Wildwood Comic Con Coming NOW…

The following convention report comes courtesy of a guest writer, Karszoo. It’s her first submission to MLD. Enjoy:

On Friday, July 1, I was lucky enough to attend the annual Wildwood Sports Cards, Comics, Beanies and Toy Convention at the Convention Center in Wildwood, NJ for the third straight year with KevinMLD. The free event is held early in the Summer Vacation season every year. With vendors selling everything from sports memorabilia to classic 1990’s comic books to random dvds to kids toys (new, used, and VERY used), there’s sure to be something for everyone. 

I was surprised when we entered that we were required to turn over all concealed weaponry at the door. I’m glad they were trying to keep everyone safe, but I’m pretty sure one of the vendors was reselling this collected contraband as the items were placed directly into a display case.
 
I know that PTB and Angelique are very excited about their coming trip to the Baltimore Comic Con and their opportunity to meet Stan Lee, but the Wildwood Comic Con offered attendees the opportunity to have their pictures taken with celebrities as well. Without exception these celebrities were approachable and we weren’t even asked to pay a fee to get our photo taken with them.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unlike what I’ve seen at the NY Comic Con and heard about the San Diego Con, the crowds were far more manageable. There were no long lines to get into the building and once inside you never felt like other attendees were invading your personal space. In fact, the place didn’t even smell like geek. Well, at least not as badly as I expected it to anyway.
 
A common complaint from other MLD writers about other Comic Conventions is that organizers failed to place any kind of focus on comic books at events titled “Comic Cons”, instead placing emphasis on appearances from pop culture celebrities. This is a mistake that was not made by the Wildwood Convention organizers. In fact, the highly prized issues pictured to the left were the first items I saw as I walked into the exhibit hall.
 
However, the event’s title left plenty of room to focus on other non-comics related collectibles including plenty of items you might only find at your local yard sale. Regardless, I was impressed by the dozens of valuable items that were available for purchase and the level of organization employed by the vendors.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For the first time ever, KevinMLD even made a purchase this year. He found a nifty Kermit the Frog hand puppet that was released in 1978 selling for $5 (which we’ve since discovered is selling for at least $20 on eBay… Should he flip it?). I even saw some action figurines of current Phillies players that I would have picked up if they hadn’t been a little overpriced.

The Wildwood Sports Card, Comic Book, Beanie and Toy Convention will run from July 1st through 4th at the Wildwood Convention Center on the Boardwalk. It was definitely worth the price of admission. If you’re in town, be sure to check it out.

(Apologies to Angelique for the poor photography demonstrated in this article. If she had brought Ben down to the beach so that we could have seen him before he really has a white moustache, she could have taken lovely photos at the convention using fisheye lenses.)