GalaxyCon Richmond, a Welcome Change

Posted on June 7, 2019 by pharoahmiles

On the weekend of May 31- June 2 I had the pleasure to attend GalaxyCon for the first time as the previous exhibitor, Wizard World, pretty much squandered an excellent opportunity here. The local ones I have in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia have consistently been lackluster, where disorganization is king and lack of professionalism runs rampant. This is why GalaxyCon was a welcome change

GalaxyCon was held at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, exactly where Wizard World took place. Parking was a cinch, $7 for the whole day. Not bad. And I got a great spot.

The Center is massive and easily was bigger than the ones near me. After that, I passed by the panel rooms, one very large one for the main panels and a few smaller ones for the intimate panels and other activities such as gaming and activities for the kids. After passing concessions and bathrooms (perfect placement in my opinion) you were in the main convention center which contained vendors, artist alley and the celebrities.

The layout was perfect as you had to make your way through all of the vendors who were at the front of the con and work your way back toward the celebrities who were in the back.

Lines abounded at just about every table, which were magnificently spaced about 6 feet apart from each other. Artists had lines everywhere. I was lucky enough to meet and take a picture with Mark Waid, one of the greatest living comic book writers, and creating of such classic as Kingdom Come and Empire and who was an actually approachable and nice guy!!!.

The longest lines were reserved for one of the last living legends. Lou Ferrigno on Friday Saturday and Sunday. There were also very healthy lines for John Delancie, Michael Dorn, Rene Auberjonois, John Wesley Shipp, Terry Farrell, and Brent Spiner.

With even three of the stars (Martin Kove, Ralph Macchio, and William Zabka) from the Karate Kid movies and new Cobra Kai tv series showed Richmond some love:

From the animation world, Morgan Berry, Steve Blum, Kevin Conroy, John Dimaggio, John Glover, Paige O’Hara, and Dana Snyder were on hand for fans.

There was something for every true comic fan in each row, as the team that put together GalaxyCon Richmond deserves great praise for putting together the best collection of writers and artists and celebrities for a one of a kind experience.

The panels were awesome, as you would expect with such a star-studded line-up. Power Rangers Q&A panel with Michael Copon, Karan Ashley, Nakia Burrise and David Fielding, which was truly for Power Rangers fans. Otherwise it was good to hear them talk about how it was on set. The Karate Kid Q&A, which was as good as it sounds. A Good Burger panel with actor Kel Mitchell saw fans asked some seriously funny questions. A Brent Spiner Q&A was probably the funnest panel I have had a chance to sit in on. At the Ernie Hudson Q&A he denied everything about the new secret Ghostbusters movie and the crown jewel:

Mark Waid Q&A, where he talked about his long and illustrious career. The only thing about going to conventions is that you will not make it to all the panels, as I missed out on Steve Blum’s ( Cowboy Bebop) Q& A, Michael Dorn’s Q&A, Lou Ferrigno’s Q&A, and the John Barrowman Q&A.

The one panel, I wished I circled right away, the Rocky Horror Picture Show panel with Barry Bostwick and Patricia Quinn. My short time with Mr. Bostwick taking this selfie was. He was definitely warmer, funnier, and kinder than any of the characters he has played. He showed none of the pretention some Hollywood types do in these settings. He seemed to recognize the fact that fans like me came to see stars like him because they love their work.

What this convention done right as well is this ton of opportunities for fans to be fans, as though they charged for autographs and selfies, for certain celebrities, they sectioned off certain hours where fans got to take pictures with their favorite celebrities for FREE!!!

FREE AUTOGRAPH SESSION: JAMIE MARCHI BOOTH CR14

Sunday June 2, 2019 3:30 pm to 4:45 pm

Jamie Marchi will be signing autographs (free to all attendees). Bring your own items to get signed or purchase items at his booth. Limit 1 free item signed per person, per day. There will be a fee for additional items. This autograph session will be held at her table, Booth #

As the organizers realized that without the fans, conventions like these would not be as successful.

FINAL VERDICT

My final words of GalaxyCon are this. Great convention, great panels, great guests, great time. Bravo Zulu to GalaxyCon, see you next year! 5 out of 5 stars! Best convention in Virginia EVER!!! Hopefully they will do it bigger and better next year but if it is even like this next year, it still will be PERFECT!!! P.S. here are some other sights from the convention