Stan Lee and inscriptions at comicons for children??

[niennumb1]

Hello there!

I have met Stan Lee once years ago and I know normally they shove people through the lines when it comes to signings. My son is going to be tagging along on his first con turning 4 this Saturday and he LOVES Spider-Man. He will probably be dressing up in a costume as well. He doesn't know a ton about Stan Lee, but I know one day he will look back at the photos and really remember that day from his childhood.

My question is regarding whether it would be worth bringing him through the autograph line to meet Stan and get his sig. I have a special pass that will get me through quickly, so waiting isn't the concern, but does anyone know if Stan tends to inscribe for kids if they want vs. an adult? He seems to really love talking to kids, so I am just not sure if I should try going through and it being a 5 second "hi-bye" thing, or if he does things a bit different with children.

I know no answer anyone gives here is any guarantee on my outcome, but wanted to know if anyone here has any experiences to share about Stan and people who brought their child to meet him. I just wanted to get a vibe whether spending the $$ would be worth it. We are already doing a quick photo op with him as well, but they don't let you talk during those.

Thanks for any feedback!

 

[firesprite]

I say bring the little one. Stan absolutely loves seeing the kids, especially when they're in costume and SO excited. If your youngster does dress as Spidey, and especially if you can get him to mime shooting webbing, Stan would get a huge kick out of that.

Regarding inscriptions, though... when I worked with him a few years ago, his agent enforced a pretty strict "no personalization" policy because he wanted to move people through as quickly as possible. However, Stan was only here one day that year and he's here all weekend this year, so perhaps it will be different.

 

[niennumb1]

Thanks! That is true about the last time he was here. My son definitely knows his web hands pose and even sings some of the old classic Spidey song really well, haha!

I'll try and pop by your table on Friday as it's my only solo day there to say hello!

 

[firesprite]

Thanks! That is true about the last time he was here. My son definitely knows his web hands pose and even sings some of the old classic Spidey song really well, haha!

I'll try and pop by your table on Friday as it's my only solo day there to say hello!

Yay! My husband is also an RPFer so you'll get a two-fer on meeting board members!

 

[mistymills]

Also, the company behind the con sometimes has a lot to do with the way the lines move. A friend of mine works as a handler at Motor City every year and he said he prefers to get the less popular people because otherwise it's a nonstop having to be a jerk and move the line along, even if the celebrity WANTS to spend time with people. If there's a certain number of people in line, he's supposed to tell people in line no personalizations or chatting, and that comes from the convention and not the representation of the celebrity.

 

[Grifter2013]

Yeah Stan won't let anyone hurry him along. He's a big fan of well, the fans. He'd love to see your son in costume and answer whatever questions he has.

 

[Kevin Gossett]

So... how did it go?

 

[niennumb1]

Thanks for asking!

I had to make a serious judgment call based on my observations of Friday in preparation for Sunday with my son and here was the factors I had to take into account:

- People were waiting around 3 hours before signing and you had to buy a ticket before the signing to get an autograph. I had a fast pass, but there was even a stand-by line for the fast passers.

- Asking some people who went through how it went if they got to shake hands or say hello, they all said they were shoved through and there wasn't much of any chance to say anything

- The area was utter chaos

- My son is 4 years old and this will be the first time he ever gets exposed to this kind of thing

Based on the amount of chaos and waiting time that would have to happen to get my son up there for even a quick hello or getting noticed, we would have had to have gone through quite a bit for him to get that tiny moment, and most likely no personalization. Ultimately I felt the best decision was to not get him in the middle of that and it was the best choice.
He actually did not last a lot of the day at the convention, but I had another idea to maybe get Stan to notice him a little. I brought a Captain America outfit for my son to wear for our trio Avengers (Clark Gregg, Anthony Mackie and Stan Lee) Photo op. Though my son was pretty soft spoken out of nervousness and this being a whole new animal of event he's never been to, I told him that I think they might like it if you said, "Avengers.. Assemble!" He said, "Will they laugh?" I said, "I think they might, yeah!"

So the layout of the booth is you are facing them before you walk up and get the photo (and not from the side like Froggy photo did where the actors never get to face you unless they choose to look at ya (haha!). So it was time for the photo and he got halfway up to the group and yelled at the top of his lungs, "AVENGERS! ASSEMBLE!!!!" They laughed and Clark Gregg was all grins with him. Stan Lee chuckled down at him and said, "Aw boy.. Look at that little guy right there!" Gregg asked my son if he wanted him to hold him up, but I guess he preferred standing, so he stood right next to Stan in his chair and Gregg still smiling hunched over a bit toward him and they snapped the picture. My son said he smiled, but the photo seems to show he was more doing a serious Steve Rogers thing. He yelled his "Avengers Assemble" once more time and I thanked them quick (not individually because they wanted you out for the next pic) and we headed out.

Though he didn't smile on the picture I absolutely love this photo, and the guys in the pic genuinely looked happy in it with him there:

This made the whole trip worth it alone. About a half hour after that roaming the floor looking for toys he wanted to go home and I was okay with that. He was a good sport meeting them as well as Anthony Daniels (who spent a couple minutes with him as well at his autograph booth) earlier that morning. I told Daniels he definitely knows who he is, but is having trouble grasping the man behind the mask. He smiled and talked with him about how my son was wearing a Stormtrooper costume and that he is the same wearing his mask as C-3PO.... and then right there he got into character and broke out some lines as C-3PO and he started both grinning and bashfully lowering his head on me because I think he was understanding more how that all worked. It was SO amazing and he even had his assistant snap a few pictures of them at the booth because he adored him. We even did 2 photos in the booth when I was only paying for one, doing a solo one, just the two of them:

I don't know where that smile came from because he doesn't normally smile that way, but I think he was a bit nervous, haha!

Anyway... REALLY great sport and I think it was asking a lot of him to bring him to something chaotic like ECCC. He never complained, but I knew when he was really done. 10 minutes after getting in the car he fell asleep for a couple hour nap. He'll never forget meeting both Daniels and the Marvel guys and it was quite a moment for me as well. Aside all that he LOVED seeing everyone in their costumes and even blurted out a hello to Deadpool, who chatted with him for a moment as well, haha!

 

[firesprite]

Awww, I'm so glad things went well! Your little guy is adorable!