Weekend of Wonder…Con
WonderCon was indeed this past weekend, an event that completely snuck up on me. Then again I’m terrible at planning for these things, which is probably one of the reasons I have been unable to make it to ComicCon the past few years. (If you don’t get a hotel room within the first hour that the phone lines open up, you are so out of luck!)
Thankfully WonderCon (the con of wonders and delights) is hosted near enough to home that a simple reminder from my husband the week before the event is plenty of notice to assure my attendance.
Just one of the many reasons that I love WonderCon. =)
My lack of planning tends to seep over into my con schedule. In fact I didn’t give the program book a more than a passing glance until after day one was over, which worked out well since that day was completely devoted to the convention floor. A multiple football field sized hall filled to the brim with vendors, artists, celebrities, games, and about four million other attendees. Makes for a packed and somewhat overwhelming experience.
We started perusing the hall at one end and made our way down each isle from one end to the other. This guaranteed that we saw everything without having to consult the map very much, and it still took us all day.
I might have mentioned something about my lack of planning, well when it comes to purchases I’m no better. I walked the floor a blank slate. The sheer amount of stuff and the crushing crowd made it almost impossible to shop with ease, then again I didn’t really have a plan, and those always help when confronted with overwhelming input. =)
The usual fare was to be found, comic books, toys, clothes, art of various styles, and more comics. There was an incredible amount of amazing sights to behold, but a few gems just had to be noted.
Geek Chic
I never thought I could love furniture so much. Imagine tables designed to facilitate gaming, but with style and craftsmanship. The thing that really made me fall in love was when the guy showed me a picture of a table that could fit the entire Arkham Horror Game board with the expansion boards. /swoon.
I should mention that they essentially custom make each table to specification and game preference. What game geek would not want a table that can provide a DM screen drawer and cup holders that will assure no spillage on precious game boards? The ten month long wait list seems to confirm that most gamers are willing to shell out for quality.
I was told to that the custom nature of the product means their website it a bit sparse. They do not really carry inventory as everything is custom made after its ordered. Which means its really best to go see these beauties in person!!
Dueling Lightsabers - Lightsabers that are sturdy enough to actually duel with. Need I say more?
Lets not forget all the people. Celebrities galore, Spike, Data, Q, Adam Baldwin, and so many more. Then of course all the guests that dress up. I’m not big on flagging people down to take pictures of them, sorry. Although one booth did have undead cheerleaders. Almost picture worthy. The Official Star Wars Blog has some decent picture coverage, even though its a bit Star Wars heavy. Check it out!
The clubs seem to be getting a larger foothold as well – The Brown Coats and the 501 Legion just to name a few. Its incredible the amount of dedication and clout these clubs now wield. Go fandom!
Day two was panel time, I even looked at the program book. My hands down favorites were the R2-D2 Builders Club and the Chuck panel.
The R2-D2 panel discussed how to build your own. Ah to have incredible amounts of disposable income and time. It was fascinating seeing what they have accomplished in the realm of R2-D2 building and how they manged it all. Here are some of the links that were suggested at the panel:
http://astromech.net/
Blogs, the first two are written by the panel presenters:
http://www.artoo-detoo.net/ (There is a picture of the crowd at the panel, and if you squint you just might be able to see me!)
http://buildr2d2.blogspot.com/ (He actually did most of the presenting.)
http://vfranco.blogspot.com/
The Chuck panel was far better than I expected. Not only were all the male stars on hand as well as the writer and producer, but also they showed the latest episode of Chuck a day early. So spoiled!
Sadly Chuck seems to be on the brink of being canceled. /sigh How to save the show from being canceled was a major topic of discussion once the floor was open for questions. The sound bite that come out of that rap session was: Save Chuck! Hack Nielson! Wish I could. So many good show I could have saved.
Overall it was an incredibly fun weekend. Next year I’m dressing up. Now to figure out which superhero to be. Hmmm….
Tags: adoration, blog, celebrity, comics, conventions, geeky, links, loot, robots
