The vibes of LA Comic Con was one of a community yearning to be back together again. Not everyone could justify the $150 San Diego Comic Con lighter fare. They ended up opting for LA Comic Con’s pickings of a larger variety of dealers, celebrities, autographs, and more. LA Comic Con brought in over 95K attendees according to published numbers, but having attended Anime Expo from 2008 to 2019, I know what 90K or so attendees look like and this felt less than. I do appreciate the use of both South and West hall to spread things out. I only felt sardined in the dealers hall on Saturday. Otherwise, getting to and from panels was not too bad.
The dealers hall offered a variety of nerd wares, gifts, and exhibits. Sideshow Collectables’ booth beckoned you to take a closer look at upcoming figures released by the collectable toy company. Hot Topic’s convention exclusive pops were begging to be taken off the shelves. You could easily get distracted by Loungefly’s convention exclusives, especially for the Disneybounding kind.
Other than the big brand names in geek lifestyle, you had other indie brands selling food. The Japanese snacks food booth were our lifeline for energy during the con. Even Jay had his first taste of Japanese Ramune. I even picked up teas and oils around the convention center. I also liked how the dealers hall also sold thematic candles and soaps. We picked up a few Dungeons and Dragons and Asian boba drink themed candles. There was even a booth selling and sampling different chocolates.
LA Comic Con also had a better space for the star cars. For an additional fee, you can pose inside the cars.
What I always liked about LA Comic Con’s dealers hall is that because the con has been historically close to the holidays, one can buy presents for loved ones here that are unique. We picked up several prints from the Artist Alley that were from Fallout for family. We picked up some custom geek coasters for in-laws. I even picked up a Demon Slayer inspired lanyard for work. The Artist Alley is always worth taking a look at. Sadly, LACC had a huge push for NFT’s, even giving NFT’s a platform on the main stage at least once a day. In a world where NFT’s are being sold as snake oil, support your local Artist Alley.
The dealers hall is always the main draw for these shows. South Hall’s lobby is the place where cosplayers come to gather and take photos. You will see cosplayers with a variety of skills and a variety of fandoms in the South Hall lobby. If you want to get amazing photos of cosplayers, the South Hall lobby was the place to be.
South Hall lobby also had mini parties and dance circles going on throughout the day. Any random person will leave their stereo system up and people will start showing off their dance moves. You know it’s a Los Angeles convention when someone hits play on “El baile del beeper” and everyone grabs a partner and the floor is lit.
Overall vibes of Los Angeles Comic Con was a crowd of geeks just eager of getting back to the con. I do appreciate LA Comic Con took steps to check and verify that attendees were vaccinated. LA Comic Con 2021 may not be the convention for those who are concerned about crowds as it can get shoulder to shoulder in the dealers hall, but programming rooms and hallway spaces were easy for distancing.
Normally, we would not gave gone to LA Comic Con 2021, but we were curious about a panel. Sadly, it was cancelled. Yet, we did see friends whom we haven’t seen in over a year. We were able to begin to ease back in the convention scene. This is baby steps for us as we’re also rebranding how we cover conventions. Overall, LA Comic Con was not bad for the two days we attended.
Written by Dame Aznable
IG: @damescarletaznable
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