Wizard World St. Louis - April 5, 2014

Wizard World Saint Louis rolled into town yesterday and continues today thru tomorrow. I ventured into the fray this morning with plans to see as much as possible, and I was not disappointed. There is soooo much to see and do. The staff did a good job of keeping everyone organized and moving. The show appears twice as big as it was last year, this year using the floor of the Edward Jones Dome as the main area. With the huge list of artists, celebrities, vendors and events, they needed it.

Everyone from William Shatner to Matt Smith, Adam West and Burt Ward to Bruce Campbell… Every avenue of science fiction, comics, anime, cosplay and video games is represented here. I love coming to the shows to see it all.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what something is or who someone is supposed to be. If you don’t know, just ask, the passion of the people at Wizard World is such that they will be glad to tell you everything about it. That is the underlying great aspect of this show--it brought people here from all over dressing as their favorite character or role. It did not matter if it was something or someone from yesteryear or something brand new. Someone from a TV show or someone from an animated movie or video game. With some people it was apparent they spent pockets full of money creating their look and costumes, and others used whatever they had handy and just tried to look their best. There were 2-year-old Matt Smiths, and 60 year old “Boy Wonders.”

In all instances, everyone respected and admired everyone else. If you wanted a picture, just ask they are glad to pose for you or with you. Smiles were prevalent everywhere.
Bottom line, us nerds are nice people and we get along with each other.

I personally came today to get the autograph of Bill Shatner, Burt Ward and Bruce Campbell. All were exceptionally gracious to me and while some of the lines were very long (in particular Matt Smith and Bruce Campbell) everyone patiently waited while everyone had their time with the celebrity (I waited 2 hours for Bruce Campbell and yes, it was worth it! And someone even proposed to his fiancé in front of him and he was great with them both!)

All the vendors and artist were as kind and helpful as they could be. If they didn’t have something, they would try and get it for you, and there were vendors selling something for everyone. Professionally made items to custom made items as well, from the inexpensive to the costly. If you can’t find something here to spend your money on, then you just don’t want to buy.
And what would a comic convention be without comics? Well don’t worry, they are here in abundance, from sellers of new and used books to the artists themselves, some of whom are the best in the industry today.

The only thing that perturbed me a little bit was that last year I prepaid for some autographs and the receipt I printed out was what I turned in at the booth. This year it had to be turned in for a coupon that I had to present for the autograph and many people like myself had to leave the line we were in and go all the way back to the front of the venue to make the switch, then come all the way back and start over in line. It was a minor inconvenience in what otherwise was a very pleasurable time

Wizard World St. Louis runs tomorrow too and I will be back again to see and hear more. If you have never been to a con before, I urge you to go, as the Wizard World show is about the best you’re going to find anywhere.