So, for those of you that know, I busted my booty trying to finish Slayer Jinx in order to show her off at the Cosplay Contest in Kansas City. I spent 18 hours straight the day before, completely building my Pow Pow, and painting Fishbones. They were finished, luckily, and I drove the 4 hours to Kansas City to strut my stuff.
The location was pretty great, housing easily 20k people, and being so huge, they had police officers running the crosswalks and such all day. Waiting to get our ticket OUTSIDE was kind of ridiculous, but from what I heard, this was bigger than most of the attendees were used to. Don't wear something skimpy if you are cold-blooded. At least we had a roof over our head while it was raining like crazy. I honestly would have probably just turned around and went home if anyone was expected to wait in that freezing rain. The worst part was walking from parking (most of the lots nearby were $20 and either full or only accepted cash.) Our spot was half a mile away, and I had already changed into Jinx by this point. We waited about 35 minutes for our tickets, and once we got to the booth, it was less than 2 minutes to get our wristbands. Most anime conventions don't even have that together. Prop check also went by really smoothly, even though both the officers checking gave me funny looks, it only took a few moments to get the bands on them and go. It was already pretty crowded for being 11 in the morning at that point, with the doors opening at 10.
I'd give location 7/10, but speed of ticket retrieval an 8/10.
Going up the escalators to the vendor's hall was intense. It was pretty dark down on the first level, but then it just kind of, opened up into this huge, bright area that had sooooo many different vendors. Their artist alley was right near the front, which I always appreciate, and had such a diverse media. There were print artists, comic artists, crochet, painting, and there was even a crafter that took old pieces of computers and made them into nerdy sculpture, which was pretty legit. It was a really cramped space, having so many people walking around me, but the lines kept moving. For the dealer's side of the hall, it was pretty much your usual run of the mill, pops, plushies, and other swag. I only bought one thing, mostly because I had just paid bills, so I wasn't able to get more.
Vendor's hall: 10/10
I only smelled one disgusting person, so I'd have to give the cleanliness of the con a 9/10. It's rare that I only smell one person, and even though they made my eyes water, it was only one, so I was really ecstatic.
I was able to hit the My Hero Academia panel, and it was so full, that there were people having to sit along the walls. They had the voice actors for Deku, Tsuyu, Mt. Lady, Midnight, and Dabi, so that was pretty awesome. I wasn't able to meet them personally, but maybe I will see them at Momocon in May. The staff filed everyone in and out super quickly, so we weren't waiting 20 minutes just to get everyone out from the previous panel. That is huge to me, since there was such a high volume of people at this con. The staff that I was able to have brief conversations with were mostly knowledgeable about what was going on, so at least the staff had a rough idea of what they were doing. The rest of the panels that I saw on the schedule were really diverse and even had your standard, "How to be a Voice Actor" and other basic panels.
Panels/Staff: 9/10
I think my only huge gripes were getting to and from the venue, so I would suggest if you are driving more than an hour, go the entire weekend. Get a hotel room and stay with friends. It will definitely make the weekend worth it. I was able to talk to a couple of vendors about how they were doing for the weekend, and they peaked my interest in possibly selling next year. I also wasn't able to meet Kamui Cosplay, which breaks my heart, but as my props were breaking (a little girl came up to me asking if I could let her hold them, and this tiny hulk held onto these pretty easily and unfortunately thought you could cock the handles on both Pow Pow and Fishbones) I didn't want to meet my idol with a half-baked cosplay. It was a personal choice, so I only have myself to blame. The fact that I had the opportunity to meet Svetlana and Benni made my heart soar and every time I thought about going over to meet her, I started tearing up. I can't handle my super intense emotions like this, so I just cry them out lol.
All in all, I give this con an 8.6/10. Definitely worth checking out, but more worth it if you go the entire weekend. I had the opportunity to stay, but I really wanted to get home and take care of some orders instead. So if you have the time to go to Planet City Comicon, do it.
Check out their website here: http://planetcomicon.com/