ewan then said, I liked those very much. Then added, those were his cycles.  Ewan does like to ride. He did an article for and posed with his bikes.  Georgia tracked down the photos and printed them off.

I printed off a photo too but it was mainstream compared to cycles. But I like my autograph very much.

AH

Simu Liu Superhero Car Show 2022

Warning you now, this is circuitous.

I drove to San Antonio on Friday. It was a 5-hour drive. It was over 100 degrees most of the way. Yes, you guessed it, the air-conditioning was wonky. It wasn’t blowing. The cold air just seeped out. That seepage wasn’t enough to cool the car.  It was long hot trip.

I wasn’t planning on going to the convention on Friday but I did want to meet some fellow hounds. After resting and washing up, we made dinner plans. We went to Pinkerton’s BBQ. A little pricey but it was good.

After sitting and eating, my Georgia buddy mentioned that Simu Liu just walked in. Well, the three of us got excited. The rest of the restaurant was clueless. We chatted among ourselves and then Georgia decided to buy a round of drinks for Simu’s table. When he came back, he excitedly told us about the process. He never talked to Simu. He just had the bartender deliver them.  After 30 minutes, the bartender stopped by our table and told that Simu et al were very thankful for the drinks and respecting their privacy.

The next day, I had Simu on my list.  The line was long and while he was trying to give fans some face time, he was moving fast.  After he signed, I asked how he enjoyed the BBQ.  He and his handler shared cautious looks to one another.  I’m sure that is a stalker thing to say.  Then I mentioned, my buddy bought them a round of drinks. Then their faces opened up. Big smiles and both of them said that was so kind. They both wanted me to thank him again.  I told them I would.  Then I shared what my Georgia buddy told me. When he got Simu’s autograph at another show, Simu was so kind to him and the other fans. The round of drinks was his way of tipping his hat in respect for that encounter. 

AH

Burton Gilliam Superhero Car Show 2022

I drove down to San Antonio for Superhero Car Show. It’s run by the people that did/do Celebrity Fan Fest. Not sure if the name change was for this one show or permanent, but everyone I talked to still called it celebrity Fan Fest. While this show had some key guests cancelled, they still had some excitement.

The first autograph I picked up was from Burton Gilliam. He is a local legend and icon. He does appear at a lot of shows and most collectors already have him. I did get his autograph once many years ago on a small promotional card. I figured this was the time to get something nicer.

After he signed for me, he asked if I was from Allen, TX. I smiled when I said no. I knew where this was headed.  I pointed to the logo on my shirt and said that for the U of Arizona.  He told me Allen uses the same logo.  (I told you he was a local legend; he knows the Allen Eagles.)

We chatted about how much that town and county had grown over the last 20 years. Then guy behind me with a heavy New York accent, mentioned he had an aunt in McKinney and couldn’t believe the changes.

With that I said good bye and made my way to the next quest.

AH

Fred Savage Celebrity Fan Fest 2019

I bought Fred Savage’s autograph ticket on Friday. The signing was for Sunday. I did ‘clear it’ with The Wife first. We were planning on leaving early Sunday morning to drive home.  This was delaying us a smidge. 

The stressful part was this signing session was scheduled for only 15 minutes. If I missed that, I needed to wait several hours until his next signing. That meant we were getting home late.

Fred arrived on time and jumped right into signing.  The handlers weren’t very well organized as they had people criss-crossing each other and blocking other people from moving forward. Since I was close to the front of the line this didn’t impact me much.

There was some ‘fun’ when the handlers moved a man in a wheelchair to the front of the line.  I understand the reason. It’s a good thing. The man in the wheelchair also had diminished mental capabilities. Where the wheelchair was placed, prevented others from moving around him. While he was attempting to ask Fred a bunch of very personal questions that shouldn’t be asked in public, no one else was getting anything signed.

After 5 minutes, it sorted itself out. The man was wheeled out asking why his questions weren’t answered.  

I got my photo signed with a couple of minutes to spare. Then I hustled out to meet the wife for the long trip home.

AH

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Celebrity Fan Fest 2019

When Yahya Abdul-Mateen arrived, he brought his own music. It wasn’t anything I had heard before. However, someone in line grooved to it and that made Yahya break out in a big smile as he pointed out the fan.

I actually picked up the table photo to get signed. I had the same photo with me but his version included the Manta’s Helmut.

AH

Lee Pace Celebrity Fan Fest 2019

I waited to buy Lee Pace’s autograph ticket until Friday. I wanted him but I wasn’t sure how much chaos this show would have with lines and I didn’t want to buy an autograph I couldn’t get.

Lee Pace has been on my radar since Pushing Daisies. I saw the first episode previewed at SDCC. I loved it. After the panel, about half the audience got a slice of cherry pie. That was a very unusual piece of swag.

I found several photos of Lee from Pushing Daisies I thought about printing. But the photo I choose to get signed came from the Hobbit. It looked so good that I printed that one instead.

When I got the autograph, we both got distracted by someone else. He handed me the photo and I walked off.  When I looked later, I thought he didn’t finish his signature. I looked online and he does sign ‘Lee’.

While disappointed in what I received, I try not to complain. Everyone has they own style and reason for how they sign. I know if I handing out autographs, people would be disappointed with the scrawl I call a signature.

AH

Amber Heard Celebrity Fan Fest 2019

Amber Heard was the other marque guest for me. I know for everyone else; Jason Momoa was THE draw. But I had gotten him a decade ago when nobody but Stargate fans knew who he was.

I previously gotten Amber Heard at SDCC for the movie Drive Angry. She and Nicolas Cage signed that day. But I wanted an 8x10 because that is how I nerdy.

Again, she was another celeb behind a curtained wall. When we got closer our bags were checked and then security used the hand held metal detectors. I was glad I printed my own photo. She had 2 choices. I didn’t like either.

She was signing fast. She was trying to say hi and smile but she had a long line and they were cracking the whip. She looked very pretty even with the pinkish hair. Nope, I wasn’t a fan of that.

As I got closer, I recognized someone. It was the female security officer from the WB booth at SDCC. The same lady I saw last year in Austin for the Black Lightening signing. I was trying to catch her eye but she was all business. She was watching the person in front of Amber, she was giving a quick check of the person ‘on deck’, and she was instructing people to keep their hands out of their pockets.

I’ve mentioned before I like this person. When I was the ‘on deck’ person, she looked at me and we said hi. I got a big smile from her. She recognized me.

Amber signed my photo. A nice large signature. I would have preferred another color but that was not going to happen. I briefly told her about SDCC many years ago. she paused and wondered how long that was. I knew I took too much time and left.

I exchanged a few words with my security friend. I kept that very brief as she was busy.

AH

Alexandra Shipp Celebrity Fan Fest 2019

My Saturday started with two signing more or less at the same time. I got the show early and jumped into the first line.

Alexandra Shipp was all smiles and high energy. She looked glamorous. While getting there slightly late, the issue wasn’t her but her handlers that got lost coming from her panel session in another building.

I was actually the first to get her signature. I normally don’t like being first but I had an eye on the clock and the other autograph I wanted. Once she signed, I thanked her and rushed away.

AH

Jeremy Renner Celebrity Fan Fest 2019

Jeremy Renner was the big reason I went to San Antonio. For me, he was the marque celeb at this show. My line queue group was 'B' for Jeremy. After I finished Robert Wuhl, I got into the Group 'A' line for Renner. The fast pass line was hundreds of people. The general admission line was 15 people. I was trying to get out of the convention early to avoid being late for dinner with The Wife’s Uncle.

The Group 'A' line was cut before I got my signature. I had to come back when Group 'B' was supposed to queue. This time, the line moved faster. I was told by one of my autograph buddies, who was in Group A, Jeremy was trying to interact with people the first time. Since they had him behind a curtained wall, he had no idea how long his line was. This time, he cut the chit-chat.  He wasn’t switching pens. The color worked for my photo. It did not work for everyone.

He did try to smile and look up but he was signing as fast as he could. Once I got my signature, I was headed back to the hotel to wash up and look presentable for dinner.

AH

Ray Fisher Celebrity Fan Fest 2019

Ray Fisher was nice. He got there and start right away. The line moved fast. He gave a nice large signature. He seemed to enjoy being there as he laughed a lot when talking to the fans.

AH

Robert Wuhl Celebrity Fan Fest 2019

My autograph ticket time for Robert Wuhl was Friday at 6:15 PM.  I had dinner plans and did not want to be at the show that late. When I saw Robert at his table earlier, I walked over and he signed. Yeah!

While he had a nice selection of photos, I used the one I printed. I printed photos for all of the celebs at this show. In the past, at shows where I paid in advance, the photo selection at the table were not very good. I did not want a black and white head shot like I have seen in the past.

Robert was nice. I caught him as he was just setting up. The bar code on the ticket had to be scanned and the handler had to rush over to do that. He had to vamp for a few seconds while that was done.

AH

Celebrity Fan Fest 2019

The Wife and I drove to San Antonio for a long weekend away from home and cats. The Wife did some fabric and quilt shopping. Friday night we had dinner with her Uncle, who we really like. We went to an Irish pub. It was good. Then Saturday night we had dinner with her Cousin and niece at a place not far from the Alamo. The hotel we stayed was older and remodeled. It had a great view of the Alamo from our room. The hotel was supposedly haunted although we never saw anything. It was a great trip.

And oh yeah, I picked up some autographs; as if you didn’t know.

Celebrity Fan Fest was in San Antonio and had several guests I was interested in adding to my collection. I didn’t go to the first year of this con as I was worried it would fold tents in the middle of the night and run with my money. This year I took the plunge.

The show was at the Freeman Coliseum and Expo Halls next to the where the Spurs play. It’s not far from downtown and the Alamo. The show used a separate building to house a celebrity car show and a small arena for the panels. This event spread people out.

It was hot and humid in San Antonio. A few sponsors/vendors were placed outside in the weather. The attendees had to long walk going to panels and sweated a lot.

The Fan Fest wasn’t that crowded. People came for the autographs and photos ops. I did not see a lot of people carrying bags of items they purchased from the vendors. As I listened to my fellow autograph collectors, they seemed to have been coming from all over the country. Most of them were spending the summer going to the shows with the big name Marvel and DC actors.

The food was decent and there were lots of chairs for resting. Since it wasn’t that crowded, people were able to sit on the floor too.

This show had you buy tickets in advance and you are in ‘groups’. The problem is you don’t know when the group is scheduled until a few days before the event. I had no idea that I had 2 signings at the same time until after I purchased the tickets. It did seem that if you were in group A, you could easily join group B if needed.

The autograph signing schedule was in odd chunks of time. My group A Fred Savage was 15 minutes long. It worked out for me but it was odd. If he showed late, he signs for 1 person and then leaves?

The event had a VIP/Fast Pass badge and general admission wristband. They had separate lines and they were fairly well marked out. Most everyone bought the VIP or Fast passes. It SEEMED that the ration was 30 to 1.  30 Fast pass to 1 general admission. The fast pass lines were very long and always longer than the general admission.

I enjoyed the show. Depending on the guest list next year (if there is a next year), I would go again.

AH