Under The Tents: New York Comic-Con Edition

Even though the Plaza is empty and the tents have been put away for their long winter’s nap, the convention scene is still buzzing with news of the San Diego Convention Center expansion and what might now end up being North America’s largest comics convention in terms of attendance, New York Comic-Con.

So we figured, like a bunch of geeks gathering in the moonlight on the lawn outside of Hall H, why not meet back up every now and again for some friendly conversation on recent news stories from the web?

Saying that, here’s the stuff you might have missed:

Business Insider was at New York Comic-Con this past weekend (leading us to ask, “who wasn’t?”), and asked cosplayers on the exhibit floor what they did in their real lives. Which of course the only correct answer was from the zombie nurse who said, “What are you talking about? This is who I am, every single day.” Check out the video, embedded below.

Looking for love? So were hundreds of NYCC attendees last week. Another Business Insider article, this time profiling Sci-Fi Speed Dating, the organization which facilitated eight speed dating sessions through the convention. If you found your inter-galactic soul mate at one of these, please let us know in the comments!

Hasbro kicked off NYCC with their annual pre-show party, and made some reveals from some upcoming blockbuster films. Movies.com’s Erik Davis captured some pictures of Hasbro’s 2014 line-up of tie-in merchandise from Amazing Spider-Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Transformers 4. Here’s a pic of the new Optimus Prime:

And that Green Goblin…Chris Cooper will be playing Norman Osborn in next summer’s Spidey sequel. Could we be seeing a more creature-like version of the popular villain?

In the “Things We Hope SDCC Never Does” department, NYCC used the RFID chips embedded in badges to send out tweets and Facebook posts from users accounts on their behalf, unbeknownst by attendees.

MTV reported from the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. panel that more superhero cameos might be making an appearance in upcoming episodes, as well that cellist lady-friend of Coulson’s:

“If somebody wants to come play, we’re more than happy to figure out how to make that work in the story,” said Loeb about bringing movie stars like Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey Jr. onto the set.

Some of you hoped it would happen when we listed the Robot Chicken panel as one of our Friday highlights, and it did as one of those “Only in New York” moments: Macaulay Culkin made an appearance as a panel guest, to a roar of approval from the audience.

Any Grand Theft Auto V fans? At a panel for the recently-released video game, an audience member had a request for guest Steven Ogg, the voice of Trevor, and his response is priceless. Check out the video (NSFW), below:

Mashable was also at the convention and interviewed attendees on the latest cosplay “fashion”, including “what happens when two people in fancy duds take themselves way too seriously”. Check out the video below.

In an article on Reuters, Adult Swim Senior Director of Marketing Jim Babcock gave some insight as to how exhibitors such as the popular network block make their decisions on what they might bring to the convention, and how some of the smaller cons in between miss the cut:

A convention too near San Diego or New York in timing might not be viable because the company would not have time to put together another presentation so quickly, he said.

Timing also matters in other ways. If Adult Swim does not have anything new slated for the next quarter or so, the con probably will not be a fit, Babcock said.

Take a look at the fees celebrities were charging at NYCC, including the list of talent booked by convention organizers themselves, per an article on Gawker. $395 for an autograph only from Sylvester Stalone? How about $445 for a photo opp? How about “no thank you”!

Ending on a positive note, Zachary Levi’s The Nerd Machine, in its inaugural visit to NYCC, raised $23,000 during the weekend for Operation Smile, the charity for which it had already raised $215,000 earlier this year at SDCC’s NerdHQ.

Thanks to @intelusa & our friends and fans @NY_Comic_Con who helped us raise $23K for @operationsmile
That's 95 lives changed forever.

— Nerd HQ (@thenerdmachine) October 17, 2013