Another year of Wizard World Philly is done and in the books. And to recap in one sentence; it was great, better than expected and really better than it should have been!
#
Even without any formal HeroClix or even any presence from NECA/WizKids, HCRealms was still strongly represented.# You can’t keep a good gamer/geek away.
#
Full write-up after the jump.

It is almost hard to believe this is the 8th year of the Philadelphia convention.# I started playing HeroClix at this con back in 2002. I also remember picking up the game at the con, and how that went.
#
The Philly con has fluctuated over the years. This year was possibly the smallest overall con yet. But with arguably some of the biggest celebrity guests.
Friday the con got off to a questionable start. The con floor was noticeably smaller, with far fewer vendors and booths. The major publishers (or really any notable publishers) were conspicuously absent. In fact the only publisher there at all was Zenescope, and that’s probably only because they’re local. Possibly the most egregious absence was Wizard themselves, who didn’t even come to their own con! Instead the company booth was represented by ‘Geek Chic Daily’, the website and newsletter they’re trying to kick off.
#
Friday
#
The first day of the con was also the quietest by far. It was eerily empty, and felt more like Sunday an hour before the close, than it did the first day of the con. There were very few panels or events on Friday, which may have kept the appeal low for the first day.
#
HeroClix was sparsely represented on the con floor. A few dealers had singles out for sale, and a handful more had boosters or bricks. I think I counted only 2 total booths that had Blackest Night starters – despite the fact that Blackest Night in general and other various Lantern Corp merchandise seemed to be the most prominent thing around. You could close your eyes and stick out your arm and hit someone wearing a Lantern t-shirt.
#
The convention ‘officially’ ended at 8p, but it seemed like people got bored and left well before that.#
#
The big event of the day was certainly our HCRealms Member Appreciation Night at the Field House restaurant across the street.# I had planned for this to start at 8, but we were already well along by 7:30!
#
The restaurant was amazingly accommodating; we got drink specials, a discount off our food, and they blocked a section of the dining room just for us!# Typhon/HCRealms sponsored the food, so we had a good bit of appetizers and snacks on hand for everyone, for FREE! (well, free to them.)
I also feel the need to point out that one of our guests sat on the serving table (before the food came out) and knocked about 50 plates to the floor! They came crashing down with a racket that brought a hush over the entire restaurant!#
#
Everyone hung out and caught up with their fellow realmsers, some meeting long time friends in person for the first time. The turnout was great – I think 50-60 people – and everyone really seemed to have a good time.
Also need to give a shout out to my comic store [color=red]COMICS & MORE, who gave me a boat-load of comic books to put out for free, as well as a few boosters for prizes.
http://www.kingofprussia.com/comicsandmore/
#
At around 9:15 we did something new, HeroClix Quizzo! ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quizzo, A popular bar trivia-type game that originated in Philadelphia.)# Everyone grouped up into teams of 4-6 people and were handed sheets to write their answers on.# Myself and CharlesX read off the questions and ran the game.# 11 questions later we collected and scored the teams.# (Sorry, I don’t remember exactly who won, or the team name. But I’m sure you’ll post below to claim your fame!)
#
I will also post the questions in another thread so you can try your hand and see your own possible score as well.
#
There were prizes galore for the top 3 teams.# Typhon put up some HCR ‘Grab Bags’ with t-shirts and Grid Reality maps.# My local comic store put up a few boosters of Iron Man clix for prizes.# And I dug through my own collection of LE’s, comic TPBs, and even Batman Legos to fill out the prize table.# Everyone who won got something they wanted.#
#
We hung out a bit longer, some reveling in their win, others bitter over the closeness of the contest.# Big thanks to everyone who came out. I had a great time, and it looked like you did too!
#
From there we all settled up the tabs, and I hope, took good care of our waitress Allison who I #think did a great job.
#
Afterwards, some people moved on to another bar for karaoke, and others went back to their hotels to rest up for the long weekend.
#
Saturday
#
If Friday stood out for being low key and empty, Saturday was the complete opposite. An hour after the con floor opened, there was still a line around the block to get in/buy tickets.
#
The floor itself was packed, and the con was in full swing.# There were a handful of panels on Saturday, and many of them had long lines to get in.# I attended a ‘Star Trek: TNG’ panel with John De Lancy and Brent Spiner, both of whom were very engaging and interesting.
#
Saturday flew by for me, and before I knew it, the day was over.# Saturday night was the annual ‘Drunken HeroClix Competition’, which is a story in and of itself - best told by the participants.
#
Sunday
#
Sunday is usually a quiet day at the con, but this was not so yesterday, the con floor was bustling with guests.# I got in line early for a panel with Sir Patrick Steward. This Q&A was worth the wait, as he was very interesting and entertaining. He had just the right mix of self awareness and gravitas.
#
There were some deals to be had on the con floor, and the day waned with people getting their fill and sellers trying to cut deals to move product.
#
All around, the con was good, but a departure from previous years.
#
It was great to see my friends from HCR, and to meet some new realmsers.#
#
Special thanks to CharlesX who was a big help organizing and running the Member Appreciation Night, and all around this weekend. Thanks buddy.
#
#
Parting Thoughts and Observations
#
Beyond the general summary, here are a few observations from the weekend and the convention.
#
Last year I thought the con was small because companies were cutting back costs due to the economy.# This year I blame Wizard World for the poor showing. What kind of “Comic Con” doesn’t have Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse or even IDW?# I hope this isn’t a trend for cons in general.# And based on the massive attendance this year, I think the publishers would be remiss if they don’t show up next year.
#
Also, originally I was annoyed at NECA/WizKids for not coming to the con. Not only are they somewhat local, but this seemed like a great opportunity to show that Clix is BACK! I do still think this was a huge missed opportunity for them – with the lower overall representation at the con, WizKids would have had a chance to really stand out and woo the comic fans, not just the gamers. However, I think this had as much to do with Wizard World’s solicitation and marketing as it did with WK lack of interest.
#
#
Brent Spiner and Patrick Steward have both aged really well. Brent looks like he’s in great shape. And although he can’t pull of Data anymore, he’s a far cry from an ‘old man.’# And Steward, he’s got a portrait in an attic somewhere that’s old and turned to dust, because in person he looks almost exactly the same as he did when he first took the helm of the Enterprise. Both were very engaging and down to earth. It was enjoyable to meet them and hear them talk about their careers.
#
#
If there was one product on the floor that was common to all the dealers, it had to be the DC Universe line of action figures.# Everyone had them for sale, and nobody was consistent with prices! (Unfortunately, nobody had the Sinestro Corp variant of Sinestro. )
#
#
One more observation was about bootleg videos.# Years ago there were lots of tables strewn with DVDs with photocopied covers. Then a few years ago the con organizers, and maybe the local constabulary, cracked down on the black market pretty tight and those booths disappeared.# I don’t know what the sign of the times is that brought them back; maybe the local pressure is off. Maybe the con doesn’t care. Maybe they were just desperate for any dealer – no questions asked. Whatever the reason, if you were looking for a blurry copy of the bad JLA unaired pilot, or bootlegs of 80’s cartoon series, your choices were plenty.
#
#
In sports analogies, I think/hope this was a rebuilding year for the con. Perhaps there was a holdover from companies tightening their belts last year. Perhaps Wizard World didn’t advertise well or charged too much. Whatever the causes, hopefully the big industry players will see the huge turn out this year, and it will give them the kick in the ### they need to put Wizard World Philly 2011 in their convention budgets.
#
Either way, I’ll see you there next year!

I posted this from my phone, so I appologize for the formatting issues. I'll clean it up tonight at home.

If it wasn't for work I would of went just for the TNG people. Love that show! Nice article too.
How was Q? Other than saying he was there you didn't mention him.

Sounds like you made a good time out of a bad con.

I heard that Wizard World is basically going to be doing it like this from now on. I won't go back to WWC unless I heard it changes. I guess they are going away from comic stuff and more into pop culture stuff. Yea, um, whatever.

I literally lol'ed while reading that someone knocked over 50 plates .

That's how bad WWC was last year. I think Wizard is getting out of the CON business, and dumping their shows on the highest bidder. These highest bidders were left in the lurch and have NO IDEA how to run a proper convention.

This is the same reason (Other than the fact that I'll be in Oklahoma for a wedding) that I won't be going to WWC this year. Not worth my time OR money.

My biggest disappointment was that only about 3 venders were selling clix, and even those didn't have a great selection.

Guys I had an amazing time and was so glad that I could make it. While I got only about 10 hours of sleep the whole weekend, the memories I have will last a lifetime. I'm coming next year for sure.

my girlfriend and I attended the wizard con in Toronto this year. It was kind of a last minute change so we only attended the Sunday events and the lines were non-existent for everything. tickets, guests, q-a sessions you name it. The only lines we stood in the whole day were at the border heading home. The down side unfortunately was the utter lack of any clix being sold. saw only a couple dealers selling boosters, no singles of any note. Spent my money on a nice evening on the town Saturday and guest autographs. Looking forward to Fan Expo Toronto in August, now that is a fun time if you want to see how a real convention is run.

The team "VGA's Sister," of which I was a member/scribe, took the honors for HC Quizzo. Good times, and thanks to AZS for setting it up (and creating the funniest Star Wars Facebook page I think I've ever seen).

I wasn't really interested in the panels, but the deals were damn good. Walked out with some great buys (got the DC Direct deluxe Rorschach for $22, which is the cheapest I've seen it), and met some cool people (Herb Trimpe is friggin' great, and it was great to get a sketch from a classic Marvel artist for like half of what the "n3w h0tn3ss" artists were charging).

Had me a blast, and will be going next year for drunken karaoke alone.

VGA really does have a cult following on this site. That is so awesome.

I am not sure that the name of the team was meant to be exactly... complimentary. If you get my meaning.

Hey, I've heard she's a national treasure!

In my defense, I can't claim the name choice. Someone else deserves that honor!