Wonder Festival 2010 Winter Report

I finally got back to our HQ.
As you can see, the entire place is getting taken down.

A happy monkey is one with properly completed paperwork.
(I helped with the "properly" part :p)

A perspective from the standpoint of a happy monkey,
who's going to sleep well after a long day of monkeying work.

Another perspective from the same happy monkey,
watching two other monkeys doing their happy thing.

But I had to carry all three bags!

Once packed up, we proceeded to the train station from where we boarded the train to Tokyo. We bumped into Walter and his wife as well. Despite the long day, we talked a lot on our way to Tokyo, but I honestly can't remember what about except at one point the monkeys asked me when flying cars would arrive... Go figure!

Once at Tokyo Station, I left all my friends to attend the after-party, while they went on to their respective homes for a well-deserved rest (or not?).

The after-party was not organized by the usual folks who felt that the number of attendees kept growing to an extent that was not manageable by people who also have to be dealers during the event. When it became apparent only days before the event that there would be no after-party, Hirata-san stepped in and suggested that Suzi Syndicate be the organizer this time. I caught the announcement on his blog just in time to sign on. It so happened that we ended up being a small group of perhaps 20 people.

Being a smaller group did not prevent us from enjoying the evening; quite the opposite: ensued the usual drinking, eating and chatting while waiting for others, including the Master himself who was caught in a traffic jam or something. I was seated next to Hirata-san, who told me, amongst other things, about his love for Italian culture; apparently, he even tried to speak earlier during the day with either Paolo or Luca in Italian!

Then Da Man finally arrived!
Amongst other things we learned throughout the day, he confirmed the reprint of the Hobby Japan Extra Edition on S.F.3.D, a Ma.K bible that everyone should have!

No Ma.K get-together happens without some models mixed up with food and drinks.
Admire this work featuring one of the Hasegawa figures and...

... a remote-controlled SAFS fat suit, which apparently responds to...

... a vintage Famicom controller!!!

How about this SAFS variant...

... which is masterfully finished despite its not so serious appearance.

It turns out the suit's markings feature an amphibian's life-cycle,
all the way from a tadpole to a frog!

Another great model was this Fireball,

... which unfortunately had an accident during transport.

Lots of talking an joking (in addition to more drinking and more eating!) went on until we hit the allotted time, after which we all thanked each other and said good night!

I once again thank everyone for making these events so uniquely enjoyable, and apologize to those whom I did not cover in this report for lack of time during the event. But there is always a NEXT TIME!