Sunday, March 6, 2011

Steel City Convention 2011

Well, today I was a lone wolf and ventured out on my own.  My son was to go, but he had homework and reading he needed to do for school.  My brother (who is the comic buff) was to go but he was on-call at work and wasn't able to meet me.  So me being as independent as I am loaded up my bag and out the door I went, on my own.  And the nice thing was it was only 20 minutes from my home.

Steel City Con is a convention for Toys, Comics, and Childhood.  There were loads of toys here.  And toys I haven't seen since I was little.  No, I'm not that old but toys from 25 years ago were fun to see again.  This was like a long walk down memory lane.  I say the little action figures my brother use to collect from G.I. Joe to Star Wars and all sorts.  Then their where even toys I didn't know they made!  Did you know there were dolls of Grease the movie?  Yeah. lol.

But, I enjoyed looking through the millions of Comics and Graphic Novels that where being sold.  I found a few I wanted to buy, but had to stop myself as I didn't take much money with me and the artwork was really working on me.

But, before I get to what I bought I have to mention the great person I met here.  Yes, he is an author and I have enjoyed his first book, Shadow's Son.  It was Jon Sprunk.  I got the opportunity to stand around and chat with him, on his books and just talking like human beings.  It was great to get the chance to meet him.  I did get a few signed book swags, which I'm going to do a giveaway with.  And I took my well loved book with me to get it signed.  Thank you Jon!  I really am looking forward to the second book Shadow's Lure hitting the shelves in June.

Soooo, what did I actually buy?  Well, all the art was calling my name and loudly.  I stopped at the Artists booths and looked through all their portfolios they had there.  LOVE the art!  I had a nice set of fairy's under mushrooms that where done with the four seasons calling my name and I thought they would look amazing on my wall, but they where larger than I had room for and the artist didn't have them in a smaller size.  So I had to pass on them. 

But, I did get:

For my son, who was at home working delicately on his homework these three little cards drawn by RAK ~ Robert A. Kraus.  These little cards were cute and I couldn't pass them up.  He had a card drawn for just about anyone you could think of and these three are the ones my son wanted when I gave him a quick option.  Although he mentioned Dead Pool before I got to him on the list.  (truth be told, I didn't know he would know who he was.)  But I have to say I loved these little cards, and for a dollar you couldn't go wrong. ~Ghost Rider with chains, Dead Pool, and Wolverine.

Now, for me.  I bought what I felt inspired me at the moment.  Along with those fairy pictures (which I would still love to have) I did find others. 

This first picture is of three cards by another Artist I saw there, Kevin R. Leen.  The first picture that caught my eye was the one of the woman and flames ~ Marvel Girl.  It hit me as wings of flames, which it is.  But I loved that whole idea.  But just something in the painting just grabbed me, so I at least got the little card.  And the same goes for the other two cards.  I loved the painting but couldn't afford all the big ones.  So got the little ones.  The one I did get in a bigger size was the only one he had left of it, Valkyrie in Flight.  Just eye catching for me.

Well, that is enough of my day.  I will say I WILL be going to the Steel City Comic Con in April.  I loved what I saw today and that one is just going to be plenty more of it.

15 comments:

  1. Oh that is nice! I would have loved to have gone to the artist's booths. LOVE the wolverine! Oh and the other artist should have had a card. If she has reproductions she should be making or should be able to make card size art. People buy a lot of those.

    Thanks for sharing the day!

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  2. Looks like you had a great time and got some wonderful prints!

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  3. I'm so jealous. Glad you had a good time. :)

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  4. Looks like you had a lot of fun! Love the cards and when Marvel Girl was possessed by the Phoenix, I never loved her more.

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  5. Good for you that you went on your own! I know that the first time I went to one of these by myself, I was incredibly nervous! But once you're there and start looking around, you forget all about being nervous!

    Love the artwork you picked out! And how cool that you got to meet and talk with Jon Sprunk!

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  6. Sounds great Melissa!

    I think about music and movies from when I was growing up and realize that most of the kids I'm in classes with don't even know that music or haven't seen those iconic movies from growing up. It suddenly makes me feel old (and like you, I'm not that old).

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  7. Ooh, a toy convention. That sounds like my kind of thing. It sounds like you had a great time, and that' really cool that you got to meet Jon Sprunk.

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  8. It sounds like it was a lot of fun. And I never knew that there where toys of Grease the movie. How fun! :)

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  9. It was great to meet you in person, Melissa. Thanks so much for all your support. You're the best!

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  10. What a fun time out and congratulations on getting to meet and greet with author Jon Sprunk Melissa!
    I love those pics you found and would have loved to have seen the illustrations in person as graphic comics are still a love of mine even though do not read them anymore...

    Thanks for sharing your cool experience and hope you do get to repeat it in April...

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  11. Wow Mel..Now you are a regular..and meeting some nice people and Jon Spunk..That was worth the trip..I love the Artwork you chose,,And the Cards for your son,,Very sweet,,BTW You looked great,, We hardly see what people look like..See you on Uber...

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  12. Melissa (Books&Things) - Oh you would enjoy seeing these artists. And they are drawing while you walk by. ;) I was just mesmerized by them. :) I was looking on the table that artist had and he didn't have a card or I would have ordered those pictures for later. Oh well, his loss. I think I'm going to look for him at the Comic Convention next month and see if I can order them from him. I really liked them. :)

    Zia - Oh thank you! I did have fun. Would have been nice to share more with someone but I had a great time on my own. :) And thank you!

    Robyn - Oh, there is a Comic Convention there next month. ;D You could always come down for that if you would like. :) Thank you!

    Ryan G - Oh thank you! And I'm so glad to hear you say that about Marvel Girl. For some reason this picture just called out to me and I had to have it. I think it is one of my favorites. :) I'm going to have to go get those comics now. ;) Thanks!

    Alexia - Thank you! And I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one to go it alone to a convention. :) I was a little nervous as I wouldn't have anyone to share the thoughts with. But I kept twitter close at hand and talked with the vendors and such so it worked out really nice. Oh, so glad you like the art. :)

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  13. Wonderbunny - Thanks! lol. I know! I think back to the music and movies and even when I see one. Oh I think that was so bad looking. But we didn't know that then! LOL. Thank you!

    Simcha - Oh, you would have enjoyed yourself. There was all kinds of things at this one. It was great! Thank you!

    Nina - Hi! Oh, you make me feel better. I thought I was the only one who didn't know there where Grease dolls. :) Thank you!

    Jon Sprunk! Hey! Thank you. And so glad to finally get to meet you. :) Oh, and you are very welcome. As I said it's easy to do when I enjoy the reads. :)

    Jackie B - Oh thank you Jackie! It is always so neat to met the artists and watch them draw to. I don't always get so caught up with it as my brother use to draw comics a lot, not as much now as he had to grow up and go to work. But it is still so neat to watch. I just get jealous as I wish I could do it. :) Oh thank you! I think I'll have more to go with me in April, which could be a great time.

    Susan! Hey! Thank you for tweeting with me. :) So glad you like the artwork. :) Oh, and you are being to nice to me. :) But thank you. No, we don't get to see the internet friends really and it's nice to see once in a while. :)

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  14. Wow that sounds wonderful. And OMG those cards are so pretty.

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  15. Hi Susi! So glad you stopped by! Thank you. It was a fun time. :) And so glad you like the art. :) I have mine on the shelf infront of me so I can look at the everyday here. :) I hope to get them framed and on the walls here sometime. :)

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