Mac's Corner: Backstage Pass - January 2023

Hey what’s up guys, this is Mac with Zobie. I’ve been given the task of writing a monthly blog. I never saw myself as a blog type person. I never imagined myself sitting down and typing one out. When my boss asked me to do a blog, I thought to myself “that’s so 2015, no?”. Alas here I am, because I’m a good employee. But ya know what? As I thought about it more…the people must know. The people HAVE to be informed. They need to know the insides and outs of working for famed autograph company ZOBIE. People ask me about this job. “Is it luxurious?” “You get to meet celebrities every weekend!” “Do you make a lot of money?”…and the answer is yes. This IS quite possibly, the coolest job in the world. So my name is Mac, and welcome to: 
 Mac's Corner - Zobie Blog 2023
So we kicked off 2023 with a bang. One of my favorite parts about this job is having work split between the office and conventions. Monday - Thursday is usually when I get to work with our amazing team at the office. Then Thursday - Sunday is when we get to travel to conventions. Traveling to conventions is a very cool experience. I personally have been attending cons and cosplaying since the ripe age of 14: 
Mac Cosplay at 14 Years Old - Zobie Blog
So when Zobie sends me to conventions it’s like it’s not even work. Meeting people who watch our Whatnot streams IRL (for the old folk, IRL means “in real life”) is pretty cool. Most of the time when I do the whatnot streams I’m confided in a small room going method, screaming at the camera about the importance of “staying hydrated”. So putting faces to usernames is very comforting to me. These people actually exist? They’re not just a number on a screen? You’re telling me that when we get 100 viewers on a livestream that means 100 individual people are ACTUALLY watching? And I’m acting like this? It’s a weird concept. 
The first convention we hit up was “Fan Expo New Orleans”. This was my first time in New Orleans and I can easily say it’s within the top 3 places I’ve visited. Fan Expo throws on an amazing show. This convention was coincidentally my first time doing mail-ins for our customers. I did all of the mail-ins except for Joseph Quinn and Sam Raimi. I forced my co worker Danny to go do those. because there was no way in hell. I’ll just leave that to the autograph expert. I’m proud to say that the mail ins I did were all completed, and they came out nice! So if you ordered a mail-in for fan expo, and it wasn’t Sam Raimi or Joseph Quinn. that’s all me baby. I treasured your item like it was my own child. I nurtured it and sang it songs as I walked it up to the table. 
Fan Expo New Orleans - Zobie Autograph Consignments
Sam Raimi Signing - Fan Expo New Orleans 2023
New Orleans was very fun. After working the Zobie booth Saturday at the convention, we figured we’d go out into the city and explore a little bit. We hit up bourbon street and French quarter. I even tried Crocodile and Clams for the first time. They were delicious but I puked. 
Zobie New Orleans Trip January 2023Zobie New Orleans Trip January 2023 2
Zobie New Orleans Trip January 2023 3
Zobie New Orleans Trip January 2023 4
Zobie New Orleans Trip January 2023 5
While working the booth at fan expo New Orleans a very interesting thing happened. 
There’s so many people at conventions that if an actor is walking around, it’s totally possible you won’t even recognize them. This happened to me. A man walked into our booth, and I greeted him like how I usually greet customers. But as the man started chit chatting with me, he was looking at our Funko pops. He kept pointing out characters with one similarity. They were Disney related characters voiced by the same actor. I adjusted my eyes, and I realized the man I was talking to was Jim Cummings. You already know we had to hook him up with some free swag. 
Jim Cummings New Orleans Fan Expo 2023 Loungefly
@shopzobie Thank you for stopping by Jim! Enjoy the @Loungefly bag🥹 #disney #winniethepooh #autograph #funko ♬ original sound - ShopZobie
Here’s some more notable things that happened during Fan Expo New Orleans:
@shopzobie We’ve never seen a bigger Henry winkler fan. But we respect it. Would you ever get an autograph tattooed? #barry #henrywinkler #comiccon ♬ original sound - ShopZobie
@shopzobie We had an amazing time at New Orleans @fanexpohq !!!! Can’t wait for next year. #fanexpo #convention #behindthescenes ♬ Little Green Bag (From "Reservoir Dogs") - The Soundtrack Studio Stars
After New Orleans, I had just a couple of days left until it was time to go to Albuquerque. I did my normal routine, I edited the footage we got, me and Marco started preparing for our Thursday night whatnot stream. Basic Zobie grind type of stuff. I drink maybe 5 cups of coffee a day. Or maybe it’s 4? No, 5 is more realistic. When we’re preparing for the whatnot streams, we add in custom framed autographs. We have an in house custom framing studio, so I went into the warehouse and picked an autograph I thought would be cool. I snagged a Goofy movie 11X17 signed by Bill Farmer, I thought this would be a super unique piece. There’s a lot of nostalgia for the goofy movies (Powerline 4 lyfe). 
Now Albuquerque was super fun. This was one of those shows that was populated, but also very personal. Personally I’m a very very big breaking bad fan. I’ve seen the show maybe 5 times, along with better call Saul. I love anything Vince Gilligan makes. So as I was taking the Uber to the convention, I noticed the motel where they shot some scenes from the show. Inside the convention center they had the actual RV they filmed breaking bad inside of. They had a statue of Walter white and Jessie Pinkman. It was heaven for me. I talked jayare into letting me go to the breaking bad house, I really wanted to visit it. But as I started talking to the locals, they told me that it was absolutely not a good idea. One woman on the airplane straight up told me that the owners pull guns on fans who visit the house. I’m not trying to die in New Mexico of all places. 
Breaking Bad Statue New Mexico
@shopzobie Screen used Crystal Ship. A dream come true to see. #breakingbad #newmexico #convention ♬ Breaking Bad Main Theme - Geek Music
Taylor Swift Autographed Custom Framed
When I go to conventions I get the pleasure of interviewing actors for content. In Albuquerque I got to do what Is currently my favorite interview yet. Dave Sheridan (Doofy from Scary Movie) is such a kind soul. He gave us insight on how he filmed scary movie while having a broken shoulder the entire time. Which is commitment. 
@shopzobie Who would’ve thought Dave Seridan had a broken shoulder the entire time he was acting in scary movie??? #scarymovie #interview #convention ♬ original sound - ShopZobie
Guy Gilchrist who we work with very frequently was absolutely incredible to hang out with. I walked into the hotel, and I saw a tall man with long hair, and I went “GUY”. He turned around and said “oh no”. 
That next night at the hotel was karaoke night. So I sang one of my favorite songs “business time” by Flight Of the Concords. If you want to sit through 3 minutes of bad singing, you’re more than welcome. Or just feel free to watch Guy Gilchrist’s review. He sums it up nicely. 
@shopzobie Guy Gilchrist reviewed Macs karaoke version of “Business Time” by Flight of the Concords @guygilchrist #karaoke #convention #vlog ♬ original sound ShopZobie
My truly favorite moment of the weekend though was seeing Ari Lehmans band “first Jason” live. I gotta give credit to Ari, he definitely rocks out. What I will say tho was..the show was so disorienting in the best possible way. Usually when you see a metal/punk band, it’s at some kinda music venue. The lighting is dark except for the stage, and so forth. But first Jason performed in the hotel ballroom. No crazy lighting. Nothing. And I loved it. Because I never thought I’d see a mosh pit form…inside of a hotel. Most of the audience members sat in the hotels chairs. And I can’t begin to imagine what regular hotel guests must’ve thought of the noise. But nonetheless, they gave an amazing performance. 
@shopzobie When the first Jason Voorhees throws on a rock show at a hotel….YOU GO. @firstjason #jasonvoorhees #convention #horrortok ♬ original sound - ShopZobie
After a long weekend, Me Marco and Carlos had a lovely dinner at Texas Roadhouse. 
Zobie Crew
Side note: I didn’t know they had Texas Roadhouse in states other than Texas. 
The weekend after Albuquerque was Sundance Film Festival in Utah! Oh boy was this a COLD trip. I was so freezing. We had the long johns, hand warmers, beanies. It still did nothing. Park City was infested with celebrities promoting their movies. We ran into Bill Skarsgard, Mia Goth, Anne Hathaway, Michael J Fox. The list goes on. We even saw Jason mamoa, so as an eager DC fan excited for James Gunn’s new interpretation of the DC universe I asked him: 
@shopzobie Sundance Zobie Exclusive: Jason Mamoa confirms he’s set to play Lobo (For legal reasons we must disclose he did not in fact. BUT we suspect🧐.) #jasonmamoa #dccomics #interview #sundancefilmfestival ♬ original sound - ShopZobie
After Jason walked past me I thought to myself “are my nipples hard because of the cold? Or was it because Jason mamoa just spoke to me?” 
Sundance 2023 - Zobie Backstage Blog
In a crazy coincidence, Rhea Seehorn who plays Kim Wexler in Better Call Saul was ok the same flight as us. I’m used to interviewing actors at conventions..but I absolutely had to shoot my shot and ask Rhea if she’d wanna be in a video for Zobie. 
And that leads me to here. I’ve been home for a full week after my 3 week long extravaganza. I’ve been back at the office like a regular. Drinking coffee. Being BFFs with my favorite co workers in the world. Learning Spanish from Carlos. Annoying Frank. Swiping Jayares credit card on expensive items from Facebook marketplace. We got a new T-shirt printing machine. Our monthly mystery boxes should be heading out to you guys once this blog is posted.
@shopzobie When you buy a T-shirt printer for your business. #tshirtprinting #fashion #horrorfashion ♬ DARE - Gorillaz
So yeah! Thank you to those of you who have read this far, I hope my grammar and spelling was okay. Make sure to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Whatnot. And don’t forget to stay hydrated. 
Love,
Mac
#StayHydrated

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