Thanks everyone for another great day! We're knocking down stretch goals, and that book of bonus tables keeps getting better.

Today's update is about conventions and our first convention special. But before we go there - if you haven't already seen it, there's a thread where author Stu Horvath asks what lore YOU want to see. Check out that thread here and tell us what you want to know!

Now, back to 2002. That was our first year of cons. We attended five cons in 2002: GAMA Trade Show, DragonCon, Origins, Gen Con, and the Alliance Open House. In 2003, we added Gen Con SoCal, Milwaukee Game Fest and Pentacon.

The first consumer show was Origins 2002. This was the booth:

Gen Con 2002 was next. We can't find any photos of it - or Gen Con 2003. If you have some, please, send them in!

We do have these photos showing appearances by Dave Arneson and Erol Otus! These photos appear to match back to Gen Con SoCal 2003 from what we can tell.

Gen Con 2003 saw the release of DCC #3.5: The Haunted Lighthouse. We believe this was our first convention special. This is probably the rarest Goodman Games release. Here are two of the interior illustrations, again by “old-school expert” Brad McDevitt. Many of you have probably never seen these images before, since they were in such a rare module!

Everything about conventions was a learning experience in those days. Future products would be on display at the table as a spiral bound proof, or covers, laminated at Kinko’s the night before, would be hung from the backdrop. Most people paid cash, or with traveler’s checks (unthinkable today), but it never occurred to Joe he’d need to run credit cards (also unthinkable today). Back then, credit card purchases required an imprinter, a mechanical slider that would impress the embossed information on a credit card onto a carbon copy receipt. These machines were colloquially called “click-clacks” or “clackers” due the sound of the movement, or “knuckle-busters” thanks to the fact that using them a lot imperiled the skin of the cashier’s knuckles. The customer got one copy and the vendor used the other to call in the charges to the banks later. Of course, when Joe got to Origins, he had his plastic dinosaurs, but he didn’t have a clacker.

Thankfully, Crazy Egor was at the booth directly behind Goodman Games. He’s one of the eccentric cast of characters who have been floating around the hobby since the early days and who seem to gravitate into Joe’s orbit (or Joe into theirs). Egor’s been in the business since 1977 and, in addition to being a fixture at conventions, ran a games shop in Rochester, New York until 2012. He still sells secondhand on eBay as of this writing. “He’s like six-foot, two-inches and just looked wild. He wore a terry wristband with a calculator watch and, like a carny, a belt coin dispenser,” recalls Goodman, “He was a really nice guy and very much a hustler.” And he had a credit card clacker. Most important, he agreed to run Joe’s credit card purchases for him.

“I had to pull the curtain aside and hand him the slip for $18 or whatever,” says Goodman. “He would do the math on his terry wrist band calculator watch and he knew the exact percentages the credit card company charged. He'd say to me, ‘Okay, I owe you $16.92.’ Then he'd keep the slip because he'd run it later and then he'd count out the cash. I'd hear click, click, click, click, click, click, click, and then he'd hand me exact change from his little coin belt.”

Another random photo from the earliest days. Some of you may remember the Wanderers Guild books that we published, which were the brainchild of artist Andy Hopp. Here is the booth crew from the GAMA Trade Show 2003. That's Andy Hopp (in the headlock) and his friends in the back. In the front, there is a young man named Keith Baker. He wrote several early releases for Goodman Games (notably the Complete Guides to Doppelgangers, Wererats and Beholders) - before he went on to write a little thing called Eberron!

And finally, here is a photo of Covert Ops #1. This was our "house rag" or "insider magazine," which was released in June 2003. It had "all the news that was fit to print" about Goodman Games, including previews of upcoming releases and staff profiles. The first GG Joe file card appeared in here, profiling Andy Hopp. I believe we released it a con or two for free.

As time went on, more of the crew started making appearances at Gen Con. By 2007, you would see a lot of familiar faces at our booth.

Thanks to the fans who have sent in photos from these early cons. If you happen to have photos of our early cons, please send them in - we would love to see them!