Hello all! Last convention of the season for Yarn Monster and boy has it been a good one so far. Last year was my first time at Fan Expo and I didn’t get to do to much walking around because I was helping out at the Cosplay Crasftmanship Contest. No volunteering for me this year so I actually got to walk around Fan Expo and enjoy the con as a whole for the first time! I know it’s only day 1, but so far this has been an amazing experience for me and I even got a little emotional. There may or may not be more (happy) tears before the end of the con.
After a preliminary run through the dealers room, right as the convention was starting up, my boyfriend and I decided to check out some of the special exhibits that are promoting up coming movies. If you get the chance to see the Thor: Ragnarok costume displays DO IT! The costumes and props that they have on display are absolutely gorgeous and it was so wonderful to be able to see each and every detail up close. I noticed elements that I did not notice in the trailers and I feel that I will now have a much better appreciation of the costumes when I see the film. I absolutely cannot wait – I am so excited for that movie!
We also decided to check out the It virtual reality experience – look for the big, yellow school bus and line up as soon as you can because the (free) tickets go fast. I will admit, however, that the whole experience was a little disappointing for me. Honestly, the waiver you have to sign before going in was almost scarier. Once you first enter the bus they have you wait in a kind of holding area that I suppose it meant to set the mood. I found it did the opposite. It got to the point that everyone was waiting for so long that I started giggling every time Pennywise’s laugh would play on the speakers. Now, from what I heard from my boyfriend, the actual VR experience was pretty good. I, however, was cursed. The velcro straps on my VR headset popped open the moment I put in on my head so I spent most of the beginning of the experience fiddling with it to get the straps to stay on properly. Then I had to constantly adjust the focus as most of the image was fairly blurry. So obviously I missed out on a few things. Then my headset glitched and took me back to the beginning of the video a few minutes in so that by the time the crew was telling everyone to leave the viewing area I still had not gotten the chance to finish the entire video. All in all, I’m really glad I did it, but I’m also really glad that I didn’t have to waste any money on it. Way more excited for the movie though and this was a nice teaser to get me even more excited.
The rest of our meanderings through the dealers room brought me nothing but joy. I found out that Guillermo Del Torro’s art exhibit is coming to the AGO! There’s a little booth advertising it in the dealers room and I seriously lost it and became really emotional when I found out. You can bet I’ll be going to that exhibit when I get the chance! To add to the Del Torro magic I found some sweet art of Abe and Hellboy in the dealers room. Also found out that Ed McGuinness was at the con (I was not previously aware of this) and not only was he selling some amazing prints of Nightcrawler (he’s one of my favourite comic book artists when it comes to NIghtcrawler – he does such an amazing job) but he also signed the prints that I got! Managed to get myself a pretty awesome Dirk Gently print in the artists alley so all in all I’d say I did pretty well in the dealers room today.
The highlight of my day was, of course, getting Matt Smith’s autograph. Given that this is Thursday – typically not a busy convention day – this was by far the easiest autograph lineup I have ever had to endure for a Doctor Who autograph. For those of you who have been following my Facebook page these past few months, I have managed to get autographs and photo ops from Peter Capaldi, David Tenant, and now Matt Smith (my photo op with him isn’t until tomorrow though). Now my TARDIS is filled with signatures from different incarnations of the Doctor. Matt Smith was absolutely lovely and he really enjoyed my Mr. Clever makeup for my 11th Doctor Cosplay. And, as always, while I was waiting in line I met some absolutely wonderful fellow Whovians. Every time I’ve had to wait in line for an autograph or picture with the Doctors I have met the most amazing Doctor Who fans and I hope they have all had experiences as wonderful as mine this summer.
Ended the day by attending Matt Smith’s panel and he was just as amazing on stage as he was in person at the autograph booth. I absolutely loved the fact that he is as enamored with a blue Karen Gillian as I am (i.e. Nebula). I think out of all of the three Doctor Who panels I have seen this summer, his was the best because of his infectious energy. I cannot wait to have my picture taken with him tomorrow!
I’m really looking forward to what Day 2 of the convention has to offer!
