By Mike Dougherty

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Fancy Brigades are putting the finishing touches on their props and routines before Tuesday’s Mummers festivities.

There are not too many idle hands at the Pennsylvania Convention Center — just about everyone here has a saw or a drill or a paint brush. Shooting Stars captain Michael Adams doesn’t even want to think about how much they spent on lumber and paint for their comic book theme set.

“We have two 14×10 foot comic books,” Adams said. “We have a comic book city scene, we have a 16 foot Batman, we have a Spiderman prop.”

He says the most important part of this weekend is practicing with the props for the first time and working out the kinks.

“Usually, it’s a disaster the first few times you get out there.”

Golden Crown captain Bob Runowski agrees.

“Until you have the floats, until you’re actually in the convention center, working on the set that you know you’ll be on for real,” Runowski said. “You really don’t have much perspective even though we we’ve been in here 15 times before.”

Runowski has a good feeling about his team’s apocalypse theme this year.

“Basically a Mad Max type theme set in the desert. We have some of the sand dune buggies, a thunder dome. We have some other tricks up our sleeve.”

The Shooting Stars finished second last year. Adams is gunning for the top spot in 2013.

“It means everything. That’s why we do this — you do it to win.”