AdventureCon 2003

Saturday, David and I went to the 2nd Annual Knoxville AdventureCon to get our yearly fix of collecting, seeing kitsch celebrities (this year we saw Buck Rogers and Cousin It, to name a few), and mingling with Storm Troopers and Jedi. (OK, they were probably just Earthlings in Storm Trooper and Jedi costumes, but I’m trying to hold the illusion.)

I can’t quite catch in words why AdventureCon is so much fun. (But I’m going to try anyway.) It’s a release and a stimulus both at once, a huge floor full of toys old and new, comic books, and traveling vendors. Sci-fi/fantasy geeks and antique toy collectors mix together in one huge room to celebrate their fancies and indulge themselves.

I have two sorts of fun at AdventureCon. The first is a nostalgic fun. Some of the toy booths come straight out of my childhood. This year, the Care Bears made a huge presence. One booth even had Snork figurines and Rainbow Brite dolls. Rainbow Brite! I had forgotten her.

The other fun comes from collecting. I collect fantasy art trading cards, which are baseball card size prints of art from sci-fi/fantasy book covers, comic books, etc. I know it sounds strange, but I’ve found some great images on these cards, and I could never afford to own a large print of each one. At the convention, I can choose from whole sets by different artists, buy packs or boxes of random cards from different sets, or sift through individual cards to find the ones I like best. Each way of hunting has its pleasures, but I need to try the random way more often. I’ve found I like the anticipation of gently opening each pack to see if it holds a “wow!” card.

I collect for my own delight, not in hopes of eventually making money. I was stunned to see one vendor asking $850 for a set of old Munsters TV show cards. Thankfully, the ones I like aren’t as rare, as old, or as pop. In other words, they are pretty cheap, to match my wallet.

Above, I’ve posted scanned images of six of the cards I bought this year. Click on each image to see the full card in a pop-up window. Since these images are scans, they don’t look as crisp as the cards do in person, but you get the picture. Information about each card is below.

David Cherry #50 Firedragon produced by FPG

Frank Frazetta Series One #82 Mothman produced by Comic Images,

Tim Hildebrandt’s Flights of Fantasy #75 The Protectors produced by Comic Images

Greg & Tim Hildebrandt Separate & Together #47 Uncle Wiggly produced by Comic Images

Jeffrey Jones Series Two #46 Spring in Gold produced by FPG

William Stout 2 #67 The Sneeze produced by Comic Images