WonderCon 2008
WonderCon Report 2008
WonderCon was a great show this year. The weather was windy & rainy in San Francisco and it was not over a holiday weekend, but that did not stop the Attendees from coming. Saturday & Sunday were so packed that they ran out of badges! Things were good on Friday also, considering it was a workday. There were very good panels to see upstairs on the Mezzanine on each of the days. The stars of Get Smart and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles appeared. Many comic related writers & artists had wonderful panels. There was an unusual movie premiere at the Metreon for Journey to the Center of the Earth It was an extended trailer in 3D, and the star, Brandon Frasier spoke at the end. The US premiere of Appleseed: Ex Machina and Justice League: New Frontier were held on site in the big room.
WonderCon had its fourth Masquerade. Saturday was Hall costume day and Masquerade night. I have posted a picture link for the Hall costumes (13) and for the Masquerade (17). I did make up a name for any character I did not know, sorry. IF you see a picture of you or your group feel free to contact me for the original un-cropped jpeg(s)
(photos removed after 6 months)
The food at WonderCon is superior to other conventions, inside the center and across the street at the Westfield & Metreon Malls. We had many a good meal that was not too pricey. Asqew Grill in Westfield skewers their meat & veggies, applies some fire and it is allll good after that. Yummy!
There was a small Games section, where attendees could bring their own games or play one of the four demo games. That area was often blocked by the fans lined up for 3 very popular artists tables next to Games.
The Exhibits floor had lots of Artists, Small Press, big Companies and Vendors. The Artists & small companies were diverse. I bought a few things from several of them. The nice thing about WC is that a person has time to look at an item and talk to the person selling it without being crushed...most of the time.
Exhibits Floor Finds
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One lovely woman was handing out gold Sumo Wrestling stickers and art pens to promote the US events starting in Los Angeles. http://www.sakuraofamerica.com/sumo
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I bought an awesome plush Mustache with a mustache (Yes, I said mustache twice) and a Ninja from http://www.shawnimals.com
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I purchased a collection of snarky animal comic strips called Here Come the Pixipets from Piximix http://stores.lulu.com/piximix
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I snagged 3 figures: Death Jr, The Seep & Pandora. I only wanted Miss Pandora but the other figures were a good price from Gentle Giant.
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I bought Minimates: a Star Trek Spock & Uhura. I also found a loose Storm in her black costume.
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A friend bought something from the Pea booth. Their play on words shirts are the cutest things: Pea Pea Dance, Pea in the Snow, Pea in the Wind etc. http://www.conducthappiness.com
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I found the illusive Stargate SG-1 Serpent Guard with Gate piece. I had been trying for months to finish my Stargate and the piece was just too expensive on eBay (4x as much). Yeah WonderCon!
SWAG REPORT for WonderCon 2008
(photos removed after 6 months)
Exhibits Floor Freebies There were Freebie tables at WonderCon. Three tables for flyers, stickers and bookmarks. One table for company swag. It had a lot of great movie posters & a few buttons. Several items were at the individual Booths or the Panels upstairs. The following is a list of all the free swag I know about.
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Animation Magazine special WC edition
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BOOKMARKS: various DC Comic, Tokyo Pop and Vertigo characters
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BUTTONS: 10,000 B.C. (3 lenticulars), Domo, Lenore, Hellboy
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BUTTONS- DC: Justice League, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman & DC Nation
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CARDS: Semi-Pro 3pk+gum, Run Fatboy Run music download, Veronica Mars, Star Wars, Topps, Family Guy jumbo lenticular card of Stewie
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Cartoon Network Studios: Chowder poster & Pen, unique Pencil, note pad & tattoos
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COMICS: Battlestar Galactica, Bongo, Cairo, Comics 101, Comics Festival, Free Scott Pilgrim, Hellboy, Jenna Jameson's Shadow Hunter, Justice League of America, Legion of Superheroes, Marvel Adventures: Iron Man & Hulk, Nexus, Northlanders, Shin Chan, Sonic the Hedgehog, Spiderman Amazing Fantasy, Storm, Umbrella Academy, Transformers, Wolf-Man, Wonder Woman and X-Men Runaways
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COMICS: Graphic Novels & Manga - CMX: 2008 Preview of 5 stories and Shin Chan. Horn of Hattin. Tokyo Pop: Beck, Chibi Vampire, Return to Labyrinth Vol 2/ Legends of the Dark Crystal and Trinity Blood
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Get Smart: Control metal pin from the panel
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TATTOOS: Tiny Teen Titans (5), Batman, Superman, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
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Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: bag, pen, tattoo, picture, cap & shirt from the panel!
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MISC: Batman Flashlight, Green Lantern Ring, 10,000 B.C. $10,000 Bill, Journey to the Center of the Earth passes
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POSTERS: Buffy, Iron Man, Funny Games, Forbidden Kingdom, Princess Alyss of Wonderland, Titans, Tiny Titans, Star Trek
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POSTCARDS: The Bank Job, Forbidden Kingdom, Appleseed Ex Machina, Legends of the Dark Crystal, Return to Labyrinth, Charles M Schulz Museum, Family Guy: Stewie
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STICKERS: CW TV set of 4, The Age of Insects, Laughing Squid, Sukiyaki Western Django, Sumo Wrestling, Tiki Twins Entertainment.com and Capcom: Zack & Wiki
The WonderCon website is jam packed with information. Go there directly or through the Comic-Con website at http://www.wondercon.com
Mary, marysgarage@hotmail.com