My Long Path to Geekdom

I attended FenCon this past weekend. As always, it was fun, but seemed oh-so-small after the Christmasland-like grandeur that was WorldCon.

I enjoyed a few panels, hanging with some writing buddies, and visiting way too many parties (the last item is a trend I noticed developing at WorldCon - hmmm - guess it's okay to party hop since all I do is sample snacks and rarely drink).

My biggest surprise of the weekend was to discover I truly am a geek. I know, like that should surprise me. I can recite most SF&F tropes and can talk the lingo with the pros. However, I've never gotten serious about collecting the merchandise. That all changed on Saturday when I passed a vendor who had a full collection of Babylon 5 action figures. As much as I loved the show, I never imagined there was merchandizing. Seeing no prices, I asked the owner the cost for one.

"I'd really like to sell them as a set."

Hmmm - where would I put 16 toys still in their packaging?

"Okay, how much?"

"$200 for all of them."

Hmmm - maybe I could make room for them somewhere in my already crowded house. "Let me think about it."

Not the ones I bought, but mine look just like
these, only in the original packaging. I'll never
do anything but display them but I'm happy
to own them just the same.

I left and returned later. After examining all 16 and learning some of the packaging had damage, I asked "Take credit cards?"

"Nope. Cash only."

"Okay. I'll think about it."

I walked away, found an ATM and returned with my money. Moments later, I left holding two plastic bags bulging with Babylon 5 action figures - and still no idea where I would store or display them.

I've never done anything like this before. I guess I took my final step into geekdom. Funny, I waited a really long time to do it.

Later, I looked them up on the Internet. The average figure retails for $19.99. Multiplied by 16 = $319.84. I think I got a good deal and I didn't have to pay for shipping. However, I never solved the dilemma of where to display them (currently, they're in a box under my bed. That just seems wrong).

When did you realize you were a geek?