GalaxyCon made its first stop on the West Coast this weekend and was a HUGE hit, especially in Silicon Valley, aka San Jose, home of the nerds. When GalaxyCon was announced earlier this year for the beloved San Jose Convention Center, fans were thrilled. The Game of Nerds is excited to have a convention back in its hometown, and this was my first time back to work since having my son Dash in May. My husband, four and half-year-old daughter Marvel, and I attended on Saturday, and it was an experience to remember.
The first thing to note is that GalaxyCon is not your average con. There are the exhibition floor hours and then there are the event hours. The exhibitor floor hours refer to the convention floor hours, and the event hours encompass all after-hours events, including 18+ and 21+ year-old parties. On Friday and Saturday, the event didn’t technically end until 2 AM. This is almost unheard of in the convention circuit. I personally didn’t attend any of these events as they weren’t advertise as much to the press, but it’s something Andy and I will definitely check out next time. Despite the mature adult-themed events, the convention was extremely family-friendly.
The convention floor was well laid out but had narrow aisle ways. There was a great mixture of merchandise, fandom groups, artists, authors, and cosplayers. There were tons of different merchandise to choose from art to handcrafted treasures. It was so nice to see the fandom groups like Star Wars droids on the main convention floor. In past conventions, they’ve always been hidden in some side hallway or room where they rarely get any interaction or notice. The photo and celebrity area took up at least half of the convention floor, and the celebrity and voice talent list was extensive, much to the delight of anime fans. I’m surprised that they didn’t have the photo op section in one of the side rooms to give more space on the floor. Some of the bigger turnouts were for Weird Al, Jodi Benson, Chris Sarandon, and the WWE stars. Everyone was in great spirits and had smiles on their faces. The schedule didn’t seem rushed, which meant the celebrities really got to interact with their fans. This was refreshing compared to past conventions where autograph lines were impersonal and quick due to time restraints.
However, the only fan complaint I heard repeatedly was about the lines in the celebrity signing areas. The lines were spilling into the walkways and blocking areas. There were no clear marking of where lines were and con workers were constantly reworking lines to fit in the small loading area. It was clear they weren’t expecting certain celebrities to be as popular as they were. They also had an extensive game area for people to use, but every time we went by, the place was packed. There were quite a few arcade games that didn’t work, and only 4-5 were usable. My only gripe was the drink and food restrictions, which meant you were forced to buy their refreshments, including $6 for a box of water. Yes, you read that right—a BOX OF WATER. On the other hand, the Taiyaki Waffles stand they had there blew my husband and Marvel away. We were happy to learn that the company was located close to us in Northern California.
Now, if you know me, you know that I’ve run The Game of Nerds for the past 10 years. My staff refers to Marvel as the “assistant to the CEO” and constantly asks when she’s going to start interviewing. This is because she’s constantly telling everyone she’s going to be just like mommy and run The Game of Nerds. So over the week before the convention, she started writing out four questions in her little notebook for all the people she wanted to talk to. But as soon as we got there, she got really nervous and really just wanted to be in charge of my camera. While walking around, we stopped to talk to Jack Dylan Grazer, who plays Alberto in “Luca,” one of my daughter’s favorite movies. He got a high five out of her and told her to go get more high fives, thus starting Marvel’s High Five Mission. She ended up getting high fives from:
- Susan Egan aka Meg from “Hercules”
- Tate Donovan aka Hercules
- Ken Page aka Oogie Boogie
- Cristina Vee aka Miraculous Ladybug
- Timothy Omundson after he threw a post-it note ball at Marvel when she faked him out by giving our favorite con Auntie Kayla a high five instead of him
- Ross Marquand, who remembered Andy and his Logan Funko pop cosplay from 2018!
By this point, our feet were tired and a nap was needed for Marvel. But before we could go, she needed another high five from “Alberto.” So we went back to Jack’s table to tell him about her day. Again, he was the sweetest when interacting with Marvel. He surprised her with an autograph and another high five. Marvel proceeded to tell me on the way home that she’s going to tell her entire T-Kindergarten class about how she’s best friends with Jack and that the photo is going by her bed.
Since this convention is huge on the East Coast, I had high expectations. But being its first West Coast production, I was quite impressed. Everything ran smoothly, and fans generally seemed happy. The pricing for autographs and photo ops were jaw dropping like we’ve seen at some conventions like Creation. The turn out seem extremely high considering it was announced late this year. On Sunday it was announced that they would return next year in August. This is great for Bay Area nerds since SiliCon is no more and FanExpo San Francisco is on Thanksgiving weekend.
Overall, GalaxyCon was a fantastic experience for both adults and kids. It provided a great mix of entertainment, celebrity interactions, and family-friendly activities. If you’re a fan of pop culture, anime, or just looking for a fun weekend with the family, GalaxyCon is definitely worth attending, and can be found through out the United States.
