Last Friday during New York Comic Con, I had the pleasure of attending the release event of “The Art of Living Dead Dolls”, a special book showcasing artwork inspired by the Living Dead Dolls line, which celebrated 16 years this year (I previously reviewed an advance copy of the book). The event was held at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Times Square, which was just a few blocks’ walk from the Javits Center, where NYCC was being held. So, after the fun of NYCC, I dropped a bunch of stuff off at my car and then made my way over to Ripley’s and the event.

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Probably the most exciting thing about the event was the fact that I was finally meeting a good friend, and fellow writer here at PopVinyls.com, Lauren Britton for the first time. Lauren is a big Living Dead Dolls collector, and she made the special trip into the city with her cousin in tow to attend the event. Why? In addition to the book release and signing by the creators of the Living Dead Dolls and artists who did artwork in the book, an exclusive Living Dead Doll was being released especially for the event, and there was rumor that hand painted prototypes, test shots, and other special dolls would be able to be purchased. This is something that rarely happens, so the fans that showed up were mainly die hard collectors who wanted these special pieces. I did not realize it at first, but this was considered a major event in this community.

Lauren and I.
Lauren and I.

The event started at 8pm, but since I was there as press, I was able to get in early to see everything and meet the artists before it got crowded, which it did. Ripley’s held the event in a private room of the Odditorium, which was nice. I felt it was a little bit small, especially with all of the artists that were there to sign, dolls for sale, and fans. However, in the end things worked out. Here are some of the pics from the event.

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Fans were happy to see that the special Limited Edition Doll for the event was Red 16th Anniversary Posey. Posey has been a fan favorite over the years since appearing in the very first series of Living Dead Dolls. She made a return this year as a special ghostly edition. Previously, White Posey and Pink Posey have been released, and there is rumor of Black Posey coming out before year’s end. I was fortunate enough to get a Red Posey at the event, and she became my official first Living Dead Doll.

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Also at the event, the rumors were true and there were prototypes and test shots available for attendees to purchase. After sitting on the fence for a little bit, I decided to get one, which ended up being a test shot of Resurrection Penny, now officially my second doll in my collection.

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Another cool gift given to everyone in their gift bags (in addition to a copy of the book) was a limited edition set of prints featuring the photography of Yuli Abiko and the Resurrection 8 Dolls, set to be released soon.

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All in all, it was a great event, where I got to meet Lauren and some other Living Dead Dolls fans for the first time, make new friends, and create some awesome memories. Thanks for putting on another awesome event, Mezco. I am looking forward to the next one.

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By Travis Denman

Living in the NYC area, Travis has grown up loving a multitude of things, from Disney to Broadway to the fine arts... and beyond. You can find him rambling on from time to time on PopVinyls.com, DisKingdom, and VinylmationKingdom.com as Feature Editor. He also runs the Vinylmation Kingdom Custom Swaps and is the Press Reporter for such events like the NY Toy Fair and New York Comic Con. Additionally, he is also an amateur puppeteer, avid movie goer, and carries his camera around wherever he goes.

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