John Cena SpaceCon 2026

This was my 7^th and last autograph for this convention. I had many more autographs planned but 7 cancelled over the months before the convention. It happens.

It was 5PM on Saturday and I was ready to get this done and go back to the hotel. The Spurs basketball team was in the NBA finals and the game was starting just across the parking lot. I wanted to get out before the game started.

I got in line for John Cena. There were several groups to be called before us but I was the front of our line. The guy next to me was watching the Rangers baseball game on his phone and chatting with the people behind him.

The line monitors started walking through the group. Reminders to have the prepaid tickets out and the item to have signed. They mentioned John had a hard break but he could get through everyone if we didn’t chit chat and were ready with our items. Yes, I did start to worry. I wondered if I would be staying late or coming back on Sunday. I really didn’t want to come back. I wanted to relax on Sunday.

The line really did start to move. When I got behind the curtains hiding signing table and John, I handed over my ticket and photo. I mentioned I would like red for the paint pen. The handler said, the ‘red’ they had didn’t work well. John actually paused and turned to me and said I won’t like the results in ‘red’.  But I will like the results in ‘blue’. With a smile, I said: ‘Blue’ it is.

Then I was in front of John and he signed.  I told him thanks and it did look good in ‘blue’. Then he smiled and said: I told you.

I left and it wasn’t too long after 5 PM. I called The Wife and she was already waiting in the parking lot waiting for me. A short walk in the San Antonio heat and I was in the car heading to a restaurant for dinner. Then we walked the game from the hotel room.

AH

Jimmy Smits SpaceCon 2026

While I never watched LA Law, this is the show I think of when I see his name. But that doesn’t mean I wanted Jimmy Smits’ to sign an LA Law photo.

When I was prepping for this convention, I couldn’t find a photo I liked that wasn’t pixelated. I was relying on the options at the table. Even they didn’t have too many options. I chose what I thought was best. I do like this photo. The silver paint pen was great.

While Jimmy was ahead of schedule with the signing, he was taking a few seconds with everyone. I welcomed him to Texas and he asked where I was from.  I told him I came from North of Dallas. He mentioned a relative in Ft Worth. Then he asked if I grew up in Texas. I’m sure I don’t sound Texan. I mentioned Jersey. He told me he worked in Princeton for a while. I told him my Dad worked in Princeton for a while too. Then a few more comments about how pretty Jersey is. Yes, Jersey is pretty. Lots of history too.

As we parted, he told me to say ‘hi’ to my Dad.  How cool is that? My Dad got a shout out from Jimmy Smits!

AH

Famke Janssen SpaceCon 2026

It’s been a while since I’ve seen Famke Janssen’s name on a convention guest list.  So, it was time to take advantage of this opportunity.

A tradition at conventions, when the guest arrives, the waiting crowd cheers and claps.  Once we did that for Famke, Olivier Ritchers looked up. He paused in his signing and walked over to her. They are both from the Netherlands and the chatted for a few minutes. She is just shy of 6 feet but she looked short next to Olivier. But EVERYBODY looks short next to him.

I had printed a photo. It was similar to her table photo but mine was cropped to give more space for a signature. I handed over the photo and asked for white and suggested where to place her autograph.

She gave me a nice large graph in the prefect spot. Love it.

AH

Emily VanCamp SpaceCon 2026

After Olivier Ritchers, I got in Emily VanCamp’s line. When I handed over the photo, I asked for a darker blue. I told her I was trying to match the color of the jacket. I also told I didn’t want the color to ‘clash’. I‘m a guy. I’m not sure I used the word right or the context was right but I tried.

I thought she looked classy and elegant in the photo; I didn’t want the color choice to be distracting. She assured me it would look nice. I think it does.

Maybe I need to have my testosterone checked….?

AH

Olivier Richters SpaceCon 2026

Sometimes, I find a photo that really tickles me and I can’t wait to hand it over to the celebrity to see reaction.  Even though Alan Ritchson (Reacher) cancelled his con appearance, Olivier Ritchers still showed and I was excited.

Olivier is huge. I’m 6’ 3” and I’m dwarfed. He was all smiles and chatted with everyone. Someone was filming content and Olivier would pause and talk to the camera.

As I got to the front of the table, the handlers looked at my photo. Nothing but crickets behind their eyes. That’s okay. The photo ain’t for them.

Then it was my turn. We shook hands. I tried hard to give a strong handshake but I could tell, he never felt it. He didn’t squeeze back incase he hurt me. I was not offended.

He looked down at the photo and stepped back laughing. He looked over the tables photos to find it.  I mentioned I printed this one myself. He quickly said it was staged for a day that Alan was off set. It was something fun to do. He turned to the handlers and told them. He was happy to see this. I made him happy.

As he signed, I mentioned the video of him and his friend in black suits acting like body guards. Then he asked if he should do more. I, of course, said yes. He tuned to the camera and said the public wants more. They have to do more.

With my mission accomplished, I left for the next autograph.

AH

Tom Hiddleston SpaceCon 2026

The second and last autograph I had for Friday was TomHiddleston. That was supposed to be at 7 PM. The previous autograph was 5 hours earlier. Makes for a very long day of doing nothing.

When I got in line, I learned Tom was still doing photo ops (running late) and had about 50 or more people that he had not finished before the photo ops. They would be done before he started on us.

Not really an issue other than it’s getting to my bedtime. The wrinkle is Tom had a panel starting at 8 PM. There is no way he will get to me by 8 PM. At 7:30, Tom returned from the photo ops.  I’m checking the convention schedule to find if Tom is signing on Sunday. I don’t expect he will get to me. I really don’t want to at the convention until 10 PM or later. I’m tired and getting cranky…maybe I’m ‘hangry’ and need a Snickers. I rather leave and come back another day if possible.

As the line management people started checking tickets, I stopped a guy and asked if Tom was coming back after the panel to sign.  He said, no. BUT Tom would be signing for everyone before the panel started. They were delaying the panel.

To me that made sense as those people had places to sit. We were standing in place on hard concrete.

With Tom’s return, he was put into overdrive. He started signing and the line moved at a steady pace. Until your feet and back ache, you don’t appreciate how nice it is to move a step every 10 or 15 seconds. It took 40 minutes until I was in front of Loki himself and watched him sign my photo and thank him for coming to Texas.

He signed VERY thickly with the green paint pen. It took a long time to dry. The San Antonio humidity did not help. I left the photo out to dry for over 36 hours…just to be sure.

While a little too heavy handed, I like it. Even better, there was an extra charge for the character name. Tom added that without even asking, meaning I didn’t pay for it. While I really like having the character name or quote on a photo, I don’t like to pay for it and I really don’t like when that extra is almost as expensive as the autograph.

I left a happy albeit tire puppy. The car had a new tire and The Wife picked me up near the building. I didn’t even have walk far.

AH

Adrianne Palicki SpaceConSA 2026

Other than a tire blowout on I10, the drive to San Antonio was uneventful.  The Wife and I found a safe space to pull over (a few miles down the road) and had the joy of changing a tire in the heat and humidity of San Antonio. I thought I changed my last tire decades ago. Teach me to think.

Friday morning, The Wife went to Discount Tire and got that taken care of while I worked SpaceCon.

My first autograph was Adrianne Palicki. I usually think of Marvel Agents of Shield and Supernatural when her name is discussed. I think most people associate her The Orville.

She had a very pretty light blue pen I liked. I asked for it to be used in the sky but after she signed, I should have asked her to sign in the sand. My bad.

After she signed, I mentioned SDCC. Yes, I am bad about name dropping those adventures. I told her I was a lucky winner of a secret lottery at SDCC. She didn’t know what I was talking about. And I’m sure she didn’t. She had people taking her place to place at SDCC. It was all back corridors that the crowds never walked. None of the celebrities knows what happens on the floor.

I continued and mentioned I had a winning ticket to the signing for the movie, Legion. Yes, a long time again. She smiled.  I still have my signed poster with Bettany and Gibson, and her autographs.

She said she loved working with Paul Bettany. she had a few more accolades about Paul. Which is great to hear as I like his movies too.

AH

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

Mary Elizabeth Winstead SpaceconSa 2024

This was another autograph I was really excited about. MaryElizabeth Winstead had been in a few movies I find memorable. So, I had a lot of options of photos to print. For this convention, I stayed with the Star Wars theme.

This was the last autograph I needed to get. It was after 6 PM on Saturday. I heard a rumor I could get in line early as they weren’t checking the assigned groups. And that did work...for a while. After being in line about 45 minutes I was told to leave. While my feet complained, I didn’t complain. I left and came back at the correct time.

The set up was good. The handler checked the items brought. Checked on the color and location to sign. He told Mary Elizabeth what to do and he went to the next person. Wow. I was impressed. As I stepped in front of her, the handler whispered in her ear. She nodded but she was talking to the last fan. She picked up the pen and signed. I had wanted her to signed on the back of the jacket. She signed to the left of that.

I was disappointed. I thanked her and walked out. As I made my way to where The Wife would pick me up, I debated with myself about going back and asking for it to be corrected. I need to be more assertive.

AH

Ahmed Best SpaceconSA 2024

Okay, Jar Jar got a lot of crap from the fans. And I certainly didn’t like the character. I have always thought that the pandering to kids and blatant marketing were the worse part of the franchise.  But I’ll get off the soap box now.

Ahmed Best was in San Antonio and I got his signature. I was even excited to get this autograph. When I walked up, he was just chatting with fans. They had already gotten their items signed. He was hanging out with them.  I really wish I had more time as they were laughing a lot. While I did have a couple of questions, I was rushed and thanked him and then made my way to the next guest.

 AH

Hayden Christensen SpaceCon SA 2024

I will admit, this was the big draw for me at this show. I missed getting Hayden Christensen’s autograph when he came to Dallas a few years earlier.  It’s frustrating when you wait too long and all of the tickets are sold out ahead of time. I did not want to make that same mistake. I bought my ticket a LOOOONG time in advance.

SpaceCon SA is another convention run by the Superhero ComicCon team. I find them fairly organized and on top of their game.  The convention did some things differently this time. I’m assuming it was because of an NBA game being played in the building next door and a Cheer competition on site for the same weekend. With these changes, chaos can ensure. I have heard a lot of complaints about the Hayden line. I didn’t have issues but I did know they had separate VIP lines for BOTH regular and premium items. Instead of 2 lines there four. Then you have photo op lines too. The volunteers directing people didn’t always direct the fan to the correct line. That makes for a lot of wasted time and a lot of time on hurting feet.

A buddy was hanging out with me and got to go through the line with me. He told me afterward, that I basically told him to shut up and smile. Sorry about that. I seem to do that with people hanging out with me. I need to work on my people skills.

While in line I chatted with the person in front of me. Turns out she works with Steel City ComicCon. We had a great conversation and it really helped to make the time pass. Steel City has been a convention on a radar for a while. I hope to go soon.

Hayden was nice. He shared a few words with everyone but he was moving fast.  We exchanged hellos and then he handed me the photo and made my way out with my buddy.

AH

Eman Esfandi SpaceConSA 2024

Eman Esfandi was charming and chatting with everyone. His conversations were to the crowd and not just the person in front of him. While it makes for a slow line, you are part of the conversation and the time flows faster.

He mentioned Star Wars wasn’t on his radar. When he was learning about the role and the series, he had to do a crash course on Star Wars. As he learned more about Vader, he thought the people that dressed up as Vader were…odd. He used a more colorful word. If Vader was such a horrible character, why would anyone cosplay him. No, I’m not going to tackle that here.

When it was my turn, he asked if I wanted a quote. That set me on my heels. He didn’t have a suggestion and I wasn’t prepared. This was the first thing that popped into my head. I’m not sure if Ezra ever said that but it fits. Everyone says the line one time or another in the Star Wars universe. He paused and then said it works.

AH

Lexa Doig SpaceConSA 2024

Yes, I will admit, I've had a crush on Lexa Doig since I saw her in Andromeda on WGN decades ago.  It seemed the show was preempted or the times changed. Probably because of Braves baseball. I didn’t watch it each week. I only recently watched the whole series from start to finish.

Not to fanboy out, but I really liked how she played 3 different versions of herself on the show: the ship, the hologram, and the android. They were all slightly different and I liked how she kept that straight. The differences of the versions, didn’t bleed into one another.

She hasn’t done many conventions so I was excited to see her name listed. When she signed, I tried to keep the inner fanboy from showing. I asked if she could add the quote. I had printed it for her. She stared at it. I explained in season 1, Dylan mentioned she was literally the air he breathed because she was the ship he was traveling in. In the 5^th season, she was mad and paraphrased him and warning him he was not in control.

I paused. I had just fanboyed. I apologized. I even moved back a half step. She lived it. Either she remembered or didn’t. It didn’t matter. I just liked the symmetry.

She added the quotes and I kinda floated away.

AH

Josh Brolin SpaceConSA 2024

This was an expensive autograph for me.  I would have loved to have gotten a quote added to my Josh Brolin photo of Gurney Halleck but a quote was an additional charge that was almost as much as the signature. Oh well.

While I saw a few Goonies items getting signed, most people were getting items from Deadpool signed. Deadpool 2 is a great movie and it was tempting but I liked this movie more. I have always enjoyed the Dune books.

The line was long. It was late on Friday. He signed quickly and not chatting much with people. I think that was more of the set up than his personality. He seemed friendly and would pause now and then. But the handlers were moving people through the line quickly.

I handed over my blue deco pen and he blotted first and then signed. That’s always good to see. He finished and mentioned he really like that pen. He looked over the pens available at the tabled and didn’t see any. I offered him mine. He gave me quick smile and handed it back.

Then I walked away and waited for my autograph to dry.  Decos are great but dry slow.

My Friday was over and it was time for The Wife to pick me up and take me to the hotel.

AH

Robert Duncan McNeill SpacCon SA 2024

I’ve had an unsigned photo of Robert Duncan McNeil for years.  He has been listed for several shows I’ve attended but cancelled. It happens. I admit to being skeptical this time too.

When I walked to his booth, I was excited to see him sitting there and chatting with people. Yeah! I quickly walked over before he could disappear.  I was fishing out my autograph ticket and photo as he looked up and said ‘hi’.  I know I had a big silly look on my face.

I apologized for not being ready. Normal chit chat as people try to get organized.  I handed over my ticket and then the photo.  He pulled over the photo and I told him to ‘hold it’. He looked up curiously.  I saw the ticket wasn’t scanned it in.  I didn’t want to rush the process.  I just said, I wanted to be sure the ticketed cleared. He wasn’t worried about that. He signed.

I told him I was carrying that photo for a long time waiting for this opportunity. It was good to get it signed.

I think he expected some Star Trek questions. Nope, I went straight to Resident Alien. I told him my dad loves the show and talked me into watching it. My question was about Alan Tudyk. I asked if he was hyper like Robin Williams and was it disruptive on set.  I think he’s already answered that question a few times.  He said Alan was amazing, like Robin, but not disruptive at all.  He was very focused on set. Great to work with.

Then I brought up something that is not PC.  I said my friends and I like that the females are not Hollywood glamorous. I know that sounds like an insult but it’s refreshing to have real people.  He admitted it was by design. It’s not what the show is about. The fans can follow the story and not get caught up in clothing or weight gain/loss.

Again, another great encounter.

AH