Sci-Fi Valley Con #9, Day 1

Are we ready friends?

Yes, it's that time...the return to a full-on convention since 2019 for me, and Sci-Fi Valley Con has been one I've waited for. There was a lot of concern for us all here, with regards to Covid, whether people would come back, and also, this was not a summertime event.

The Con was always in June, so, summer vacation, kids out of school, and so forth. This time, we had the fall, back in school, football season, and whatever else came to pass.

We had a 2 pm starter, so pretty much all of us were in Altoona before it all began. I got in extra early to set up, and see what the place looked like...the Blair County Convention Center is a cool facility, very well run and maintained. Also easy enough to get to.

Well, hello Table C-9, right back where we started. This was good, because I liked being up on the main floor in the ballroom, and a lot of established vendors are in their usual spots.

For example, the famous Will O'Shire had his spot right nearby, and used the pandemic to his advantage, with lots more product to show!

And the wonderful Olivia Berrier, who got me to come to this in the first place! With reunions in hand, also Brian Koscienski, who is looking and doing well, I set up, and took a walk about to get a view of what's available...

I prefer this shirt to the lighter colored one, but lots of swag for sale by the organizers...

The armorers are back! You will see some of their handiwork in a bit...but I want to take this thing for a ride.

The thing to note about the con, this is for just about everyone...a lot of actors and performers show up for this, which generates a lot of the income, but there are vendors, authors, builders, purveyors of many things...

Case in point...look below...

I wanted one of these as a kid. Is that cool or what?

More cool people...great artworks. So without doubt, this was going to be a lot of fun. Downstairs, another floor of this!

Then the doors opened...

I do not know the names of any of these people; I could not tell you a thing about them, other than this is a weekend to dress up as your favorite character, create your own and be among your kind...

None shall pass...excellent costume.

Always important to ask, and not just take surreptitious photos of people. These young ladies were certainly happy to show off their style.

I do not know who this is supposed to be. But she joked about being an alto, and having to talk soprano all day. Very cute, and a very nice person.

Someone moved...a little hazy, but a nice group picture...

A supervillain named Stolara...she is part of Pittsburgh-based filmmaker's project and they have shot some episodes of it. The creator came around to say hi as well...nice guy.

I saw this transaction going down...no, that is not Boris Johnson trying to get back into the Empire's good graces (that Brexit thing ain't working out, is it?)...

OK...this thing came running at me full speed, when it saw my camera! It bounced around the venue for much of the day.

A lot of interesting creatures make their way into the convention...like this one...the day went on, and while there was that initial rush, the turnout was light. We figured, kids just getting out of school, but also a lot of these folks are buying into the full three-day event, so we will see them again. A lot of looking around by them, and also see and be seen.

Best costume of Day 1!

Panels were going on, discussions, and photo ops...then the night came...

This fellow was one of the many who were taking part in a quest. You are sent to specific tables involved in the quest, and you would have to do something in order to advance to another table. Too complicated for me...

The fellow in green is one of the operators of the table next to mine...someone was sent to him to perform...

One of the products of the armorers...don't mess.

Harley Quinn has a little sister...cute...actually I saw four Harleys today, mostly the Suicide Squad look but a couple of them I'd not seen before.

The most fun is the kids having fun with their costumes. I would imagine most were here for the famous people that were downstairs, and will be all weekend. I could not tell you who any of them were; I'm so out of the loop, but someone who was in a bunch of movies, someone from the Mandalorian, and others...I hope they might take a turn on the floor, like certain people did last time.

There is one thing to drop in here: one of the regular events is an ask to donate product for charity auctions. The one we've been doing here is for Extra Life, and it's a solid cause. A little give-back is cool, and I'm appreciative of what EL does.

Well, long story short, I didn't see many people doing a lot of business. Certain tables and sellers did well, evidenced by the products being carried about. This is the thing we wonder on...is the change in calendar and season an issue? Is a Friday really a good opening day?

Will talked about it, and thought maybe just bag Friday and do two days, and he's seen a trend at the returning shows. Now Will is one of the professionals, who just writes, creates, and hits up cons. This is where he makes his money. I'm nowhere ready to do that, and you start to think about how much goes into our chosen passion.

Think about it: I drive here, pay tolls, buy gas, pay for the cheap hotel, buy food and drink. I won't say today was a washout, because it was not, and I'm thankful for what I did sell.

For most of us, these are also big-time networking parties. We make friends, contacts, future guests for shows, and tipsters who can gives us a hint about what's coming up, and a new thing to learn now and again.

This was fun, and you have to have fun with this. There will be more pics, videos and crazy shit, I'm quite sure!

I did not put up a folder of pics on Facebrain, because I'm over it. Also, you want to see the fun? Just come here, haha...!

I'm off to crash and burn...Peace, Out.