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It's October in New York City again and for thousands upon thousands of pop culture junkies, comic book fans, gamers, toy freaks, cosplayers and movie addicts that means one thing - New York City Comic Con. The annual event, put on by the folks at Reed Pop, is by far the biggest event of its kind on the East Coast and the second biggest convention of its kind in the country. Once again held at (and completely filling) the massive Jacob Javitz Convention Center in Manhattan, the even began Thursday, October 9th, and it continues through tomorrow, October 12th.
Below is the first of four photo galleries highlighting some of the events, dealers, guests and 'everything else' that makes this convention worth going to time and time again. Yes, it's hectic. Yes, there are long lines and ridiculous crowds and YES, someone will inevitably step on your foot every five minutes, but New Yorkers are used to that. More important than that is that the convention, just like last year, remains a positive, friendly and inspiring experience for scores of attendees. Reed Pop does a very good job with crowd control and with keeping things organized and running smoothly and for a convention as big as this one is, NYCC runs pretty damn smoothly.
But enough about that, let's get down to it. Upon entering the main convention hall, if you look to your left you can't help but notice the MASSIVE Batman logo hanging over top of the suit display that DC Comics was sponsoring. More on that in a bit but here's the hanging logo…
…and then when you turn to the other side, it's hard not to be impressed with the size and scope of this event. That Walking Dead banner has got to be fifty feet wide!
Depending on what you're after your choice in entrances may vary. Personally, I always enjoy wandering 'The Block' which is typically where the oddball toy, art and fashion vendors hang out and peddle their wares. Here you can find anything from angry looking Totoro art prints…
…to Swatch watches!
The vendors here have got all sorts of great stuff, like prints featuring Emo Hitler framed in pink alongside Conan, Mr. T., Spock and Boba Fett.
They also host signings and events in this space. The Art Spoke booth, for example, had an event with Nimit Malavia planned for Saturday afternoon.
This part of the con is just fun to walk. You might run into a Mighty Ducks werewolf…
…or you might be tempted by art prints featuring Doctor Who, Wolverine, Daryl from The Walking Dead or… Bill Murray.
If you're into fairies for whatever reason, this is the place to stock up on wands, fairy dust, elf ears and horns!
Moving towards the main convention hall it was neat to see the good people at Kino set up and selling Blu-ray copies of classics like Metropolis and Nosferatu but also offering up some of the cool recent releases from Scorpion Releasing like Stone's Seizure and Killer Fish.
Troma always seems to have a presence at the con, and this year was no exception. They had a few plush Toxie's left over from the San Diego Con available alongside plenty of DVDs and Blu-ray's and Lloyd Kaufman did a signing in the afternoon but probably more impressive was the Toxie busts that were on display.
If you needed more proof that this is more than just a comic book event, well, Medieval Times had a booth setup.
And check out the Space Wolf booth. What's going on there? I do not know. I got in a little early and no one was there yet but it definitely involves space and wolves.
SMS was on hand too, showing off their licensed Star Wars headphones with a little help from a certain droid.
The people are freakyelegant.com had a booth set up featuring…. this.
No idea what was happening there but Stone Cold looks like he's in trouble. The biggest display in The Block area belonged to none other than WETA. Peter Jackson's New Zealand based effects company had some seriously cool stuff going on, particularly for Lord Of The Rings fans. Not only did the huge dragon head move its eyes very subtly, but they had some neat promo stuff on display for both the LOTR/Hobbit related properties AND the upcoming 2015 release of a new Thunderbirds movie that they're involved in.
Out in the main hall was an interesting display for MegaBots. What's MegaBots? I didn't know either until I stopped and talked to the friendly guys at the booth. It's basically paintball with gigantic, authentic, functioning mechs! You get to sit inside one of these massive steel robots and blast your opponent using the gigantic paintball cannons that your robot is equipped with. It's in the planning stages and there is going to be a crowd sourcing campaign going on for it - this looks pretty great…
Moving through the hall there were cosplay costume vendors…
...and an IFC booth selling DVDs and Blu-rays and promoting their theatrical and OnDemand release of The Babadook!
Maybe you need a phrenology bust or a statue of a fairy holding something that may or may not be used as a candle holder? NYCC has got you covered.
Of course, there are scores of comic and movie/TV celebrities on hand for signings but if you don't walk the entire show, you'll miss out on booths manned by Real American Heroes like Sgt. Slaughter!
There are custom art vendors aplenty, the Eslinger Gallery in particular having some very cool stuff on display.
At the Previews booth there were some great toys on display (more on that later) as well as some awesome latex masks for characters like the Creeper, the Killer Klowns, the aliens from They Live, Evil Dead characters and more.
Some of these banners though… they're very big!
GM was on hand to, in conjunction with Dark Horse Comics, promote the Chevy Volt. Electric cars are rad, and so is the Aliens/Predator/Prometheus thing that DH has going on this year.
Moving back into the main hall, be on the lookout for Daleks!!!
And that Batman suit display mentioned earlier? Some neat stuff on display there, including this giant statue of a sad Batman. Tried to get a clear, unobstructed picture of it but no dice, there was always some dude standing beside and posing.
This year Reed Pop was savvy enough to section off an outdoor section where there were some food trucks set up amongst other things. More impressive than the food trucks where the giant inflatable Teen Titans displays!
One of the more interesting vendors in the convention were these guys! They were all dressed as Spider-Man and were selling flasks that looked like old school Nintendo cartridges.
But yeah, it's New York, it's a big con. So be prepared to stand in line…
More tomorrow and into next week, check back then.
