HUGE round of applause... MM 2015 was AWESOME

[samurainoir]

Two months ago, while speaking with my wife, i expressed tentative interest in attenting MEGO MEET this year for the first time. Now, I say my interest was "tentative" because truth be told, i consider myself very socially awkward.

I think many of us have all been there at one time or another when it came to that huge leap of faith in travelling to Mego Meet for the first time. I know for me, I had no idea what to expect since I did not know anyone in "real life" when I arrived at my first Mego Meet.

and believe me, NO ONE is more socially awkward than me, given the amount of times I STILL find myself with my sneakers planted firmly in my mouth at the Meet.

I just wanted to thank you for allowing me to see your customs work in progress, including the Batmobile. I feel honoured and privileged to be able to see what you had cooking up, and look forward to seeing more of your incredible innovations.

[SentientApe]

I look forward to meeting you all again...

...Did I speak too soon? I ran into one of you at the Kane County Flea Market today!

[Cornelius POTA]

Zealous... wish MMMF 2015 was 1/4 of what MM Skokie was.

Oh well, will save up my pennies, and get to Skokie one day.

I'm so happy that ya'll had a great turnout and from what I have been reading sounds like everyone had a great MEGO time in Skokie.

[pmwasson]

Great seeing you again Ed, although we never seem to have time to hang out. I'm looking forward to helping with all future crazy projects.

[SentientApe]

I must add to the applause for this event. As I have already stated ad nauseum, a long-standing schedule conflict prevented me from attending on Saturday, but I cannot begin to express how incredibly happy I am to have attended during the informal Friday set-up.

If only I had brough along more cash ... or a credit card ... but then it is probably a fiscally good idea that I did not.

I, too, was intrigued by the fabric press (oh, what I could accomplish with such a device!!), and the 3-D printer. I was slightly disappointed that the event consisted of little more than two dealer rooms, and yet more than that might have overwhelmed my senses and my financial means. There were so many desireable goodies, it was hard to decide. In the end, I spread my meager cash rather frugally, but am extremely happy with what I brought home -- including my boxed BRICK MANTOOTH! At the end, I even sacrificed my last $2 bill.

It was nice meeting Brian face-to-face, and reconnecting with Art (in both real-life as well as introducing our 1:9 scale selves) -- and everyone was super-nice and amiable, but I forgot names almost as fast as I learned them... It was wonderful meeting EVERYONE!

If this event is again held here in the area, I will attend. This was enjoyable enough for me to consider travelling to attend it held elsewhere. I don't have enough words to compliment the various parties involved in organizing this year's Mego Meet -- my only regret is that it conflicted with a long-time obligation.

Argh... this is one of the more difficult posts that I have ever writtten, as I want to write endlessly all my minute praises for the event (and those responsible for organizing it), as well as my frustrations that I could attend only so briefly, but I am already repeating myself. Kudos, Kudos, Kudos all around -- not the least even to those who make the trek to the Mideast from all corners of the map just to attend. I look forward to meeting you all again...

[palitoy]

It was a trip meeting you Roberto!

[darklord1967]

Two months ago, while speaking with my wife, i expressed tentative interest in attenting MEGO MEET this year for the first time. Now, I say my interest was "tentative" because truth be told, i consider myself very socially awkward. I feel infinitely more comfortable hunched over my workbench working ALONE on my newest custom toy than socializing in a crowd.

But my wife encouraged me to go. She knew how much i missed being away from the mego customizing hobby during a long 7 year illness... and how happy it made me to return to the hobby now. So with her prodding (i think she wanted me out of the house), I agreed to go to Skokie.

On thursday afternoon, i flew to Chicago, excited, but a bit nervous since i didnt really know what to expect.

Early on friday afternoon, i left my hotel room and went down to the lobby level to go to the meet. From the moment i arrived at the main desk of the meet and was warmly greeted by Paul and Steve, all my trepadations melted away. As I paid my admission fee and waited for my name tag necklace to be made, i was already eyeing the open doorway to my left which clearly led to a colorful toy dealer's room beyond. When i stepped through that door, i turned into a six year old again.

I couldnt stop smiling. i couldnt stop gawking.

A bombastic voice over to my left caught my attention, and i looked over to see a burly, intimidating looking gent explaining to an interested visitor how he prints character costume designs directly onto fabric prior to it being cut and sewn into finished bodysuits for MEGO figures. Intrigued, I walked over to watch the demonstration and i read the fellow's name tag. It read "Austin". "Austin Hough!!" I blurted. He looked up from his demo, glared at me, and in a deadly serious voice ( that was not at all serious) he grudgingly expressed how impressed he was that i pronounced his last name correctly. For the entire weekend, any time i walked by his table, he had another cheerful, witty jab to throw my way.

In short order, i was priviledged to meet... Face to face for the first time... The likes of individuals that i had only ever chatted with as anonymous personalities here on the forum:

There was Sean, a charming and affable young man, showing me the finer points of his incredible 3D printer, and the brilliant head sculpts he was producing right on the spot. Soon after, he brought me over to the customizer's main room to meet his father Chad... The incomparable Noelani72. While casually walking through one of the dealer rooms, I literally bumped into Brue for the first time... Legendary cosplayer and all-around nice guy... and met his beautiful little girl too. Seconds later i was reunited with my old buddy Blue Meanie, who I hadnt seen in years.

My eye caught the zica / castaway toys display, and standing in front of it was the consummate gentleman David Lee, a man who Ive admired for a long time due to his brilliant work with the Castaway products and the Awesome Zica bodies. Here he was blowing my mind by telling me how much he admired my humble custom works!

There was MegoKnignt, generously sharing his tips for creating some of the cleanest-looking mego boxes Ive ever seen, and performing a most impressive demonstration of hair flocking!

There was the legendary Scott Arendson, cheerfully greeting me... a man who so generously assisted and encouraged me more that 15 years ago when i was just a novice beginner at this hobby, and he was already a well established name in the mego community. There was the Trekman101 And his charming wife, warming my heart as I saw him share his customizing hobby with his young son...

So many new friends... too many to name them all (apologies to all who I missed). I loved meeting each and every single one of you. You made my weekend trip one I'll NEVER FORGET!!! Thank you all so much for fueling a much-needed fire in my gut!

Already counting the days till next year's meet...

[samurainoir]

I have to get up in 2 and half hours to head to the airport, and I'm still completely buzzing from the wonderful whirlwind that has been the past few days.

First off, a standing ovation for the folks behind the scenes that Made This Happen... Steve, Brian, Scott, Art and all the folks from Aw Yeah Comics (and anyone else I'm forgetting). They managed to keep everything we love about Mego Meet intact... the close family camaraderie, the upbeat atmosphere, The Mego Suite experience, the hands on experience with the customs community, all the goodies, and more. But then bump it up many, many, many notches. So many new and diverse faces showing up, so much more space, having the hotel and event space in one, being near a major travel hub, and a city with so much to see and do (and eat). New dealers with astonishing ranges of amazing things on display.

This is the Mego Meet we've been dreaming about.

Thank you each and every single one of you that attended, all my friends old and new. Too numerous to mention, but know that each and every one of you made this an incredibly special event and important milestone in the Mego Museum community. My sincerest Canadian apologies if I was occasionally a bit scatter brained or flakey during this MM... there was just so much going on, so much to see and do, and so many people to chat with, that it was a little overwhelming at times to keep track of everything going on, and give everyone the time and attention they deserved. Know that y'all mean the world to me, and this remains my favourite event of the year because of you folks.

As I alway say, when else will you be surrounded by so many like minded folks that truly "get" you? This is our little piece of heaven right here on earth... now in Skokie!