This past weekend, Wizard World decended on the Bay Area for the first time. I was able to attend this con on Sunday and was pleasantly surprised how much fun it was. I attended with my 18-month old son along with my twin brother and his son and met my coworker and his daughter there as well. So I guess you can say it was a family affair.
The big draw for this convention is the celebrity appearances. As I walked the celebrity aisle at the 11am start of the day, big names from The Walking Dead shown brightly on the banners of each section along with fan favorites like Bruce Campbell, Dean Cain, Lou Ferrigno, Scott Wolf, and James Marsters. And, appearances by several WWE superstar, as well, if you’re a fan of wrestling. Though it comes at a price to meet your favorite celebrities, the cool thing that a volunteer told me was that the money the celebs earned from photos, autographs, and selfies (yup, there’s a selfie price tier), all goes toward that celebrity. So not bad to support your favorite.
The other great thing about this convention is the amount of artist tables. I got to meet an artist I follow on Instagram, Brandon Dicks, and picked up a small plush Jabba the Hut. He also is known for custom Munny designs and the latest was Disney’s Stitch. He was really cool to talk to and even gave me an Instagram follower discount. Much appreciated, sir!
I’ve mentioned in the past that I don’t usually do panels, but there were a slew of them going on even on the last day of the convention. So Wizard World definitely offered panels. And the merchandise booths were both intriguing and many. I didn’t come away with anymore stuff but it was actually nice to walk around with my son and have enough space to roam free.
One downside was the amount of cosplayers were sparse on Sunday. Perusing Wizard World’s Instagram page, the cosplayers were out in full force on Saturday. But, I really enjoyed having a ton of space to walk around and a very chill time with all the comic-loving parents. And, I even snapped a random picture of the actor who plays Meryl from The Walking Dead. Score!
It was a really fun convention and in the future I may shell out some cash to meet some celebs like Emily Kinney and Bruce Campbell. Plus, being in my home town, some of those swords on sale were mighty enticing since I didn’t have to jump on a plane to get home. But we’ll see. I do highly recommend checking out this convention next year if it returns to the Bay Area. It’s the type of event where it’s big enough to be not too big (if that makes any sense), and in terms of chatting with artists and not waiting long lines to meet a celebrity, then Wizard World is the convention for you!
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