I went to Gen Con this year (that's 2015 in case you are reading my blog far in the future) for the first time. We got the games convention bug back in England and this convention is the granddaddy of all gaming conventions in America. Attendance is well over 50,000 people, making it a mob scene especially on Saturday and Sunday. I ventured there starting on Thursday and have reports on all the sorts of things that went on. We'll start at the exhibit hall!
The Gen Con exhibit hall is a great place to shop for more than just games. Sure, companies and stores have booths selling their latest wares, but a lot of those companies serve more than just board and card gamers.
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| Gen Con exhibit hall |
Several booths were dedicated to cosplay and other costume activities. I was amazed by one store that was selling steam-punk hats designed for comic book superheroes.
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| Hats for heroes in a by-gone era |
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| Wonder Woman cap |
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| Deadpool hat |
If you'd rather have a wig than a hat, another booth was ready to serve you.
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| Wigs-a-million |
Plenty of stores sold corsets and other pre-twenty-first century clothes.
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| Various outfits for sale |
Doctor Who fans had a long booth all for themselves.
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| Memorabilia and knickknacks |
Several booths sold gaming furniture. The one that caught my eye was this
Catan coffee table. If you don't play the USA board for Catan, that's okay. The glass lifts up and the American board slides out to reveal the familiar hex-shape of an empty Catan island ready for filling in.
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| Catan coffee table |
Some salesmen at the booth were more aggressive than other, but none so much as this metal man who really wants anyone's business.
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| Anything to capture your attention |
The hall is an amazing place to visit, even if you don't buy anything. A lot of the booths have demos of games for free, assuming a seat is available.
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| More sales |
Some of the more popular booths and games had long lines to get the few copies available. I didn't wait in any lines since I know most games will be available back home or in the next few months anyway. I did snag some good, rare
Dice Masters cards when I sold by super-rare Constantine card at the
Cool Stuff Inc. booth.
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| Five cards for one is a good deal, if you ask me |
I also sampled a lot of games here when I spontaneously sat down at booth, but more on that in another post.
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A very fun convention. You could spend a lot of time in the game room.
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