Wizard World Philadelphia 2017 Recap
The summer convention circuit is in full swing, as Wizard World has returned to the Philadelphia Convention Center. This year, I was fortunate enough to get a press pass to the event, much to the chagrin of the rest of my group of friends that had to pay full price to get into the event. With my bank account safe from the hit, we arrived and were immediately engrossed in a world of cosplayers, vendors, live music, special events and celebrity guests with the likes of John Cusack, Chuck Norris, Jesse Eisenberg, Michael Rooker, Kristy Swanson, and many more.
It was a blast walking around the venue checking out the awesome art, custom weapons, comics, toys, collectibles and everything that Wizard World had to offer. I really love how the floor space in the convention center is so conducive for such a large event to be easy navigable for so many people in attendance. Despite the large crowd, it’s very easy to move freely around the floor without bumping into others or feeling crowded. Waiting in lines for things like food, beverages, booths and celebrity panels was also not bad at all this year.
My group and I made several laps around the floor, spending more than 6 hours exploring the vast array of goods and wares that were available. Though I did not purchase anything this year, I got to bring home more than material objects. Since Bill and I have been doing our podcast, we’ve gotten quite good at talking to celebrities and coaxing them into interviews. We got the chance to have a nice conversation with Thomas Ian Nicholas (Rookie of the Year, American Pie). Thomas was a really awesome, down to earth guy to talk with and we spent several minutes with him. Thomas even agreed to call into our next show for an interview (which airs tomorrow at the time of me writing this article). Though he’ll still be at Wizard World, he was gracious enough to take some time away from his duties and give us a call and we’re very excited to talk to him.
We also got to chat with and say hello to a number of the other guests in attendance: Lou Ferrigno, Michael Rooker, Will Friedle, and we even got show IDs from Rider Strong, Kristy Swanson and Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld. On a personal note, I was super excited to meet and talk with Rider Strong, as Boy Meets World is and will always be my favorite TV show of all time. The guests that we got to talk to were all super nice and seemed happy to be there, which is something that really matters to us fans. There’s nothing worse than meeting someone you’ve grown up following, only to meet them and realize they’re a jerk.
I feel very fortunate to not only have been granted a press pass, but just to be able to have the opportunity to attend events like this. It’s such a great way for us normal people to rub elbows with Hollywood stars, if even for a brief minute or two. I want to thank everyone that helped to make Wizard World Philadelphia another great event, the stars in attendance, and the fans that show up to support the convention each year. If you have never attended a convention like this, you absolutely need to do so.
