The October 2001 Chiller Theatre Toy, Model & Film Expo

The October 2001

Chiller Theatre Toy, Model & Film Expo

(Page One)

Saturday, November 3, 2001

I'm just now recovering from this year's October Chiller Show. It took place last weekend. The show was a BLAST!

(Friday Evening)

This time around I attended the show on both Friday afternoon and evening along with Saturday. On Friday, I got the chance to chat extensively with Terry Web.

Also, I talked in length with sculptor and video-producer Wayne "the Dane" Hanson. I was collecting information for an upcoming article that I had begun writing, (that will more than likely appear in an upcoming Model Maniacs Magazine - cheap plug here).

I also got the opportunity to get a good look at the merchandise that was being sold, with the crowd being more manageable than the usual Saturday mob scene.

I spied several videos, a couple magazines and some GK figures that I would be looking into purchasing later on at the show.

After the vending rooms had closed for the evening I ended up hanging out a bit with my bud Mark Vantine and his roommates Wayne, John, Jerry and Scott in their hotel room. (I stayed there until the weee hours of Saturday morn., when I finally decided to call it quits and head back home).

(Saturday Morning's Traveling Adventure)

Saturday morning found me getting a late start once again. (So what else was new??? J). I ended up bringing my son Anthony with me. I headed over to Phila. to pick up my modeling partner-in-crime Gene and headed out for what I thought was going to be a smooth, uneventful trip.

Unfortunately, the car that I had borrowed (from my folks) had other plans. Initially, when getting onto the NJ Turnpike the transmission decided to start playing hide and seek. However, since it didn't seem to be acting up all that badly, I decided to forge ahead.

It wasn't until around 1/2 hour later, when we slowed down for some highway construction that the trans. decided to completely go away! It took soooo long to get the sucker running again that there were 18-wheelers going around me, through the median, to get by.

After we finally limped our way off the turnpike I all of a sudden lost my bearings, took a wrong turn and headed past the Sheraton to Hackensack, NJ.

Half an hour later, after some very slow, cautious driving and a slew of prayers we finally made our way into the Sheraton's parking lot.

One good thing that had turned out was my pre-ordering the tickets for the show. The hour-and-a-half long line that had formed by the time we arrived into the hotel's lobby made me glad that I had obtained the tickets ahead of time.

After we got up to the second floor Gene decided to go check out the vending area, while Anthony and I headed up to the third floor to the contest room. (It was now 1:55 and the model registration deadline of 2 pm was rapidly approaching).

(The contest and models)

We arrived to a jam-packed contest room. There was a 5-minute line that had formed of people waiting to get in to see the items out on display. Once we worked our way in, we were treated to all sorts of kool and diverse model entries that had filled up the tables.

This was probably the largest model turnout by far that I've seen since I started attending the Chiller Shows. (I was later notified that there had been over 100 model entries)!

In addition to the quantity of the entries, their quality was equally impressive! Everything looked, real, real SWEEEEET!

I had actually brought two of my own models for the contest…(another first). One was my old "Sinclair Battle-of-the-line" Starfury that I had completed a number of years ago. The second was my Star Wars Trade Federation Battle Tank that had been extensively converted and customized. Even though it was the centerpiece of a diorama that was not yet complete, I decided to bring the tank anyway, as an individual entry.

In addition to my two entries, Anthony had brought three of his more recently completed kits as well. They were all Gundams: a Wing Gundam Custom, a Zeta Gundam and a Wing Gundam. They were entered into the junior category. (Thanks for the pics, Buc).

This year, there was a $5.00 fee per entry. I was told that this was for some sort of surprise that was going to take place at the contest's end.

The models went on and on and on. As I mentioned, there really were some very nicely built and painted entries.

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