Joe Walters

Albuquerque Comic Expo (ACE) was held the weekend of June 27 – 29 at the Albuquerque Convention Center, and certainly lived up to its reputation as the premier comics / science fiction / fantasy show of this area.

Literally thousands of people attended, many in costumes. Albuquerque Scale Modelers had a presence there as well, as we took up six tables in the lobby area. This is a great location – we were right next to the main entrance, and straight across from the escalator one descends if arriving from the parking garage. That means that everyone who attends the show gets a good look at us whether they want to or not! And many, many attendees did indeed want to!

We had around 140 sci-fi and fantasy based models on display, along with our ubiquitous “What is Scale Modeling?” display, and a huge banner identifying us to the multitudes (you may have seen this banner at Chile Con, where it sat behind the ops are in the model room).

We had a good turnout of ASM members to man our station and answer questions from the public, of which there were many. We ran our first ACE Make & Take at this show, and were amazed at the interest – we ran out of models the first afternoon, and had to shut it down for the rest of the show!

Many people asked us where one could buy models, and where and when we meet, and many of our little club flyers were handed out. We also distributed quite a few of the little quadfolds we had made for Chile Con, so we may have inspired a few folks to attend that show as well.

There was a vast dealer room, offering not only comic-related wares but also books, video games, legos, posters, toys, and even original artwork from celebrity artists with their own booths. There were displays of famous automobiles, including the 1960s Batmobile, a S.H.I.E.L.D. Volkswagen, and even a Star Wars landspeeder.

Many celebrity guests spoke and were available for autographs and such; I was glad to have a chance to see Joel Hodgson, creator of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 series, speak on that show and future projects.

We were able to corral quite a few costumed attendees to act as “celebrity judges,” to select their favorite model and pose for a photograph.

We even had a visitation from some actual celebrities. Two of the stars of the television series Being Human stopped by and really geeked out on the models! Sam Huntington liked a Millennium Falcon, while Sam Witwer preferred a TIE Fighter display.

You’ll see more photos in the Bonus Pages, taken by myself and Frank Randall, and you can see all the pictures taken by the two of us online (http://tinyurl.com/asmace14).

ACE is a great opportunity for exposure for our little club, and is a great success in the area of generating interest on the part of the public.