Raleigh Supercon 2018, Not Your Average Comic-Con

Raleigh, NC – Conventions can be a daunting space for people. The massive crowds, the overwhelming amount of events, the vendors.. which way do you turn! Thankfully, none of that was apparent from the moment we walked into Raleigh Supercon 2018. Supercon was held at the Raleigh Convention Center, a world-class architectural wonder, right in the heart of Downtown Raleigh. When you walk in you realize just how massive the building is. When we first arrived, there was a cosplay conga line going on led by Deadpool holding a boombox. As If that wasn’t exciting enough, Diamond Dallas Page was walking right along beside it like no big deal. As we made our way down to the exhibits, we realized that 50% of the people we were surrounded by are in Cosplay. So cool to be walking along with characters from your favorite tv shows, comics and movies. The time and craftsmanship that go into the Cosplayers’ outfits is proof enough they take their fandom serious. Halloween is not even a close second to just how much time and thought that goes into these costumes and outfits. The Cosplay truly makes the events a memorable experience..and an exciting one at that.

The exhibits were also impressive..vendors from all over selling almost anything you could imagine. You could spend hours and hours walking around the exhibits and talking to the vendors. Most of the vendors we talked to were so much fun and engaging. It wasn’t like you just walked past a booth and someone was just standing there waiting to take your money or try to sell you something. They truly loved being there and interacting with the people. And so many talented artists and designers.. it was amazing to see. There were food trucks outlining the back walls around the exhibits. Such a great idea!

After visiting the exhibits, we made our way to the gaming ballrooms. It was so captivating to see all the people playing retro video games! Yes, Nintendo NES, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64 and Gamecube systems were setup! Games like Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. were all setup for gamers to play. Of course the new generation of gaming was front and center. There was hundreds of players playing Fortnite, Overwatch and other modern releases plus gaming tournaments you could enter and compete with other players for cash, prizes…and of course, bragging rights. They had table top gaming, arcade games and an entire room for Magic: The Gathering. No matter what type of gamer you were, there was a setup for you.

Raleigh Supercon had an incredible lineup of celebrities. One of our favorites was seeing Ralph Macchio, the star of The Karate Kid. If you grew up in the 80’s & 90’s Daniel from The Karate Kid was a household name. His co-stars William Zabka and Martin Kove from Cobra-Kai were also on hand. There were so many others like William Shatner, Henry Winkler, Lou Ferrigno, Alice Cooper, Joey Fatone, Dante Basco, Catherine Tate, Mick Foley and so many more. The stars had meet and greets and you could get their autographs and take selfies with them. The price range to get an autograph or selfie was between $25-$60 bucks.

The panels were engaging and a lot fun to watch. You had everything from Q&A’s with celebrities to informative workshops and how-to sessions. One of the biggest things that set Raleigh Supercon 2018 apart from other Comic Cons was the after parties! There was Cosplay wrestling events, costume competitions, burlesque shows, drinking game shows, horror film fests and even a Star Wars Saturday Night Fever Disco Party! That was all in just one night! The after parties were so much fun and a time where everyone could just enjoy the atmosphere and each other. Have a beer with Spider-man, take a shot with Samus from Metroid. It was truly a one of a kind experience. Even if you aren’t into anything geeky or pop culture you would love this event.

Check out video from the event.

More photos from the event:

 

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Article written by: JT (The NES Page)
Video by: Jetmedia NC
Photo Credits: Dusty (The NES Page), Raleigh Supercon, Brian (The NES Page)