There were two appointments to keep on Monday, both at polar opposite ends of the day. WizKids was to happen at 9 AM, since I schedule things without really considering the ramifications of trekking around for 10 hours one day and waking up at 7 AM on the next, erroneously believing myself to be immortal. After that appointment, the day was free and clear until 5 PM, when we were to meet Art Asylum in some strange toy building that we'd never been to before. We were going to try to finish a Javitz floor, get over to Central Park to see the gates, have some lunch, fight some bad guys and finish up the day by photographing Minimates.

I woke up, that morning, to a horrible winter wonderland. Suddenly, an unplowed 5 inches of snow had accumulated. Like the first year of ToyFair, the snow had hit hard and threatened to immobilize the entire day. That first year, ToyFair was cut to just one day because of a legendary blizzard, as we got stuck in the futuristic wasteland of Long Island under nine feet of snow. This year, I had four wheel drive and a noble grandpa. See, you do NOT want to leave a car at the Peekskill train station if you'd like it to still be a car at the end of the day. By the end of the day, it'll likely end up as a toilet, a free car parts distribution center, the victim of a demolition derby, and home to a new species of reptile. So, you hitch a ride and get your car out of there as quickly as possible.

Between catching a later train, jumping through deep slush puddles in the city wearing shoes with considerably inconvenient holes torn through them and being slightly misdirected, we were an hour late for WizKids, who were gracious enough to see us anyhow.

At this point, there was really nothing too new to show at the WizKids booth. The HeroClix display case was filled with items from the upcoming Legacy expansion, due out in a scant few days. Most of these had already been revealed in sneak previews. Beyond that, unlike previous years, nothing further was on display by way of Clix, so we didn't get any top-secret tips on anything happening a wave or two into the future of either Marvel or DC Clix. I asked Jason Mical if we'd ever see a Golden Age Green Lantern, and he let me know that the WizKids team were recently discussing an entirely golden age set, in which EVERY character included would appear in their vintage form - not just a few, like the select Ultimates characters in Marvel's Ultimates set. Since we already have Flash in this form, and not too many other DC characters, there's a lot of exciting space to build into. All of the JLA, including Aquaman and Green Arrow, Dr. Fate, the Batman Rogues gallery. We've not yet seen a Mirror Master in any form, and we could stand to see some completely animal sculpts for Beast Boy / Changeling, Lobo, more Legion guys, Metamorpho, and lord almighty, who WASN'T in Crisis on Infinite Earths? How about an Outsiders team? We need more than ONE wussy Robin, guys!

The new Legacy set DOES look beautiful - Oracle, Etrigan, Mr. Freeze, Aresnal, Superboy, Power Girl, R'as al Ghul, just to name a few, and is filled with great sculpts of recognizable characters. The convention exclusive Phoenix was also on display, and it'll be distributed as Galactus was in previous years, via a raffle, which will entitle the winner to purchase the large, translucent figure. The price point will be under 40 bucks, and there will be MUCH larger quantities produced than the limited Galactus, so... chill, for now.

A relaunch of the failed SportsClix was also on display, this time with revised rules and a new hierarchy of pieces. Beyond that, Pirates of the Spanish Main and the upcoming expansion, Pirates of the Crimson Coast, both of which are supposed to be completely playable right out of the card pack, as they include dice, ships, islands, forts and everything you need to play for a scant 4 bucks. The newest expansion is also NOT dependant on previous expansions to play. We received preview packs of Crimson Coast, and Dan relayed to me that he needed to buy a few more packs to be able to play, as his sample pack only included a ship and a fort, instead of two ships, and 'forts can't sail around the ocean and collect booty'. Truer words were never spoken. Crimson Coast adds these forts to gameplay, and it also adds the French and the Americans. I refrained, not knowing Mr. Mical's heritage, to mock anything that included the French.

Finishing up the tour was Mage Knight stuff, which I know nothing about and was not allowed to photograph. Big dragons, gallant warriors, all that stuff. The sculpts were beautiful enough to make me want to collect them just to gaze upon, as if I don't already have a thousand little mini-trinkets cluttering up all sensible workspaces and sometimes, usable windpipes and sleepable surfaces.

We departed towards six more grueling hours of Javitz exploration, which would prove to be entirely more strange than the first day, if at all possible, and more amusing than the fact that my spellchecker suggests replacing 'Etrigan' with the word 'Estrogen'. I'd also like to note that somewhere in these two days, we were approached by the New York Tolkein Society, having seen our radiant nerdness dripping all over the showroom floors. They invited us to cover a large LOTR event in late March at Marymount in Manhattan. With any luck, ANR will be reporting semi-live from this geekfest of incredible proportions, which has been dubber Ringbearer's Day.

I can see the sexy elf chicks now, and with a press pass, I'll have EVERY excuse to photograph them for reasons ostensibly public. But we'll know the truth.