WonderCon 2014

WonderCon was during Easter weekend again this year, so you would think that it might not be so busy. Wrong. So wrong. I went for Saturday only and I thought there were a lot more people there this year than last year. There were also a lot more cosplayers this year, which was really neat to see. There were a ton of incredible costumes. I parked next to the most impressive Loki (#lokihatesyou on Instagram), he was a strong Tom Hiddleston doppelganger. I was excited to go to WonderCon because so many people I follow on Instagram and Twitter were going to be there, and I was hoping to meet some of them. I managed to catch glimpses of Mandie from Geeky Glamorous, Katrina of Feoranna Cosplay, Andre Black Nerd of YouTube fame and Xander from season two of King of the Nerds. All were surrounded by lots of people when I saw them, so I didn't get pictures with any of them :( I also got to stop by Miss Alphabet's and Mike Vasquez's (aka Mike Goes Geek) booths. I bought some stickers and prints from Mike, his Adventure Time mashups are pretty awesome. (Side note: We had an AT&T U-Verse service guy out here on Tuesday and he saw the prints, and he was going on and on about how great they were lol). 

The stickers I purchased from Mike.

This was the first convention that my husband and I have gone to without our children, but because it was such a last minute decision to not have them with us, we still didn't have time to make a plan to attend any panels, so we didn't. If our children decide that they don't want to go to SDCC with us this year, we are for sure catching some panels there! We did get to walk the show floor a few times over though, and that was pretty nice. I noticed that while the free swag seemed virtually nonexistent this year, the prices on merchandise was already being reduced while we were there. In the past, I have only seen vendors do that on the last day of a convention, so maybe they were planning on it being a slow day on Sunday. 

I was a pretty bad blogger while I was there. I didn't take very many photos because I was feeling like crap (the stomach flu hit my family hard last week, you can read about it here.). The only pictures I took were of these two amazing Steampunk dresses by Silver Leaf Costumes. I really like the Captain America one (like if I had brought $500 with me, I would have bought it right then), but the Iron Man one is bad ass too. I just have preferences towards blue and stars, so Captain America has the advantage.

Also, Funko Pop! Vinyls were everywhere! So many booths had them, I almost thought I was at a Funko convention. I guess they are having a moment :) I did get to see Jay Barchuel at the How to Train Your Dragon 2 booth, albeit from afar. He was doing a signing there, but I wasn't able to get in the line for that. Luckily they don't set ridiculous perimeters like they do at SDCC when celebrities are around, so my husband and I were actually able to stand at the side of booth and see him. I should've taken a picture of him, but I was getting pushed around a little bit by other fans, and my phone is brand new, so I didn't want to risk breaking it (I am notorious for breaking my phones by doing virtually nothing to them). 

I did take a picture of some religious protesters outside the convention center though. If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw the video I posted of them as well. I would like to say this: I have nothing against religion. In fact, I help teach our 1st and 2nd grade boys class on Wednesday nights at my stepmom's church. Do I attend church regularly? No. Do I sin? Of course. Everybody does. So it really got to me that these protesters thought they had the right to stand at the convention center and yell and scream so many hurtful things to people.  It had a very Westboro Baptist Church feel to them and the things they were screaming. And its people like them that give organized religion a bad name. They called the convention itself a sin party. They called the girls there whores. They said everyone there was a pervert or homosexual and that dressing in costume was a sin. Really? They were trying to get people to hit them. They were recording it for who knows what (I'm sure its on YouTube, but I don't feel like searching for it), but luckily nobody took the bait and actually touched them. They got in a lot of people's faces though, trying to get that reaction. They yelled at a lot of girls, trying to shame them. I don't know if these two were part of the yellow sign holders (if you've been to a convention, you know who they are), because the yellow sign holders usually stay quiet. But these guys were just ranting on and on. It took about twenty minutes of them spewing hatred before Comic-Con officials came outside to try and break it up. They didn't seem too concerned with it though. And really, there isn't a lot they can do....constitutional rights and all that. 

Don't feed the trolls.

Except we did. 

Overall, WonderCon was great. Its the new SDCC really. The caliber of exhibitors and cosplayers is vastly improving, not to mention growing,  and so is the volume of attendees. I just wonder if its going to remain in Anaheim, or return up north. I know next April is the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, so that seems conflicting. Either way, I'm sure I'll be attending. And if you've never been to a convention before and want to test the waters (and you're on the West Coast), I suggest WonderCon as your first one. I know I said its the new SDCC, but its still not so crowded that you can't move around and you get all the experiences of a larger convention.