NYCC/NYAF 2011 - Freebie Hunt

Saturday is usually the insane day and boy it was! As always, walking along 34th street in the morn, one would encounter a crowd of people, in costume and non-costumes, walking towards the Hudson River. When one reached the corner of 11th Avenue, there was a person(s), who would be providing guidance to those heading for the convention. Last year, was a police officer assisting in the flow of the cross walk. This year was a convention staff member instructing attendees on where to go when reaching the other side of the street. Once crossed over, there was a group of staff members assisting in the flow of ticket and non-ticket holders. It was just insane to see the masses.

The Freebie Hunt

That day, I had a goal to accomplish: obtain freebies! In the morning, the first booth was Hasbro, who was giving away a free KRE-O Optimus Prime construction figure. I was told the day before that this giveaway was not the same one available in the construction sets. Too bad the giveaway did not include a Bumble Bee, but I did receive a couple of items relating to JEM and the Holograms series. Next, was the Viz Media booth, who was giving away free tote bags and Naruto movie tickets. However, in order to obtain the tickets, one must have been able to provide the catch phrase from the series. Since I do not watch the series, I would not have known.

Moving on to the Nintendo booth! Found out the day before that they were giving out pins, a string bag and a t-shirt for playing their games. Not to offend anyone, but I wore disposal rubber gloves while playing Tetris Axis, Super Mario 3D, Mario Kart 7 for the 3DS, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D and Pokémon Rumble Blast. I did the same thing the next day when I played Star Fox 64 for the 3DS. While waiting for my turn, one of the booth employees had tattoo versions of the AR cards that came with the 3DS. Of course, I had to get those too. :-) After playing a level or stage in the games, I received a Pokémon Rumble Blast string bag and pins related to the 3DS games.

Continuing on with my walk on the show floor towards 38th street, something red and white caught my eye: “Win The Hello Kitty-Elmo Doll!!” I was like a what doll? I went around the corner and saw the dolls for the raffle. Of course, I had to sign up and the winner would be informed the next day. Unfortunately, I did not win. :-( The last freebie and raffle that I participated in was at the Nerds booth at 2pm. Each of us had to have a ticket to enter the raffle, and there were multiple Nerds plush and large candy box to win. So one prize per winner, and they were able to chose either prize. It took about an hour to complete, and no, I did not win. I wanted the plush though. XD

© 2011 Linda Thai

Photography by Linda Thai

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