My First Con!

Alex and I went to our first con last weekend! Daddy came too, but it wasn't his first convention. We went to Dallas ComicCon in Irving. It was a great little weekend trip (our anniversary celebration!).

This was our first out of town trip with the baby.
It was a little daunting, but overall it went really well.
He seemed to enjoy himself as well.

Our buddy, James, was by far the best Joker in the place.
Alex couldn't quite figure him out for most of the day.

Alex found someone's camera tripod and made it his toy.

The Dalek was super awesome!
There a was a kid there who was in a wheelchair.
That's pretty awesome cosplay if you ask me.

We got our picture taken with the TARDIS.
If you notice, Alex is not blinking.
We've raised him right.

I had a ton of fun and got a great Poison Ivy print to add to my collection. Going to a con with a baby was a little rough. He didn't like it when people applauded so we didn't get to listen to all of Kevin Conroy's Q&A. It was also crazy hot Saturday morning and Alex was getting really close to overheating. The staff were real jerks about it and kept pressuring us to go back outside. We ended up leaving to get lunch and just coming back in the afternoon. Overall, it was a great trip and I loved seeing all the cosplayers, good and bad. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I look forward to the next con we get to attend!

Article: Collectables

Most Gamers will have at least some collectables. Some will only collect pieces related to their favorite games, others will collect anything game related. If you're living with a gamer and have inherited their collectables you are probably thinking one of two things. 1. This isn't so bad... 2. Dear God in Heaven where did all of this come from?

If you're in that second category, here are a few tips that I have learned in my 2+ years of sharing a (relatively small) apartment with my Gamer and his collectables.

1. Be Careful! A lot of the collectors pieces will come with a game and then won't be made anymore. This means that if you break one of your guy's pieces you will probably have to go to ebay to replace it and will pay way too much.

2. Just because it's in its box doesn't mean it can't be broken. I've made this mistake. We have a couple of figures that have completely intact packaging and the leg is busted off and rattles around inside the closed box.

3. It may look like "junk" to you, but it has meaning to your gamer. Understand that what looks like it's just a piece of cloth is actually a headband from Street Fighter and he might care if you give it away to Goodwill.

4. Display cases and frames are your best friend! Whenever possible place collectables out of reach of elbows (or large purses, my purse has claimed a few pieces).

5. If it comes in packaging that looks nice, then use it as a display piece! Just keep in mind number 2.

I hope this helps. I know it's brief and not very specific, but every gamer (and every set of collectables) is different. If you have a solution that's worked for you, or a story of woe that you'd like to share, feel free to comment!