Thank you for joining me in my final convention of January I attend. I was given the opportunity to attend this convention as media, the first time I've received the honor and hopefully not the last. Pasadena Comic Con, formerly known as Pasadena comic and toy show, was held on the last Sunday of January in the Pasadena Convention Center. The organizer of the event does multiple conventions throughout the year each with their own theme and topics. If you want a similar experience their next event is Simi Valley Toy and Comic Fest on February 5th.
Ticket price: $12 online, $15 at door.
Parking: Free - $12, depends on how much you want to walk.
Pasadena Comic Con is a great event if you have never gone to a Comic based convention before. It is a scaled version any of the larger conventions. You will be able to see everything in the day and can walk out having met many voice actors and characters who made your childhood. I believe that's what Comic cons are about, accepting your inner childhood and exploring the many things you grew up with. I walked into PCC and was greeted with two cars, unlike the Itashi cars from Anime Impulse, these were based on the Jurassic Park franchise and the Toy Story Franchise.
You are greeted by security guards in the entrance and enter into a small hallway. There was a line of people getting their wristbands and buying their tickets. This is the first time I've seen an event where there were vendors outside the exhibit hall. The hallway had a variety of booths selling art prints, crafts, and memorabilia. There were also tables advertising some Southern California fan clubs and the other events the organizer will have later in the year. At the far end of the hallway you will see the entrance to the main hall, full of comics, vintage toys, video games, art, and everything you've wanted to own growing up.
Unlike other conventions that I have attended there were no clear divisions of what booths sold. Artists were next to Comic Book vendors, who were next to people selling crafts. If you were there only for buying comics you would have to search the whole convention to make sure you don't miss anything. I found some amazing old Pokémon packs, some toys that were older than me, lots of amazing
artists selling their handmade items. Seeing the entirety of vendors will take you 2-3 hours in this conventions. The convention only used one hall and the adjacent ballroom was used as a panel space and was easy to miss.
The back section of the main hall had all the guests the convention invited, celebrities and artists of many different genres, shows, cartoons, and games. The average price of a signature was $40 and you could get it authenticated onsite by JSA for $10. There were 62 guests that you could meet, interact with, take pictures with, or get an autograph from. As I mentioned earlier this is your chance to meet so many of the celebrities and artist that made your childhood happen. For almost all guests the lines were very short, under 15 minute wait. I had a fun time meeting the voice of GIR and Zim from Invader Zim, and the Barney himself, Bob West. The only exception was Johnny Yong Bosch, who voices too many characters to count. His line stretched the entire top wall of the convention and was a multi hour long wait. We met an artist, Moses Chittun, who was waiting in line to get one of his giant canvas that had some
amazing artworks signed.
Comic Cons are also a great opportunity to dress up as your favorite character. While we didn't meet too many people who were in costume we made sure to take pictures of some great ones.
One major downside of the convention is that is has very limited food option. Other conventions invite food trucks or invite some food vendors but this one didn't. You could only buy food from the Convention Center which led to a long line down the middle. Food was allowed into the convention so you could bring food from outside. You can definitely go out and eat something nearby also, the location of the convention center is convenient to so many delicious food options like King Taco, The Stand burgers, Urth Cafe, Yard House.
I would give this convention a solid 8/10, it is a great introduction into Comic Conventions and a price point that reflects on that. There weren't any name brand sellers but the variety of items and merchandise you could get is also worth the cost of attendance. This was also one of the easiest places to get autographs that I have seen since there weren't a massive amount of attendees. At other conventions the line for Johnny Yong Bosch would be twice or three times as long and would take you the whole day. I recommend people to give this convention a try and to visit the other ones this organizer has planned.
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