How We Met Christopher Lloyd at Supanova and Awesome Things Happened!

It should be little surprise that the biggest draw at this past weekend’s Supanova was pop culture icon Christopher Lloyd. Fans of Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Addams Family, Taxi, Star Trek III, and Piranha 3DD, formed massive lines for their chance to spend a few memorable moments with a legend. Jacinta and I were a little more lazy, choosing instead to avoid the crowds, but on late Sunday afternoon the line finally parted and a perfect opportunity presented itself! There was Christopher. There was us. It was meant to be.

But how to make the best of this opportunity?

Find out the full story... after the jump!

The signed Deloreans were not our idea. I had run into a friend during the huge bustle on Saturday who was about to get a model Delorean signed for his son. It struck me as a great idea at the time but in the rush to get all our interviews etc organised I didn’t give any further thought - until that fateful Sunday afternoon when I relayed the memory to Jacinta. And suddenly it struck us as the most pressing and important thing that we would ever do in our lives! It was our destiny. a quest. And we had to do it RIGHT NOW!

Knowing that Mr. Lloyd would soon be leaving his table we made a mad rush around the convention floor trying to find model Deloreans. Sadly, by Sunday afternoon they appeared to have sold out everywhere and our despair grew. I am reminded of Atreyu and Artex in Neverending Story when they’re trekking across The Swamp That is Super Sad, You Guys and Atreyu is like, “Come on! We gotta’ keep going!” and Artax is like, “Dude! It’s too sad!”

But as luck would have it, our friends at Popcultcha swung into the rescue. They found some Deloreans out the back but there was one catch. Sold out of singles, our only option was a three-pack of diecast 1:24 scale cars from manufacturer, Welly, featuring a version of the Delorean from each film. As intensely invested in this quest as we were, it was a little bit beyond what we were planning to spend, but the kind souls at Popcultcha said, “Wipe away those tears” and cut us a deal. We were back in action! But we had to move fast!

We returned to our stall to crack them open but - holy crap! An unforeseen snag! The cars were literally screwed into the cardboard base. With real screws. And here’s us without a screwdriver! We had to improvise - so we began hacking away at the box, cruelly separating the three vehicles which now had ragged pieces of cardboard still screwed to their bases.

The western Delorean from Back to the Future III was cast aside as the apparatus on its hood would not allow room for a signature. Plus that’s probably our least favourite (even though Christopher Lloyd, himself, has pointed out that it was his personal favourite to work on). I would take the Delorean from the first film, and Jacinta would take the tricked-out Mr. Fusion powered version from Back to the Future II. Cars in hand, we journeyed forth to meet Doc and fulfil our destinies!

I don’t think that Christopher Lloyd said a single word to us. Which is not at all to suggest that he was distant or disinterested, he just seemed incredibly serene. For me it was actually a really weird moment of reverence, like paying tribute to some incredibly peaceful religious leader. We slide our cars across the table and he studied them thoughtfully for a second before slowly and meticulously signing his name on each of the hoods. He smiled warmly, made eye contact for a brief moment (and you really can see that same intensity lurking behind there that you’ve seen on the screen) we thanked him profusely and we were gone. Now proud owners...

... of a pair...

of totally kickass...

...signed by Christopher Lloyd...

... AWESLOREANS!

Which I know both of us will treasure. 

Thank you, Mr. Lloyd!