This time last week TORn staffers were busy getting set up for New York ComicCon. Now it’s over for another year, and we’ve had time to draw breath and take stock of the great time we had there. TheOneRing.net was once again the only Hobbit content at the con; we’re always proud to represent Tolkien fandom! Our booth (complete with a ‘ring’ of dwarves mounted on the top; well done 
those who got that up there!) drew many folks eager for some Middle-earth goodies, and we were able to satisfy their craving with our own tshirts and buttons, as well as Weta collectibles, Cryptozoic games and fabulous giveaways from Weta, Sideshow and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. It is always a pleasure to meet fellow fans, and this being the third year of New York ComicCon, there are familiar faces whom we are glad to see each year! There were of course many wonderful costumes at the con, and Middle-earth was well represented; we even had Gandalf the Grey hanging out at TORn’s booth for a while! My personal favourite was ‘Shire of the Apes’…
Thursday night’s party at The Oak Cellar was great fun; many thanks to all who came, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! Attendees mingled and chatted, enjoying food and drink and goody bags! The raffle was a big success and helped support the website – plus lots of people went home happy, with fabulous prizes.
On Sunday our panel – ‘An Unofficial Sneak Peek at The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug‘ – was so well attended that folks who got in line as early as 45 minutes in advance didn’t make it into the room! Hopefully the con will give us a bigger room next year… A few people left when we warned them how spoiler-ific the panel would be; then we got stuck in to rumours, gossip and behind the scenes stories. The time went by too quickly, and we barely had time for some great questions from the floor before our hour was up.
Meanwhile Justin was busy live streaming and sharing the fun of the con with those who couldn’t be there in person. A few staffers were able to squeeze in a trip to see Orlando Bloom in Romeo and Juliet on Broadway – there was much squeeing and drooling, but I promise we weren’t the ones doing it! And that was about all the excitement one weekend could hold!
Thanks to all who came out or watched online, and who supported the website by buying goodies – we appreciate you all! Big thanks to staffers deej, ImladrisRose, Earl, Thorongil and Calisuri, who put in the hours to man the booth with greendragon. And extra thanks to supporters Weta, Sideshow Collectibles, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Cryptozoic, Hobbit Tea, WaterTower 
Music and Cardboard Cutouts, for filling our booth and our giveaways with goodies! You can find links to our generous supporters in this post.
Attending New York ComicCon is an expensive business, and we couldn’t have done it this year without sponsorship from Middle-earth’s Diner, Denny’s. So special thanks to them; don’t forget that they are currently running an amazing contest to find Middle-earth’s greatest fan, who will win tickets to the world premiere of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug! Click here to find out more about their competition.
You never know who might stop by at TORn’s booth at New York ComicCon; hope to see YOU there in 2014.
