Captain Picard Is Coming To Wizard World Philly, And It’s Going To Cost You

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In just a few short weeks, Wizard World Philadelphia will be upon us. For the Star Trek fan in me, the lineup for this show looks pretty phenomenal as there will be representatives from The Original Series, The Next Generation, and Deep Space 9. They even booked the guy who was in the Gorn costume from ToS episode Arena. Obscure right?

Within the last week it was announced that none other than Sir Patrick Stewart would be in attendance. Let’s just get it out of the way and acknowledge that Jean Luc Picard is the greatest Captain ever to command the USS Enterprise. Case in point, his total badassery for the entire duration of Star Trek: First Contact

It’s a no brainer to get in line to meet Sir Patrick Stewart, right? Well I started doing my research to see what he charges for an autograph. I typically don’t like to go above the $25 mark. When you take into consideration all of the other costs associated with attending one of these shows you have to have a limit.

I started doing my research and found that Sir Patrick is charging $100 for a photo op. Now if Edward James Olmos was charging $60 last year for an autograph (which I passed on, despite my deep love for the actor and his work), there is no way Sir Patrick will be at a price that would be considered even remotely reasonable.

I understand a lot of non working genre actors/athletes/creators rely on the Con circuit to keep the bills paid (i.e. the dude who was in the Gorn costume). How does a guy who made $14 million for Star Trek: Nemesis justify charging the fans that price?

But you know what, Trekkies will still show up and wait in his line and gladly fork over the cash.

Entertainment Earth
  • http://www.malnurturedsnay.net Malnurtured Snay

    I remember going to conventions back when I was a kid when stars DIDN’T charge for their autograph. Guess they figured if people were going to resell them, they might as well be the beneficiary. At the least folks like Patrick Stewart could donate the $$$ to charity.

  • ThomasJerry

    AMAI loathe the fact he’s no longer interested in Star Trek and prefers the horrible X-Men franchise. Who can blame him as Orci/Kurtzman have destroyed Star Trek.

    And well lets see here, its simple really: He’s PATRICK FREAKING STEWART..You are: Aimless loser blogger.

    Deal?

    • http://doubledumbassonyou.com Jon

      Mr. ThomasJerry,

      I have a deep and profound for all things Star Trek, which would be clearly evident if you have spent more than 90 seconds here reading a singular post after which you criticized me of being a “aimless loser blogger”. My post wasn’t an indictment on Sir Patrick’s body of work, but a criticism of the outrageous price which he charges to interact with fans … who are directly responsible for his fame and wealth.

  • Alan T.

    “But you know what, Trekkies will still show up and wait in his line and gladly fork over the cash. ”

    You answered your own question, I think…

  • http://thepicardmaneuver.com James Tyler

    I’m the same way when it comes to autos. I’m a Brit, so the exchange rate on Olmos works out alright for me (about £30, I’d pay that for Olmos if I can grab a Shatner photo op for £35 at LFCC this year) but… $100/£50-60 is way too much.

    Especially considering he’s not exactly out of work for any long period of time.

    I can’t remember what event it was, but there was on in the UK recently run my Showmasters – Mark Hamill was charging £70 (around $130 at the time). I know he has bills to pay, but seriously, £70 for an autograph of the guy who didn’t become as famous as Harrison Ford?

  • http://madmonq.wordpress.com/ madmonq

    I went to DragonCon last year mainly to see Leonard Nimoy and thinking that the price gouging ended at the door. I had friends who paid the $100+ price for an autograph/photo etc of actors IN WHICH THEY ALREADY HAD DUPLICATES OF. At least I got to see Nimoy before he retired from the convention circuit