ECCC 2017: Gone in the blink of an eye

Man, this year’s Emerald City Comicon felt so short! It was ECCC’s 15th anniversary, and it also happened to be my fifth ECCC. This year I couldn’t go 3 days in a row—my schedule couldn’t accommodate it. I only went on Saturday and Sunday. Usually, I use Friday as my show floor/shopping day so I can buy everything I want and then bring it back to the hotel so I wouldn’t have to worry about it for the next few days (it’s a lie. I always end up buying stuff every single day I’m there). This year, I had to concentrate on exploring, shopping, cosplaying, and doing meetups over two days. I felt so rushed and it did feel like I blinked and the con was over.

Nonetheless, it was great fun as it is every year. Again, going up the “Welcome to Emerald City Comicon” escalators always makes my emotions well up. I usually have 2-3 cosplays lined up for the con, but due to time constraints this year and me working on a November cosplay for Vancouver Fan Expo, I didn’t have much time to finish up cosplays for ECCC. I ended up being Moana for both days—but she’s awesome so I didn’t mind.

This is also the first year our usual gang for ECCC couldn’t make it. They moved up the con to March this year, whereas in past years it had always been in April. That didn’t quite work since some of our friends were still in school and school was still in session during March.

Some highlights from the con included….

Getting another commission done by Katie cook ❤️

Seeing awesome cosplays. I wish I had more pictures, but I actually accidentally left my camera at home this year. All pictures here are basically from my iPhone.

Paying tribute to Carrie Fisher (I wanted to cry seeing this tribute wall. So many lovely notes from fans). She was supposed to be a guest this year at ECCC. I hope she’s doing well wherever she is now and that she no longer has to feel the stress and anxiety that she always faced on Earth.

Seeing Stan Lee and Millie Bobby Brown’s panels. I have a terrible habit of skipping panels now because I feel I never have enough time on the show floor and I can’t sit still for an hour listening to someone talk. But we made sure to go to these two’s panels. Stan Lee was hilarious—we saw him at ECCC about two years back, and it’s great to see he’s a good as ever. Though I hear he did have health issues after the con and had to cancel the next con appearance he was making elsewhere. Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven from Stranger Things) was super well spoken! It’s crazy to think that she’s only 13. The lineups were kind of ridiculous for Stan Lee’s panel. It went around the convention center and we had to wait in the cold well in advance of the panel.
Getting ECCC themed Starbucks drinks. Every year they do some sort of homage to the con in town. Last year’s was Batman vs. Superman. This year it was Hulk Smash and I Am Groot. I got the Hulk Smash sans protein powder, which I guess kind of takes the “smash” aspect out of it.
The Funko booth was ridiculous this year. So you had to register with them a week before the con even started by entering a draw so that you can go line up at a certain time over the con weekend. What?
I didn’t actually get chosen, but I knew by the time the assigned queue times were up, all of the exclusives would probably be gone. Luckily, I met someone in the line who wasn’t going to buy the Pop! Vinyl I wanted, so I gave her the money and she got it for me. Phew!
They also had this sweet Eleven giant Pop! Vinyl as a photo op.

There were random pics with other con-goers. I’ve never cosplayed anything from Disney before, so it was quite an experience. There were little girls who really wanted a picture with Moana and it was so amazing. I don’t think my past cosplays have been particularly child-friendly in terms of the fandoms they’re from.

Outside of the con itself, we spent another day just hanging out in Seattle on the Monday, and we’d go out each night to explore. There’s great food in Seattle. Ate. So. Much.