Hey guys! As you all know, I have been going to a lot of cons this summer and I recently went to two that I haven't attended before. These cons are both still fairly new and don't have much guests appearing at them. Fist, I will talk about ConBravo, let's get started!
I initially wasn't going to go to this event because I had a wedding to go to the previous day. I thought I would be tired, but I wasn't, so we headed to the event a little late (around 3 hours late). I had no goal at this con, mainly because I didn't know any of the guests there (they were all youtubers that I was unaware of) so I was just following my friend to see how the con was. My friends goal was to meet the Black Nerd and he did just that at the TMNT panel. The TMNT panel that was hosted by the Black Nerd and his colleagues was handled really well. They talked about the good memories:
And the bad memories:
I didn't take much pics at this con because it was fairly small and I wasn't there for a long period, so taking pictures wasn't really on my mind. In addition to that, when I found the game room, I didn't leave that area. I had low expectations going into this con, so when I found the game room and it had a Street Fighter and King of Fighters arcade cab, I was like:
At first, I thought you had to pay 25 cents to use the arcade cabinets but then I found out you didn't have to pay anything! This was pretty awesome because I doubt people would've been playing otherwise. Some of the arcade cabs that were there were: Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter 3, Mortal Kombat 3 and a Neo-Geo collection one.
They also had a set up for Ultra Street Fighter 4, Killer Instinct and CVS2. It was my first time playing Killer Instinct and it seems like a fairly easy game to jump into (I was beating people that played the game before). I still don't know how to play that game but it was fun and the people that I played were all really nice. The guys that were good at fighting games were pretty much crowded around the Third Strike cab (I got some wins and losses there).
You could tell whoever was in charge of setting up this area was a big fighting game fan and knew exactly how to set up a gaming area. There were all types of games including: dancing, mixing, fighting, retro and the list goes on.
Now I will show some of the stuff I saw in the video game area:
This is the E.T videogame that is famous for being terrible. I played it for about 3 minutes and couldn't get out that area. I have to say they might be right about this one lol.
Of course I had to hit the classic SF2 for Super Nintendo. Props to the guys that still have a working SNES from back in the day (I don't sadly).
This was the retro area that had SNES, Atari, PS2 and other retro systems running the classics.
This was a mixing game that I didn't get to try out but it looked awesome! Overall, ConBravo did exceed my expectations because of the one gaming area. This con had the best gaming area I have seen at any of these events. The con itself is small but for 20 dollars admission, there's not much to complain about. This is a con I would visit again for the games. Hopefully they get more guests that I know of in the future.
That's pretty much my experience at ConBravo. I will try to get my post about Unplugged Expo (the second con I attended recently) up soon. Until then,
Hey guys! What's up? I know it's been a couple of weeks since Anime North finished but I've just been too busy to update this thing in a timely manner. Still, I would like to cover my Anime North experience!
I wasn't planning to go to Anime North this year but decided last minute that I would go for Sunday. Anime North is a really popular convention that is over-packed whenever I go. The time you have to wait in line and the space you have to walk around could both use some improvement. That aside, I did have fun at this expo and got some really good deals on books. When I first entered the con, I saw an anime kigurumi booth and had to take a pic!
I left and eventually came back to their booth to get a group shot:
Their booth was called 'Rise the Pig Studios' so check them out for some cool outfits. While walking around I ran into two people I had to take a picture with (Lord Zedd and Deadpool)
Unfortunately the Lord Zedd picture came out blurry but it was cool to see someone dressed up as him nonetheless. I also thought the Kingdom Hearts x Deadpool concept was a great idea for a costume. Next up, I'll cover some of the cool items that I ran into. First up are two horror collectibles that have Jason and Freddy as women? Or women cos-playing as Jason and Freddy? Either way......they look great!
I also ran into some Power Ranger items. I didn't buy any of them for one reason or another (size, price, not the version I wanted, etc..) Still, I got to support the Power Rangers and show off those products.
As many of you know, I am a big fighting game fan. As such, I took some pics of characters from different fighting games. We got Shermie (one of my favourite character designs), Poison and Akira (I think Virtua Fighter doesn't get as much attention as it should).
I also found a figure for my favourite X-Men (Jubilee) but held off because I think I can get a better price down the road. I was surprise they made a figure for her since she isn't the most popular character and I will definitely be getting it down the road.
My cousin was searching for this Pikachu x Charizard plushie the whole con but unfortunately couldn't find the real one for a good price. I have to say, I wasn't too impressed with the prices because I thought they would be better on Sunday. According to my people; the prices were better for certain things but not for much.
Next up is just a batch of photos I took of things that looked cool:
I was surprised to see an Aeris figure worth 1000 dollars! I'd be more surprised if someone bought it but then again FF7 is the most popular in the series. After browsing around the con we decided to head to the Sheraton hotel because that's where the gaming goes down.
If I was staying in a hotel for Anime North then this would definitely be the spot for me. They had a bunch of TV's set up for different games (Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Smash Bros, Miku Dance Something, etc...) They also had a projector that had a live tournaments shown on it.
There were also Indie developers showing off their games in the main lobby. The first game is a puzzle game reminiscent to megaman and the second game is one where you have to work with your team-mate to keep the ball in your area for a certain amount of time. Both these games were fun to try out and it was nice that we got to play them before they were released.
They also had a bunch of rooms that were dedicated to certain things (one room was Rockband another was retro games etc...). I was surprised to see this room which had a DDR machine aswell as a Japanese DJ game that I never seen before! Not only that but they had a mixer game that seemed to be from Japan (if anyone knows the name of the games then feel free to let me know!)
We eventually went back to the con and decided to do one more walk around before we left. During that time. my friend noticed a black ranger picture and we decided to head over there to find out more about it. We found out that this artist was Kurt Lehner and he was commissioned to do some work for the second black ranger. After talking to him some more we found out he designed Franklin the turtle and did some work on Gargoyles. After talking to him for a while I decided to show that support and pick up some of his work (had to get the black ranger because of Power Rangers and of course Gargoyles because I watched that all the time back in the day).
I also picked up a bunch of books that were a dollar each! This was the best deal at the con and I was surprised there were so much good titles left over.
That was pretty much all I did at Anime North. It was a fun convention and I saw a lot of really great costumes. There are some areas the event organizers can work on like space and line management but all-in-all it was a good experience. That's it for now though, until next time!
So continuing on from my last post, after we got our free comics we went to the Sportcard & Memorabillia Expo in Mississauga. The entrance fee was 12 dollars and we just went as a spur of the moment type of thing without knowing too much about the event. There were a bunch of notable guys there like Joe Carter and Mick Foley but unfortunately I didn't have anything for Foley to sign and by the time I found something at the expo that he could sign (his book) he was gone.
If your a collector then this is definitely a place you should at least check out. They had a lot of rare items and old school collectibles at a reasonable price. First let's start off with some of the wrestling collectibles I saw.
I use to have the Hulk Hogan figure at the top left when I was a kid even though I was more a Macho Man fan (luckily, I got to meet him when I was a kid). I didn't pick up any wrestling memorabilia but I did get one thing that was wrestling related:
I got to meet Virgil and get his autograph. He talked about how he got pick-pocketed back in the day and how it's good I kept my wallet in a safe place. He was pretty cool and we talked for a good while. I picked up a bunch of other stuff as well but I only took a picture of a couple of them:
I picked up one item in each of those photos. Could you guess which ones they are? Well if not then here are the answers:
First pic: Family Matters/Full House card deck (don't judge me lol)
Second pic: Power Rangers playing cards
Third pic: Power Rangers trading card set
Fourth pic: Sunshine Girl playing cards (had like 12 decks in that bundle)
Things that I picked up that have no picture: Dragon Ball Z, Yo MTV Rap and Basketball Upper Decker Trading cards.
The guys that had a Beckett booth also gave me this free magazine (shout out to them for hooking me up with it):
My most important purchase that day was for my Tyson Boxing glove. A couple months back I won a contest to meet Mike Tyson and go to his show. I got a signed glove but didn't have anywhere to put it. While walking the showroom floor I saw a case that would be perfect for it. It was a Stanley Cup case but I already knew that it would be perfect for the glove. So without further adieu, here it is:
Now onto some of the cool collectibles I ran into while walking:
I remember those NHL Muppets as a kid. I believe they were being sold at McDonald's back in the day but I could be wrong about that. Still, seeing them brought back some memories. Then we have a card table that had a bunch of cool sets like the Coca Cola and Pamela Anderson ones. Next up is a TMNT lunch box. I use to have a lunch box similar to that one as a kid but it was a Super Mario one (I made a friend back in the day because we had the same lunch box lol). I had to take a picture of the Pez dispensers; I always think about that Seinfeld episode whenever I see them. The American Pie set is worth a lot because you have a chance of getting a signed Elvis card within the set and that would be worth A LOT of money if you hit the jackpot. Lastly we have the Rock'n Roll set and I took a picture because MC Hammer was on the cover! Next up, I want to cover some of the 'peculiar/why does this exist' things I came across but before I do that I have to show a picture of something. I couldn't decide if this was cool or deserved to be in the 'why does this exist' section so I'll just leave it here:
So yeah...moving onto some of the stuff I had to take a picture of because I found it funny that they were actually manufactured:
First is the Justin Bieber trading cards (wouldn't surprise me if they sold a lot...smh). Then we got the 'All My Children' and 'American Idol' trading cards (my grandma would probably love those lol). Lastly, we got the Nsync and Ricky Martin trading cards (I was on the lookout for Michael Bolton trading cards after seeing these but no luck!). I would go to this expo again in the future, it's a good experience for the price.
After the expo my friend and I went to go watch the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight. Prior to going, I was at a family gathering and wasn't sure if I would be able to make it but my friends went early to reserve a table for us so I left my family gathering at a reasonable time so that I was able to watch the fight and spend time with the fam.
Going into the fight, I was cheering for Pacquiao to win because he's an aggressive fighter and his story about changing his ways to follow Christ is an awesome message. Also, when I saw this video on the Street Fighter YouTube page, It got me even more hype to see him fight:
Did I think he would win? I thought he had a chance but I knew Mayweather had the advantage (he is the champ and undefeated after-all). The first couple of rounds it looked good for Pacquiao because he was being the aggressor and landing his shots. As time went on though, you could see Mayweather keep him out and check him with a jab every time he tried to get in. Pacquiao was landing his shots when he would corner Mayweather by the ropes and give him no room to move. Unfortunately, he didn't keep him there and make good use of his opportunities. Mayweather won that match decisively and I find it funny how everyone is making memes out of Mayweather for hugging and running during the match when he's known to be a defensive boxer. What I find even more odd is that Pacquiao honestly thinks he won that fight. It was clear as day that he lost but still some people think he got robbed. Also, no one in Pacquiao's corner told him he was losing that match? I just don't get it but I for one wasn't disappointed in the fight. Mayweather stuck to his plan and won by keeping Pacquiao out. I think a lot of people are just disappointed because Manny didn't win and Mayweathers style isn't the best to watch but it is effective. What's funny is, after the decision was called, people were booing in the restaurant and some guy flipped his chair over; The place cleared out within 2 minutes of the decision.
My friend and I were one of the few people that stayed back to listen to the interviews. I don't think we'll see a fight of that calibur in the future but I would be down to watch a rematch if it happened. There is that whole shoulder injury as well (I'm surprise they would allow him to fight with an injury like that). I wouldn't use that as an excuse for Manny though since he knew what he was getting into and he should've reported it earlier if it was an issue.
That's pretty much it. Went to Free Comic Book Day, Sport Card Expo, a family gathering and Boston Pizza to watch the fight all in the same day. Good times, good times. Now you can see why I don't have much time to update this blog lol. Next blog entry I will talk about my first tournament and the Qbert and Ztrip concert I went to this week.
