I've had this plate since June 2005. I bought two (one I kept) originally because a friend, Michelle, is a huge Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fan. I was working Anthrocon at the time, and Peter Laird was a one of the guests. I brought the plate with me, and he happily signed it. We talked for a while about motorcycles, and also I asked if he'd be willing to hand the plate to Michelle at her Dealer's table as a birthday gift. He said sure, and we walked over.

Michelle at the time was drawing, and just saw some guy walk by her table to probably to come talk to her about art. He reached forward with the plate and said, "This is for you." Her eyes grew wide, and she was speechless. Best birthday gift ever. I thanked Peter for being incredibly awesome, and making her everything.

The following year Rob Paulsen was a guest at Anthrocon. A friend Emilio Lopez who also did some work on one of the animated series (the one before the current CGI version), and I asked them both to sign it.

The plate after a few moves had been stowed away. This year I decided to attend Heroes Con here in Charlotte after Andy Runton mentioned he'd be in town for it. I figured that'd be awesome to see Andy again, and I bought weekend passes for Robert and I.

I stopped by the event on Friday, talked to various artists, found Andy and his Mom, and over all enjoyed myself I bought a Wizard of Oz themed graphic novel since I'm a fan of Frank Baum and animation style art.

Today I went around the event with sculpted stuff to show the sculpture I met, my other WoO book to show the fellow I bought his book from (he was really happy to see it), a few things to get signed (Strangers In Paradise Vol. 1, Scholastic's printing of Out of Boneville, Free Comic Book Day comic featuring Owly on the cover / Owly the Owl, and the TMNT plate).

I went by Terry Moore's table since there wasn't a line and he happily signed my SIP book. He asked if I had read the whole series, but I sadly mentioned that I haven't had a chance to finish reading them. We talked a bit about art, and he wanted to check out my portfolio since I mentioned I had it with me. He really liked my pencil work, and I highly complimented his inks. I love his inking! I showed him the plate, which he thought was interesting.

I stopped by Andy's table to say hi, and I asked him to sign my comic. He was happy to, and happy to see me as well. I also showed him the plate, and he mentioned I should look for Eric Talbot since he worked on the comic. I said sure, and searched for his table.

I found Eric's table. He was a nice fellow to talk to, and he said I should look for Michael Dooney. An attendee told me to look for table 1407. I jokingly mentioned that the plate has turned into a scavenger hunt. He drew a TMNT face and signed my plate. I thanked them both, and headed over to find Michael Dooney.

I found his table, and I was seriously blown away by his color and line work. His work is incredible! He was drawing something at the time, and I said hi. I asked if he'd be willing to sign my plate. He paused and said, "I drew that." I've had this plate for nine years, and by chance I found the original artist. He mentioned that he had one in his kitchen.

He signed my plate, and I asked if he could also sign the reverse said. He wrote, "Hey I drew this plate!" Small world. I thanked him and wandered by Jeff Smith's table.

Jeff needed to duck away for a bit, but I got to talk a bit with him when he got back (having also seen him earlier during a panel), and he signed my copy of Bone. He had a line so I didn't want to take up too much of his time. I spied the line for Kevin Eastman's table. A volunteer told me it was cut off, but I recognized her. It turned out to be a friend's sister Sam who had moved back from California. She had lost some weight, and I didn't quite recognize her at first. My hair used to be long, so it was the same deal. She was the end of the line, but I figured we could hang out until the line ended.

The line had ended, but a nice volunteer asked if I was getting anything signed. I said, "Sure," and I moved in line. One other fellow was let in, so I stuck Sam's sign on top of his backpack. Kevin got a kick out of the plate, and I thanked him and someone else at the table for letting me get it signed. I took a photo for the fellow who was in line behind me, then walked to the Volunteer table with Sam. I departed not too long after and met back up with my partner Robert.

It was a nice outing, and I am happy I held onto the plate. There you go. 9 years of history and a few stories.