Florida SuperCon

[Dave Gray]

I went to my first convention last weekend.  I am generally into "genre" pop culture, but don't much care for/about celebrity worship or collecting, which is a large part of it.  I did have a pretty fun time.  Here's what I saw:

Nerd Flea Market - There are booths and booths set up with stuff from every kind of fandom you can think of.  Some of it is pretty standard, like t-shirts and toys, other stuff is vintage collectibles, like old video games from the 80s, there's a lot of art, there are comics being sold, steampunk stuff, uniforms, jewelry, giant weapons (like swords and sais), and some displays from local clubs that wear costumes and do charity work in the name of Star Trek or Star Wars or whatever.

I bought:
- a batman shirt with the new movie logo
- a Star Wars shirt of the Jedi order symbol
- a watch that looks like Bond's in the game Goldeneye 007, from the N64 days
- a hand-made Ariel skirt for my daughter
- a Wonder Woman onesie for my other daughter
- a Charlie (from Supernatural) figurine for my wife

Celebrities - There were a blend of nerd celebrities, ranging from the bigger ones: Peter Mayhem (Chewbacca), Haley Atwell (Agent Carter), Billie Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian), the original Uhura and Chekov from Star Trek to some wrestling guys: Daniel Bryan, Jerry "The King" Lawler, Tito Santana, to Jay and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes) to some pretty obscure E-list characters from popular shows.  ...like someone who played a somewhat minor role on Walking Dead or Lost.  You could get autographs or photo ops for cash -- I'm not about that at all, but many people were.  It was kinda cool at how accessible they were, though.  I figured they would be tucked away, but they were pretty much just hanging around near the show floor and you could see them and say hi and stuff.

Wrestling - Not into it, but I do remember some of the older guys.  It did have a pretty big showing and especially Daniel Bryan had a big following.

Panels - Several guys had panels where they did Q&As.  I was thinking this would be kinda exclusive or that you'd need to wait in line to get a seat or that it would be in another room, but it was really accessible.  There was a stage off to the side with plenty of seats so you could swing by or leave without issue and could even be at other booths and kinda hear the panels.

Cosplay - I didn't dress up, but a lot of people did.  It was like it's own part of the show, with the crowd entertaining itself.  Stuff moved slowly, because people were all taking pictures of and with each other the whole time.  It was pretty cool.  Costumes ranged from crap to amazing to mash-ups: I saw a pretty good version of Ana and Else as Stormtroopers.  I wasn't expecting this part of the show to be fun, but it was pretty entertaining.  There were lots of things I didn't know and a ton of anime-type stuff where it was a neon wig, animal ears, and a tail.  The whole thing did seem really inclusive, though, and everyone was really welcoming and nice.  In fact, my favorite thing was probably talking to other guests in line.

[Phishfan]

I've never attended one of these as a guest but I did have a part time job at a venue that hosted one of these when I was in college. I had a closed mind since I don't consider myself a big fan of most of what it offers. Once I got past the costumes and people speaking Klingon I realized most of them were really nice. The guys playing the games were really the only ones that were difficult.

[Thundergod]

This was the second straight year I've attended. Much improved over last year, they ironed out a few kinks. I was floored at the line that had formed just to get tickets! I had the weekend pass I purchased online so I didn't have to live that nightmare, but damn...

The Con for me is all about the vendor area. I can spend hours just browsing and taking mental notes on what to get later. It's the only place to find rare things, original artwork and cool collectibles. I too am not into the whole celebrity thing. Normally I just glance and move on. The Cosplay and the contests are pretty cool. It's a fanboy's Halloween. Love to see the passion in some of the costumes. We didn't dress this year, it was hot and bothersome walking around in all that crap, once was enough.

The only thing they should work on are the events they have in the rooms, hardly anything interesting ever goes on for the casual.

Good times though. Will continue to go.