From the Dark Ages to How do I use this thing

Ok, in the last few days we got smart phones. We found a good deal and nabbed some Samsung Galaxy S III phones. Prior to this our cell phones were just that, phones. We didn't even have texting. We used our phones for calling and that's all, well and taking pictures. So we finally up graded and when we get home and unpack the phones other than the quick set-up guide there is no user guide in the box. Now here is a device with multiple applications, widgets, and uses and nothing to tell me how to begin using it? Although these phones may be user friendly they are giving me more credit than deserved on figuring this thing out. So after some time on fumbling through Bluetooth to transfer all my contacts and pictures then trying to figure out how set my ringtone, home background, locked background and time out settings I finally started somewhat getting comfortable with it. So I thought till it rang and it took me almost missing the call to try and answer it. Now after a day or so I find it fairly easy to use and it is indeed a pretty cool phone. I'm still trying to figure a few thing out but for the most part I got it down.

Do you have a smart phone? If so, did it come with a user guide? How long did it take you to use it like a pro?

Comic Movies I have to see

Here's a list of the comic movies coming up in 2013 that I want to see.

May 3rd Iron Man 3
   I can't wait to see this one. I've been waiting for the Mandrin to be in the Iron Man movies and from the trailer it looks like some good action and effects.

June 14th Man of Steel
   I'm interested in seeing how they do with the new Superman. I haven't seen a trailer for this one yet but I do want to see the new costume in action and it'll be interesting to see what villan they use. Hopefully it will be better than the last Superman movie they did.

July 26th The Wolverine
   Hugh Jackman reprised his role as The Wolverine and this storyline takes place in Japan. From the trailer it looks like some good action and effects as well as some suspense. I'm looking forward to it. Skint

November 8th Thor: The Dark World
   I haven't seen a trailer for this one yet but it should be good. I was suprised at how well I liked Thor and it ended up being my wife's favorite movie of the Avenger characters. I'm looking forward to some good action and effects from this one as well along with some good cheezy one liners.

Well that's my list of movies to hit at the theater I do have some others I want to see but they can wait for the Dollar Theater or DVD.

What movies are you looking forward to?

Iron Man Comics and Movies

  Since the next Iron Man movie is due to come out soon I decided to post the collection of Iron Man comics I have on my YouTube channel. Here's the link if you want to check it out. http://youtu.be/SuKzWcLbMvI
I didn't really collect Iron Man comics so there I don't have very many. I only have a couple from when I was a kid and the others came with other comics I either bought online or at a swap meet. My oldest Iron Man comic is #88 from 1976

It's definitely been read a few times but overall it's a great copy.

My 2nd oldest Iron Man comic is #118.



  Now this one is cool for a few reasons. (If you haven't seen the movies Iron Man 2 or Avengers then you may want to watch them first before reading on although there isn't plot information in what I'm going to say. ) The cover on this one ties in 2 scenes from those 2 movies. On the comic showing the armor in the briefcase and in Iron Man 2 the armor is the briefcase. On the comic showing him falling out of the Helicarrier trying to put on the armor and in Avengers falling out of the building and the armor putting itself on him. Also, in the story in this comic, he is thrown out of the Helicarrier and in the movie he is thrown out of the building and in both cases the armor is completely functional just before he hits the ground and he takes off just over a couple of pedestrians heads. 

  In all I have 21 Iron Man Issues. I've always thought Iron Man was cool but for some reason or another I just didn't collect it.

How about you did/do you collect Iron Man? Do you have either of these issues?

Girl Scout Cookie Fiasco Redeemed

Earlier in March we were with my daughter selling Girl Scout Cookies at a booth at our local Vons. A woman approached us and my daughter asked her if she would like to buy Girl Scout Cookies to which she said she would and asked me if we had change for a $100. Normally I would not want to give out that much change but we had been doing well, we did have several 20's and if we sold out of cookies this would be our last booth so I said yes. She along with a little boy selected 3 different boxes of cookies and I gave her the change.

The next day my wife went to deposit the money in the bank and they told her the bill was a fake. She was heartbroken and couldn't believe it. We had examined the bill and it had the magnetic strip and the watermark on it but we did not have one of those markers you use to check for fake bills. We were on the hook for $100.00. The next day my daughter shared the story in class and the kids started coming up with ideas for fundraisers but ultimately decided to have each person bring in $2.00 each. We were amazed and grateful. They actually collected $84.00 and gave it to us 2 days later. Amazing hearts of the kids and their parents to help us out. The cool thing about it was that for the month of March they were studying about compassion and because of this situation they got to feel and put into action the lesson at hand. The story about the kids made the local news paper, it hit the news stands today and by the late morning the local news station was at the school interviewing the kids from the class. Here's a link to article that was published in the paper and on their website. http://www.ocregister.com/news/isabella-501479-conger-class.html We are so grateful for everyone who pitched it. This sad event ended up as a feel good story.

Silver Surfer Suprise

  If I may fast forward about 30 something years from the last post. Several months ago I was looking through my Silver Surfer comics to get some items for a friend and I found that I have Silver Surfer V2 #1 which is actually a 1 shot. I have 2 of them so I pulled one out for a read. It recants his origin story and his banishment to Earth, which leads to a battle with Mephisto. Excellent story and I would say both are in VF condition. If you're a Sliver Surfer fan, no a bad comic to have.

I aslo found, The Silver Surfer (The Ultimate Cosmic Expirence) soft cover by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby from 1978. I would say this is in F/VF Condition. This was also published in Hard Cover as well.

Two excellet comics. Funny when you go back through your collection the things you find that you forget that you have.
Have you ever been looking through your stuff and found something cool that you had forgetten about?

Where it all began

   Hello, Welcome to The Gray Room Blog. Topics will cover Comics, Collectibles and Life in General.
My name is Travis Conger and I'm a collector. I collect Comics, Star Wars items mainly and other Exclusive Merchandise as well.
  For my first post I'd like to take a look at what got me started in collecting things. I would have to say it was my dad, big time, and my mom also had her own influence as well. As far back as I can remember he was collecting something and he collected a lot of different things. I remember growing up he had a lot of Iron things. There was an Iron Black Cat, an Iron Kettle, a Wood Burning Iron Stove and of all things an Iron. The Iron had a handle that bent down to a triangle piece of Iron. You used it by placing it on the stove and once it got hot you ironed with it. He also had strangely twisted glass bottles filled with colored liquid, soda cans with promotions on them like the Jackson 5 Tour and the Superbowl history, and many other things. Now I know this sounds like a lot of stuff but he didn't have a ton of each thing and the house wasn't cluttered up with all this stuff but he did have several of each kind of item and he kept them by the fireplace in our family room or in the garage. It wasn't until he got a passion for collecting sports cards that it actually took over a bedroom in our home.  My mom collected bells and refrigerator magnets.
  So, seeing this and now looking back it was in my blood to collect. I would have to say that the first thing I knowingly collected was Star Wars Figures. And by that I mean that I probably had several comics by this time but I wasn't necessarily collecting them, I just didn't throw them away when I was done reading them. One Christmas my parents got me a big collection of figures and accessories they were the original 12 figures that were available (Darth Vader, Obi Wan, Luke, Leia, C3PO, R2D2, Han, Stormtrooper, Death Squad Commander, Greedo, Jawa, and Tuskin Raider) along with the stand to display them on, the Death Star Play Station, a TIE Fighter and the Landspeeder. (I still have all of that today with exception of the TIE Fighter.) When they started coming out with other figures I had to have more and I didn't want to trade any away I wanted to keep them and collect them all. Now at that time I wanted to collect them all to play with them but I was knowingly collecting them. I then began collecting comics as well and then turned to GI Joes, Hot Wheels, Baseball Cards and some other things. Over the years though it would end up that I would stick with Comics and Star Wars as my two main collections. Currently I have a YouTube channel where I am showing my different collections. Here's the link http://www.youtube.com/user/RazielCage1 Check it out and see what you think. I don't have everything up but I'm working on it slowly. Here's a picture of me at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2010 pretending to be a Star Wars Figure. Now how do I add that to my collection?