When my father & I arrived in Novi Friday night, we decided to drive to the Expo Center to make sure we could find it easily in the morning. We drove around the building, and were a little concerned since it didn’t look very large. We could see in through the glass doors, and it didn’t look like very many vendors were set up. But when we arrived the next morning, we were pleasantly surprised to see that it looked much larger on the inside, and there were quite a number of vendor booths! We were allowed in 30min prior to general admission, since I had purchased tickets early by mail. There was a table of freebies, where I picked up the movie poster for Batman Begins.
None of the media guests had arrived yet, so we walked around a bit to see where everyone would be. “Stngaddict” then said hello to me… thanks for saying something… it was nice to meet you! We wandered around to Patrick Kilpatrick’s table and chatted with him a bit, since the area was still pretty sparse. He was very personable and gracious. Even though he poked fun at the coffee I was drinking… hey, it’s not designer, but I like Dunkin’ Donuts coffee okay?! lol
Patrick Kilpatrick
As soon as the rest of the guests emerged, I jumped in the Dirk Benedict line (already about 15 people long). His line remained longer that anyone’s all day. Though this had somewhat to do with the fact that he took the time to talk to each person and show his appreciation to each fan. He was quite chatty with my father and I… and, I have to say, very suave and flirtatious. I wont bore you with the details, but lets just say that meeting him made that whole trip for me! I now have a great autographed photo of Benedict as “Starbuck,” which he personalized for me: “Dear Angela, You have made old ‘Starbuck’ very, very happy! Dirk Benedict.” And as you can see by the photo at the top, got in close, and I was extremely giddy.
Dirk Benedict & I
I then jumped in line to get Robert Beltran’s autograph. He was very nice, and funny as well. He had to lean across the table to get in the picture with me. It was a bit awkward with the table, I just stood there till Beltran said, “Hey, lean in closer… give me a thrill.” (Notice the little smirk on his face after just saying that.) I guess these guys don’t see many young women at these conventions! Anyway, it was flattering for me as well!
Robert & I
Robert Beltran
Next up was Alexis Cruz, who played “Skarra” in both the movie “Stargate” as well as the TV show. He was all smiles and very nice too, but $20 was a little too steep for autographs from actors who aren’t as well-known. So I was content in just getting my picture taken with him. I was surprised to see how short he was… I was even slouching a bit!
Alexis Cruz & I
And next to Cruz, was Gary Jones who has a reoccurring role on Stargate SG1. As soon as walked over to his table he gave me a piece of paper to hold asked to take MY picture! I asked him what it was for, and he said that he was given a hard time about going to these conventions, so he was taking pictures of random people to put up on a wall for one of the production people as a joke.
Gary Jones & I
By then, it was time to hear Robert Beltran speak in one of the sessions. He was very witty and entertaining. And he loved to rip on the writers of Star Trek (specifically Braga) whom he said killed the last 2 seasons of Voyager, and doomed Enterprise from the beginning.
In the same room, Benedict and Dwight Schultz spoke next about their days in the “A-Team.” This was what I was most looking forward to, and I wasn’t disappointed! Schultz began immediately by talking in a funny accent, with Benedict as his straight-man. But things quickly switched around, and Benedict actually did most of the talking. Both were very funny, and they told many stories about their former costars, George Peppard and Mr. T. They probably could have gone on for hours, if the “guys in charge” hadn’t come in and let them know their time was up!
Dwight Schultz & Dirk Benedict Panel
The last guest that I met, and got an autograph from, was Marina Sirtis. She was very lovely and sweet; I wish I could have gotten the chance to hear her speak as well.
Marina Sirtis & I
There were quite a few other actors and actresses that were neat to see in person, and see what they look like now, after so many years from shows such as Three’s Company, Happy Days, the Dukes of Hazzard, and the like.
Dwight Shultz
Lou Ferrigno
As for the rest of the convention, there were many artists with work out that I found highly inappropriate, seeing as how there were children there too. So that turned me off to the artists’ booths.
I picked up one graphic novel that I had been looking for, but it was pretty hard to stroll through the comic booth area as that was where most of the crowd settled. If it hadn’t been so crowded, I would have taken more time browsing through that area as well.
All-in-all it was a wonderful day. Which was twice as fun since I had my dad with me, who enjoyed it almost as much as I did!