As with most years, we here at Honey’s Anime try to attend New York Comic Con and were indeed lucky to be able to attend this year. New York Comic Con 2017 was an absolute blast as always and we wanted to share some of our favorite moments while on the show floor. We saw plenty of new games being released soon as well as tons of comic book and anime content from various groups and sellers. While we are absolutely tired and in dire need of some rest, we don’t want any of you who may have missed the convention to not be able to get some info on what went down at New York Comic Con 2017. Let us dive in and get into what we saw and heard this year!
Basic Info
| Official Website | http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com |
|---|---|
| When it was Established | For those who are unaware, Comic Con has been around for quite some time. Nearly 50 years ago—and by another name—Comic Con was released to the world in San Diego. However, New York Comic Con would only finally begin in 2006 which essentially means it hasn’t been around for that long in The Big Apple. Still, with so much success, it’s not strange to see that New York Comic Con has already been going on strong for nearly 11 years. Already the website states plans for New York Comic Con 2018 thus proving we will see the convention for some time more and we’re quite happy about that. |
| Length of event | New York Comic Con 2017 was a 4-day event and usually every year, last for that long. |
| Place / location | Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, New York. |
| Cost | Thursday Pass: $45 Friday/Saturday/Sunday Pass: $50 each Sunday Kids: $10 VIP Pass: (Ultimate Access Package $525, Special Access Package $215) |
| Hotel | New York City has tons of hotels and inns to stay at if you plan to spend the weekend going to New York Comic Con. However, as with most places in New York City, the prices can range quite dramatically. The best hotels near the convention itself can range from $200+ a single night and thus be quite pricey but extremely convenient as most are a block or two away from the convention center itself. If you don’t mind taking the subway system, you can always look for hotels in the upper parts of the city but just be aware of the distance and amount of time it will take to get there as subways are notoriously late or packed in New York City. There are also hotels outside of the city itself but those are highly ill advised seeing as how you would then need to pay for taxis each day you plan on going to New York Comic Con and thus can run you fees even higher than just booking a place near it. Make sure that if you plan on buying tickets to the convention and you’re out of town, book hotels months in advance to have a chance at normal prices rather than upscaled ones. |
| Company / event message for fans / attendees | “New York Comic Con - the biggest and most exciting popular culture convention on the East Coast!” |
What to Expect
New York City, in general, is a hugely populated place with tons of people and large crowds. Likewise, New York Comic Con is about the same but in a smaller location. If you plan on going Thursday, this is the ideal place for those who might be new to conventions as New York Comic Con tends to be less eventful and less populated on Thursday. Friday, Saturday and Sunday is when New York Comic Con comes to life and thus also becomes ten times more populated with thousands of people walking the show floor and looking for art in the Artist Alley. Be prepared to be walking in large crowds but don’t be afraid if you happen to bump into someone or steps on someone’s shoes. As with most conventions, people are rather friendly and will always smile back knowing they probably have done the same thing only a minute ago to another patron. Those looking to buy should go on Thursday, and those who love autographs and meeting celebrities will find Saturday and or Friday the best days to visit. Though with such a huge convention, don’t be surprised to see some celebrities unannounced when they will be there and walking the floor on random days. They are fans of the New York Comic Con as well and want to explore just like you.
What to Bring in Order to Enjoy the Event
New York Comic Con is pretty strict on what you can and can’t bring with you, but we will run you through a nice list of necessities that will help make your experience better. The first thing you will definitely want to bring is your badge. These will help you enter and exit the convention without any issues and delays. Do not—and we say this with bold marks—sell your badges to others around you seeing as how your name is associated with the badge itself! Bring nice and comfy clothes and shoes as the convention center—in this case the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center—is quite deceptively large and warm thanks to the large crowds. Cameras, backpacks, water and such are also quite handy but no selfie sticks as New York Comic Con has banned those for safety purposes. If you plan on buying anything at New York Comic Con, bring either cold hard cash and or credit/debit, though be warned with credit purchases, you will have a tax fee based on New York’s current taxes. Our last piece of advice to you also is to get a good night’s sleep prior to the days you plan on attending New York Comic Con, lack of sleep and lots of walking/sightseeing doesn’t mesh well together.
What to do While There / What is Available
New York Comic Con always has a ton of things to see and do while walking the convention hall. Artist Alley is easily one of our favorite places as you can see tons of comic book artists—most are still trying to get their names out there in the comic book world—who sell their pieces at rather reasonable prices. While New York Comic Con is indeed made for comic book and graphic novels, over the years, the convention has been showing a huge anime boon and you can usually expect to find some pretty big anime groups such as Funimation, Crunchyroll and various other groups. Manga, Anime and video games are also huge in New York Comic Con with tons of vendors such as Square Enix and Bandai Namco Entertainment having shops set up. Here at Honey’s Anime, we tend to tell people to grab one of the handy—and free—guide books for that years New York Comic Con as it shows a map of all the various panels and booth locations making it a good way to plan your movements and help move around. You could also go to New York Comic Con without a game plan but just be prepared to not only get lost at times but also find yourself maybe missing out on a smaller booth that could have been some interest to you or have sold something you wanted. Finally, if you’re a panel type of person then you’re in luck as every year New York Comic Con has tons of panels talking about comics and various other mediums in the world of comic books.
Cosplay
Would any convention be a convention without cosplay in some shape or form? Probably not! New York Comic Con has tons of cosplay and we saw various cosplay in the form of heroes like Captain America, Iron Man and anti-hero Deadpool, but we also saw tons of anime cosplay such as Yuri on Ice characters Yuri and Victor as well as some Danganronpa cosplay in the form of Ultimate Despair Junko Enoshima herself. We really liked this one couple dressed up as characters from Boku no Hero Academia and gave them a huge thank you for having some truly awesome cosplay. If you have a camera or filming device in hand don’t ever feel afraid to ask for some pictures from someone. Men and women cosplayers are always happy to be recognized for their hours of hard work dressing up as their favorite heroes, villains and characters from various forms of anime, comics and the whole lot. Trust us, a few people who seemed tired perked up when we asked for a photo and we could see it made their day to be noticed.
Final Thoughts
Author: Aaron
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