ExTSR wrote:
And Mike, you can blather all you want to Jon & T&T, but a very workable solution to the Charity Overload is already being finalized. Fear not. But last I heard we did more than 17k for charity; add the Cardhalla ($1300+) and other charity events and we prolly topped 20 grand, a new record (of course).

That's great!  I suppose that the fact the charity auction was in memory of Gary was part of the reason for the length; but even the year before it went too long.  I suspect T&T won't let that happen again, but it will feel good to send an email anyway to those in charge.

BTW, Frank had a great, great moment during the Giant Die auction when bidding had stopped at far less than what the total should have been.  It had to have been seen, but he did a masterful job of basically doubling the $850 or so the amount had stalled on by tugging a few heart strings. Bravo, Frank!

Mike B.

Invincible Overlord wrote:For what it's worth,

(OMG - The huge dice sold for $1,500.00... where would you put it in your house...).

Where to put it is a good question, but the first question you have to ask is "How do you even get it in your house?" (other than just the garage).  I believe a new doorway 6' wide would be in order.  

Always the engineer.....

A couple more shout outs:

Prufrock/Martin:  I don't think there could be a better ambassador for his city than Martin for Indy.  The guy was just great host.  He is a very giving person, and my wife referred to him as a "very kind man" which is the ultimate complement.  The list of things he did is almost too long to mention; he handed me a mint Caverns of Thracia from a SW set of them he won cheap in auction; he helped me find alternative parking at his downtown office when he learned we were being gouged for $20 a day at the hotel; he picked up Frank's tab not once but twice and refused to be paid back my anyone; hell, one time he asked if I wanted a drink while we were at the auction, then went out and got me a diet coke....this was before I found out drinks in the convention center were three bucks each   Then to top it off he "shrewed" me with a cute little shrew doll that was my constant companion throughout the convention (you'll see him when we start posting pictures).  This isn't even mentioning putting up Al and his daughter, and paying for some extremely expensive color copies.  Just a great host!

Frank:  Imagine hanging out with Frank Mentzer, and talking with him and him treating you like you are just another shmoe.  Then imagine having dinner with him, being DM'd by him, and having him sit by you during a game.  I told my wife it was like playing a round of golf with Tiger Woods.....just an incredible, down to earth guy who doesn't have any airs and is very good at putting people at ease.  My wife was very impressed by him and was surprised when I explained who he was and what he had done in the industry, that he was hanging out with the bunch of us!!!  One of my favorite convention moments was the one night my totally non gaming wife came to the convention hall to walk  around, we passed by the auction hall as Frank was auctioning, and she said "Look!  That's Frank!"  Almost beat the moment when she said "When we come back here next year....."     Anyway, just had to mention what a great memory I'll have of this convention due to Frank's participation in our gaming.  And Acaeum members really appreciated Frank's shout outs to the group, I especially enjoyed the WAAAAAAY inside description of any Tegel Manor's he auctioned as "being a SHREWD buy" and "looks like something nibbled the top, perhaps a SHREW" Yeh Frank likes to have a cheap laugh every once in awhile!

Saskia:  Al's daughter was a delight.   She started out shy, reserved and non talkative, and ended up being the life of the party.  My wife and I can only hope our granddaughter turns out as sweet. And all this with Al as a father!  Luckily the apple fell far, far from the tree in this case.  I spent a good amount of time with her Saturday during the interminable auction telling jokes, taking pictures, throwing my shrew at here, etc.  I was worried with Al taking her along she might be a distraction, but she was anything but....just give her a bag of dice and she was all set!!!

Trolllords:  The guys are real professionals, but also friendly as all hell.  I had nice chats with Kim Hartsfield and Jason Alexander, and both proved themselves intelligent and informative, and I really wish I could have spent more time and money at their booth, which looked great by the way.  Kudos to the booth babe and her pop-out boobs  

My wife:  She'll never read this of course, but what a good sport.  Her entire gaming career consists of Dungeon games with my four year old grandson.  I was able to parlay our vacation into a week at Gencon, how many wives would go for that?  Her only caveat was that I had to make the hotel money back, which I did, and for that she left us alone and amused herself the entire time.  After an entire week on the road and in Indy, she was STILL a good sport enough to let me hit one more game store in Springfield on the way back.  That's a great wife!  And kudos to all the other wives of Acaeum members that came along and participated, or allowed us to participate, in Gen Con. If you are a gamer with a wife, and the wife is not cool on you going to Indy, I have to say, bring her along.  There is a lot to do, gaming and non-gaming, and she'll have a great time staying downtown.

Mike B.

Kaskoid wrote:Don't think that was not noted by Frank and I. Good thing for both of them that they were snoozing just out of effective Twinky range...

Mmmmm . . . Twinkies.  

Prufrock wrote:Acaeum Members at the Ready

Cool, I snuck into that pic too!!   I am to the right in the yellow shirt.   All you can see is my gut . . . full of Alcatraz beer . . . and my arms.  

Hey I wanna thank all of the Acaeum guys for making my 1st Gencon an experience to remember.    It was an absolute ball.    The auctions were better than anyone could have stated here.   FYI - never bid in a gut full of beer.   I ended up with some real unique items for the collection.

My take was not nearly what everyone elses was.   I really have mostly experiences and Tom Wham's TSR belt buckle as souveniers.    Breakfast every morning with Jeff Easley and running errands for Larry Elmore rank right up there.   Meeting Frank and Tim, and being able to thank them for their hard work, made up for the long drive.    I inadvertantly met Malcolm at his booth.    Then when in the auction hall Malcolm pointed out the rest of the Acaeum crew.   You all made me feel very welcome and added to my overall enjoyment.  

Top moment of the con - my son was "pretending" to read a C&C book all the while oggling the lovely lass with Prufrock.   Firstly the book was upside down and secondly blatant stare prompted Stephen Chenault to comment that he was going to carry Troll Lord Drool Buckets next year.   Priceless!!     I've taught that boy well . . .

lawrenson wrote:Forgot to mention, I also got a couple of the big plastic Players Packs for my collection (Wizards and Thieves). For some reason, they are really hard to find in the UK.

Because of the $60 price tag, I guess they are hard to find in the USA as well!

We bought the Fighters Pack. The last one we needed and we managed to talk him down to $50.

Prufrock wrote:
The second annual Acaeum Dinner went off just fine Wednesday night.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and Frank made a very interesting announcement.  (I will leave it to Frank to announce it to the forums himself.)

Hmm, this is definitely interesting.  Waiting patiently...   

Hi,

well, I think I got the last 2 he had, and he wouldnt budge from $60.  

Yes, they are awkward to find - and shipping to the UK is a pain for them, so I thought I may as well grab them!

I did get 1 in the set for $5 at Spiel a couple of years ago, so I guess they've had a fairly meteoric rise (for an "ordinary" item).

One thing I did get from Crazy Egor was the Al-Quadim set of prints for $50. Some of them appear to be "doubles" tho, so I;m not sure its complete.

Cheers,
Malc

Here are some pics of the auction rares:

















There were also two Empire of the Petal Thrones in the auction.  One of them was a first printing and was in average condition.  The other was in shrinkwrap (not original) and both had extremely high (IMO) reserves and I believe both of them were passed over by bidders.  Too bad, would have liked to have picked one up.