In recent years, I have become increasingly more active in the comic con scene. I wish I started going these wonderful events earlier on in my life but it looks like we have a perfect case of “better late than never” here. It all started in 2010 when I attended my first New York Comic Con  at the Jacob Javitz Convention Center in Manhattan. I was born and raised in Queens so attending NYCC was just a matter of time and oh, how glad I am that I went. This soon opened the door for many other comic cons, events which attracted geeks, nerds and sci-fi/fantasy fans from all corners of the world. I met people I never thought I would and how happy I was to finally be in an environment where my love for 80s movies and action figures was accepted. Most recently I attended Hartford Con in the XL Center in Connecticut and what a joy it was.

The journey started out with my getting picked up by two friends who were clad in Ghostbusters gear. These professional cosplayers weren’t kidding around because they looked like they were ready to bust some paranormal beings. The trip was a little over 2 hours from Queens, NY and once we got to Hartford, the “party” was in full swing. Like most cons, Hartford featured aisles and aisles of artists and hobby shop owners selling their wares like it was a Moroccan marketplace. I of course had to indulge and purchased a Weyland-Utani t-shirt from Aliens, a Jurassic Park poster, a mini E.T. poster to go along with it and last but not least, a very reasonably priced Kenner Batcopter from 1989.

Hartford Con is an average-sized convention in a space that is more than adequate. NY Comic Con is obscenely large and Retro Con was really quite small so Hartford is a fine medium size and within the space, not only were there merchants but there were celebrities like Eric Roberts, Ernie Hudson (was not available to see him in person), Kelly Hu, Christy Romano, Taimak and Robert Axelrod (the voice of Lord Zedd in Power Rangers)! While most of these figures may be considered B-celebrities, they are A-listers in our books. In addition, the Ecto-1A from Ghostbusters II and a gas-powered jeep from Jurassic Park were parked in the convention center for various photo opportunities. After a jam-packed day and chatting with Eric Roberts, it was time to head back to New York and start planning for the next con…