Assembly Required 2024 – the A Real American Book! Convention Report / Part 4 of 4

Jump back to [Part One/Thursday] [Part Two/Friday] [Part Three/Saturday]

SUNDAY – – – – –

In the lobby I saw Sam Damon heading to the sliding glass door with his suitcase, and we said goodbye. I met Larry Hama in the Hilton’s restaurant for breakfast. We talked about his young adult graphic novel trilogy for Abrams’ new YA imprint. (Hama has been talking about these for awhile. Their titles haven’t yet been announced, but 10 months back Abrams issued a press release for the rollout.)

Hama has plotted the whole thing and dialogued about half of it. Each book is 150 pages, and Hama is curious how it will be received since he hasn’t published in this space. Certainly many of his stories over the years fit the 14-18 age range, but the Young Adult category in the publishing industry has specific parameters. We also talked about his and Ron Wagner’s current project, our sleep habits, and a tiny bit on where he is with Skybound’s G.I. Joe.

Soon, I said a few goodbyes, and Brian Sauer drove Hama and I to the airport. We talked about Sauer’s movie theater habits and Hama’s convention schedule. I reiterated the sentiment in which I’d been happily marinating, paraphrasing David T. Allen, that Assembly Required is more than a toy convention, and I remarked on Dak Knomadd’s comments about convincing dealers to rent tables for the weekend. Sauer responded that “we try not to run a flea market, but to build a community,” that AR doesn’t want to be a giant show all of a sudden. I believe attendance in 2023 was 300, and grew by a hundred for this year. That is a staggering growth, yet it’s still a tiny show, but it does not feel like one. Rather, it feels like a giant family gathering. Also, if such a head count does not grab your attention, the guest list should — Hama, Wagner, Pennington, Blaylock, Wordbuglar — not a long line for autographs, selfies, or sketches!

LOTS MORE / REFLECTION / POSTSCRIPT – – – – –

Sadly, my Iron Grenadiers AR ’24 dinner exclusive shooter glass did not survive the trip home. I don’t much imbibe, so from a practical standpoint, this isn’t a loss. But of course, that’s not the point of such a nifty item, as it immediately takes me back to the Saturday night dinner, and con co-chief Travis Webber raffling off a one-of-a-kind bottle of whisky in an Iron Grenadiers box, and the whole spirit of Assembly Required. I can’t imagine another con where the dinner feels like a picnic, albeit an indoor one at a bar.

A detail I forgot to mention in Friday/Part One, for those of you remembering a dangling plot thread from JoeFest in August: yes, I returned to Chris Murray the two action figure artifacts he had lent me three months earlier.

DEALERS – – – – –

At some previous conventions I’ve tried to take photos of dealer/vendors at their tables. I’m not a fancy photographer, but I’m trying to capture a bit of portraiture here. In keeping with too much to do and not enough time at Assembly Required, I only got a few. Here’s Raginspoon Toys, click all photos to enlarge:

And a close-up of some heads for sale:

And one more “portrait,” here’s Chris Brown of Rockford, IL, selling a lot of Classified toys:

Here’s a nice shot of Mark Pennington, since all the other images I have are of him drawing, or far away during a panel:

Pennington seems to have a nice time at these shows, talking to people, drawing, and making a little money.

KIDS RECON MISSION – – – – –

Quoting from the Codename: Iowa Facebook page from a few days before the convention: “Destro’s Daily Decree #5: “Family first. Family forever. Kids are welcome at Assembly Required. Each child will receive a special activities booklet with a chance to take home a special gift — and our coloring contest offers prizes for all ages. Honor thy heritage and pass your love for miniature plastic military figures on to the next generation.”

It’s one thing to say you’re a family-friendly show, but it’s another thing entirely to act on that and work to build the fan base. Kids visit different convention guests, ask a question, and collect a stamp at each one. When they’ve completed their booklet, they present it at the registration desk for a G.I. Joe toy and comic book. Having them ask a question engages them to actually learn something about the people at the con, and the overall scavenger hunt gives them something to do so they’re not bored while their parents or guardians drag them around and shop. And when they get their prizes, they have a tangible object to read and play with while still at the con, positive reinforcement for the weekend.

Here’s what kids were getting, not just a toy, but a Classified vehicle and figure! I think there was a variety of comics, such that a kid would get a random issue, but pictured here is a Hama-written/Hasbro-published one from about 15 years back:

Right after I asked registration desk wrangler Rachel Mendoza to let me photograph that awesome swag bundle, three kids walked up to redeem their completed activity booklets!

This is the actual moment that Mendoza is handing over a Python Patrol Tele-Viper with Cobra Flight Pod and a G.I. Joe comic book! I felt lucky to be there when it happened. I sometimes talk with fellow collectors about kids getting into G.I. Joe, or not getting into G.I. Joe, and what Hasbro’s responsibility here is. Sure, there are great Skybound comic books, but those are all rated T for Teen. A question that sometimes hangs in the air I might ask of fellow collectors and they might ask of me is “what are YOU doing to get kids into G.I. Joe?” Sauer, Webber, and Co. are doing something.

OTHER SATURDAY THEMATIC MOMENTS – – – – –

A few minutes later, I saw this:

A dad walked up to the registration desk with two kids, and asked about attending the convention. He was pleased to hear that admission was free. Hopefully the cycle begins again!

ART CONTEST – – – – –

While I was spending time around the registration desk, I noted that the art contest entries were all in front of me. Here are some highlights. Continuing a thought from Part One/Friday where I pointed out con organizer Brian Sauer’s design skills and attention to detail, here’s the lovely folded card attendees get to vote on the custom contest. With the blue text and light background grid, Sauer refers back to the 1980s A Real American Hero vehicle blueprints, and makes something that could be a blank scrap of paper into another thoughtful part of the convention.

As I’m not a figure or vehicle customizer, and I don’t much track the contests at conventions I attend. AR had one for kids and one for grown-ups. Here was a kid entry:

I’m going to guess this next one was a David Marroquin creation, based on its similarity to the vehicle he showed me at his table (as depicted in Part Two/Friday). (The art contests are anonymous so people vote on merit and not only for their friends.) Note how this one matches the con theme. It’s a red, black, and gold Iron Grenadiers vehicle:

Zanya on the left is a nice thematic match for AR guest Josh Blaylock, who introduced her in his 2001 G.I. Joe comic books. On the right is a killer Snow Serpent. It looked like 6-inch characters that haven’t yet gotten the official Classified toy treatment were popular picks for the custom contest.

This looks like Ninja Force Zartan, but as a skeleton. Fun!

Here’s Overkill, the B.A.T. leader. I was not all that impressed with the original 1992 figure, so it’s fun to see a bunch of improved proportions and details at this larger size.

Similarly, there’s something about a bigger size and more detail that make a too-brightly colored ninja from the ’90s feel impressive. Here’s T’Jbang:

Neat! 1994 Star Brigade, remade as 2020s Classified toys! Those bright colors sure look nice dulled down.

But returning to a faithful color recreation, here’s a 1985 Lamprey at the new size.

As far as I know, the VAMP/Stinger have never been released in Iron Grenadiers colors. That also looks like a very Destro/Iron Grenadiers-style weapon mounted on the back, replacing the more familiar guns and missiles we know from the VAMPs and Stingers.

TOYS FOR SALE! – – – – –

To break up the long text passages in my wordy con reports, I insert photos of toys for sale that I saw. These don’t correspond to anything I’m looking to buy, or even favorites. They just represent some of the variety of what the dealers are offering. At AR ’24, China and the domestic fan club were represented:

(As are the ’80s and the 2020s, a photo I posted in the Part 2/Saturday report.)

Even vehicles and figures from my not-favorite era take on added significance as part of the visual feast that is a convention showroom:

A LARRY HAMA ANECDOTE – – – – –

On the front of Larry Hama’s table were several copies of G.I. Joe issue #311 and its “B” variant, the same comic book but with a black and white cover treatment. I was surprised to see these on November 8th and 9th, as this issue wasn’t on-sale for 11 days! I didn’t want to be the guy to say to Hama “Uh, I don’t think you can sell that,” so I inquired in a general way — “Oh, I see you have the new issue on your table.” “They send me a box of them,” he replied, speaking in the ongoing present tense, like Skybound sends a box every month. “My wife says, ‘get rid of them!'” and he laughed, “so I sell them [at conventions].” I nodded in understanding. It also makes good business sense. If Hama’s prints are $15 or $20 each, and his sketches are $200, a $4 comic book is a low price point for getting a Hama signature. I didn’t get a proper photo, but here’s a blow-up from a shot of Hama’s table:

I thought perhaps I should buy the comic and read it a week and a half early, before everyone else! And I could brag to Talking Joe host/podcast partner Mark that I got the book long before him! But I also like buying this series at my own comic shop, and in case Hama had limited copies (ha!), I should leave them all for him to sell to others. But it was tempting.

(This brought me back to 1990 when my brother and I attended a comic con in Washington, D.C. and a dealer had G.I. Joe issue #101 along with his back issues. We had been to our store that week and hadn’t seen it! How was it here, how did this dealer have it early? We bought it, and then a week or two later the same issue debuted at our local store, a mystery we never investigated.)

MY ONE-PERSON RUNNING GAG INSIDE JOKE – – – – –

Two years ago Ben Conway of Skeletron took a very nice photo of me at Assembly Required. He wasn’t trying to take a great photo, and I’m on camera pretty often so such an image shouldn’t feel rare, but what struck me about that photo was that I wasn’t trying to look happy or sell you anything (as in my constant store promotions). Conway got a candid, but it feels like a real, honest portrait. And then I either get bad photos of him, or forget to photograph him and his Skeletron booth entirely. That happened again at Assembly Required, so here’s the best I could do, a zoom-in where Conway’s in the background:

Zoom out and (un)enhance!

Actually, I did get an okay one at the bar on Saturday night:

Two weeks after Assembly Required, but before I finished writing these con reports, the Skeletron toy started arriving, and I saw a surge of posts from happy crowdfunding backers. Congrats to Conway, Mark O’Byrne, and the rest of the Skeletron team!

AFTER THE CON – – – – –

Speaking of Conway, it’s worth noting that just as people arrive early and go to local comic and/or toy shops before the convention starts, that happens as well on Sunday after others have left. I was on a plane at this point, but here are Sean Harker and Wordburglar, who went with Conway and Sauer to a comic book shop:

MORE FROM FRIDAY / SAUER THE GRAPHIC DESIGNER – – – – –

Adding to earlier paragraphs about how nice all the website, signage, and badging at Assembly Required is because con chief Brian Sauer is a great graphic designer, here’s one more. The attendee badge is printed on a thick plastic, and the limited-to-100-seats Friday dinner pass was this nice additional piece. I’m just repeating myself now, that this military-looking fake piece of printed bureaucracy was funny, nicely tied into the convention theme, and was on a substantial and satisfyingly thick card stock. When the con organizer cares this much, that feeling spreads through the rest of the event in subtle ways and I have a better time, even if I can’t quite explain why.

TWO T-SHIRTS OF NOTE – – – – –

Many folks were wearing these at Assembly Required. ROMA Collectibles produced them in support of Aaron Detrick (cf. Parts two and three). That yeti is not the animated G.I. Joe Fatal Fluffy, but rather, ROMA’s mascot, although they do look similar.

HAMA ART – – – – –

As the con showroom was about to close on the Saturday, I got to see a fan who’d put in for a Larry Hama sketch walk up to that table and see his finished art for the first time. He was surprised and happy, and it was a nice moment to witness.

TALKING JOE – – – – –

In the days after AR, I edited the audio from the Hama/Wagner Living Legends panel, and Talking Joe host Mark turned it into a Talking Joe episode, listen here [direct audio download], here [YouTube audio-only], here [Apple Podcasts], here [Spotify], or here [Podbean].

LASTLY – – – – –

Before I end this con report, I wanted to post the “Special Thanks” and Codename: Iowa staff and volunteer names from the Assembly Required program. Organizing a show is a lot of work. There are signs and tags to print, tables and chairs and rooms and door locks to coordinate with convention staff, people to pick up and take to the airport, boxes and boxes of swag to ferry and display and sell, AV equipment to procure and set up and test, hotel rooms to book, restaurant rooms to reserve, and more. At any moment a con guest or attendee can walk up to a staff member or volunteer with a problem that needs solving at that moment. Assembly Required was fun and had a relaxed atmosphere, and I was happy to be there a third year in a row. Thanks to all the nice folks below!

End Part 4. Relive all the thrills of Assembly Required 2024 with Tim’s con report [Part One/Thursday], [Part Two/Friday], and [Part Three/Saturday].