Portland Fan Expo! Jeremy Heads To The Con! Meeting Anthony Daniels! Cosplay! And More!

If you live, in or have ever been to Portland, Oregon, you know our motto, “Keep Portland Weird”. Over the weekend, that motto was out in full force during Fan Expo (formerly Wizard Wizard).

There were 4 of us covering the con this year- one covering celebrities, one covering the booths, and 2 taking photos. We all agreed that this was a fantastic event with an incredible lineup of celebrities, artists, and some of the coolest vendors I have seen at a con. Yes, there were some things that could be improved upon, but overall, it was a fantastic event.

On Thursday night, select members of the press were invited to a swanky media event at Portland City Grill to network, mingle with comic artists, and interview the VIP of the night…wait for it… The one and only Anthony Daniels who played C3PO in every Star Wars film. It was a small and intimate group of us, so it made the interactions with Mr. Daniels that much cooler. Daniels walked in, grabbed the microphone, and began telling us some great behind the scenes stories of Star Wars. He is a great storyteller (and he is a good salesman, too… he brought a copy of his book and reminded us that all the good stuff was in his book). This was a great kick-off to the con and was done remarkably!

On Saturday, we headed out to the Oregon Convention Center for the big day. There was only one door as an entrance to the con which we found disappointing because there was a HUGE line waiting to get in. We also had to have our badges scanned every time we came to or left the event.
The show was PACKED. Maybe the most crowded we have ever seen, and it was easy to see why: The lineup of celebrities included the cast from Back to the Future, stars from Star Trek, Harry Potter, The Office, Rocky, and of course, Anthony Daniels, who was our first stop when we got in.

At upwards of $200 or more per autograph, we only got Anthony’s autograph. Although not necessarily the con’s fault, the prices for some of the celebrities were a bit much. Jodi Benson, the voice of the Little Mermaid was $70, while Michael J. Fox was over $200 for an autograph.

On Sunday, we went back to shop. The assortment of vendors was incredible, and we found some interesting, and one-of-a-kind pieces. Our favorites were the horror themed carved pumpkins, the vintage movie poster art, and the booth selling vintage Star Wars figures. We also ran into The No Drama llama, and the coolest Chewbacca costume we have ever seen.

Overall, we liked the con, and would go back.

The lineup of celebrities was remarkable, the vendors were great, and the costumes were out in full force. And true to our motto, it was definitely weird!