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Epic Fun at the Empire State Comic Con

Updated: Mar 22, 2019

April 6, 2018 saw Albany's first ever Empire State Comic con. Adrienne and I made it a day trip, and were there in full geek regalia. We've got some great photos to share, so let's get right down to it!


Before we even unpacked our gear, I was excited to see an Ectomobile outside the convention center. Judging from my hair, it must have been doing about 150!


The vehicle belonged to the Rochester Ghostbusters, who were there with some other organizations from neighboring states. I'm a lone wolf, but that didn't stop me from getting a group photo for posterity:

A group of Ghostbusters and the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.

These guys had a pretty impressive display, including a life-size Vigo the Carpathian portrait from 1989's Ghostbusters II.


Here's where it becomes random. You might not think it gets any better than the Back to the Future Delorean:

Back to the Future DeLorean and Hover Board

You would be wrong, because not only did Marty McFly drive it in, but Batman himself was along for the ride!

Batman, a Ghostbuster and Back to the Future Marty McFly.

A Ghostbuster stands in front of the Back to the Future DeLorean.
This event was the public debut of my ghost trap.

Being an egomaniac, I took all attendees' requests for pictures, and gave autographed photos to those I deemed worthy. One dealer was eager to show me his Ghostbusters-themed smartwatch. I thought contrasting our high-tech and low-tech timepieces would make for a fun photo op. In retrospect? Maybe not, but content is content:

Ghostbusters watch.

We made the news! Times Union photographer Amanda Case snapped the following photos, which appeared on the newspaper's web edition the following day. I was shocked that Adrienne jumped right into frame at Amanda's request; she's made great strides in overcoming her shyness. Although I've mentioned her many times, I believe this to be her first official appearance on the blog. Here's proof there was one woman in the world who was willing to marry me!

Ghostbusters cosplayer and fan at Empire State Comic Con 2018.

A Ghostbuster fires his proton pack at the 2018 Empire State Comic Con.
Adrienne's expression is priceless.

Although he was not in attendance, the highlight of the day came about when I acquired the autographed photo of my childhood idol, Bill Murray! If that wasn't enough, the picture depicted his role as Dr. Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters. I happened to see it at a dealer's table, barely poking out from under some other items. Other than memories, this was all I took home. Things like this are the reason credit cards were invented. Adrienne said she would have kicked me if I hadn't gotten it. That's how you know that you've found your soulmate.

Ghostbuster holds autographed photo of Bill Murray as Peter Venkman.
I'm never more than three feet from a Coke.

Empire State Comic Con 2018 proved to be a great, albeit long day. Thanks for letting me share it. Sign up to get notified of high-quality content... I hope to produce it at some point! For more Ghostbusting, click here.


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Dave Fife is the driving force behind retroinjection.com, a nostalgia blog focusing on the pop culture of the '80s and '90s. Retro Injection places an emphasis on movie reviews, classic video games and vintage toys. 

An authority on the 1980s and a member of the Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, Dave is the creator of the acclaimed documentary, Time-Out: History of a Small-Town Arcade. He wrote the forward to the breakdance movie book, There's No Stopping Us: Untold Story of Breakin' from Australia to Venice Beach by Tony and Doug Pichaloff. Mr. Fife has appeared in several low-budget horror flicks

 

The New York Times revised an article pertaining to the Super Mario character after Dave sent them a correction. At that point, he was just showing off.

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