YaoiCon 2015

This past weekend I attended YaoiCon in Burlingame, California. YaoiCon is an adult con, which means you are required to be 18 years or older to attend. For those who don't know what "Yaoi" refers to, it is the male/male relationships in Anime. So, obviously, it was an Anime based convention. YaoiCon is not brand new, it's been around since 2001, but it was my first time attending.

***I promise there is no adult content in this post. All ages are welcome to view this post!

[YaoiCon 2015 Saturday Badge]

I only had a Saturday pass, but the convention did go from Friday-Sunday (September 18-20). It was a pretty small convention with a small attendance.

Side note: YaoiCon wins HANDS DOWN on the badge game! I can't think of a better badge I've gotten from a con. Fanime comes close, but YaoiCon definitely dominated!

[ear cuffs by BottiVingelo]

The dealer's room contained the least amount of vendors I've yet to see at a con. The room was a decent size, but again, it didn't have much to hold. - One thing I did get at the con were the ear cuffs pictured above. A table by the company, BottiVingelo, caught me eye. They had very unique looking jewelry that are made by two artists. The items displayed were very fairy-esque. They also had head pieces and ranged from princess-like to Medieval. Their ear cuffs are very Elvish to me, because of the point at the top, but I like that. I originally fell for a darker piece with a turquoise color, but then I spotted the mint and had to have it! Mint is my color! Apparently, they have been at a few of the cons that I have been to already, including SDCC, I just never saw them for some reason. I was really glad I was able to see them at YaoiCon and I guess that's a benefit of a small con.

[Stevonnie & Garnet keychains by ArtistBlack]

The Artist Alley in the con had a decent number of artists in attendance, especially for a small con, but the room was almost unbearable! It was so crowded. The room was way too small and the setup of the tables were oddly arranged. It was hard to maneuver through the narrow aisles that were made and all of the attendees in the room.

I had to work before the con, so I did not have as much time to browse. Before the Artist Alley closed, I got the two keychains in the picture above- Stevonnie and Garnet from Stephen Universe. My Stephen Universe charm collection is growing! These really caught my eye and stood out too me. They are by an artist who goes by- ArtistBlack.

[reverse side of the Garnet keychain]

The awesome part of the Garnet keychain is that it is reversible! You can see an image on both sides! The images look slightly different, but I think it gives it character!

Overall, I felt the con was okay, but lacking. Perhaps it is the location or maybe it's the time of year. I'm not sure. It could also be the highlighted topic of the con as well, Yaoi. Either way, I left feeling it was all a little lackluster. Although I was told that some of the other events that were happening later that night would be fun, I was unable to attend. Maybe next year.

If you attended YaoiCon let me know about your experience! I would love to hear your views! Any other comments are free to be left below!

Unboxing: Marvel Collector Corps - June Box

If you read the previous post then you know that I'm behind on all of this and I'm piling through to catch up to August, and get this all done before October! I had to take a little bit of a break because of work and friends, but hey! it's the end of summer and I gotta live it up before it's over! You understand, right?

So, after the disaster that was the introduction to the Collector Corps program and the lengthy wait (not to mention the effort) to get the box, I decided to give it one last month. Normally I like to try things out for about 3-5 months, but I just couldn't take a battle three months in a row; my mind was made up and if it was a disaster in June then I was not going to get a box for August. - There was a slight hiccup between the April box and the June box, but nothing too extreme. The issue was that if you had Pay Pal as your automatic payment every month they cancelled it and you had to sign up again. I am assuming this had to do with PayPal becoming an independent company (separate from eBay), but I don't actually know the cause. Collector Corps stated that there was an "issue" and that was all. Never the less, support on Facebook let us know when it was safe to sign up again and they also sent out an email. I was able to get my payment on time for June. Unlike the first box, they did not let orders for the box go long. They took pre-orders and then it was shut down before the boxes shipped out.

[Marvel Collector Corps - June Box]

The theme for the June box was Ant-Man, which made sense because the movie was due out in July. Collector Corps did announce the theme of the box early, so you could decide if you wanted to get one or not. The contents were not revealed.

I was greatly surprised when my boxes were delivered, considering that I only ordered one and was only charged for one. I contacted Collector Corps and they said it was their "error" and I could keep the extra box, which was very nice of them.

[Marvel Collector Corps Ant-Man pin & patch from the June box]

When I first opened the box it was a bit different than April's box. Instead of all of the contents just being put in the box it had a cover over the main contents and it featured the patch and pin for the month. (As I stated in the last post, every month comes with an exclusive pin and patch.) Both the patch and the pin featured Ant-Man.

[contents of the June box for Marvel Collector Corps]

When I opened the boxes they were identical in content. Both contained an exclusive Collector Corps Ant-Man Pop! and 2 Funko Ant-Man blind boxes. The Blind boxes were not exclusives and you did only get 2 of them, leaving you to hunt for the other 2 if you wanted a complete set, as there were 4 in all.

[Funko Pop! #87 Ant-Man - Collector Corps Exclusive]

I'll start off with an up-close view of Pop! figure. It is Ant-Man without a helmet, but the best part is the exclusive "Funko's Smallest Bobblehead", which is Ant-Man when he shrinks! Very cool, in my opinion. I have not taken mine out of the box yet, but I look forward to that.

[Funko Pop! Ant-Man series]

The back of the Pop! figure featured the other Pop! figures you could collect in the Ant-Man series from the movie. Obviously, these would be available where Pop! figures are regularly sold.

[Funko Ant-Man Mystery Minis Series]

As I said before- the Mystery Minis were not exclusives to Collector Corps and you only received 2 boxes, leaving you to search for the other 4 if you wanted all of them. The box featured all 4 mini bobble-heads to collect.

[All 4 Mystery Minis from the Ant-Man series]

So, like I said before, I received an extra box and so I had 4 Mystery Mini boxes to open. I really lucked out and received all 4! I could have had doubles, but I somehow was fortunate enough to get the whole series. So, no extra money was spent for this series! I was quite pleased!

[Ant-Man Comic #5 - Collector Corps Variant]

As always, the box came with a comic that has an exclusive variant cover. This box had an Ant-Man comic, which appears to be #5, and since I do not read most Marvel comics......I have yet to actually read it. I do like the cover though.

[Collector Corps Ant-Man Tee]

Unlike the previous box, this box only had 1 tee for everyone. So, I received 2 shirts that were the same.

[Collector Corps Ant-Man tee design]

The shirt was simple. It is all black and says "Ant-Man" on the front. Under the lettering is Ant-Man in the "actual size" of when he shrinks. Simple, yet cute. I actually would have worn this 1, but I still just ordered the "XL" size and gave it away. I still have the other one, so maybe I'll cut it up and make it fit or just wear it as a lounge tee.

Overall, I really liked this box. While the exclusives were not as great as the first box (in my opinion), I think that was mostly due to the fact that I am not an Ant-Man fan. I did have more appreciation for the series after watching the movie, but I just felt like the HulkBuster Pop! and the Dorbz included in the April box were pretty hard to beat. Honestly, I cannot beat the price for the fact that I only paid for 1 box and received double the quantity. The transaction, shipment, arrival, and packaging were all much improved from the first box as well. So, after June's box I was definitely getting 1 in August!

Unboxing: Marvel Collector Corps - April Box

Okay, so I know I'm waaaaaaaaaay late to the party, but I have a good excuse! -When the June box came I had not started this blog. At the time the thought of starting one had crossed my mind, but I had not actually moved forward to do so. I had started this blog in July, when the second box had just arrived (end of June) and my initial plan was to review both the April & June boxes together, However, my June box was sent right before vacation and so I had no time to put up my review/unboxing. I just received my August box though, so before I get my October box, let me get on with this!

My experience with Collector Corps from Funko started off rocky. I signed up for the box at the beginning of March and as the company stated, the first wave of boxes would be shipped out in April 2015. My assumption was that the boxes would be shipped within the first week of April, seeing as how the pre-order for these boxes had been around since January 2015. However, the company never actually stated when the boxes would be sent out and you know what they say about assuming........ So, the first two weeks of April roll around and no one has received word about when the boxes will be shipped. There was a mix of complaints from people and others being more positive and patient. I had made a comment on the Collector Corps Facebook page about the lack of communication and was met with other subscribers telling me to not be negative and others agreeing with me. -My view was that if you had all this time to pre-order and you had collected this money, then why are we not receiving any word about the shipments? I honestly did expect it to ship out the first week, but even if my assumption was wrong, as a company, I would at least think you would be communicating with your customers.

Well, about another week passed and finally a representative on the Facebook page tells us that they're about to ship Wave 1; if you ordered by the cut off date in April you were Wave 1 and your box would ship out 1st. However, they were leaving the ordering open and people could still order the box, which the new orders would be Wave 2. 

Now comes the drama..........

So, Wave 1 ships and I do not get any update that my box has shipped. So, I wait until Wave 2 apparently ships. Again, my box has not yet shipped. This made no sense to me, as I had ordered my box before the cutoff for Wave 1. On April 22, 2015 it was said that my box finally shipped. I waited and waited and 3 weeks later I still had no box. Not only did I not have a box, but my tracking information never updated and just consistently told me it was sitting at the warehouse waiting to arrive at UPS. It took multiple messages to the Facebook page and to their support (about 2 and half weeks total) and a replacement box was finally shipped to me on May-15, 2015. This is almost a month after my first box was suppose to have shipped. About a week later I also got another update that a box on May-21 shipped to me as well, but I did not order a 2nd box, nor did I receive a second box. Whatever happened to that box is beyond me. 

I'm not the only one who had issues. Several people complained about delays and not getting a box. Some people were charged multiple times and never got one box. Others were getting one or two extra boxes, while people like myself were sitting here with no box. It was a very frustrating experience to deal with. However, when I saw the contents, my mind couldn't help but cut them some slack. 

[April Collector Corps Box]

The box cost $25 for ever subscriber + $6.95 for US shipping. (Shipping is more for other countries.) Depending on the state you lived in, you may have to pay tax too. I live in California and I have to pay my state sales tax as well. So, the total cost for me monthly is $34. My initial thought and it still happens to be how I feel- $34 every other month for a box of exclusives is not bad. Of course, they have to deliver on that box. For the pre-order you had the option of paying for a whole year up front and that would entitle you to an exclusive statue of Captain America upon your 1 year anniversary, but I couldn't reason spending over $200 on something I was unsure of if I would like or not. So, I choose the monthly option, which is paying for the box on the 1st of every other month and I did not get the annual figure.

I was very excited to see that the box was very detailed. The outside featured Captain America's face and was very sturdy. What was not so secure was the inside of the box. There was no padding, no protection. The box was clearly bigger than the items inside, so there was plenty of room for the items to shift and break or get ruined. I can say that I was fortunate that nothing in my box was damaged. I did see several complaints from others that their comics were ruined and/or their figure was ruined. The comic was not bagged or boarded either.

[inside of the April Collectors Corp Box]

Even the inside of the box was detailed with comic art! I was very impressed! Not many subscription companies go that far and I don't care what genre the box is in.

[Funko Collector Corps Exclusive Hulkbuster Pop]

So, I believe the main thing most people wanted was the Hulkbuster Pop! and it was an exclusive to Collector Corps. I must say it is very impressive and weighs more than a regular Pop! figure does. I have yet to take mine out of the box, but it looks awesome!

[Funko Collector Corps Exclusive Dorbz Figure]

Another exclusive figure in the April box was this Dorbz vinyl figure, which you could only get if subscribed to Collectors Corps.

[Funko Dorbz Series 1]

The back of the Dorbz box did show all of the characters that would be available to collect outside of Collectors Corps. I easily found these at Hot Topic.

[Ultron Dorbz Vinyl Figure - Exclusive to Collector Corps]

As the box for April was themed around the "Age of Ultron" movie, Ultron himself was the exclusive Dorbz for the Collector Corps box. I was very impressed with how adorable he is, especially since he's kind of an asshole in the movie.

[Collector Corps exclusive patch & pin]

The box also came with an exclusive patch and pin. This is a regular item that will be in every box. The company actually claims an exclusive comic variant cover of one comic, an exclusive pin, an exclusive patch, an exclusive vinyl, and exclusive shirt come in every box. - April's patch featured Ultron and the pin featured a classic Captain America.

[Collector Corps exclusive comic variant]

The exclusive variant cover for the April box featured Falcon or the new Captain America and belongs to the Avengers series. I will be honest and admit that I'm not a huge comic reader. I regularly get the My Little Pony titles and other Cartoon Network related comics, but as far as Marvel goes, I am not big into their comics. I'm a huge movie and TV show fan of Marvel though. I have the comic around, but have not read it and do not plan on collecting more of this series. I do like the cover though.

[Collector Corps exclusive tee]

The shirt was given away. I had a good feeling I would not be into the shirts from this subscription box and I was right. For April, the shirts featured a poster style print and you could get one of four different characters beside Ultron - Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man, or Thor. My shirt was Thor, but again, I did not keep it.

So, after all the work I had to put in, eventually I did get my box and I did love it! I liked it enough to give it a second chance for June. I also felt that the company is brand new and I tried to cut it some slack. I basically just tried to stay positive until round 2 and hoped for the best! I had been apart of subscription service launches before and it was rough. Not as bad as this one, but I guess every new service has kinks to work out.

SDCC 2015 - Part 1

[Outside the Convention]

About 2 weeks ago, San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) was held in San Diego, California. It was my the first time attending. I started my convention-going this spring with WonderCon (put on by the same organization as SDCC). Since then I have been to the Big Wow and FanimeCon. -Before this spring, I had never been to a comic or fan convention. This has been a year of discovery for me in terms of the whole cosplay and fan convention world. I am enjoying every convention thus far and each one has it's own unique and good aspects.

[Photo Op at the Hasbro Booth with Chicken Pinkie Pie]

SDCC was by far the biggest convention I have been to. I was told there was over 130,000 in attendance of the actual convention and that did not include fellow visitors to the city who didn't actually attend the convention and city goers who came out to the surrounding events. While at times I felt like I couldn't move and it was too much, I also had fun meeting some really great people, artists, cosplayers, and vendors.

[Myself with Felipe Smith - Creator of Peepo Choo & TMNT Artist]

I wasn't able to cosplay myself. I wasn't feeling 100%. I have been working on trying to embody characters that I have come to enjoy through comics, Anime, mangas, cartoons, and books, but I have yet to be able to actually do it. Hopefully at the next convention I will be able to!

[Myself with a Trooper Cosplayer]

Now onto the fun part! Let me share what goodies I was able to pick up at SDCC! I was wise enough to do research before going to the convention. I knew what was going to debut, yet be permanent there (in other words- products I did not have to purchase at the convention) and what was going to be exclusives to the convention. I went with a list of what I wanted. Sadly, I was not able to purchase everything I wanted to get, because some products sold out. It was ridiculous, in my opinion, just how high-in-demand certain items were and how little supply there actually was, but in the end I just had to live with what I could get.

[Tokidoki Unicorno Blind Boxes Series 4 - photo taken at Henry's Pub/Villain's Pub]

The only items I purchased that were not SDCC exclusives were 2 Unicorno Blind Boxes from Tokidoki. Series 4 was debuted at SDCC, so if you were there and waited in the long line to get into the Tokidoki booth then you could have been 1 of the first to get your hands on some. I only purchased 2, as I will wait until they arrive at Hot Topic to buy more (cheaper that way), but I couldn't resist seeing the new ones. - Left to Right: Yuna and Cremino.

The other item I bought.....er.....I should say, that I received....as a gift from my convention partner, Afronauts, heh. Yeah, I didn't actually buy the t-shirt, but was gifted with it. This was an exclusive to SDCC and when we were in the Tokidoki booth, we were told that the handfuls they had left were all they had of it and that there were no more behind the counter, so once they sold out they would be gone for good. -From that statement, I would assume this tee sold out at SDCC and if you want one your best bet would be on eBay. 

***Note: For future reference and to anyone who plans on buying TokiDoki tees- I bought a size "S" or "small", because I was afraid the XS would be too small. After putting it on, I now wish I had gotten an "XS" or "x-small". These shirts are true-to-size. I normally wear an XS and I should have just stuck with that.

[Myself next to a giant Hulkbuster]

So, the Tokidoki booth was literally my first stop for purchases. While I was standing in line, my fiance went roaming to other booths and this was also the first failed attempt at trying to buy something from Funko. My partner was turned away and told to come back later. After Tokidoki, we went looking for art. - Convention Art has become a huge thing for me! And by "thing", I mean- a memorable way to commemorate each convention I go to; an expressive way to show off my fan love; and to meet a lot of great people who are the artists themselves! 

[Art I purchased by Whitney Pollet]

I did not find too much art that I wanted to purchase at SDCC. Normally my art hauls are a nice handful or more, but most of what was at SDCC was commercial and that's not really what I collect. However, I did pass a table that had a print of the Sailor Scouts that I couldn't pass up! Not only was it original, but it was cute too, and that's the print on the left in the picture above. On the right you will see an original sea goddess print. I was fascinated by this! It's so beautiful and unique! I was fortunate to talk to the artist, Whiteny Pollett, about it; The sea goddess is based off of Hindi gods and she is completely original. I believe Ms.Pollett said there would be an actual doll or figure made of her and it would be coming out next year. I will definitely be on the look out for that! My print also reads "35/100" and while I did not ask, I am assuming that means these were limited edition prints and the one I purchased was #35 out of 100.

[Taylor Sterling - Author of Okemus]

While searching for art, we were ushered to a table by a girl who said we had to check out Taylor Sterling. Turned out he was a nice, humble guy and it was great talking to him! We ended up buyin his comic "Okemus" and I look forward to reading it!

[Art Print by Wardell Brown]

Next, we found some awesome original art by an artist of the name- Wardell Brown. I picked up this print of an African girl and a lion. He had some other neat prints of females who looked like original super heroes. If I ever come across him again I may have to pick those up!

After that, we headed back to Funko and once again were turned away and told to come back at around 4:30pm. So, we went to find the UCC booth, which turned out to be on the completely opposite side from the Funko booth. This meant a pretty hectic trip for us, because it was so crowded!

[Felipe Smith - Author of Peepo Choo]

On our way to finding the UCC booth, we discovered a man by the name of Felipe Smith! He had his own manga which he wrote and drew while living in Japan! He was a great guy to talk to and it turned out he also is the an artist for the new TMNT show on Nickelodeon, which I am a fan of! (If you scroll up, you will see a picture of him and I together!)

[Sporties MLB Pinkie Pie SDCC Exclusive Figures]

Once we finally made it over to the UCC booth, it wasn't hard for me to spot what I came for! I saw the MLB Pinkie Pies advertised before the convention and knew I had to get some!

[Sporties MLB My Little Pony Pinkie Pies - SDCC Exclusives]

[photo taken at Henry's Pub/Villain's Pub]

We picked up both the New York Yankees & the Detroit Tigers, which are the MLB teams from our native states.

[Miku Hangers]

While I was also at the UCC both, I bought these 3 Miku Hangers. They were 3 for $20. I love blind bags/boxes and couldn't resist!

[3 of the 6 Miku Hangers]

Here are my 3 Miku Hangers! I'm so happy I opened 3 different ones! The unfortunate part is that I have not been able to find them online and so I'm not sure how to collect the other 3?!?!

[Outside of the Villain's Pub]

To wrap up Friday (our Day 1) we ended at the Villain's Pub for some good food, drinks, and games from HISHE! We did end up going back into the convention afterwards, specifically for Funko, but again were turned away and told they were sold out of everything for the day. Funko was a very frustrating part of the convention for me!

This entry is so pic heavy and there is so much content and so I'm wrapping up this entry, and I will be posting "Part 2" from Saturday soon! Leave comments, questions, and links to your blogs below!