Formerly Northeast Comic Con, the event relocated to the Hanover Mall in Hanover, Massachussetts, which is about 45 minutes south of Boston, so the title is definitely more accurate. Last winter, I attended the winter NECC event by myself back when they were operating out of a stonemason community center. I had a blast this time too, at their summer event in July, and I must say, they’ve really stepped up their game, venue-wise.
This summer’s event was held in an empty department store space, with nice carpeted floors, great lighting, and excellent visibility all around. I’m a huge fan of the setup because, in the event of getting bored (the event is “guaranteed not boring” but it’s still good to plan ahead), we could explore other parts of the mall. And explore we did. It was like cosplayers had taken over the entire building!
With these small-ish conventions, I don’t expect much of a celebrity presence, but we were pleasantly surprised. Though I didn’t see him, James Tolkan (that slacker from Back to the Future, lol) was there, and so were some other retro celebrities who were super-friendly and down to earth.
Right near the entrance of the convention space, two actors from an old Nickolodeon show I’d never heard of named Pete and Pete, Mike Maronna and Danny Tamberelli, called us over and asked us about our costumes.
They were actually keeping score of the different fandoms that were being represented by cosplaying attendees, and I was relieved to learn there were other RWBY cosplayers already in the building! (It’s so nice when the guests go out of their way to interact with the regular people…)
Only after we went home, I discovered that one of these actors, Danny Tamberelli, was actually the voice of Arnold from the Magic School Bus show way back when…. If I’d known at the time, I would’ve felt obligated to tell him I’m glad I didn’t stay home that day. 😀
The highlight of my day in terms of meeting famous people, however, was meeting Micky Dolenz from an even older show, The Monkees. (70s kids will remember this one. :P) I knew he was going to be there, and I was super-surprised to be in the same space as he was, even though I couldn’t afford to buy a photo op or autograph. My plan was to attend his Q&A session later that day and wear my Mike Nesmith-inspired green wool beanie (in this lovely July weather) in hopes that Senpai Micky would notice. 😀
But my brave friends talked me into getting in the (near empty) line just to say hello, whereupon the super-nice gentleman shook my hand and we talked for about a minute. (Didn’t want to waste his time!) So technically, I am one handshake away from the other three Monkees. I managed to not make a fool of myself in front of Mr. Dolenz and carry an intelligent conversation and I am so, so, so happy this happened.
Although my Fellowship of the Cosplay did leave the con space a couple of times for snack and bathroom breaks around the mall (because we had to, not because the convention was boring!!), there was actually a lot to do for the afternoon. There was a fandom-themed magic show we caught the last few minutes of, and towards the end of the day, there was a series of cosplay competitions and games.
If you were there, I was the awkward Blake in the Ruby-less Team RWBY (our team leader Ruby abandoned us!!) during the Cosplay Deathmatch competition. Thanks to your deafening screams in our favor, a super-terrific Weiss, a rad Roman Torchwick, and this awkward Blake made it to Round Two before we lost to Team Voltron.
Overall, I think it was a lovely, memorable event! For a few of my friends, this was their first convention, and judging by how things went, I have a feeling it won’t be our last together.
Boston South Coast Comic Con, in my opinion, is a delightful family-friendly convention in the New England area. Its small size and friendly setting makes it great for newbies, and the emphasis on older entertainment media surely makes it appealing to the oldies as well. 🙂 They hold several conventions throughout the year at their new venue, so you can visit the NE/BSCC website to find out more about upcoming events. I hope I’ll see you there!
Allison Does Other Things 