2007 Wizard World Comic Convention/ shopping trip

Well, my first comic convention. It was full of obese white men hawking comics and other toys from the era of my childhood for exorbitant prices. Not to mention, scary looking girls dressed in what I can assume is not a cosplay of a goth girl. I spent about six hours literally walking through lanes of memories long past: tons of Transformers toys, some Crash Dummies toys (which I was slightly compelled to buy), a Nicholas D Wolfwood action figure (which I passed up), and Monsieur Bome's Full Metal Panic! figure set which I spent months wanting but ultimately decided it wasn't worth the desk space it would ultimately consume. So much for impulse purchases. However, the best item I came across that I bought was this:
YES! 1/6 scale weapons, so I don't have to make them! Go Japanese injection molded miniatures! I bought two, and these random weapon packs had a total of 18 different detailed scale weapons to get. I looked on the back, and saw the silhouette of an M60 machine gun and an MP5SD6. "AWESOME!" I thought. "M60! I want that!" Well, $8 later, I got two of the most cookie cutter guns you could've gotten: an AK-47 and an XM177. Wow. Hardly as exciting as the Steyr AUG, the MP5 series or the weird mystery gun I couldn't identify that I could have gotten. Oh well. Still nice though. They fit perfectly with Hotaru's poorly made hands, and had some nice surprises.
(The new arsenal of toys! Left to right: Gewehr 43, MP44/StG44, AK-74, FAMAS, XM177, AK-47)
The XM177 was ok. It sported some recesses on the foregrip that I assume can be fitted with some non-existent accessories. The magazine came out, which was nice. The best surprise was the extendable stock. However, the excessive fake wear effects made it look really nice, although a new looking one would have been just as fine.
This was perhaps the best of the two, perhaps best of them all. The AK-47 with fixed stock and taped banana clips had the best wear effects done on it. Down to the worn wood and scraped magazines, it was superb. Naturally, the magazines are removable.
"Look at me! I'm like an African child soldier!"

I actually would have been very pissed if I ended up with two M16 rifle variants. So unexciting. Anyways, the other piece of loot worth showcasing:
This peculiar figure got my attention (along with the $25 price tag, which helped me not be poor after the convention) because of the interchangeable parts. It's just like Hotaru, but mass produced! Unfortunately, I'll never get to review and play with it, because this one's going to remain in the box. I probably should have bought a second one to fiddle with, despite my lack of love towards Haruhi.

Now, onto the non-weapon aspects I haven't had time to showcase.

From the obviously bootleg backdrop, I have taken a photo of Hotaru's new outfit and non-violent accessory (perhaps non-violent is incorrect, as I've given the umbrella a sharp pointy spike). She now has a spiffy sun hat and a matching dress.
It's rather heavy to hold, and might require some joint stiffening to properly hold.

The understructure was made of electrical wire and provides a great party piece:It closes too! Not too impressive, since paper martini umbrellas are smaller, and kick this one's ass by a lot. But, hey, buying a lot of 1/10 scale umbrellas wholesale isn't too great, and no one makes 1/6 scale ones. That takes care of this post's worth of updates. More to come when they do.