My New York Comic Con 2014 experience.

New York Comic has come and gone and it left New York City in a wake of geek awesomeness. Judging from the attendance number of 151,000 (21,000 more than San Diego Comic Con and the second year running it has beaten San Diego) it was a smash hit!

You can take a look at all photos from the convention in my NYCC 2014 Flickr album.

First things first, one of the big differences this year was the clearing of the Main Stage room which was a new policy this year. The change was much appreciated by all and this change by New York Comic Con and ReedPop marked the first year that they cleared the main stage after every panel. If you wanted to see a Main Stage panel you had to line up to receive a wrist band. Each panel in the Main Stage room had their own separate lines forcing people to choose which panels they wanted to see and prioritize them. Once you had a wrist band you could get on a new line for a chance to get another wrist band for a different panel. Once you had your wrist bands you could leave and come back later without worry about getting into the panel. Though depending on how close you wanted to be you still had to show up a little early.

Cosplayers definitely brought their A-game this year and it was a lot of fun to see the amazing work that was brought to the convention this year. Whether they were entering the Eastern Championships of Cosplay or just having fun showing off cosplays that they have worked hard on all year, the smiles on everyone's faced showed how much fun they were having. I have been cosplaying for a number of years now so this is always a huge part of the convention for me. This year I wore just two cosplays; Nathan Drake from Uncharted and my own Jedi character (a blind Jedi) from Star Wars.
To see all the great cosplays I was able to get photos of check out my NYCC 2014 Flickr album.



Source: YouTube - theAwayCast

There was a wonderful mix of vendors this year on the show floor that offered just about everything that you could be looking for which was incredible. The one thing you couldn't find however was gaming demos. Sure there were one or two but with big companies like Nintendo, Rockstar, and others pulling out of New York Comic Con this year it felt odd. During the hustle and bustle of the convention I actually barely noticed that they weren't there this year but when I got to stop and think about it it just felt weird not seeing them there. I also miss the awesome free swag that they would give away! Isles on the show floor also seemed to be a little bigger which (at times) helped with the crowding of them.

The Artist Alley had some really nice things this year but on the whole it seemed as though artists didn't have too many new pieces this year. That fact aside, I think the most disappointing thing about the Artist Alley is that about half the artists left and closed their table by 7pm which is just ridiculous. The Show Floor closed at 7pm and the Artist Alley closed at 8pm. This means when the Show Floor closes that there will be a lot of people flooding over to the Artist Alley which is still open for another hour. I just feel that a lot of artists lost a lot of money by deciding to close up before 7pm.

Panels were very well run this year and I really enjoyed those that I attended. The moderating was great and the guest list was impressive. Thank you for that, New York Comic Con.

At the end of the day, New York Comic Con 2014 was truly a smash hit and I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend. The ticket purchasing portion may be stressful as anything but once you are there it is an amazingly fun experience. I for one love the convention atmosphere and will continue to attend NYCC for many years to come.

Again, to see all the photos I took over the course of the four day weekend, take a look at my NYCC 2014 Flickr album. Be sure to like and comment if you see something you enjoy. Thank you!