Cora’s Adventures at the Los Amigos Masters of the Universe Convention in Neuss or the Six Hundred Kilometer Roundtrip, Part 2: The Con

Last Saturday, I attended the 2024 Los Amigos Masters of the Universe fan convention in Neuss. For the three hour trip to get there, see part 1 and for the trip back home, see this post.

I also realise that I completely forgot to link to my write-up of a controversy in the toy collecting world about toy photos used without attribution or permission at File 770. The controversy involves Masters of the Universe, since the person who used other people’s photos without permission or attribution in his videos is the former Masters of the Universe brand manager Scott Neitlich, who now works as an independent consultant. The controversy has since resolved itself with Neitlich conceding and removing most of his videos. I tried to be as even-handed as possible, but nonetheless the article infuriated – no, not Neitlich, who at least would have had a reason to be angry – but the owners of a culture war YouTube channel that’s tangentially mentioned, because they interviewed Scott Neitlich while the controversy was raging and their interview was pretty much the only remaining place to hear Neitlich’s take on the controversy, since he deleted everything else. Still, a 131 word paragraph in a 1500 word article is apparently a “hit piece” now.

Anyway, back to more exicting things like the con. Like so many cons, the 2024 Los Amigos Masters of the Universe con started with a long queue. The queue meandered from the entrance to the con venue, Stadthalle Neuss, across the driveway and parking lot and spilled out onto the sidewalk outside. In fact, the many people lined up along the sidewalk prompted several passers-by to ask what we were queueing up for. One guy assumed there was a rock concert going on – Stadthalle Neuss is a multi-purpose venue for concerts, conventions, exhibitions, etc… –  probably because the crowd looked like the sort of people you’d expect to see at a rock concert. Pretty much every He-Man or She-Ra t-shirt ever made was present. I think I saw three people wearing the same t-shirt (Filmation Masters of the Universe) I elected to wear. In retrospect, I should have worn my Revelation Teela t-shirt, since I didn’t see anybody wearing that one.

Queuing outside Stadthalle Neuss

Once the doors opened at 10 AM, the queue moved quite briskly, since lots of people (including me) had pre-booked their tickets, though you could also buy day tickets. Once inside the doors, I had my ticket scanned and received an armband. Next, a volunteer handed me a free nylon tote bag/backpack with a picture of Hordak printed onto the front. Now I always have two foldable shopping bags in my handbag, but it was a nice gesture and the bag is really cool. Inside was the program booklet, a few flyers and a Masters of the Universe advertising magazine. Some people also has a mini-figure in their tote bag, but I didn’t. All female visitors were also given a pink rose, which was another nice gesture. However, handing out roses at the entrance to a con means that you carry around the rose all day. I eventually took mine back to the car, but a hot car on a warm day isn’t really the greatest place for a rose. Though the rose miraculously survived the con and the trip back home and now stands on my dining room table in a Castle Grayskull coloured vase.

The rose with bonus Galactic Protector She-Ra

This is as good a moment as any to talk about crowd. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the con visitors and exhibitors were somewhere between their mid thirties and early fifties, i.e. the people who were kids when Masters of the Universe came out originally. Equally unsurprising, a lot of the visitors were men, but there were also a lot of women – and not just wives and girlfriends accompanying their menfolk either (though there were several of those), but female fans. In fact, the gender distribution at the con roughly matched Mattel‘s stats about Masters of the Universe buyers from the 1980s of approx. 60 percent men and 40 percent women. So much for “Masters of the Universe is a boy brand and has always been for boys.” No, Masters of the Universe is not and never was just for boys. It has always been for everybody.

Finally – and this made me very happy – there were also quite a lot of kids ranging from babies in prams and slings to kids in their early teens. These kids were the children of fans – I didn’t notice any kids with non-fan parents. Nonetheless, considering how often people say that kids these days don’t care for toys in general and Masters of the Universe in particular, it was heartening to see so many kids around. Because if we want Masters of the Universe to survive, we need new young fans. The con also had kid programming.

In the lobby of the Stadthalle, there was a large map of Germany with a box of pins, inviting visitors to mark where they came from. I forgot to take a picture of that map and you probably wouldn’t have been able to make it out anyway, but the map did give a nice overview of geographic distribution of the visitors, though of course not everybody put in a pin. Unsurprisingly, there was a big cluster of pins in the Ruhrgebiet and the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area. But then, there are some ten million people living in the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area and this was a local con for them. There was another cluster of pins further south in Baden-Württemberg around Stuttgart, a couple of pins in Bavaria and yet another cluster in Hessen around Frankfurt on Main (which makes sense, considering that the con used to be in Hanau near Frankfurt). North of the Ruhrgebiet, the pins grew scarce. My pin was actually the second furthest north. The only pin that was even further north was somewhere between Hamburg and Cuxhaven (and I think I know who this one belonged to). There were no pins at all in former East Germany, which makes sense, because East Germans wouldn’t have had access to Masters of the Universe in the 1980s due to being stuck behind the Iron Curtain. And by the time the Wall fell, Masters of the Universe had mostly run its course. However, it wasn’t just German fans at the con. Other language heard were Dutch, Italian, Spanish (there were several Spanish-speaking special guests) and English.  So in short, it was an international crowd.

Once I’d gotten my armband, my Hordak tote bag and my rose, I grabbed some very nice freebie art prints of Esteban Maroto’s cover art for the German Ehapa Masters of the Universe comics of the 1980s. Unfortunately, someone else snagged the last “Adam and Teela share a romantic boat ride” print just in front of my nose, but I got a nice “Prince Adam, Man-at-Arms and Teela” print and a “He-Man runs over Skeletor and Tri-Klops” print. I also ended up with a beautiful freebie Teela poster.

Then came more queueing, this time for the convention exclusives. There were quite a lot of different exclusives, ranging from t-shirts via a colouring book and shopping card coins to limited edition toys. I bought a t-shirt – I always buy a t-shirt at every con I attend – and a mini-figure of Imp, Hordak’s little pet/minion. They also had a plushie Imp, which was very cute, but I still went for the mini-figure, because I don’t have an Imp (there only was one proper Imp figure in the Masters of the Universe Classics toyline and it came packaged with a Hordak figure which routinely goes for 200 Euros or so) and my Hordak is lonely. The t-shirts were printed on site, so I probably could just have gone up to the counter and bought one later. On the other hand, the Imp might have sold out.

While we were queuing, a fellow came up to the queue, visibly upset, because he’d lost his bag with some figures he’d just bought in the dealers room. I saw him again a bit later, still searching for his lost figures. No idea, if he eventually found his bag with the missing figures.

Luckily, there were several exhibits on display around the lobby of the Stadthalle, which you could admire while queueing, including a life-size He-Man and a stunning diorama of the Castle Grayskull throne room from the 1987 live action Masters of the Universe movie (I should really review that one some time).

He-Man himself welcomes visitors to the Los Amigos convention in Neuss.

This stunning diorama of the Castle Grayskull throne room and the live-size cosmic key model from the 1987 live action Masters of the Universe movie was on display at the 2024 Los Amigos convention. The great eye behind the throne can open and close. while the cosmic key has blinking lights. The gentleman standing next to the diorama is the one who built it.

As mentioned above, Stadthalle Neuss is a multi-purpose venue which hosts concerts, theatre performances, indoor sports events, exhibitions, trade fairs, conferences, banquets, political rallys, etc… Almost every bigger German city has such a venue. Usually, it’s called Stadthalle (literally “city hall”, though it’s not a city hall in the American sense – that would be the Rathaus – but a convention center), though some of them are named after prominent citizens, locations or corporate sponsors. For example, Oldenburg’s Stadthalle is called Weser-Ems-Halle. Bremen’s is officially called ÖVB Arena after the insurance company that purchased a sponsorship, though everybody still calls it Stadthalle.

Because Stadthalle Neuss is a multi-purpose venue that also hosts concerts, theatre performances, etc…, there was a large coat check area underneath the auditorium and lobby, where I spotted this deserted grand piano.

In general, the various exhibits and stands of the artist guests (there were several very well known Masters of the Universe artists at the con) were set up in the lobby, where there was natural light streaming in through the big windows, while the dealers room and the stage were in the auditorium, where there is no natural light. Stadthalle Neuss is not a new building – it opened in 1961 (here is a photo from the opening year) – and while the auditorium is air-conditioned, the glass-enclosed lobby is not. And since Saturday was a warm day, that meant that the lobby became quite hot. It was tolerable for the visitors, but I felt sorry for the artists and exhibitors who were stuck in the hot lobby all day long.

The special guests were pretty much a who is who of Masters of the Universe artists and included Simon Eckert, who does a lot of packaging artwork for the Masterverse toyline, Raúl Barrero, who does the amazing toy photos for the 12 inch Mondo action figures, Irish artist Ken Coleman, with whom I chatted a bit, since we have a friend in common, and Axel Giménez, who does the packaging artwork for the Masters of the Universe Origins, Cartoon Collection and Turtles of Grayskull lines and who also designed several characters, including many of the newer Snake People. There was also a thick hardcover art book of Axel Giménez’ Masters of the Universe character designs for sale. I didn’t buy it, but here is a review on YouTube.

Of course, there was also a display of official Masters of the Universe toys. Mostly, these were the same figures of the current Masterverse, Origins and Turtles of Grayskull waves you could have bought at any Smyths Toys store, but there also were a few oddities on display such as a giant He-Man and Skeletor figures from Brazil (you can see them in this tweet). Unfortunately, these were just for display – you couldn’t buy anything. Licensees such as RetroFabrik, a German company which reprints the Ehapa Masters of the Universe comics of the 1980s in beautiful hardcover editions and also produced the new Masters of the Universe audio dramas, was also present.

One collector exhibited original props from the 1987 movie, including several blasters, the blue orb that Sorceress gives Courtney Cox at the end of the movie as well as Teela’s and Evil-Lyn’s headdresses.

Another very interesting display was a wall of original animation cels and character model sheets from the Filmation He-Man and She-Ra cartoons of the 1980s. After Filmation closed, their entire archive was sold off and so animation cels pop up on eBay regularly, but I’d never actually seen any Filmation animation cels in person.

A wall of animation cels and character model sheets from the Filmation He-Man and She-Ra cartoons on display at the 2024 Los Amigos con in Neuss. Among others, you can see Orko, his Uncle Montork, Man-at-Arms, the Sorceress, Teela, Stratos, Man-e-Faces and of course, He-Man himself.

A close look at some of the Filmation He-Man and She-Ra animation cels on display. This display is rather villain heavy, since we have Beast-Man (in disguise), Mer-Man, Evil-Lyn, Panthor, Trap Jaw, Evil Seed and Tung Lashor harassing Adora.

Another thing I know exists but have never actually seen in person are the Masters of the Universe figurines in the look of the Filmation cartoon produced by Altaya, a French company specialising in selling model cars, figurines and other collectibles via subscriptions. Some of their products are available in Germany, but the Masters of the Universe figures are only sold in France, Italy and Spain. Which is a pity, because Altaya has made a lot of deep cut characters from the cartoon that no other toyline has ever made. At the con there was a massive display wall of all the Altaya figures offered to date.

Altaya Masters of the Universe display at Los Amigos. Heroes on the left, villains on the right with inserts for She-Ra characters.

I’d liked what I’d seen of the Altaya figures online, but in person I liked them even more. The detail is great and they’re bigger than expected. The whole amazing display wall was for sale BTW, though I have no idea how much it would have cost. Never mind that even with a house at my disposal, I don’t really have space for something like this. I also have no idea how to transport this thing home. My car is big, but not that big.

Another big draw was a stall by someone who made 3-D printed custom Masters of the Universe figures and vehicles. Among other things, they had a life-size Horde Trooper and Granamyr, the dragon, as he appeared in the Filmation cartoon. This one was really tempting, but I hope Mattel will eventually release another Granamyr figure.

3-D printed Granamyr figures for sale at Los Amigos. Also note the life-size Horde Trooper in the background.

In fact, there were quite a few customisers were displaying their creations, sometimes for sale, sometimes not.  One stall offered a regular Origins Battle Cat customised to look like Battle Cat might have looked, if he had appeared in the 1987 live action movie (he didn’t, because the production team couldn’t make him work with 1980s tech). That Battle Cat looked great, but he was also quite expensive – 130 Euros – and there was so much to buy, so I passed on him. Besides, the Battle Cat was in Origins scale, but the movie figures Mattel is currently making are the bigger Masterverse figures, so the movie style Battle Cat wouldn’t fit in with my movie figure.

Below, you can see the amazing 7-inch scale custom figures by Daniel Schmelzeisen, which include many characters that Mattel never got around to making such as King Miro (and why don’t we have a King Miro figure anyway, considering he is the father of Keldor a.k.a. Skeletor and grandfather of He-Man and She-Ra?), He-Ro’s girlfriend Sharella, Elder Keclar (whom we almost got in Origins as a stretch goal for the Eternia playset), Lady Slither (who was made, but only in Origins, not Masterverse), Melakta, the royal archaeologist from the Filmation cartoon and one of the comparatively few characters of colour from the 1980s era, Hunga the Harpy from the She-Ra cartoon, Detective Lubic from the 1987 movie as well as several New Adventures characters that the Classics line never got to.

Daniel Schmelzeisen’s amazing Masters of the Universe custom figures on display at Los Amigos. Among others, you can see Red Beast, Reptilax, Melakta, King Miro, the Great Black Wizard, Detective Lubic, Hunga the Harpy and Vizar from New Adventures, another character of colour from the 1980s who hasn’t had a toy in more than thirty years.

More of Daniel Schmelzeisen’s gorgeous custom figures, including Sharella, Elder Keclar, Lady Slither, High Priest Pythonas, Rattlehood, Baddrah, the purple half of Two-Bad, Kol-Dar, a bunch of Skelecons, Master Sebrian and Nocturna from New Adventures.

Other custom products on display and for sale include custom skateboards with artwork featuring all sorts of pop culture characters. There was also guy who customises Barbies. There also were several vendors who offered custom cases, stands, blister card reproductions and all sorts of ways to display your collection. If you wanted to get your collectibles graded, there was also a service which offered this.

Formo Toys, an indie company that produces the Legends of Dragonore toyline inspired by the vintage Masters of the Universe toys of the 1980s, also had a booth at the con with wave 1 of Legends of Dragonore for sale and a diorama type display of the upcoming wave 2. Once again, I knew that Legends of Dragonore existed and had seen photos online, but I’d never seen the figures in person before. They look great, the quality is excellent and they fit in perfectly with my Masters of the Universe Origins display at home, since they’re in the same 5.5 inch scale. I wound up buying two figures and I suspect they won’t remain the only ones.

Even better, one of the artists who designed the Legends of Dragonore figures, Peer Brauner, was also on site to show off the toys and we ended up having a nice chat. Turns out he’s a local and hails from nearby Oberhausen in the heart of the Ruhrgebiet.

A look at the Formo Toys Legends of Dragonore booth at the 2024 Los Amigos con. The gentleman on the left is Peer Brauner, one of the designers. The young lady on the right is his niece who accompanied her uncle to help watch over the booth.

A closer look at the Legends of Dragonore diorama, featuring the figures of wave 2 plus two Galaxy Warriors. These are still prototypes, the series models are expected to ship later this year.

Formo Toys is also planning to remake the Galaxy Warriors, one of the many Masters of the Universe knock-off toylines of the 1980s, though they will be called Warriors of the Galaxy now. They also had two prototype figures on display. I said that though I knew that Galaxy Warriors existed, I had very few memories of seeing the actual toys in stores, whereupon Peer Brauner pointed out that they were more popular in Italy. This led to reminiscing how Italian shops often had an amazing selection of action figures back in the 1980s and early 1990s, including lines you never saw in Germany. But actually buying any of them or even getting sufficient opportunity to explore the stores was often a problem, because our parents usually wanted to do something other than explore toy and department stores while on holiday. That said, there are holidays where I have clearer memories of some obscure shop which had an amazing selection of toys or books or comics that I’ve never seen before or since than of the actual touristy sights.

And here are the two Legends of Dragonore figures I bought, namely the two ladies Yondara and Pantera. Also pictured is the exclusive Imp mini-figure.

The main auditorium of the Stadthalle housed both the stage as well as the dealers room. The stage was where the programming was going on in the form of interviews with the various guests hosted by YouTuber Chriss Tainment as well as a cosplay and custom contest and a Roadripper race. I only saw bits of pieces of this and several programming items happened well after I was already on my way home, but there’s a livestream of the complete programming here. The Planet Eternia YouTube channel also has a video about the winner of the custom contest, a translucent crystal Webstor.

YouTuber Chriss Tainment interviews Masters of the Universe artist Ken Coleman on stage at the 2024 Los Amigos con in Stadthalle Neuss.

Panel of several ToyTubers at the 2024 Los Amigos con in Stadthalle Neuss.

The dealers room finally offered a great selection of new and vintage toys and collectibles. There was of course the entire spectrum of Masters of the Universe toys available ranging from the vintage line via the vintage Princess of Power line, New Adventures, 200X and Classics to the current Origins, Masterverse and CGI toylines. The condition ranged from bins of battered flea market figures and spare parts to beautifully preserved forty-year-old mint on card figures.

But there weren’t just Masters of the Universe toys available either, but a large range of other male-targeted (I didn’t spot any female-targeted lines like My Little Pony or Strawberry Shortcake or Jem) toylines from the 1980s and 1990s and beyond. There were a lot of Star Wars figures and vehicles as well as The Real Ghostbusters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jurassic Park, Lord of the Rings, Transformers, Thundercats, Silverhawks as well as nigh forgotten lines like Con-Nec-tables, a line of die-cast cars that could be assembled into bigger vehicles.

There were also DVDs and original cassette tapes of the Masters of the Universe and Princess of Power audio dramas by Europa (which gave the world Anti-Eternia He-Man and are still the Masters of the Universe touchstone for many German fans, though for me that Filmation cartoon is more important) on offer. These cassettes tapes with original case and inlay went for 60 to 80 Euros a piece, which is stunning, since I remember when they cost a few bucks. Zoar only knows what those cassette tapes sound like after forty years, though thankfully the Masters of the Universe audio dramas are all available on YouTube. There also were cassettes of other audio drama series (there were a lot of audio dramas aimed at children in 1970s and 1980s West Germany) on offer.

One stall also sold reproductions of the famous promotional two-pack with cassette, consisting of a He-Man figure, a Skeletor figure and an audio tape, that was sold in West Germany in the early 1980s and was the entry point for many German fans. Hence, this two-pack is a holy grail for many German collectors and so even the reproductions are going for a pretty penny. Personally, I never had this set, so it doesn’t have the same meaning for me.

A look across the dealers room at the 2024 Los Amigos con in Stadthalle Neuss.

Another look across the dealers room at the 2024 Los Amigos con in Stadthalle Neuss.

Now I’m not an in-box/on-card collector – I like to play with my toys and pose them – but nonetheless I felt a nostalgic thrill at seeing toys mint on card that I hadn’t seen since admiring them in a store forty years ago or in some cases that I’d never seen before like the Big Jim Tiger Trail set from the 1970s, where the feline figure that eventually became both Battle Cat and Panthor originated. On the other hand, I may well have seen that Big Jim set in a store as a young kid, since I definitely remember seeing the Big Jim toys around (and my collection of vintage craft magazines for making doll clothes include patterns for making Big Jim clothes).

I didn’t buy any of the vintage Masters of the Universe or Princess of Power figures and toys on offer, though I was sorely tempted a few times. For starters, most of the figures have or will eventually have an Origins counterpart, which looks very much like the original, but is actually a superior product. Because let’s face it, forty-year-old toys almost always show signs of age, the plastic getting sticky or brittle or discoloured, paint chips and flakes, etc… She-Ra figures also have an extra issue with badly tangled hair. And while I’m pretty good at disentangling the hair of e.g. vintage Barbies, the quality of the hair used on the vintage She-Ra dolls was worse than Barbie‘s, even though they were both made by the same company.

That said, I was tempted when I saw a nigh complete (except for the puppet monster which tends to disintegrate due to age) vintage Fight Zone and two different nigh complete vintage Slime Pits for sale. The price was okay, too, but I passed because there is a pretty decent chance that the Fright Zone and the Slime Pit will be made again and forty-year-old plastic tends to get brittle (and the Slime Pits also looked quite brittle). I was also briefly tempted by spotting not one but two Mantisaurs, since Hordak is really missing his ride compared to the other fraction leaders. But I didn’t buy either of them because they looked battered. There is some chance of the Mantisaur being made again, though it tends to get less love than some of the other creatures and mounts.

I also spotted my all-time favourite Masters of the Universe vehicle, the Dragon Walker, but again I passed because the two loose Dragon Walkers were not complete. And with a vintage Dragon Walker, you really want a functional version, because the insane movement pattern is a large of the fun. Honestly, Duncan must have been drunk, when he came up with this thing. There also was a beautifully preserved mint in box Dragon Walker on display, but I want to see the Dragon Walker do its thing and you’d have to be insane to open up a vintage mint in box toy.

In fact, I saw most of the vintage Masters of the Universe vehicles like the Battle Ram, Spydor, Monstroid, Bashasaurus, Attack Trak, Battle Bones, Blasterhawk, Mantisaur, etc… I also spotted the rare Princess of Power figures Netossa and Spinerella in beautiful condition and the 200X so-called Disco Skeletor variant, which is notable for its off-beat colour scheme of dark blue and gold. Plus, lots of New Adventures figures – more than I ever recall seeing in the late 1980s/early 1990s.

I also saw one of the rarest Masters of the Universe figures of the entire vintage line – Laser Light Skeletor – for sale. For the low price of 1600 Euros he could be yours, if you’re willing to put up with his broken arm. I’m not actually sure if I’ve ever seen a Laser Light Skeletor in person before. Unlike some other rare late period vintage figures, he does seem faintly familiar, so maybe I did see him in a store once. Though at the time, I would have had no idea how rare and valuable this figure would one day become.

For 1300 Euros, you could purchase two beautifully shiny mint in box Silverhawks figures. Super 7 is re-releasing the Silverhawks and the modern versions will only set you back around 50 or 60 US-dollars per figure. As for that Horde Trooper set, I’ve never seen that one before at all and had no idea that Horde Troopers even came in colours other than grey in the vintage era.

The same shop that offered the vintage Laser Light Skeletor also had a case full of loose Masters of the Universe Classics figures in zip-lock bags for much more affordable prices. The Classics figures fit in wonderfully with the Masterverse figures and the Classics line had wide range of characters, including some that never had a figure before or since.  The prices were good and there were several figures that were highly tempting.

In the end, I settled for two, both of them characters from the She-Ra cartoon. One was Scorpia, probably the second most prominent female member of the Evil Horde after Catra. The other was Madame Razz, the delightfully scatter-brained witch, and her faithful companion Broom. Madame Razz and Broom are not only crucial members of the Great Rebellion of Etheria, but also among the very few people (in the widest sense of the word) who know that Adora is She-Ra. She’s basically the Princess of Power equivalent of Orko, the magic user whose spells backfire more often than they go right. As for why these two, they’re hard to find and quite expensive and not all that likely to be made again anytime soon. And I got them for a really good price.

“You are under arrest, witch, for acts of terror against the Horde Empire.” – “Oh, dearie my, I think not. Drizzle, drazzle, rizzle, razzle.” – “Stop! I order you to stop using magic.” – “I’m afraid I can’t do that, my dear.”

So the Evil Horde recruitment ad paid off and brought me another recruit for Hordak’s forces. Of course, this also means that I’ll eventually have to redo the Evil Horde group photo, since Scorpia, Imp and another Horde member, General Sundar (whom I forgot to put into the photo, because he was on a different shelf), are missing. But then, Leech is coming out soon in Masterverse, so I’m going to wait until I have him.

Of course, there’ll also be a Great Rebellion group shot eventually, once I have them all. Madame Razz and Broom are actually the hardest to find and most expensive next to Swift Wind. But in general, the She-Ra characters are quite affordable by Classics standards, even though for several of them, the Classics version is the only figure they ever had.

Finally, just look at that gorgeous Scorpia figure. Honestly, she was never straight, even though the 1980s She-Ra cartoon didn’t spell it out like the 2018 version did. Ditto for Netossa and Spinerella, who are strongly hinted to be a couple in the 1980s cartoon, while the 2018 She-Ra cartoon confirmed them as one. So yup, this stuff was always “woke”. Deal with it.

Including queueing, I probably wandered around the con for three or four hours. It was noon by now and lunchtime. There were a few food trucks stationed outside, between the Stadthalle and an adjacent park. But unlike the other big con that took place in Germany last weekend, the FedCon Star Trek convention in Bonn not all that far from Neuss (food offerings reviewed by my cousin Tim a.k.a. Star Smutje),  the food selection at Los Amigos was somewhat underwhelming. There was a drink truck, a truck offering crepes and one offering currywurst and fries. Since I don’t eat currywurst or sausage in general, my options were basically fries or crepes. Not that I don’t like crepes, but it’s not what I want for lunch. Paying 4.50 Euros for a platter of fries also didn’t seem particularly enticing. So I checked my phone whether there were any restaurants nearby. Alas, since the Stadthalle is located outside the city center and next to a park, there really wasn’t anything nearby. Also, one thing I’ve noticed in recent times is that a lot of restaurants no longer open during lunch hours, which I find very frustrating.

So I took stock and asked myself, “Is there still anything you really want to do or buy here?” The answer was, “Not really.” And I still had a three hour and three hundred kilometer trip home ahead of me. So I decided to call it a day and embark on the way home and stop to eat somewhere along the way. Since this post is already very long, I’ll cover the trip home in my next post.

But first, I want to link to some other coverage of the 2024 Los Amigos con, cause there’s actually quite a bit. For starters, here is an article about the con by Simon Janßen from the local newspaper, the Neuß-Grevenbroicher Zeitung. The article itself is behind a paywall, unfortunately, but the photo gallery is accessible.

There also are several YouTube videos with interviews and general impressions of the con by VTS Experience, Goreminister (I’m pretty sure I saw this guy filming – ETA: He also has a video where he shares his haul) and bumo tv. Meanwhile, YouTubers Der Movie Picker, Masterölli and PokingJoe (I definitely saw one of these guys at the con – I recognise his distinctive t-shirt), Chriss Tainment (who also moderated the panels) and Tales From the Fright Zone share their overall impressions of the con as well as their hauls. Hereby, I find it fascinating what different fans and collectors go for. There are people who are super-excited over things which I saw at the con, but walked right past, thinking, “Nope, I don’t need this”, while these folks probably walked right past the things which got me excited.

ETA: I just found two more YouTube videos about the 2024 Los Amigos con by Stamm der SABINErinnen, a YouTube channel run bei a female Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle collector. “But… but… but…” the usual suspects sputter, “Girls were never into Turtles. That’s a boys’ brand.” Sorry, dudes, we were always here. Anyway, here she shares a video of her toyhunt and here are some general impressions of the con as well as her haul, which unsurprisingly is rather Turtles heavy.

ETA 2: And here is another con haul video by Der Sitti. It’s amazing how many German Masters of the Universe and general toy collector YouTube channels I found via this con.

ETA: Here’s yet another video with impressions of the con as well as a con haul, courtesy of Der Bürgermeister.

And while we’re talking about hauls, here is mine:

Los Amigos con haul

Three of the posters/prints were freebies, the fourth with Sorceress by Ken Coleman I purchased. They’ll eventually go on my wall along with the poster that came with the Eternia playset, but I need to get them framed first as well as get over some lingering feelings of guilt about removing some of my parents’ wall decorations and replace them with things which are more to my taste.

I’ve already shown off the figures above, plus there’s a t-shirt, the program booklet and a promotional magazine which is an updated take on the promotional magazines that were distributed for free in West German shops in the 1980s.

And that’s it for me adventures at the 2024 Los Amigos Masters of the Universe convention in Neuss. Stay tuned for the next post about my trip home – with bonus stopover at the beautiful historic town of Tecklenburg.