Wizard World Comic Con San Jose

Other reviews talk about how cons are no longer about comics. The thing is those days are over. With the internet you can buy rare comics and have them mailed to your door. Gone are the days of having to search for rare items on foot. As for the $ 50 entrance fees, I consider it inflation and also having to pay the talent/​celebrities.
The only thing I don’t like is Lou Ferrigno and Dean Cain charging $ 60 for having a premium item signed. It’s false advertisement. On the website their prices are listed at $ 40. When you get there it’s $ 60 for your own item to be signed. Dean Cain was nice. Lou Ferrigno I feel sorry for because he is deaf so he comes off as rude but I don’t think he is. The only thing that saved this con was meeting Bruce Campbell. Anyway Lou shouldn’t gouge his fans. It really left a poor taste in my mouth. Caught me off guard and I forked over the extra $ 20 to have my hulk pop figure signed. Lou Ferrigno, Dean Cain, Emily Kinney, Scott Wilson and Michael Rooker are now has beens and shouldn’t be charging $ 50 for an autograph anymore. No one was at their tables.

boy did this comic-​con suck!!!
in fact… i would not call it a comic-con…i would call it a wizard world self promotional event.
a total of 3 dealers selling comics was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
i paid for 3 days but only went one day as it was just too too small.
i will never never ever attend a crap con like this again.
:(

I attended my first comic convention in 1977. In the ensuing years I both attended and displayed at hundreds more. Dozens of times at San Diego, Chicago, and New York. Dozens more at small conventions in over 20 states.
I say this without hyperbole and with a good amount of consideration after spending a few hours at Wizard World San Jose today — this was the worst Comic Convention I’ve ever been too.
It’s not that it wasn’t well run — it’s that it was really not a comic convention at all. Maybe it was a Pop Culture con, but even then it was severely lacking. There were a grand total of three vintage comic dealers at the convention and when there’s that few it’s hard to label it a comic convention at all.
The dealers room as a whole was small and doing very little business. I suspect the exorbitant price of dealer tables shut out most dealers. I have seen one day cons in a hotel ballroom with more dealers.
But the big issue for me was the economics of it. In all my years of attending cons I’ve never seen a $ 50.00 a day entry fee for a small area convention. Even the big national shows are often much less and they offer so much more. By the time you pay for gas, bridge tolls, parking and entry a family’s dropped $ 150.00 + for a small room and a marginal line up of guests. If you’re actually a comic collector you’ve dropped the same for almost nothing.

Small comic and pop culture convention that is filling the void in the Bay Area. Tickets were pricey at $ 35+ (not including a $ 4.87 processing fee) for one day admission, but we caved in. We arrived around noon on Saturday (event was held over Labor Day weekend in 2015 Fri-​Sun) and there was no line for the tickets or entrance. There were booths selling pop/​comic/​culture items, a row with comic artists, a row with the special guests, an area with tattoo artists tattooing folks, and an area with caricature portraits. Since it really didn’t get packed, it was easy to see and experience the whole convention within two hours if not seeing any of the panels/​events in Room 210 – 212. As usual, the best panels/​events are on Saturday.
The special guests were pretty legit and they had quite a few cast members from The Walking Dead (Merle, Abraham, Hershel, Eugene, and Beth). However, autographs started at $ 40+, selfies started at $ 40+, and a photograph started at $ 60+. The Green Ranger, or Jason David Frank, really stole the show and amped up the attendees by jumping atop the table. Note that they only accepted cash for this, so bring plenty if expecting to meet a favorite actor or buy goods. The ATM charged $ 5 to withdraw cash (this not including whatever your bank will charge you). Given the small numbers of attendees, the lines for the special guests for a selfie/​autograph/​brief conversation were small or nonexistent.
Exhibit floor was well organized, taking up space of Hall 1 at the McEnery Convention Center, and everything else was on the same floor. They had the concession area open, but the wristband gives you in and out privileges, so I would opt to leave for better food in the downtown San Jose area. Parking is available in the structure attached to the convention center, but metered parking around the area is much cheaper (and free on Sundays). Website was comprehensive with programming, ticketing, and FAQs.
Here’s hoping that Wizard World gets bigger and better!