Greeting me at the entrance to GR2 was both a poster and a standing bulletin announcing the party and Darvid Horvath's attendance. I noticed a few passersby checking out the poster as the walked down the street, occasionally peeking their head in.

GR2 is a pretty open store, in terms of space, so you could see all the activities just by walking in. There was button-making, in which you color in the art and Giant Robot staff turn your work into a pin-back button, paper craft, a sweet party spread, and, as advertised, David Horvath a.k.a. Chief Ugly was present to sign your Uglydolls and be an overall cool guy.

The first thing I did was get in line to get the 10th Anniversary Wage that I bought at San Diego Comic Con signed. The line was pretty short when I got there (which admittedly was about 2 minutes after the party started) but it got longer later in the day.

In case you missed out on purchasing the 10th Anniversary Wage previously for whatever reason, Giant Robot's Eric and company were selling them bundled with tons of goodies, including 2 limited edition pins and 3 sheets for bingo (dubbed "Wage!"). Buying the bundle was actually the only way to take part in the activities but for US$25, I figured "Why not?" 

While I waited at the register to buy the bundle, I noticed that few of the Horvath custom vinyl figures left over from Giant Robot's booth at SDCC were in a display cabinet. Only a few were left but I was surprised that there were any remaining at all.

Before I started coloring in my buttons, I decided to have a look around at the party decorations and goodies. The most prominent was a orange cloth-covered table laden with Wage-themed deserts plus punch. There were cookies shaped in Wage's face with M&M's for eyes as well as a "cake" made up of individual cupcakes. The cookies kept needing to be replenished (I don't know where they kept coming from) but I think most people thought the cupcake cake was too pretty to eat and remained largely untouched. A paper craft Wage guarded the napkins. There were also Uglydoll balloons placed unobtrusively around the room. I got a kick out of them. A cardboard wage cut-out was a ready and willing to take pictures with guests.

After feeling that I had explored the party scene thoroughly, I headed on over to the designated activity table which, to my semi-suprise, was populated entirely by adults. They were all very nice and happy to share the colored pencils that had been left on the table for use in coloring our pins. I took my time trying to make my buttons festive (it was a birthday party) and then carried my sheet over to the the register where it was turned into the buttons you see above via a hand-pressing machine thing. It was all very high tech. 

A lot of the party guests really got into the spirit of the celebration and brought custom Uglydolls along to show David. One that particularly impressed me was a Wage dressed in a little spacesuit, complete with jetpack. He was just so darn cute! There were a few others, like one that had an electronic noise box inserted, but I didn't get a chance to snap shots of those.

I had a lovely time celebrating this occasion with David Horvath, Eric Nakamura, and the Uglydoll gang. They sure know how to throw a party!