What s one thing fanboys (and girls) refuse to cut back on in the recession? Photos with their favorite celebrities.

If you think that s about as believable as a boy in a helium balloon, stop by the Big Apple Comic Con this weekend in New York City. There, on top of the $50 all-weekend ticket price, convention-goers are shelling out top dollar for portraits with their sci-fi heroes.

The highlights of the convention are supposed to be ambassadors of cutting-edge pop culture Marvel Comics Editor in Chief Joe Quesada, for instance. But it s the chance to pose with demi-stars of yesteryear Linda Hamilton of the Terminator flicks, Tony Amendola from Stargate SG-1 that some attendees get most excited about. Hundreds of them line up in front of a table belonging to celeb photo czar Froggy (he declines to give a last name), whose bare-bones, black-draped booth will likely get a lot more play this weekend than the perky Nintendo DS playground adjacent to it.

The indisputable draw for the three-day extravaganza is Captain James T. Kirk himself, actor William Shatner, who added two extra days of appearances to satisfy customer demand. Shatner ll do very well we presold a hundred photos for him, says Froggy, who will charge Shatner fans $80 for an 8x10 glossy, printed on the spot. The photographer expects to take between 300 and 400 snaps of the actor before the weekend is through meaning customers may have to wait up to two-and-a-half hours for their chance. (Don t try and use a digital camera to take your own; it s not allowed.)

Other top draws, he predicts, will include a $40 shot with Billy Dee Williams (who played Lando Calrissian in two of the Star Wars films) and a $120 group photo with several to-be-announced actors from the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The BSG group always does pretty well, says Froggy. Fans of Dukes of Hazzard will be disappointed to know that Catherine Bach, the original Daisy Duke, pulled out of her scheduled photo op at the last minute but they can still snag John Schneider, who played Bo, for a $40 pic.

Froggy, who works up to 40 conventions a year, prices most of his celebrity subjects around $30. The fee is split three ways (with the convention sponsor and the actor) so each get $10. As the price increases, the actor s take usually goes up, too; Shatner gets a lot more, says Froggy. But I can t tell you how much. The entrepreneur offers presales through his web site so he can map out schedules accordingly usually presales represent 20% of the total customers but also so that fans can see the schedule early and have time to save up. At shows like Dragon Con, some people spend three or four thousand [dollars] on photos, he says.

That s a serious investment in fandom especially considering the photos don t typically have much resale potential. It s just a unique souvenir for fans, something they want more than autographs, Froggy says. There s no [monetary] value because you re in them.

William Shatner

Price: $80

The Star Trek icon turned Priceline spokesman is expected to be the event's biggest photo op draw.

Yogi Berra

Price: $60

A pic with the baseball great might seem like a bargain to some fans, considering that Berra's New Jersey museum will charge patrons $250 to watch the World Series with him in a few weeks.

Pete Rose

Price: $40

The disgraced slugger is pressing his case for eligbility in baseball s Hall of Fame. If he succeeds, will his price go up?

Todd Bridges

Price: $30

Best known as the older brother of Arnold on "Diff'rent Strokes," more recently Bridges has appeared in episodes of "Everybody Hates Chris."

Dwight Gooden

Price: $25

New York is the city where most of Gooden s baseball career took place, but the former Mets and Yanks player is one of the lowest-priced snaps on the menu.

Sean Young

Price: $40

The Blade Runner actress has been mostly MIA in Hollywood lately, save for roles on television shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and ER.

Cast members from "Battlestar Galactica"

Price: $120

This is a blind gamble, since the actual participants in the group photo at this weekend s convention were still TBD on Friday morning.

Billy Dee Williams

Price: $40

Star Wars fans know this actor as Lando Calrissian, but with Williams presently popping up on General Hospital in a recurring role, the stormtroopers and Jedi Knights may bump into a few soap fans in line.