SLC Comic Con 2015

The big news for SLC Comic Con 2015 was that Chris Evans (Captain America) would be coming. One of the most memorable moments was when Hannah and I were standing in the center area, waiting for Jonathon. I looked up and saw Anthony Daniels walking towards us and pointed it out to Hannah, just as he noticed her R2D2 shirt and complimented her on it. She looked beyond him, toward his booth and asked, “Where is he?” I said, “He just talked to you!” We saw he was posing for photos at a Star Wars exhibit and headed over. He saw Hannah again and called her over for a photo. We were happy to oblige and got a great shot with him.

The Phelps brothers (Weasley Twins) were happy to get a Tangram Fury game from us and even held it up for the photo op. I’d love to see them play it together, as I’m sure they’re pretty competitive. Jenna-Louis Coleman (the current Companion on Doctor Who) liked her pack and held it up as well. We gave Sean Astin the Tangram Fury Comic Con Puzzle Book and told him it was for his kids. He said they’d love it. As we were leaving, he pointed out that he has the same shirt I was wearing. Great minds dress alike, right?

We talked with two of the Power Rangers, Austin St. John and Karan Ashley, even though I never watched their show. They were genuinely cool and nice to talk to. I was glad we did. They were very impressively nice and gracious people to talk to. Marina Sirtis was also that way. We’ve met her before and she was extremely encouraging and fun to talk with. She liked the new tangram I’d made for her and gave us an autographed photo to say thanks. It’s always nice to find out that so many of these celebrities are down-to-earth fun people to meet. It makes for great memories for my kids and me, and we then look forward to seeing them in films and shows in the future.

I have to admit that it’s also rewarding to see how grateful they are when I give them a souvenir tangram pack and have them tell me how thankful they are for it. I really hope the packs make it home with them and they get to play them with their kids.

I hate putting too much text in these intros, and I can’t possibly cover everything that happened at Comic Con, but I do want to also mention our chat with Walter Koenig. He was, unfortunately, ill during the con and not feeling well at all, but he stayed the whole time. You know that stereotypical Star Trek fan that brings up some obscure piece of trivia when they meet one of the stars? That was me. I asked how Khan could tell Chekov that recognized him when Chekov wasn’t in the episode “Space Seed”. He smiled his trademarked crooked smile, leaned forward and said, “I’ll tell you how it was…” He proceeded to tell me that during that episode Kirk had assigned Chekov to work in the back of the ship. Chekov wasn’t happy about it, but when he saw Khan taking Kirk back to the decompressor, he tried to stop him. Khan grabbed him and said, “That face! I will never forget it!” “…And, that was why he said he recognized him in ‘Wrath of Khan’.” I told him I loved that response and would share it with my friends.