Comic and Sci-Fi small Conventions are the FUTURE!

“CONSUME!”
-Image from SciFiBloggers

Smaller Trade and Fan Conventions are the way to go in the wake of Over-Commercialized “6 Hour Registration Lines”

As a fan of the industry, from Anime to Xenomorphs, we all have a craving for more. Not just the drive for getting gear that exclusive but meeting some of the content creators, actors and artists behind the works we love.

In the summer some places are sitting at 98+ Degrees Fahrenheit.

However, Conventions like “Anime Expo” and “Stan Lee’s Comikaze/Los Angeles Comic Con” have what we’d like to call “Commercial Burn Out” where a majority of the floor is big companies shoving their product down your throat. The lines, just to get in, take hours (We felt it at Power Morphicon, AX, and LA CC), with pre-registration the day before it starts included, small artist tables and booth space can costs as much as replacing the engine on your car (Comic Con LA- $3000/ Anime Expo- $2800).

Free to look but if they’re sitting at a table and you want an autograph be ready to pay!

If the waiting in the sun and cost to be a vendor isn’t enough then the “Celebrity Zoo” with autograph prices will be a shock to most of the uninitiated. Especially if you’re on a fixed budget or spent the $65+ to get in, $25 for parking, and the price-gouging costs of “Con Food”. So one ticket is going to run most folks a day worth of income. The whole event and costs of attending can eat a week of pay!

Enter: The Smaller Cons

This year we’ve already enjoyed 1 trip! Great job PCC!

Smaller Conventions have been on the rise. Retro Gaming Expos, Smaller City Comic Conventions, Anime Los Angels, and a slew of other ones out there have been stepping to the plate while more celebrities and artists are taking notice!

Michael Biehn, at Comic Con Pasadena, was just about to leave and we FORCED him to hold still so we could catch him with a picture in front of his banner. SORRY MIKE!

These conventions have drawn the attention of industry pros, artists and creators, and don’t allow for the “ALL-CONSUMING COMPANIES” to force burnout on the showroom floor. The “Table Space” is not nearly as expensive and locations are usually convenient for convention attendees and celebs alike for a more intimate interaction.

Matt McMuscles with Executive Writer’s son, “Ribi Gamesteak“, at Retro Expo!

Personally, the smaller conventions still do have the option for actors to require compensation for autographs while other content creators sell their merchandise and artists sell prints of the artwork and comics. It’s up to us, as fans, to support these smaller conventions to save our modern myths and culture! We’ve found a resource you can use. Click their icon to check it out:

-R. Rankin