SacAnime Winter 2016

A couple weekends ago I went to Sacramento to ring in the New Year, celebrate my birthday, and attend SacAnime Winter 2016! So, Happy New Year to all! I hope you all had a safe and happy NYE, however you celebrated. I also wish everyone a great 2016 and hopefully it's been great so far for everyone!

[sushi from Osaka in Sacramento, CA]

My NYE was pretty chill and relax. I went out with friends to have sushi at Osaka in downtown Sacramento. - I highly recommend this place if you're in the area and you enjoy sushi. 

[celebrating my birthday with Melody and Heather]

Day 1 of SacAnime Winter was good. I spent the entire day at the con and walking around. I saw a lot of great art, artists, and vendors. I also was able to get in touch with people I have met at previous cons. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from Day 1 though. 

In the picture above is myself with my friends, who also happened to be artists at SacAnime. They came out to celebrate my birthday after Day 1.

[myself with Irene eBdard]

Day 2 was a little better, in terms of picture taking. I made sure to take pictures! The first thing I did when I walked into the convention was stand in line to meet Irene Bedard! It was also the actual day of my birthday.

FYI: For those who may not know, Irene Bedard is the voice of Pocahontas in the Disney animated version. 

Pocahontas is my favorite Disney Princess! Up until the movie came out, Jasmine was my favorite, but when Pocahontas came out it was all over! She was it for me! I found her version in the movie so inspiring! I love the music from the film too! It was awesome to be able to meet the woman who brought her to life! It was a nice birthday gift from Agent Afronaut!

[myself with artist Melody Wang]

It's always great to see Melody Wang, aka Chukairi, at conventions! She's become a really great friend of mine and I happen to admire her work oh-so-much!

[Anna Greenwood as One Punch Man]

Had the opportunity to see this amazing cosplay by Anna Greenwood as One Punch Man! Seriously, AMAZING!

[myself with Kyndall Jordann as Marceline]

I was just walking by and happened to see a girl sitting there that looked exactly like Marceline! It was great to meet Kyndall Jordann! She was a sweetheart and she looks like a living version of Marceline! Also, we were totally boot twins!

 [myself with Chris Cartwright]

And when I saw this adorable Pikachu cospaly I ran right up to him! Chris Cartwright did an amazing job and was so sweet! Hope to bump into him again at future cons! 

Well, overall I had a great time at SacAnime and celebrating my birthday. It was a little slow and definitely slower than the SacAnime Summer I attended in 2015, but it was a very early con and right after the holidays. Not to mention it was during NYE, so that probably slowed down the con. However, I met a lot of great people and reconnected with familiar faces, and had fun! It was a nice start to the convention-going for 2016! See you all at WonderCon next!

End of the Year California Convention Rankings

So, it's the new year! HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope everyone out there has a great 2016! Since it's the beginning of the year, I decided it would be a good idea to rank all of the conventions I attended last year, because that's what we do at the beginning of the year- we rank things in order from the previous year......yup. Since I'm located in California, every convention I attended in 2015 was in my state of residence and I'm ranking all 8 conventions I attended, starting with the worst and finishing with the best!

8. Kraken Con Fall 2015
Though this con boasted an impressive guest list- Christy Carlson Romano, Zach Callison, Sarah Williams, as well as some great food vendors- HiroTako & Koja Kitchen, that was all it had. Everything else about this con was bad. The location was out in the middle of nowhere and not very easy to find or get to. It was aboard the USS Hornet, which is an old Navy ship that was turned into a museum, and thus it was small and cramped. To make matters worse, the layout of the con as awkward and hard to get to. Going up and down the stairs was a pain, because it was only made for one-way traffic, so people could only go either up or down at any given time, the other people going in the opposite direction just had to wait. The autograph sessions were held outside of the ship, because there was no room on the ship. The screen viewings were muted, because they were in the same room as the the Artist Alley/vendor room. To top it all off, the smell of the ship was awful, and my ship sources tell me that it is nothing compared to what the smell is like on an active ship. Overall, I feel like this con tried, but if they want to have a successful turn out they need to have better location, better amenities, and more space. If the con returns to the USS Hornet next year, I will not be attending.

7. YaoiCon 2015
This is another small con, but it is just steps away from going from a not-so-good con to a good one. This con is located just outside of San Francisco, which if you're from the area, it's not so bad, but if you're coming from another state or other parts of California it would be considered a "hole in the wall" as it's not directly in the city. I honestly feel like if it were located inside of San Francisco the turn out would have been better. There was also no food vendors, just what the hotel they held the con in offered. Though there was enough space for the vendors, there was barely any room to move in the Artist Alley and even though my group and I walked through the whole alley, the fact that it was so oddly laid out and so crowded, made us want to leave fast. Aside from the auction at night, the con also doesn't offer many activities. Due to the nature of the con, it requires ID and for attendees to be 18+, but aside from two pictures I saw there was no reason to exclude anyone. Just asking the two artists to take down those photos would have made it appropriate for any age, at least during the day. I feel like this con has potential it just needs to step up its game. I will say that I received the best name badge out of any con I attended in 2015! Seriously, no con has bested it!

6. FanimeCon 2015
This is a con that has much appreciation from the Bay Area/Northern California. If you're a con-goer on the West Coast then it's a convention you've probably attended at one time or another. It's pretty popular among fans, as it should be, since the whole theme is that it is "for fans, by fans". Since this con was so hyped up to me before I even went that I had pretty high expectations. However, the con has some issues and some that are growing larger and need fixing fast! First off, the good things- It is held in a nice location at the San Jose Convention Center, although San Jose itself cannot hold the parking needed for the con. They did offer free shuttle services to and from the hotels in the area, and that helped out immensely! There was plenty of space for vendors, artists, and just to mingle! It's mostly Anime based, but it welcomes all fan appreciation of comics, pop culture, and nerd related topics. However, the con is growing and it doesn't seem like the people in charge are handling it well. There were many vocal complaints from vendors about current situations and future situations, and even some artists were vocal about it. Many made claims that they would not return the next year even though they had been there several years in a row. Though there were many activities for people to do, the music played and the DJs were horrible. I also was not a huge fan of the atmosphere, honestly. It wasn't as friendly as other cons I attended. Hopefully there will be improvements and there will be more action taken for the growth of this con by the current people in charge. I would hate to see this con fold because of a simple matter of investing a little more into something they already have that is good.

5. SacAnime Summer 2015
SacAnime is a nice quiet con in Sacramento. It's a nice bridge between the summer to winter gap. Most spring and summer cons are done by July and the later ones are mostly in October and November, so the fact that SacAnime Summer is held in September gives it good timing. I like that SacAnime is so simple. There's nothing really fancy to it. It's you're typical fan con that is mostly Anime based. It offers fans a chance to mingle and has the usual fan art and vendors. The guest list is ever growing. They do offer other activities such as a ball and dance nights, but I honestly don't find that appealing. The best part of this con is just that it's simple and the atmosphere is really friendly! It's held at the Sacramento Convention Center which is nice in size and easily accessible. I enjoy this con and will return to it as long as I can. My only issues with the con are:
1) The wristbands. There are no other cons that I have attended where having your badge isn't enough. At this con you have to have both the wristband on and the badge. If you only plan to attend one day it's not so bad, but if you're like me who buys the weekend package, then you have to leave that wristband on the whole weekend. If an attendee does not have the band they cannot enter and they have to purchase a whole new band!
2) I would like to see the con step up a little and offer some other activities. After having been to quite a few cons this year, I have noticed a pattern in the activities that they all offer. It'd be nice to see SacAnime do something that sets them apart.

4. San Diego Comic Con 2015
I have always wanted to attend the great San Diego Comic Con (SDCC). It's the biggest convention in the USA and it's the one we hear the most about! (Although, New York Comic Con is creepin' on them!) I will say that is is an amazing experience and if you're a fan of comics, pop culture, and/or love conventions then you need to attend at least once! I heard a lot of complaints about this con though before I went. People complained about everything from getting tickets to the events and staff. My group and I had no problems getting tickets, so I'm not sure what the fuss about that was? As long as one didn't sleep on it, it was pretty easy to obtain tickets. SDCC offers many things that other cons just cannot- the A List guest list and panels, the premiers and sneak previews of upcoming movies & shows, exclusive toys and collectibles! It does offer all that and it is a one of a kind experience. However, the reason that I cannot rank it higher is 3 things- 
1) There is so much to do outside of the con! Just walk down the sidewalk outside of the con; go down through the Gas Lamp District; go over to Petco Park and you will see tons of vendors, companies, and activities! None of which costs any ticket. So without even going into the con, one can do a lot! 
2) It's very crowded inside as there are nearly 100,000 attendees, but it's not very well monitored or controlled. Literally, people just stopping in the middle of aisles blocking traffic and taking up space when others are trying to get through. The layout also does not have much rhyme or reason; just artists and vendors randomly placed wherever. 
3) I had quite a few bad experiences with major companies, most namely Funko and the fact that the con allows this behavior to happen is appalling to me.

Like I said before, this con gives fans access to things that other cons cannot, because it has such a good reputation. However, it needs better organization and better control from the staff. Due to the fact that it is so renowned and it is so well known, I expect more from it.

3. Comikaze Expo 2015
Comikaze was the last convention of 2015 for me. It was way more fun than expected! What I loved about this convention was the fact that I saw vendors, artists, and creators that I had not come accross at any of the other cons. I was also able to actually meet a lot of people I had not been able to at previous conventions. The overall atmosphere by the cosplayers and attendees was friendly. The artists and the creators were just as friendly. I met and conversed with so many people there! It was great! The con was a little pricey for what it was though and I'm not just talking about getting Stan Lee's autograph. Just to buy the Funko Pop! exclusives alone were expensive. There also wasn't a ton of exclusives or limited edition things there, but that's okay. The second part of the convention was a little weak too. It held the autograph sessions and other vendors, but there was never very much going on there, so it felt a little bleak. Overall, I enjoyed it though and I would go again. As the convention grows it will be interesting to see what they develop.

2. Big Wow Comic Fest 2015
I kind of felt like Big Wow was going to be disappointing for me, because it was so heavily comic based with very little attention to pop culture or Anime, but I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it so much. It was a small con, but sometimes the best things come in small packages. One downside of large conventions is that it takes away from the personal experience. Artists, vendors, companies, and creators are not able to give much individual attention or really converse about their works, because there's so many people and only 1 or a few of them. Big Wow provided the opportunity to get to know a lot of the creators and artists. I was even able to have a great conversation with people from Aspen Comics. They did have some impressive display of the Avengers there and quite a few big name comic artists, writers, and companies there. There were quite a few fan artists there and lots of toy vendors. The biggest thing for me was the friendly atmosphere and the positive environment that the organization promoted. I just generally enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and it was family-friendly. The sad thing is that the Big Wow is no more. It has merged with Silicon Valley Comic Con and with all the shady things happening with that, I have opted not to go to that con in 2016. RIP Big Wow.

1. WonderCon 2015
WonderCon was the first convention for me! Not just of 2015, but ever. Needless to say, I had no idea what to expect, but I sure had fun! I enjoyed the fan-based atmosphere. WonderCon is put on by the same organization as SDCC, but the whole point of this con is to be less commercial than SDCC and to be more about the fans and smaller vendors and artists. I felt very comfortable at WonderCon. It was a lot of fun and very easy to mingle. Being that it was held in Anaheim at the Anaheim Convention Center, it was very close to Disneyland and so very accessible to the many restaurants and hotels in the area; literally everything is walking distance. I literally could walk from my hotel to the convention with no problems and it wasn't a taxing walk either. The whole setup was very nice. I also enjoyed the over all layout of the con. Panels and guests were very accessible to the fans too. I'm definitely looking forward to going next year. The only improvement that WonderCon could make, in my opinion, is to have more activities outside of just panels and celebrities; it is, after all, suppose to be all about the fans and the love of pop culture. The con is moving to Los Angeles in 2016, so it will be interesting to see if it is better, worse, or the same.

Unboxing: Marvel Collector Corps - December Box

To all those who celebrate: Merry Christmas! I hope you're having a magical day! To those who celebrate the many other holidays around this time of year: Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Solstice! If you don't celebrate anything, then consider you and your bank account steps ahead of the rest of us!

[December Collector Corps box]

Christmas came early! Well, from Collector Corps, anyway. My tracking information said I would not receive my box until December 26, 2015. I was a bit bummed by that, because I thought I read that all December boxes would be delivered by Christmas. However, yesterday on Christmas Eve, my mailman gave me a package and it just so happened to be my December Collector Corps box!

As mentioned in a previous post, the theme for December is "Guardians of the Galaxy". The box features Star-Lord on it.

[inside the Guardians of the Galaxy box]

As usual, when the box is first opened the patch and pin of the month are revealed on top and the box inside is printed with artwork from comics. In this months box it has Guardians of the galaxy artwork, obviously. Also, my pin was very well stuck down to the cardboard, it was just stuck down in a very odd position.

[December Collector Corps patch]

The patch for December features Rocket Raccoon. I can't say I love this patch, because he looks pretty evil. I know he's not as adorable as Funko tends to make him, but he just looks downright evil here. The patch is exclusive to Collector Corps and cannot be bought anywhere else.

[December Collector Corps pin]

Groot is featured on the December pin. Again, he looks like a evil version of Groot. Or at least very angry. I'm not quite sure what they were going for with the patch and pin this month, because the rest of the box is filled with adorableness. The pin is also exclusive to Collector Corps and is not purchasable outside of the program.

[Guardians of Infinity Collector Corps Variant]

As normal, when the top of the inside of the box is lifted up the comic is revealed. So, now it's easy to see why I said the box is filled with adorableness! Just look at this months variant! It's Rocket Raccoon decorating Groot for the holidays and they both look too cute! This is by far my favorite variant cover so far in the Collector Corps program! It has even enticed me to read the comic!

[December Collector Corps Scarf]

The rest of the contents in the box where underneath the comic and all 3 things were FIRSTS in the Collector Corps program. First off, there was no t-shirt this month, but instead a SCARF! It's an adorable scarf! I was impressed with how well made it is too. It's very thick and durable, and something one could actually use if they wanted to. It reminds me a rugby or soccer/football scarf, it's that well made! The one side features Groot in all his glory!

[Guardians of the Galaxy Scarf]

The scarf is reversible and the other side features mini versions of the Guardians in black with the words: "Guardians of the Galaxy" in a digital-like print. Again, I'm very impressed with the scarf and it's a nice, detailed touch that it would be reversible.

[December Collector Corps Ornaments]

Another first and exclusive to the program were ornaments! I had spotted some people selling these before, but didn't realize they were from Collector Corps. Anyway, I'm glad they were for the program and I'm really happy to have received them! 

[Funko Pop! Rocket Raccoon & Groot Ornaments]

Again, these ornaments are just adorableness on a string! Groot is a mini version of the holiday Funko Pop! at Hot Topic this year and Rocket Raccoon's blaster has a bow on it! Too cute! While we may not have gotten actual "Pop! Figures" this time, I am happy with these!

[December Collector Corps Mug]

Lastly, here is another exclusive and the first time the program has ever featured a MUG! I was a bit surprised by this one. In the previous boxes we have always gotten multiple figures. Whether the figure was considered a "Drobz" or a "Mystery Mini" or "Pop! Figure", it has always been a given that we received 2 figures, but this time around it was a mug. I suppose it would technically be considered 2 figures in this box, because the ornaments were a double pack.......... Anyway, the mug is in the shape of Star-Lord's face and painted as such.

[Collector Corps Star-Lord Mug]

Here's the mug out of the box. Honestly, I will never use this mug. It kind of freaks me out a bit. I'm not 100% sure why, but I guess it's just the thought of drinking out of someone's head.......? I'm not a huge Star-Lord fan either. I enjoyed Chris Pratt's portrayal of him in the movie, but that's about it. 

Overall, this box was a winner! I can't decide which box I like better- this December box or the August/Secret Wars box........ It's actually a bit hard to compare this box to the previous ones, because it really does not follow the pattern we are use to. However, I'm not disappointed by the fact that this box is unique in its contents. I enjoyed the holiday touch and the different items! 

Next up is Deadpool! If you're a Deadpool fan then make sure to order the box by February-15, 2016! Also, I realize I skipped a box. October's box came right before I left for Comikaze and I never had time to post it and never really made time after I came back, because of work and then the holidays. Trust me, I'll get to it eventually. Better late than never, right? Again, happy holidays to all and leave comments below!

***I do not make any commission for the links connected to this blog. Everything posted is my own opinion and every item mentioned was purchased on my own with my own money!

Twinkle Dolly Series 2 - Sailor Neptune by Bandai

Recently, I made an order on HotTopic.com for something I have wanted for a long time and finally it was in stock again! Want to know what it is? Stay tuned! Because this post is not about that......hehehe! - When I placed my order it made more sense to actually add something else to my cart worth a certain amount, because I would actually save significant money when doing so and trust me! No one has to pull my arm to purchase something from Hot Topic! My decision was to order a Sailor Moon Twinkle Dolly. In store, I have found the Sailor Scouts, but the Outer Scouts seem to only be online. (The Sailor Scouts can also be found online at Hot Topic's site.) They are chosen at random by the company when ordering online and so there's no way of knowing which one will arrive!

[Sailor Neptune Twinkle Dolly by Bandai]

Of all the options I could have had, and there are 6 different options in the series, they sent me my #1 choice! Sailor Neptune! How they knew, I have no idea, but I couldn't be more pleased! She arrived in a cute pink box and wrapped in plastic.

[back of the Twinkle Dolly Series 2 box]

The back of the box shows all the options in the second series:

• Sailor Moon
• Chibi Moon
• Sailor Neptune
• Sailor Uranus
• Sailor Pluto
• Sailor Saturn

This is my first box, so Neptune is the only one I have right now. Like I said before, I have not spotted this second wave in stores, but I do occasionally see the original series which features in the main Sailor Scouts in Hot Topic stores. These are not new and they are not exclusive to Hot Topic. I have found these on other sites that sell Sailor Moon merchandise, as well as on Amazon. On other sites, these are sold individually and not as blind boxes, but they tend to cost a little more. Hot Topic sells these at $10.50 a piece.

[Sailor Neptune Twinkle Dolly de-boxed]

Out of the box, she is adorable! Sailor Neptune sits upon her wand and is depicted in a Chibi form. She also has a strap attached to her, so she can be a charm for a phone or something of that sort.

[back of the Sailor Neptune Twinkle Dolly]

The back is detailed as well, which always pleases me. Nothing says "we're lazy and we don't care" than a company who does not pay attention to the fine detail of their products, so I'm glad to see Bandai did a good job with this. They painted her well and it's obvious they cared. The back detail is just as nice as the front. However, as you can see in the picture above, she has some black printing on the back of her head. The printing is a code and a copyright. It's a bit annoying, but not too distracting. It would have been nice if they could have left that off, but everyone wants credit, right?

Leave all comments below! Hopefully I'll be able to collect the rest of these later on and if I do I will definitely post about them!

Comikaze 2015 Haul

Now here's the part where I show you all the great stuff I collected at Comikaze 2015! I already posted about my time at the convention and how I met a lot of really cool artists. This blog post is just to show my Comikaze haul!

[IDW's Fiendship Is Magic subscription covers by Sara Richard]

Here are the 4 subscription covers that were drawn by Sara Richard. If you look at the "P" in the Pony part of the titles you'll see her signature where she signed them! There is a 5th cover featuring Rainbow Dash, but she didn't have it at the convention. It was still really great to meet her! She was super nice!

[art & Niobe collected at Comikaze]

From Left to Right: 

• Sailor Moon art print by Amber Harris. This particular Sailor Moon fan art really caught my eye. It is well done, but also depicts a version of Sailor Moon in a more stronger and sassier character. 
• Niobe comic by Amandla Stenberg and Sebastian Jones, art by Ashley A. Woods. This comic has been gaining a lot of notoriety lately and I had to check it out! The people of Stranger Comics were really awesome to talk to at the convention!
• "Memories of a Kitty" by Sean Danconia. My friend and I passed Sean Danconia's table and saw kawaii Hello Kitty art! We had to have a print! Danconia's work is amazingly detailed and unique! All of his art is something to take in!

[fan art from Comikaze]

• Garnet, chibi Miku, and Bill Cipher are by Melissa Douglas. I had caught her work before at other conventions earlier this year, but hadn't bought anything. This time I snagged some cuties! She seemed to have a lot more art at her table at this convention too. Her Garnet print is what really caught my eye!
• Sailor Mars by Melody Wang. I had previously purchased this print and for a reason unknown, I cannot find it, so I had to re-buy it.  Her work is awesome and she is in the process of creating every sailor scout!

[DMC by Darryl McDaniels]

This is the print and the graphic novel from Darryl McDaniels of Run-DMC. I had the pleasure of meeting him and getting a photo with him. He was very sweet!

[My Little Pony art by DrawPonies]

Here are the 3 prints I bought from the artist known as: DrawPonies. His creative pony art drew me in, but it was his charming personality that sold me!

[rainbow narwhal by Bellzi]

I'm not even going to hide the fact that my Rainbow Narwhal by Bellzi is my absolute favorite souvenir from Comikaze! The rainbow narwhal was on display at Bellzi's booth and I really wanted it! Turns out though that one cannot just simply buy the Rainbow Narwhal; no, it has to be won! They are put into mystery bags that cost $40 and there's a chance one will be in there.......and there's a chance that it won't be. Well, I was gifted a mystery bag with a rainbow narwhal in it and I couldn't be happier! I love her! I named her Natasha and she's been a highlight in my plushy collection! Even as I carried her around at the convention I received a lot of positive and exciting comments from people who saw her. - These rainbow narwhals have been at other conventions that Bellzi has attended and it is the same situation where they are put in mystery bags and there is a chance to win one. These are not even listed on their website. So, if you want one, your best bet is to get to a convention that Bellzi is attending!

Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo 2015 - Photos

I already posted about my trip to Stan Lee's Comikaze and gave my opinions and thoughts on both Day 1 and Day 2. Here are just some extra photos from the convention that I wanted to share and that didn't really fit in with the other posts! Enjoy! Feel free to leave comments below and share your photos with me!

Day 1

[myself with a cow]

[us with a plaid fish]

[myself with a giant Funko Chewie figure]

[myself with Agent Afronaut]

[us with a cute pink Deadpool cosplayer]

[myself with R2D2]

[us with a Luke Cage cosplayer]

[myself as Spider-Gwen]

[myself with Selly outside of the convention center]

Day 2

[Selly with a Predator cosplayer]

[us with Raphael from TMNT]

[myself with a lolita cosplayer -help identifying her character, please!]

Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo - Day 2

[us with an Ice King cosplayer]

Day 2 of Comikaze, for us, was spent mostly mingling with cosplayers and catching up with people we had met on Day 1. I cosplayed as Spider Gwen again and my friend Selly was in her Spider-Man suit like the day before!

[more spider cosplay]

Honestly, I love the 2nd or 3rd days of cons, because I feel much more relaxed than the first day and it's less about exploring the convention and more about the social aspect. I met a lot of cool cosplayers and was able to make a better connection with a lot of artists and writers I had met on Day 1.

[myself with Agent Afronaut and Darryl McDaniels]

I was able to meet Darryl McDaniels aka DMC (from Run-DMC). He was super nice and a great guy to talk to. I look forward to reading his work!

[us with TMNT cosplayers]

After mingling in the main convention room, we headed back to the South Hall before leaving to see what was going on there. There were tons of actors and cosplayers there for autographs. It seemed like just about every generation of Power Rangers were represented there by 1 or more actors from the series. We also ran into a group who had some really great Ninja Turtle cosplay going on!

Honestly, Day 2 was pretty chill. I don't have as many pictures to show off here, but what I can say is that we had a lot of fun! I would definitely consider Comikaze one of my top conventions that I've attended and I would definitely go back next year! The atmosphere and ambiance was perfect and I know a lot of that has to do with the organization putting on the con, so I would say Comikaze did an excellent job! I didn't attend Day 3, because I left for home that day. I'll post all my convention goodies soon! 

Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo - Day 1

My last convention of the year was Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. The convention started on October-30 and ended November-1. This was my first time ever attending this convention and it is still a relatively new convention, as this is just the 5th time it was held. It seems to be gaining lots of attention, while the attendance goes up every year and the guest list is both impressive and large.

[part of my Comikaze 2015 group before the convention]

Thursday, October-29, my group and I picked up our badges. The convention wasn't open yet, but they allowed guests to get their badges.

[outside of the LA Convention Center for Comikaze]

We walked every day to the convention from the apartment complex we were staying at. It was about a block away, if that. It really was not far at all and not a bad little commute. This was the first time at the LA Convention Center for everyone in my group. This was also my first time really cosplaying to the fullest. I put in a lot of work to look like Spider Gwen, including spray painting shoes! I was really pleased how it turned out and I was really glad to have my friend, Selly, in costume too. We were the only two in our group that made any attempt to cosplay.

[Spider Gwen, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Spider-Man at Comikaze]

I really liked the setup of the convention and a big part of that is the way the convention center is laid out. There is plenty of space outside of the actual building as well as inside too. The other aspect that I really liked about the con was the atmosphere. Everyone just seemed super friendly and social. I have been to a few cons this year where I felt it was hard to engage with people and it seemed like groups just kept to themselves, but at Comikaze it was like everyone was there to mingle and have fun, which is what a con should really be -fans coming together to appreciate and enjoy the arts they love.

[us with artist Melody Wang aka Chukairi]

On with the convention.......... The first thing we did was go see my friend and favorite artist, Melody Wang. (You may also know her online and on social media as Chukairi.) It is always great to see her beautiful face and also I had to re-buy her Sailor Mars print, because for some reason I can't find the original one I bought from her. 

***Side Note: Melody is working on creating her own version of the Sailor Scouts from the Sailor Moon anime/manga series and I'm collecting them! She has completed Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and she is currently working on Sailor Mercury! I can't wait until she completes my favorite- Sailor Neptune!

[myself with Sara Richard and her Fiendship Is Magic sub covers]

Since we were already on the artist side of the room, we just continued down that path. The main convention room was split; all of the artists were on the left side and all of the dealers were on the right side. Not long after we started down the artist aisles, I came across a woman by the name of Sara Richard. It just so happens that she is the the artist of the subscription cover variants for the new mini series, Fiendship Is Magic, from IDW Publishing. The covers feature 5 of the ponies in a Dia De Los Muertos look. Unfortunately, she only had 4 of the covers there, but I was more than happy to buy what she had. She also was kind enough to autograph them and take a picture with me. I just have to work on getting the Rainbow Dash cover separately.

[us with artist Sean Danconia]

Not long after that, Selly and I found ourselves separated from our group, but we discovered Sean Danconia! He had adorable and amazingly detailed Hello Kitty prints for sale! He was a really cool guy to talk to and actually all of his art is really detailed. If you ever come across his work you should really take a moment to take it all in. Each art piece he had displayed has a lot of intricate pieces going on to create just one artistic print. He was kind enough to autograph the pictures for us (the smallest autograph I have ever seen/received) and take a picture with us! The funny part of this story is that later that night I realized that I first saw his art on NeonMob and had been collecting it for a day before meeting him!

[myself with the artist known as: DrawPonies]

I also had the pleasure of meeting this awesome guy in the picture above who goes by the alias, DrawPonies. We were just walking by and of course I was drawn in by the fact that he had MLP art! He sold me with his winning personality! He was seriously a fabulous guy to talk to! Very witty and humorous! I bought a few of his prints which he was nice enough to sign and then take a pic with me. I hope to come across him again! 

[myself with a giant Optimus Prime statue by Loyal Subjects]

The entire back half of the main convention room was dedicated to Stan Lee, Funko, and Loyal Subjects. All 3 brands had exclusives or debuts at the convention. Most importantly, Funko and Loyal Subjects had giant versions of some of their vinyls, which means: PHOTO OPS!

[myself next to a giant Raphael statue by Loyal Subjects]

Loyal Subjects was debuting their TMNT blind boxes at the convention and had a giant Raphael by their area. They also had several other figures and toys for sale.

[myself next to a giant replica of a Collector Corps box]

So, of course, I had to go to the Collector Corps area and take a picture next to the giant box! Notice that Star-Lord is on the box and that is what the December box will look like, because the theme is "Guardians of the Galaxy". AND before anyone says anything, my October box will be up on this blog soon! I've just been super busy and under weather! -I know, there's always something!

[myself in front of a giant Funko Groot]

Collector Corps is powered by Funko and so of course they had several of their other products on display, including giant replicas of their vinyls. They also had exclusive Stan Lee Pop! Figures for sale.

[myself with the Gudetama staff]

Towards the end of the day, my group wanted to head back, but I couldn't go without seeing the debut of Gudetama from Sanrio! So, we had to head to the South Hall, which was a much smaller area of the convention center.

[us with the Gudetama display]

Gudetama is the new character from the Japanese company, Sanrio. He is an egg who shows many emotions. While the company had already started making merchandise for the character before Comikaze, he was officially debuted in public at this years Comikaze.

[Princess Tiana's dress on display]

Besides hosting the Gudetama event, the South Hall was the main area for autographs from celebrities and cosplayers. It also had other companies and groups with displays for cosplay and actual cosplaying. They had the main stage for the Hot Topic events in there as well. 

That concludes my post on the 1st day of Comikaze. Stay tuned, as I'll be posting Day 2 soon! Questions, comments, and feedback can be left below!