It’s been a while since you have heard from me, well Emerald City Comic Con got me good. I’ve been exhausted and just dead tired from conventions before, Emerald City included. But the convention was so much fun this year, that I have been having a hard time bouncing back. And here we are just a few weeks away from another of my biggest conventions of the year, Sakura-Con (but that’s a different article to come).
Emerald City Comic Con started with an overwhelming sense of fun, with so much to do and see. It was hard to keep up in the energy department, especially when checking out the parties hosted by the con and those right outside of it. But I feel like a spent my first day very wisely, checking out all the vendors in artists alley and making my way through half of the vendor hall (time well spent). I’m also quite proud of myself for buying absolutely nothing this year and just using my money for food and parking, because let’s be honest. It’s pricey to attend conventions, and it feels likes prices have risen a lot in the past few months (and I can see it happening even more in the coming months).
Anyway, there were a lot of fun activations going on this year (such a fun word, activations). Like the D&D bar, where in one spot you could be playing a game with friends (new or the group you came to con with) and the other half was tables, foods, and themed alcoholic drinks. On the other side of this space was a more family friendly area where you could check out and get a photo with a huge sized Funko Pop! from Baldurs’s Gate, Astario, I believe. Then there was the timeless classic activity of getting daily photos with the Emerald City Comic Con sign, a fun time. Also, great for looking back on and seeing you and your friends slowly becoming more and more tired as the four days of con continue on (again, I have never been so tired).
The cosplay as always was amazing, I got to run into the one and only Batman at con this year. I gotta say, one of the best I’ve seen and had an amazing utility belt filled with mini-Fireballs (hahaha). There was also lot’s of One Piece cosplay to see, and one group did a whole Warlords of the Sea cosplay and had some of the best cosplays I’ve seen for the characters.
Sadly, there were two huge losses for the weekend. The weather being as it always is, sunny one minute and pouring the next (thank goodness it wasn’t the worst this year and it didn’t snow). Two, the biggest loss was daylight savings happening on Saturday night/early Sunday morning. If you had gone out for fun on Saturday night to check out the nightlife that the con was offering or dancing it up at Spin, you have never regretted anything more than waking up on Sunday morning and the last day of the convention. The entire day I just wanted to lay down and sleep, you could see the haggard and tired looks in everyone’s eyes. There was not enough caffeine in the world that could have rallied any of us to be excited and fully enjoying the last day surrounded by the nerdiness we love.
I love Emerald City Comic Con every year I attend, and this year was no different. I just wish daylight savings would have waited to steal some sleep from me ’til after the convention was over. I do also wish I had a little more free time to explore the different little hidden spots and find new vendors that I loved, but it was still amazing and one for the books.
Were you at ECCC 2025? What were your highlights/lowlights, if so? Feel free to leave a comment below or chat with us on Threads at @theconventioncollective, or Bluesky at @theconcollective.bsky.social
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