NerdLush

Recently we took a jaunt north to Merced to check out the second year of California Republic Comic Con. Now, growing up in the Central Valley, we never would’ve thought we’d be heading to Merced for a comic convention… to be honest, most of the Valley just didn’t seem big enough, or nerd friendly enough, to host. But this event proved to us that today we’d be wrong.

Not a whole lot to say, as this event is small (but growing!), so let me just list out some of the good things and a few things we’d like to see improved next year.

• excellent cosplay showing. Even that Pennywise who was following us around. Actually, especially Pennywise. But seriously, there were lots more cosplayers than we had expected- and the family cosplays were so fun!- and that was awesome! Also, we knew we were heading in the right direction as we drove to the fairgrounds because of the prolific cosplay groups- something that we usually only notice in larger cities, like LA.
• the dealer room also was a good show. Multiple local valley comic and collectible stores, as well as numerous local artists. The room was full, but you didn’t feel cramped. (Bonus, the fans from that building at the fairgrounds worked beautifully and the room was comfortable, even though there were lots of people wandering about)
• loved the idea of the film festival. And Laser Tag! However, we thought that maybe they should be separated next year as the few minutes of the film festival we caught were distracted by the laser tag players noise.
• the gaming area was the saddest thing ever. To be honest, it was 4 game stations. We were impressed with the titles of the games (classics!) but really felt the room could have been better utilized if there had been some table top games available, or a few MAGIC or Pokemon games…
• the weather was beautiful. Mid September in the Central Valley could be hot but on that weekend it was the high 80’s and sunny. Quite lovely for a little outside time. Excellent timing, CRCC.
• food trucks!

Overall, we had a good time and would attend again. Check out the album of pics here!

Tags: California Republic Comic Convention, Collectibles, Comics, Conventions, CosPlay, CRCC, Events, FanGirl Squee, Nerdtastic Ramblings