Great Weekend: My time at Huntington Comic & Toy Convention 2023

I went to the third year of the Huntington Comic & Toy Convention.  I’ve been to all three.

It is located in Huntington, WV at Mountain Health Arena (once called the Big Sandy Superstore Arena and for many years before that, the Huntington Civic Center).

It was founded by the owner of a great store(s) called The Inner Geek (in Ashland, KY and Huntington, WV), who also owns Lexington Comic & Toy Convention in Lexington, KY.

Greatly run organization.

They get great guests and vendors and have great turnouts.

This year, they had Corey Taylor (the singer of Slipknot/Stone Sour/Solo Artist and is also an author), the CHIPs TV show cast (Larry Wilcox, Erik Estrada, and Robert Pine), Tom Kenny (Spongebob), wrestling legend Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and many more.

I specifically was there this time to see Corey, the CHIPs cast, and Hacksaw.

None of them disappointed.

All very kind and gracious people.

Corey, as popular as he is, is very chill and laid back and talks to everyone. 

I got him to sign my favorite Slipknot CD (Volume 3 The Subliminal Verses) and when I told him that’s my favorite, he said “oh yeah there’s some good shit on there”. 

I later got my picture taken with him.  Again, very chill and friendly.  He’s a great and talented guy.

The CHIPs guys are so kind to everyone.  Erik especially is very engaging to everyone and funny.  Actually all of them are funny.  I got my picture taken with them on the first day and went to their Q&A the second day.

When I was getting my picture taken with them, they all loved my Chuck Norris shirt I was wearing and were quoting it (It’s an illustration and it says America, Chuck Yeah!), and Robert Pine even said I was “bad” and “you’re the man”.  Awesome!!

All of them were very kind and all shook my hand.  Erik even said he met Chuck at another convention the previous weekend.  We both agreed that Chuck is the best.

The Q&A on the second day was really fun too.  Erik was a little earlier than Larry and Robert so he was already taking questions.

So, I asked him about the CHIPs reunion movie he, Larry and Robert did in the late 90s called CHIPs 99. 

He said he was not wild about the newest reboot that happened in 2017 (the rest of them hated it too) but Erik thought CHIPs 99 was fun. 

He liked the story and thought it was good.  He also said he was surprised I had it because he said it was no longer available.  Well maybe it wasn’t, but it is now (you can buy it on Amazon).

I asked Larry and Robert about CHIPs 99 too after they arrived and they both liked it too. 

Erik talked a lot about his experiences of actually being a policeman (still is one in Virginia)  He’s very passionate about that.

All of them talked about their favorite CHIPs episodes, about the stuff they obtained from the show when it ended (Erik got a motorcycle, Larry really did alright with cars, and Robert got the podium he used on the show and jokingly said about Larry getting all these cars, that he just got a bicycle). 

They were asked if they watched the show in reruns ever, and for the most part, the answer was no, but that they were very grateful that they had that job and that the show was so successful.

In fact, Erik said more than once that the show should have lasted a lot longer because it was really popular. 

Although Larry had a funny story about watching reruns:  he asked his wife to sit down with him a few years ago and watch the show for a few minutes.  So they did and he told his wife at one point “do you want to see the hunk?”  Meaning him. Hahaha.

I could say more but in a nutshell, they’re great people and I highly recommend meeting them someday at an event like this if you can.

Larry shook my hand again when the Q&A was over.

And Hacksaw is supremely kind.  I can’t say enough how kind he is, however, here is my story with him. 

When me and another huge fan were in line to get our pictures taken with Hacksaw on the first day of the event (it runs two days), before the pictures happened, Hacksaw came right up to us and engaged with us, asked questions, and thanked us for being fans.

He said to come and visit his table afterwards, so I did.  When I did, he asked to see our picture together and he thought it turned out great. 

I told him that unfortunately I was out of money so I couldn’t afford anything signed, but he said that’s alright and that he wanted to sign the picture anyways.  And he did!!

He asked if I was going to be there the second day, and I said yes.  He then said to come visit again.  So I did. 

Nothing signed this time, but again, he was very kind and I showed him my original toy of him that I believe my Dad bought for me when I was 8 or 9, and he was impressed with how great of condition it still is. 

I again said sorry I can’t afford anything now but he said “well I took good care of you yesterday”.  And I said yes and thanked him multiple times.

He thanked me multiple times for being a fan of the old days of wrestling.

And that right there is basically my experience at this year’s Huntington Comic & Toy Convention. 

Great organization, great guests, great vendors.

Thank you everyone.