Cold, crowds, and RPatz

For all of those who are out of the loop, and I believe that there a lot who are, Twilight is a pretty big deal right now. After the hype from the books has died down, they've revamped the excitement with the release of the first movie from book one, Twilight.

So, in order to garner even more interest and anticipation for the movie release, Hot Topic began the Twilight Tour - Starting on November 10 and ending on November 15 (though according to Hottopic.com, there's only two dates left: the 15th and the 18th). At each signing, one of the main actors (or 3 of the supporting actors) would sign a poster for the first 500 or 750 fans who purchased a special Twilight Tour t-shirt. The fan would then receive a wristband and then later on, would wait in line to get their signed poster. Despite the insistence that no one line up earlier than 6 A.M, Hot Topic eventually had to give up on this rule after the first day of the tour turned out for the worst. Read about what happened at San Francisco here.

Anyway, I just happened to be a part of the Philadelphia, King of Prussia, part of the tour. At that stop, Robert Pattinson aka Edward Cullen aka "RPatz" would be there and signing autographs for the first 500 fans. My friend Christina and I left around 10 p.m. and arrived to find numerous people waiting in line already, with tents, blankets, food, etc. We hurried into line but were told that since we were estimated to be 400 and 401, we might not get in. Well, we waited anyway to see what would happen. Soon, employees from Hot Topic were walking up the line and handing out blue pieces of paper. Each piece had a number on it, the number you would need to get into the store to buy the shirt. Turns out, my friend and I got extremely lucky and were numbers 483 and 484. Unfortunately, we weren't prepared for the long wait outside in 30 degree weather.

**as a side note, a big THANK YOU to Ally and her mother Trish for letting us huddle under their makeshift tent while it rained**

After purchasing the shirt, under strict surveillance, we were able to finally leave. Later that evening, around 6 p.m., Robert Pattinson was to start signing. As everyone waited in line (some with purchases from the other stores in the mall), the anticipation to finally see RPatz in person grew. When it was finally our turn, I smiled widely as he signed the poster for me, asking me how I was and me responding NORMALLY then asking the same. Surprisingly, he seemed extremely shy!

Afterward, there was a Q&A with him in a small corner of the mall, which was crowded with the fans who didn't get a chance to get the signed poster. He spoke briefly, and was shocked by the amount of screaming (who could blame him) then was escorted out a back way. During this time, I was hoping that the Hot Topic was going to open back up again but due to the amount of girls piled around the entrance, it didn't look like it was going to happen anytime soon. Apparently, some girls thought that the Hot Topic was his only way out O_o

All in all, it was an experience for those who braved the cold and crowds. Big props to those who also waited without provisions and a big thanks to Hot Topic's CEO for providing us with pizza, coffee, donuts, and water!

Below, I've provided some news links from the event I attended. For other stories from the other events, check the local news reports from that city :)

My Fox Philly news

Philadelphia Inquirer

ABC Local

Philadelphia Inquirer

TWILIGHT BITES INTO THEATERS ON NOVEMBER 21!!!