Movieline To Attend Comic-Con 2009, Home of the $200 Captain Picard Photo

First off, the good news: Movieline will be attending Comic-Con 2009 from July 23-26, with Kyle and myself covering every square inch of that G8 summit of fanboydom dressed as Bib Fortuna and Harry Knowles, respectively. Expect tons of scoops, interviews, exclusives and local color, as well as live streaming of this year's Slave Leia All-Star Gelatin Wrestling Tournament, brought to you by Star Wars Insider and Royal Gelatin desserts.

Now the bad news: We're getting reports that sci-fi A-listers at such events have been gouging their fans, charging exorbitant fees in exchange for photographs or even a signature on whatever toys, spoken-word CDs, or gay-wedding photo albums their loyal costumed followers have lugged along. Reports dreadpiraterose at ConventionFans.com:

It is probably the understatement of the year to say I was excited when Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard of Star Trek, Xavier of X-Men) was added to the 2009 Dragon*con guest list. But as happy as I was at the announcement, I cried a little when I saw how much a photo with him would be. To get a photo with Stewart will cost you $200. Two. Hundred. Dollars. (Still no word on the cost of the autograph.)

Is this Stewart's doing? His agent's? Why is he charging so very very much, when others are charging much less? Doesn't Stewart himself realize how much money this is for his fans? Does he really need the money that badly? Isn't this a bit like biting the hand that feeds you?

No -- that honor would actually go to Bubbles the Chimp, who plans on capitalizing on all the Jacksonmania by setting up a folding table in the Captain EO section, and won't hesitate to sink his jagged simian choppers into the fingers of any customer who dares balk at his 75 banana fee. As for my own selfish needs, I'm just praying Buttercup's asking price is the 20-30 dollar range -- hers is the last I need to complete my Powerpuff Girls autographed beach towel collection.

· How Much is Too Much? The Increasing Costs of Conventions [ConventionFans.com]