WONDERCON 2025... POST-CON WITHDRAWALS!!!

 

*SIGHS* Well...  Another WonderCon has passed.  I'd like to be a little more cheery welcoming y'all to the month of April, which is also my birth month, but how can I be?  My vacation is over!  Time to get back to the grind!  Worst part of it is, I don't even know if it was a good show or not?  As of this typing, it's still February!  Surely y'all know by now that I type these out WELL in advance?  I say so every year even!  But then I have to remember people rarely read the fine print, they just want the pics.  And since I know I'm probably pretty worn out right now, let's just get right to them.  We're jumping back to last year's show in 2025, so hike up those sweatpants because the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown is STILL a go!  Nothing is over until WE decide it is!  Enjoy...

Wow.  His Schwartz is really strong!

HAVE A NICE DAY!!!

After taking a year off in 2024, Funko returned to WonderCon with a neat, but underwhelming display that was merely a shrunk down version of the Funkoville they set up in San Diego every summer.  After the massive successes of their Tiki and Carnival setups in 2022 and 2023 respectively, fans couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in this offering.

Man I really wish they'd bring Rex back to Star Tours at Disneyland.  Hell, the original ride was so much more fun than the video game-grade CG they use on the current version of the ride!

Sadly, the iconic fountain was down last year for reasons never really made clear.  Fingers crossed I'll have pics of it up and running again next week!

Aw...  I hope they found that puppy.

This fish thing was actually a robot that would periodically blink, flap its arms and sing to us!  Scared the hell out of quite a few kids too!

Miyazaki would approve I'm sure!

Well, they made it through the Fire Swamps, why not celebrate their true love at WonderCon?

So COOL to CHILL with Mr. Freeze!

Rufio and Tink!  We need some more Lost Boy cosplay from Hook.  So many of them had unique designs!

I think this version of Captain Planet might take some VERY drastic measures at getting his message of environmentalism across!

Merlin and Madam Mim!  The least controversial wizards in cinema history!

And finally, since Wrestlemania is on the horizon, may as well celebrate with some devoted WWF/E fans!  I don't care how much time passes, it will always be the FEDERATION to me!

And that was WonderCon 2025!  Definitely a wild one, but man was it fun!  Great scores, great meals and a whole host of new friends!  The only downer really was the fountain being down.  Hell, even Disneyland crowds were tolerable last year.  Probably helped that it was held the week BEFORE Easter, a trend that I hope continues for good.  I had a hard time peeling myself away from it all, but had to.  As they say, life, and the show, must go on.

Well, only one more week to go in the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown this year, but we're gonna make it count with our main event, WonderCon 2026!  So be sure to come back and check it out!  Until next time, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

WONDERCON 2025!!! IN LIKE A LAMB, OUT LIKE A LION!!!

*SIGHS*  Well, another WonderCon has come to pass.  It seems as soon as I was checking into my hotel I was already checking out!  I hate this deal where time seems to speed up after we hit the age of 20, but now is not the time to ponder the space-time continuum.  Y'all came here to see some Con pics, and I intend to deliver!

It all happened in such a blur.  Even as I type this it's hard to believe a whole week has already passed since I came home!  But good times were definitely had as the following photographic evidence will attest.  So, for the final time in 2025, cap up those Code Red Mountain Dews, wipe off that Cheeto dust and pre-wedgie those Spider-Man Underoos because the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown is blasting off!  Enjoy...

 

Believe it or not I get this cosplay!

I never thought that anyone would!

Cruising the halls on a wing and a prayer...

This guy's Greatest American Hero costume is that good!

Jedi Barbie!  I'm sure it'll happen if it hasn't already!

Seeing more Don Bluth characters cosplayed in recent years and I love it!  Dragon's Lair was such a groundbreaking game too, so it's nice to see Dirk the Daring get some love from the fans!

Sadly, the legendary courtyard fountain at the Anaheim Convention Center was not functional during this year's show.  It's often the spot for some jaw-dropping pictures, so hopefully by next year, things will be flowing again!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!  THIS WRESTLING COSPLAY WAS BOSS!!!  OOH YEAH!!!  I don't really recall Scott Steiner having any real catchphrase, but Big Poppa Pump cosplay is definitely a new one for me!

Faith and begorrah! It's Captain Ireland!  Celebrating another thorough ass-kicking of Hydra agents with a victorious swig!

For months really, fans were excited about the return of Funko to WonderCon after opting to skip last year's show.  After the incredible Tiki Bar and Carnival setups of the recent past, expectations were understandably high!  So did they deliver?  Well...  They had variety if nothing else.  Funko decided to ditch the themed element and just went with a VERY scaled down version of the "Funkoville" setup they've been doing at SDCC since 2022.  I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but this really paled in comparison to their San Diego setup, and the Anaheim Convention Center has the room to do something pretty nifty.  Granted, Funko's past Anaheim experiences were also smaller in scale, but they still delivered very fun setups that had everyone buzzing!  This just seemed like a rushed popup shop.  Still, they had lines around the corner all weekend, so fans were still pleased, and in the end, that's what matters most.

I gotta say, this puppet show was a LOT easier to follow than that Dungeons & Dragons puppet show I went to last year!

"Quiet down now!  Will the real Indiana Jones PLEASE come forward!"

My old pal Matt Eargle came to the show and decided the time was right to reenact the finale of Dr. Strangelove!

I don't know what Until Dawn is or who the cast are, but moments after this photo was taken, a zombie burst through the wall and scared the living hell out of all of them.  I imagine it's on YouTube.

This Shrek cosplay group was definitely one of the best that I saw all weekend!  Mascot Lord Farquaad in particular was just expert level awesome!

These RX Pilot Droids are far more fun to fly with than C-3PO ever will be!

I'm not sure what this thing was supposed to be, but it moved and sang in Japanese.  It was too quick for my camera even!

Apparently this guy is a YouTube celebrity.  I marveled at his retro tech while he and his pal marveled at mine, telling me my tiny, nearly 20yo Casio Exilim camera is valuable.  I thought they were blowing smoke until my pal Matt told me it legitimately is!  This is why I horde my old tech folks!

Max and PJ totally see eye-2-eye with Powerline!

Tired of her monsters constantly failing her, Rita Repulsa made one of her Putties giant and sent it after the Power Rangers!

After the fallout of the disastrous AMC Theater chain's Dune popcorn buckets, the Sandworm decided it was time for a break and strolled around WonderCon!

And now, we end things this round with my favorite cosplay of the whole con:  Carrie and Bo "Bandit" Darville from Smokey And The Bandit!  One of the all-time great comedies, it's pure stupid fun and I've long wondered why nobody ever does cosplay of it?  Well, this year the Con Gods smiled upon me and now I can say I've seen it in person!  NOW SOMEBODY GIT DAT SUM BITCH!!!

And that was WonderCon 2025!  A very fast weekend with far more cooperative weather than last year, though there were some rain scares leading into the week.  I spent WAY too much money, but then again, what is life without a little fun?  It's okay to spoil yourself every once in a while.  Just don't let it become a habit!  Gotta say though, the amount of money some of these vendors were charging for old comics is downright criminal.  I'm talking 50yo books with torn covers and missing pages that they're selling at grossly inflated prices.  It's one thing if the book is mint, but if it's practically falling apart, they shouldn't be charging no more than a $1 at the most.  Still, I'm happy with my haul and eager to return next spring!  It was a wonderful weekend of good friends, good food and good times!  Only 354 more days to go...

And that's a wrap on the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown 2025!  I know, it's kinda sad.  It was a fun seven weeks, but things have to return to normal for a bit.  But it's not all bad.  We're definitely less than a year away from next year's Countdown and if that weren't cool enough, we're a mere eight weeks away from the return of the CRAZY Comic Con Countdown!  And believe you me, I got some awesome pics lined up for that one!  In the meantime, we got some art posts coming up and they are all fun and, of course, CRAZY!!!  So be sure to come back next week and see what we got going on!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!