Colossalcon Prime 2026 Con Review

Like I said in my previous post; we have a back-to-back con review! I went from Atlanta, Georgia, came home for one night, then moved my entire house into my new house and then immediately turned around to go to Sandusky, Ohio. Colossalcon Prime is held in the aforementioned city at the Kalahari Resorts and Waterpark. I have a history with this con as I went to it originally 12 years ago, then finally returned after 10 long years to hang with my friends. I very quickly discovered the Ribbon Game, hosted by Ribbon Hoarders, and collected over 250 ribbons over the course of the weekend. While I did not have an Artist Alley table there (maybe one day!) I did get to have an Otaku Craft Fair table for Thursday.

Before we arrived, I was going to be staying with Stephanie, the owner of Ribbon Hoarders, as I was to staff with them the entire weekend. My best friend had a time trying to confirm if their room was upgraded after the debacle of Colossal North. An email confirmation from March was deemed "inadequate" and there was miscommunication abound from the Kalahari staff. I understand changing over systems can be a bit of a hiccup, but when an event that brings in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year has a lot of huff, there's something going on. They did eventually get that figured out, luckily being able to house all seven of the group they had. My only problem is that I am a light sleeper and all three of my roommates are snorers, so sleep was definitely under-achieved this weekend. (XD) We were a bit late getting the Ribbon Game started on Wednesday evening, but did eventually start handing out folks' ribbon orders. I appreciated all the enthusiasm for wanting to do the games, but with over 60,000 ribbons ordered just through Ribbon Hoarders, we wanted to focus on making sure the right ribbons got to the right folks. Everyone's designs were absolutely amazing and I loved so many of them!

Thursday morning, our squad went to set up for the Otaku Craft Fair, which, unfortunately for us, was cut short. In previous years, the Craft Fair would run from 2-3p.m. all the way to 10-11p.m., and this year, it was only noon to 5p.m. A lot of attendees were confused about whether we would be there the next day or even be back at all this year. The Fair is a one-day event and once things are gone, they're gone. Snacc Pack did fantastic with their sales and while I was selling for Seifer's Stitches, I did get status updates from them often. I got to sell my Antylamon amigurumi as well as cross off the Mega Absol Z kigu! While it wasn't the most profitable, a free table is a free table, and the conversation is always nice.

I did not personally attend the 18+ market after the Craft Fair, but from what I heard, "It was mid." A lot of people coming in, but not many people purchasing or enjoying the event. I really would have hoped for a convention that usually is an 18+ minimum would have turned out and spent bank on this event. Maybe next year it will be better. I cosplayed as Hangyodon and everyone who recognized me was so sweet and I really wish I had my Hangyodon ribbon to hand out to people. Speaking of, I made three new ribbons this time; a Zooble from Amazing Digital Circus, Homestuck, and Warrior Cats! I had people trying to earn the Warrior ribbon without having read the series and the whole point of that one was to talk about the series and do a Popularity Contest (results in the next paragraph.)

While my ribbons are funny and meant to be taken as jokes, I also want to have fun giving them out. Luckily, this year, I didn't have as much pushback with people not understanding the prompts/fandoms and just expecting the ribbon for the serotonin boost. The few people that wanted my Warrior Cats ribbon that didn't read any of the series took my "I'm sorry, I can't give it to you" with grace and it's very much appreciated. As for my Popularity Poll for the Cats ribbon, Firestar came in first place, with Spottedleaf and Brightheart tied for second place. If I counted my vote though, Spottedleaf would be second, and Brightheart 3rd. All the characters I heard were phenomenal choices and I hope to do this again in the future!

I also got to have the opportunity to have a Petpet Stand again at Neolossal on Friday, where staff of the convention reached out to interview us, but never actually asked us questions/recorded us. They just took pictures and videos and then went across the green to the Freaknik event. I thought that was a little strange, but our organizer, Ori did a fantastic job making signs, securing us tents, and making sure that we had tables for our activities. They also reached out to the Neopets team and TNT sent them a package with a bunch of amazing merchandise! They sent a mug set, stickers, booster packs, and a handful of really incredible things. The theme this year was Virtupets, so I got to bring out my Space Faerie again and even met another Space Faerie (who was definitely more buff than I.) Folks rushed all of the stands, including my lil adoption stand. I spent the last year crocheting over 60 plushies to "adopt out," where all the money was sent directly to Sandusky County Humane Society. I didn't get official numbers, but a lot of folks sent more than the minimum requirement and I believe that put us over our $1000 goal! The shelter also sent us photos of adoptable animals from their shelter and I DESPARATELY want to adopt Rocket.

The funniest interaction I had during the event was when someone came over to look over the pickings and told me, "My friends and I were talking about you. We think what you're doing is amazing. We decided you're going to Heaven." I laughed so hard, and retelling it to my friends made them laugh as well. I really appreciate the sentiment, I'm just a guy who wants to leave the world a little better than I entered into it.

After that, I managed to get into some fun shenanigans as Great Uncle Ford (swimsuit edition) by being adopted into a group of amazing people. I saw the craziest thing I've ever seen before (and probably, hopefully will never again XD) and got invited to taco night where a cutie pie gave me a weird look and said I looked familiar. I then got added to their group chat to be invited to other meal events. I hope whoever won their cooking competition is proud of themself! I was so happy to hang out and meet all the wonderful people throughout the con. I finally got to chill for the evening before my roommates snored after their long, successful day.

Saturday went by really quick, but so much happened. My partner, Tolia decided the bikinis I had picked out for Rukia weren't good enough, so I had to make my own. Definitely don't recommend it, but I really looked cute. I got a lot of compliments and people surprised that I had made my suit. I had my shift at the Ribbon booth with several people seeking me out personally to hand me ribbons and trade, as well as selling some merch for Ribbon Hoarders. After my shift was over, I had to quickly run to my room, grab my Zooble stuff, and run to my bestie's room to get ready together for our Amazing Digital Circus bunnies. I opted for as Lesbian a vibe I could, and told I hit it on the head. Our photographer that Jay (bestie) booked ended up being a friend I had made at Colossalcon North a few years ago in the hot tubs during their Late Swim. I adore them and can't wait to get our photos back from them!

We did have an incident with a Michael Myers cosplayer during the shoot. We were outside doing groups and duos so that we wouldn't be too in the way in the arcade. He came up to me and my friends, acting normal at first. Without saying anything, we fist bumped, then hugged a few of us, then unzipped his shirt and revealed a Michael Myers shirt while flipping us off. We nervously laughed, then stopped as he began rubbing our Jax's shoulders. I was aghast and stared at both of them before blatantly asking Jax if he was alright. He said he was, then Michael moved to me. I told him, "I'm very tense, forever and always, because I don't like people touching me." And the only thing this creep said was, "Don't worry, I like it like that." I decided that was enough and went, "ALRIGHT, TIME TO MOVE THE PHOTOSHOOT INSIDE." Before shuffling my squad inside. We found out later that his name is actually Michael Syverson and he had grabbed several other attendees without consent and choked them, lifting several off the ground. I hate that I can say in those instances, I and my group got off easy. Things like this should never happen. I hope his other victims are okay and are able to heal.

Getting back to the arcade and photoshoot, we worked so quickly that our photographer was surprised. They had apparently blocked out two hours for us, but we didn't need it. I told them to take that extra time to relax and eat. We then headed towards the con for the Bunny Hutch, and my dingdong self ran in my heels and hit the floor so hard a Health and Safety Officer had to ask me if I was alright. I huffed and tore off those shoes, putting on my shark slides (which could also match Zooble, in my opinion) and stormed over to the meeting spot. Everyone was so beautiful and sweet. I'd also like to apologize to the folks that joined into the cosplay music video, we had scheduled with Pineda before the meet, and we could have communicated that better. I hope to be able to link the video once he posts it! After the hutch, we were able to quickly get changed and turn around for our Bunnysuit 101 panel. I adored the sweethearts near the front row, adding to the panel. They were even kind enough to venmo me XD

We had another odd interaction with someone in the panel sending us emails eight minutes apart telling us they assumed we were going to all be making bunny suits in a single hour. While I appreciate the confidence, there's no way anyone could pattern, cut, sew, and finish a bunny suit in an hour, let alone with 40 other people in the room. (That being said, if you'd like a workshop type panel like that, it would be 6 hours long, you'd have to bring your own sewing machine, and pay a fee of $350 that is non-refundable so that we could purchase all the materials. Email your cons you'd like to see Snacc Pack do that at.) After the panel was over, I could finally go to sleep. Sometime between 6-11 p.m. another attendee burst into a bathroom that a con-goer was already occupying and proceeded to try to lock them in there with him. Luckily, the pooper had friends that got them out of there before the con-goer destroyed the bathroom. Everyone that saw what happened knew that there was something more than alcohol that was affecting this Zoro cosplayer. He's currently being held for $35,000 bond.

Sunday was largely uneventful. I got to go down to the Flea Market, but was largely disappointed. It definitely did not have the vibes I was looking for. A lot of folks were selling subpar or very obviously overpriced merchandise, and while I understand the hustle, I could buy a new figure for less than what some of these folks were charging for some of their wares. Ribbon Hoarders closed down for the weekend without too much hassle, and we were able to load everything into their respective cars. Tolia got to soak in the hot tubs for a bit, while I got to play in the arcade, finally. I found out that the arcade changed the cards to be able to roam, which means that they can be used at all the different Kalaharis. That's wonderful for me since I have gone to three of the locations and would like to be able to only need one card.

Tolia and I finally said goodbye to the Sandusky Kalahari around 11p.m. to our AirBnb before an early start home. I hope to be back next year as an artist, but even if it's with Ribbon Hoarders again, I'll be there. Until next time, John Kalahari.