Comedy legend Dick Van Dyke meets Mary Graeber of Cave Creek, dressed as Mary Poppins, at Phoenix Comicon on Saturday. Read more about Comicon on
Phoenix Comicon officials announced Saturday that they asked a popular toy weapon vendor to leave the show.
The announcement is the latest ripple effect of the Thursday arrest of a man who stands accused of taking a small arsenal of weapons to Phoenix Comicon to kill police officers, prompting show officials to ban attendees from having prop weapons.
In a statement released Saturday, Phoenix Comicon officials said Ultrasabers was removed from the show Friday night after the company would not comply with a new rule that mandates all prop weapons sold inside the show be wrapped.
The Phoenix Comicon news release says Ultrasabers representatives became “combative” before they were asked to “remove their exhibits and exit the building.”
Ultrasabers is a popular seller of light sabers, fashioned to look like the Star Wars weapons that have become pop-culture icons.
The company is a staple in the Comicon scene and a regular at the Phoenix show.
Ultrasabers put out a statement Saturday saying that while they objected to instructions from Comicon staff to place “a high dollar custom made lightsaber to their customers in a trash bag,” they complied with the request.
They were asked to leave late Friday, the statement said, because the Comicon director did not like how he was spoken to earlier in the day.
The requirement that prop weapons sold inside the building be wrapped came after the arrest.
Phoenix Comicon organizers on Thursday evening outlawed all props, including foam and cardboard props as well as shields and lightsabers, starting on Friday.
Phoenix police said 29-year-old Mathew Sterling gained access to the Phoenix Convention Center carrying two 45-caliber handguns, a .454-caliber handgun, and a 12-gauge shotgun, all fully loaded; a combat knife; pepper spray; and throwing stars.
Phoenix Comicon officials said they haven’t made a decision on whether Ultrasabers will be allowed to return to future shows.