2003 NFFC Convention - Part Two
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NFFC Show and Sale July 2003 - Best of Show
The 2003 NFFC Convention ended with the usual flair of a successful Show and Sell. The many booths occupied every inch of convention space in the hotel. Of course, that meant you had to be on the look out for the best bargains and the best tables. In my tour of the booths this year, I noticed a few standouts and some great collectibles that I wanted to relay to the LaughingPlace.com readers.

Tops on my list was the World of Mary Blair table. It may have been the smallest booth in the show and sell, but it struck me as one of the most important. Mary Blair's vibrant colors and stylized designs provided inspiration for many a Disney movie and attraction. She was also one of Walt Disney's favorite artists.

Some excellent framing of Pirates Event and Pirates Movie merchandise and art takes my runner up award. "Morehouse Collectibles" featured the excellent framing work of Peter Junowich from Los Alamitos, CA. Although framing increases the cost of collectibles, quality framing, such as this, will increase its worth as well. Be on the lookout for these items at future show and sells or ebay.

A few well known Disney artists had booths at the show. Robert Olszewski was present at the Deckers Collectibles booth. His Storytime Collection is in danger of being discontinued without a studio to sponsor it, so those pieces were going fast. Eric Robison, ex-imagineer and 100 Mickey's artist, had a table where he was selling and signing prints. Robison also recently released a new book of his art from ‘94-‘03 called "ALGOLUNA".

If there was one table there I was most surprised to see it would have to be the Disney Catalog Collectibles table. The very nice cast members from Disney Catalog Collectibles brought some prototypes of future merchandise with them. My favorite items were the sets of Nesting Eggs (Nightmare Before Xmas, Cinderella, and Snow White), the Nightmare Before Xmas desk lamp (part of the recent lamp series), and the amazing items they have coming up for the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 50th Anniversary next year.

Overall, I was sad to see that very few tables had a website to visit if I was interested in purchasing an item after the convention. Most tables stocked the usual stuff. There was lots of Lilo and Stich merchandise, Pirates merchandise, and plenty of pins, many at a discount rate. Still, I'll be back at the next show and sell looking for good bargains and the occasional rare item I just have to have. Hope to see you there too.