My Weekend at the Atlantic City Boardwalk Con
This past weekend I got a chance to go to the first Atlantic City Boardwalk Con! You would know this already if you follow me on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.
FRIDAY
We got there on a Friday, around 5pm, and I picked up my Press Pass. Having a press pass is a lot of fun.
The convention ended at 7pm, so we had time to walk around just to see what was there. I was very happy to see that Drew Blank, an artist I follow on Etsy, was there. I have previously bought art work from him before online, so it was really cool to meet him in person. I’m also pretty positive that my friend bought me something of his for my birthday…but I’ll have to wait 2 weeks for that.
Other highlights from Friday included meeting the artist from Super Emo Friends, and meeting Jen from DumbBows (which will soon be an Etsy Store of the Week).
We got to play the new game, Stan Lee’s Hero Command and I got to meet the creator, Jeff Hardy. Watch the trailer:
I also ended up winning two movie tickets from the Movie Buff booth, which is a movie trivia game based right out of Hammonton, NJ.
We also got to see some amazing vehicles from movies and TV, including the Ecto-1:
And the DeLorean:
AND my friend got interview by two puppets aka Stanley and Jax from the Ultimate Nerd-Ament. They asked me but I was camera shy…
SATURDAY
Saturday was a lot busier at the convention. We saw an amazing panel called “Twisted Toons” which had some of the top voice actors in the business: Rob Paulsen, Maurice LeMarche, Jess Harnell, Tress MacNeille, Jim Cummings (Winnie the Pooh), Jeremy Shade(Finn, Adventure Time) & Josh Keaton (Green Lantern). They ended up reading different scenes from Avengers using some of their cartoon voices. Hearing the cast of Animaniacs be Avengers was so cool. There were moments I just closed by eyes to take it all in.
While we were on the floor, I got to see Darryl McDaniels, aka DMC, perform “Tricky”. It was random and amazing. Did you know he loves comics and even created his own? Well, now you do.
I also got to meet the NJ Ghostbusters who do great events and raise money for wonderful causes all around New Jersey. Like on Facebook!
We also went to a panel which we THOUGHT was going to be the Flash, but ended up being cancelled and replaced last minute with WILLIAM SHATNER. So that was amazing! The panel was so small because it was so last minute, which made it more intimate. William Shatner is a class act, I have to say. Picture is from my husband’s instagram.
After Shatner, we check out the Comic Book Men Panel which had Bryan Johnson, Mike Zapcic, Ming Chen and was unofficially hosted by Brian Quinn from Impractical Jokes. It was one of the most unorganized panels (which was on Con’s fault, not the Comic Book Men), and advertised Jason Mewes (who was not there), but was definitely one of the most entertaining panels at ACBC. They ended up doing a Q & A and it was a lot of fun.
SUNDAY
On the last day of the Con we checked out the Guardians of the Galaxy Panel with Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn and Gregg Henry. It was another unorganized panel, so Michael Rooker took charge and became the moderator for a panel that ended up becoming a Q & A. Most of the questions went to Rooker any way, so it was a good thing that he had most of the control on the mike. It was a great panel, but it’s also a little awkward since no questions went to Gregg Henry(who played the Grandfather to StarLord).
Checking out the #GuardiansOfTheGalaxy panel at @DoACBC pic.twitter.com/8hnwv7hCiM
— NJ Isn’t Boring! (@njisntboring) May 17, 2015
After the panel, we went down to the floor to make sure we saw all there was to see before we left. I ended up purchasing a Baymax/Wonderwoman mash up print from modHERO, who I’ve purchased from before at the Asbury Park Comic Con (when it was called that).
My friend purchased an autograph and picture with the cast of Animaniacs so I tagged along and got to meet them too. I spoke to Jess Harnell, who asked me my name, and asked me if I spelt it with an I or a Y and THEN said to me in Wakko’s voice “Nice to meet you Cyd with a Y”. It was AMAZING.
OVERALL
I really enjoyed the convention BUT they definitely had some first year kinks that need to be worked out for next year. Throughout the weekend panels kept being moved all all over the AC convention center, which was super confusing and had people running around. The fact that some celebrities did not show up is not their fault, but having people check their website for updates while they were at the convention was kind of annoying.
I also did not understand why you had to spend money to see Kevin Smith’s panels. From what I heard it ended up being a 3 hour panel, so I’m kind of okay with missing it, but I don’t know why that was separate. Whose decision was that? Hmm…
I was bummed that Stan Lee has to cancel last minute, especially since this was his convention, but I hope everything is okay with him. Although he was not there, his image was EVERYWHERE. We enjoyed seeing the Stan Lee museum!
The convention’s attendance was low, so I think they need to do more advertising next year for it. I seemed to be the only one who knew about it more than 2 months in advance. Weird. Because the attendance was low, it was awesome walking around without being trampled and seeing every panel up close.
I hope they do it again next year! View more of my pictures from the weekend HERE. More professional photos (not from my iphone) coming soon!
