Pictures from the 2018 New York Comic Con, part 1 (Friday, 10/5)

Let's take a deep breath, everyone. I attended the 2018 New York Comic Con for three days in October, and I took a lot of pictures. It's time to look at them. I feel that you're ready! Let's go!

I want to point out that these folks dressed up like this a few months before "Into the Spider-Verse" came out. Good on them for being ahead of the curve!

The first picture I took once I got into the Javits Center was of some guy's sketchbook. I like to think that my two Thing sketchbooks are pretty cool (and they are), but this individual had a Jack Kirby Captain America in his. This is a big deal. Yow!

As I made my way along the floor, I ran into Anthony Del Col, writer of the recently published "Son of Hitler" for Image Comics, which I lettered.

This was my first time seeing the book! It's a really high quality hardcover.

There are two of the best costumes I saw all weekend. Colossus's face paint and contacts are really well done.

I always appreciate seeing older folks taking the time to dress up in costume. I have to imagine that this gentleman dresses up as General MacArthur at times as well. This Popeye has an iPhone in his spinach can.

Drax and Star Lord should switch places, but I get it.

This was an oddly specific Coneheads couple. I remember the wedding dress/flower wreath combo from the movie, right?

The Black Flash has finally caught up to his heroic counterparts.

In every Elseworlds, a Batman.

Group costumes have to be the hardest to pull off, just because if you want to really make it work, you've got to stick together all day. Unity put more work into her costume than anyone else.

Snotgirl is...such a weird concept. But she's got her fans.

Listen, everyone. There were TWO couples dressed as Coneheads at NYCC on Friday, independent of each other. I asked this couple about it and they said they had no idea someone else was also doing it. Madness!

It's the Golden Age Batwoman!

The chest-level video screen on this Armin Zola was really well done. Good on this guy for making it work.

It seems that every year, there's a symbiote meetup at NYCC, and every year, the costumes get more elaborate.

This Carnage is apparently steam powered.

I guess if you've got the body type, you can pull it off. This was a great Malibu Ken, mint in package!

That is...a movie quality MASK, uh, mask. He's been waiting 25 years for this moment.

I will never not take pictures of full-size Krang, this one with clever face place-age.

What is Steel's hammer made of? A suitcase?

Static Shock!

This was a father-daughter combo dressed as The Tick and Miss Lint. Lint even got the buttons on her outfit correct. Needless to say, I was very excited too see these two.

Ben Edlund stopped by the New England Comics booth later in the day. I always appreciate getting to talk to him, and this time, I got a pretty wonderful Thing sketch from him, too.

This picture was obviously taken later in the day, because when else do you see the walkways in the Javits Center so relatively empty?

I saw this walking video game cabinet at several points during the show. The game was playable, too. There's a joystick joke out there somewhere.

Good on this guy for having the courage to dress as Jubilee - and to pull it off pretty well, too!

The last panel of the night was Adult Swim's Venture Bros. panel! It was mostly held to promote the new "Art of the Venture Bros." Dark Horse book, but there were a lot of questions and a lot of topics covered.

And also at some point there was ice cream.

This was a pretty great (if not weird) Brown Recluse costume.

Just like at SDCC, attendees here were given animation art from the show! It's hard to express how much I appreciate stuff like that - because these would be expensive to get otherwise (and I really like them!). This one is from the "All This and Gargantua Two!" episode, with Professor Impossible's stretchy arm winding its way from one side of the page to the other.

Lots to see on Friday. More to come from the rest of the weekend!

Visit the newly remodeled Pop! Culture Connection in Greensburg, PA!

Pop! Culture Connection, located in Greensburg, PA, is one of the best all-around stores for vintage toys, and I've enjoyed watching it grow over the last three years.  The store recently underwent a fancy remodeling that impressed the heck out of me; it was always a really cool place to browse and gawk, but now it's become a high-end toy shop with a selection that always astounds me.  Seriously, I'm even in awe of the stuff that I have absolutely no interest in.

Since it's been a while since I first wrote about the shop, I decided to take some pictures during a recent trip to document the changes.

The merchandise on display never stays on the shelves for too long, but the store always has a host of impressive memorabilia.  Recently, the owner invested in some high-end display cases that line the walls.  Not only does this better protect and showcase the items on display, but it serves to organize things in a way that wasn't possible with the previous layout.

LEGOs might be more popular than ever, and Pop! Culture has more than its share.

This wall display - which doesn't show any of the game cartridges - is entirely devoted to Nintendo (with a few Pac Man items thrown in for good measure).

This windup Popeye toy is, I think, from the 1930s.  Think about that!  What a find this is.  It's got the key and everything - it looks to be in great shape for an 80-year-old toy.

The store has items from most decades of collecting, thought the '70s and '80s might be the most well represented.  Here's a vintage Thundercats line.

The number of box sets at the store is impressive.  Boxes are, of course, the hardest to find when it comes to old toys.

The Ninja Turtles display here is really impressive.  The Technodrome!  UGH!

And what's the Technodrome without Krang's robot body?  Unbelievable.  That Gizmo figure is pretty neat as well.

The store has some new items as well, such as this Back to the Future Hover Board!

Lookit all of these Megos.  They are so ugly.  But I love them.

There's plenty of comic related items in stock.  I'm told that the owner has an impressive comic collection as well, but very few books make it to the shelves.  Maybe one day I'll come across a Fantastic Four #1, and convince the owner to give it to me out of the kindness of his own heart.

So much weird, cool stuff here.  That Batmobile model is outrageous, as is the Superman guitar.  I've got my eye on one that Fantastic Four lunch box up at the top.

Movie monsters are well represented at the store.  Not pictured is some cool Munsters items.

What's the story with this rip-off toy?  It's obvious that it's Spider-Man, but perhaps it's *just* legally distinct enough to pass.  Also pictured are fake Captain America, fake Wolverine, fake Cyclops and fake Batman.  Perhaps they are the Fake Avengers.

Most of the store is redone and set up in working order.  The front still needs some work.  But look at that pinball machine!  Awesome.

In this picture, Larry apparently is measuring something.

The store has a few nice sports items as well, mostly (AS IT SHOULD BE) from the Pittsburgh area.  To the right of the picture, next to the Roethlisberger autographed football, is a program from the 1961 Pirates season...the year after they won the World Series.  A great piece to be sure.

If you are anywhere near the Pittsburgh area and enjoy seeing vintage toys and the like, do yourself a favor and visit Pop! Culture Connection.  It's like a museum of pop culture merchandise and it's well worth the trip.  Suffice it to say, I could easily go broke on any given day, but it's worth it just to see all of the items in stock.  The owner really takes great care of the inventory and it's quite a nostalgia trip.

Here's the (incredibly Google-able) address and other information:

Pop! Culture Connection
105 East Pittsburgh St.
Greensburg, PA 15601

Hours: 11:00-6:00 Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 724-691-0179

Click here for their Facebook page

Click here for their eBay store