I spent this last weekend at the long-anticipated Trek Expo 2009 in Tulsa. The best part about it for me was getting to take a group (that’s me at the top in the Q judge’s outfit next to my wife and about half of our group) from my club, Trek Forever. We met and listened to a really fantastic set of guest stars over the weekend, including Leonard Nimoy, Avery Brooks, John DeLance, Tony Todd, Phil Morris, Garrett Wang, Marina Sirtis, Chase Masterson, and lots of others.

The conn was extremely well-attended, and on Saturday, it was almost more than the folks running the convention could handle. That was the day Leonard Nimoy was there, and the place was packed. It was hard to do anything but stand in one place or stay in your seat in the area where the stage was– my wife and I had to do all of our shopping on Sunday because it was nearly impossible to look at anything as packed as it was on Saturday.

But when I finally did get the chance to check out the vendors, they were fantastic. I saw lots of collectibles and artwork I didn’t know existed, and we bought a lot of great stuff. The coolest booth there had lots of awesome prop replicas, including a knife from “Mirror, Mirror,” a life-sized, $1000 replica of Nomad from “The Changeling,” and the staff weapon from Stargate. Suffice it to say, I didn’t buy anything from them this time, but I’m saving up. You can check out their stuff at ArgonEmpire.ecrater.com.

I got to talk to Tony Todd, Phil Morris, Anthony Montgommery, Garrett Wang, and Denise Crosby at length. I liked how intimate a venue it was– sometimes it was a bit crowded, but it was set up so that several actors signed autographs all day, and you could simply walk up and talk to them if you wanted to, even if you weren’t getting an autograph– although I did buy several. Most of the actors at this show were very personable and happy to talk when there wasn’t a long autograph line. I got my picture taken with Tony Todd, who has always been one of my favorite character actors. He’s been in almost every show I’ve followed in the last decade at one time or another, and he and I talked about 24 and Chuck for a good 20 minutes. He’s also the sixth Klingon actor (he played Worf’s brother Kurn) to sign my large bat’leth– in the past, I’ve also had it signed by J.G. Hertzler (Martok), Robert O’Reily (Gowron), Spice Williams (Vixis), Todd Bryant (Klaa) and Mary Kay Adams (Grilka). I wish I could make it to the Las Vegas Creation convention in August so I could get Michael Dorn and Christopher Lloyd. 

I didn’t get to talk to Leonard Nimoy face to face, but I did get a signiture from Avery Brooks. I told him how his rendition of “The Best is Yet to Come” got me into jazz, and how my wife and I used that song title as the theme for our wedding reception– it was even the first song we danced to. Avery Brooks loved that story so much that he sang a few bars of it for us right there before we left.

What I didn’t particularly appreciate was that most of the presentations with the actors were Q&A sessions and a lot of fans had really bad questions, especially for Nimoy. Again, letting people ask questions made it feel like more of an intimate occasion and allowed more fans to meet the actors, and I loved that, but too much time was taken up by people on the microphone who wanted to listen to themselves talk.

There was this weird preoccupation with some people about wanting to bring Data back from the dead– fine, fine, we all love Data– but the actors usually have nothing to do with the story process, and the ones that did have anything to do with Nemesis’ story (i. e. Brent Spiner) weren’t there. Plus, there won’t BE any more TNG movies. So why on Earth would anyone ask Marina Sirtis, Denise Crosby, and ESPECIALLY Leonard Nimoy if Data is coming back from the dead? Of course he’s not– there won’t be any more story from that timeline, much less TNG. The actors were mostly very respectful to fans with these kinds of questions and very politely– no matter how many times it came up– told them they had nothing to do with those kinds of decisions. I’m not sure I could have been as polite. Marina Sirtis had the best response– she asked the guy why he was so worried about Data and not upset that Troi wasn’t coming back.

One of the most memorable moments over the weekend was the Cabiret, in which several of the stars performed (including a rap concert by Anthony Montgommery and some jazz numbers from Chase Masterson). John DeLance was first up, and he performed an excellent poem by Shel Silverstein called “The Devil and Billy Markham.” When he was through, he walked through the curtains at the back of the stage, and a few seconds later, the entire scafolding came tumbling down. The stage crew hurried franctically to fix it, and Garrett Wang, who was master of ceremonies, had to stall. So he started talking about the great Power of DeLance and how it could bring scafolding crumbling to the ground, and all the other amazing things it could apparently do. So the rest of the weekend, everyone was talking about the Power of DeLance. Apparently there was even somone whose car wouldn’t start, but then they “invoked the Power of DeLance” and it started right up. I know it’s kind of a you-had-to-be-there moment, but I couldn’t help but mention it.

There weren’t a lot of homemade costumes, at least compared to the number of attendees, but the ones that were there were fantastic. The best costumes, in my opinion, were the Borg (who tried to assimilate me when I was Q). And some of my Trek Forever members, I’m happy to say, had some of the best costumes. Look especially for the female Klingon, Lwaxana Troi, and the Orion slave girl (the really good one standing next to Lwaxana Troi). There were also some great costumes from things other than Trek, including some fantastic Ghostbusters, complete with the car, Mal from Firefly, and a Jedi with Leia in the slave outfit. And I also have to say thanks to a couple of my club members who took photos– these don’t all belong to me. They know who they are.

 Enjoy!

LLAP

-Cap’n Logan

Metropolis is a little town about twenty minutes from the Kentucky border, and with its population of 6500 people and lack of a movie theater, it reminds one more of Smallville, the little Kansas town where Clark Kent grew up, rather than the city where he reports for the Daily Planet. It’s a neat little town and despite being kinda in the middle of nowhere, it’s been a tourist hot-spot for a long time– it’s been the official Home of Superman since 1972.

I’ve known about the town for years and finally had the opportunity to visit last weekend. It was definitely worth the trip. The Superman statue is neat, surrounded by a fence shaped like the crest around the “S” symbol and a sidewalk underneath in the “S” shape. The local newspaper is called the Metropolis Planet, and they’ve actually got a street called Lois Lane. But the really interesting stuff is in the museum.

Metropolis boasts the largest Superman collection in the world, and it’s all owned by one collector, Jim Hambrick, who’s been collecting since 1959. The gift shop is almost as impressive as the museum, and the pricing of souveniers and memorabilia is surprisingly reasonable. Besides painted Kryptonite rocks and Kryptonite rock candy, there’s an impressive array of hard-to-find stuff available for purchase, including figures, busts, and replicas of Smallville props.

Jim Hambrick doesn’t seem to really descriminate about what he buys– if it has Superman’s likeness or logo on it, he’s got it. His collection ranges from the least to most obscure. He has one-of-a-kind movie and television props as well as action figures I bought at Wal-Mart when they first came out. I was also told that he owns THREE copies of Action Comics #1, one of the rarest and most expensive comics there is. His insurance won’t let him keep those books in the musuem, so I didn’t get to see them– he keeps them in a vault and only brings them out during major events, especially the annual Superman Celecbration in June. 

Apparently only a third of his Superman stuff is actually in the museum–and there’s a whole lot there, sections from the comics (including a shrine to the Death of Superman, which is my personal favorite arc) every TV series, including the George Reeves show, Superboy, Lois and Clark, and Smallville, and the films. My favorite things in the museum (because I just can’t help but love Zod) were the costumes worn by the three evil Kryptonians from Superman II. The collection is worth several million dollars. 

The collection is so huge he’s actually got TWO museums– the other is the Hollywood museum, with exhibits devoted to classic sci-fi (including the silent film Metropolis and Lost in Space) Elvis, the Three Stooges, horror movis, Marilyn Monroe, Tomb Raider, and of course, a whole room of nothing but Justice League.

Regular prices to see the Superman museum and the Hollywood museum are $3 and $5 respetively. Tickets were on sale the day we went, and it was only $5 for both. Other than a Harrah’s casino, the museums are really the only especially unique thing to do in Metropolis, but they’re well worth the trip.

As a collector, I found Metropolis to be an inspirational experience, showing just what can be done with a good collection and a little ambition. I was impressed that it was a great place not only to see an amazing collection, but also to work on my own. Among some of the stuff I picked up there was a hand-painted Superman clock and a replica of the cave wall with Kryptonian symbols from Smallville. I know, I know, I hate that stupid cave… but it really is a neat replica.

I’ll be going back this summer in June for the Superman Celebration. This year’s guests include Justin Hartley (Green Arrow) and Phil Morris (Martian Manhunter) of Smallville. There’s also a very promising chance that I’ll be able to get Jim Hambrick on Geek Speak the Podcast.

Whether you’re a Superman enthusiast or not, there really is something in Metropolis for everybody who has any interest in pop culture. I highly recommend it.

LLAP

-Cap’n Logan