2008 Merchandise & Miscellaneous News Archives

Superman Cake

October 21, 2008: Screaming Tiki Con Report

By Tom-EL

The Screaming Tiki Comic and Pop Culture Convention took place at the Niles Eastwood Expo Center, a convention/exposition hall adjacent to the Eastwood Mall in Niles, Ohio. The center is often the site of events such as home and garden shows, gun and military shows, train and toy shows, etc, as well as occasional live performances. Tiki Con was held from October 17th through the 19th. The main room was devoted to dealers, and was about as full as I have ever seen the place, with dealers both local and long distance. There were comic book and graphic novel dealers, toy and collectible dealers, specialty DVD's, and a HUGE amount of Star Wars, G.I. Joe, and Transformer items. There was even a seller that specializes in Kilts from Scotland. I could have spent A LOT of money in there, but my retirement income doesn't allow for that. I did pick up a couple of loose but nice 8-inch Superman action figures at 2 for $5. One was the Golden-Age Superman, the other was the Kingdom Come Superman. I do have a small collection of Superman action figures. My collection isn't nearly as large as Steve's, as sometimes seen in the background of his "Speeding Bulletin" reports every Friday, but I like it.

One of the attractions to this event was an appearance at the main hall of the 1966 Batmobile from the Adam West show. I saw one of the five originals at a show held at the Expo Center probably 12-13 years ago. I could tell that this Batmobile was not one of the original five, but it was a very close version, and I enjoyed seeing it up close, since this car has always been, by far, my favorite screen Batmobile. This one looked nearly identical to a Batmobile made from a '74 Lincoln, and sold at the Barrett-Jackson auction for $185,000.

Tiki Con also had the Batcycle from the show. This model may or may not have been one of the originals, but it was very close, and since this was my first time to see it up close, it was fun to look at.

Adjacent to this was the guest room with all the artists and celebrities that were there. There was a large number of artists attending, although I was unfamiliar with the work of most of them. They were there with samples of their work, which you could get signed copies of. Most of them wanted $15-20 and up for signed prints of their work, however, many of them were offering trading card sized versions of the same pieces with signature for $2. I bought two of these, both Superman pictures. One was by Terry Huddleston, who lists himself as a freelance artist. His work can be seen online. The other was by artist Kevin R. Leen, who lists himself as an illustrator. His Superman art is comprised primarily of illustrations of Dean Cain and Christopher Reeve as Superman. His work can also be seen online. I wish I could have gotten full size versions of their work, but I was working from a budget, with the lion's share of the remaining funds going to my next two stops.

After the artist tables, you then come to the celebrity signing tables. There was a large number of people there seen on the 1966 Batman TV show, including Adam West, Julie Newmar, Yvonne Craig (showing nearly everyone her broken ankle), Lee Merriweather (the '66 movie Catwoman), and Malachi Throne, the actor who portrayed the villain "Falseface", as well as being seen in episodes of the original Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation. He even had Falseface masks you could buy, and I assume, he could autograph. However, there were two other people I was there to see. One was Noel Neill, who signed a nice color 8" x 10" of her as Lois Lane standing next to George Reeves as Superman. A picture with her autograph was $20, which seemed reasonable, given that Adam West was getting $50, even if the item he signed was something you brought with you.

This was my first opportunity to meet Miss Neill, and I thought she was very nice. I had been wanting an opportunity to tell her how when I was a kid, I always watched the show right after I got home from school. I was wearing a three-inch pin that had a picture of George Reeves as Superman, and she told me she liked my pin. I also had on my 1961 "Supermen of America" pin and she liked that one too. She told me they had a lot of fun making the show, and she always appreciated how much people came to her and commented on what the show meant to them. It was really nice to meet her and get the picture.

The other person there I wanted to see was Sarah Douglas, and I got her autograph on a color 8" x 10" of her as Ursa, also for $20. Like Noel, she told me how much she liked meeting people who saw the two Superman movies years ago and enjoyed her part in it. I mentioned that I thought it was cool that she voiced a character on Superman: The Animated Series, that was basically the same character she played in the movies. She told me that everybody she dealt with connected to the show seemed very pleased she could do it, since she was playing a similar character. I asked the same question of both Noel and Sarah. I asked each if there was any chance they might be seen on Smallville. Sarah said she'd love to do it, but neither she nor her people had ever been contacted by them, but she'd love to do it if they ever call her. Noel just said there were no plans for her to be on it. Pity. It would be nice to see her on there.

There was one other person appearing there I would like to have seen. Margot Kidder was scheduled as a guest on Saturday and Sunday, but due to longstanding previous commitments on both those days, I was unable to attend. Friday was the only day I could be there. I would like to have had her autograph as part of my collection, but alas, that will have to wait for hopefully another time. After that I went out and took another round at looking at all the neat stuff in the dealer room, and wishing I had started saving up for this event earlier than I did.

Eastwood Expo is part of a larger shopping area called Great East Plaza. Part of the plaza is USA Cinemas, a movie complex that shared in the week-end festivities by having special late showings during the three days of the following movies: Superman: The Movie and Superman II (both for one price), Batman - 1966, Dark Knight, Hellboy 2, and both 2007 and 1987 Transformers movies (both for one price). This part of Ohio is about an hour's drive from Cleveland, and about an hour and a half drive from Pittsburgh, PA. For the last several years, the nearest cons I could go to have been either in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, or Columbus, so I don't get to very many. It's not very often that one shows up almost right at my front door, but I hope this wasn't the last. I realize that this con is only a drop in the bucket compared to shows like the one held in San Diego every year, but it was the biggest one I've ever been to, and it was a lot of fun. If they do anything like this again, the Superman Homepage will get my report.

Tom Arnold ((not the TV T.A.) aka "Tom-EL")



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