Our Experience at the Contropolis Pennsylvania Fan Convention!
Contropolis Pennsylvania, the first of three all-new events that Altered Reality Entertainment is kick-starting in 2023, took over the 240,000 square feet of the Expo Center with all manner of photo ops, exhibitors, small shops and celebrity autograph booths. As we entered, we were met with a complimentary gift bag and four complimentary comic books to commemorate ‘Free Comic Book Day’ - along with the cheerful chant of a cosplayer in a larger-than-life Pikachu costume! As we proceeded onto the show floor, the Contropolis merch and information booth offered us a peek at the day’s schedule and a collection of ‘Contropolis’ t-shirts, mugs and lanyards for those willing to pay an extra couple of dollars.
Mulling the aisles and aisles of exhibitors, we found our way to the likes of Etsy craftsman Zabo Creations, who designs custom glassware, drum tables and dioramas based on fandoms of all sorts; Stunspore Studios, who offers unbelievably vibrant and detailed Pokemon terrariums; Noshing Nostalgia, whose ‘helping hands’ were very busy carving and painting other ‘helping hands’, and the list went on and on. Across the entire convention, more than 100 unique vendors and exhibitors were offering fandom-based trinkets and collectibles - no two booths were alike! We also passed by four booths that comprised the ‘Ink Fusion Empire’, where congress could get tattoos befitting whatever fandom they fancied. Tempting as it was, we decided to pass on this particular offering.
Above: The magnificent Pokémon terrariums crafted by Krista of StunsporeStudios!
On our way to the Celebrity Autograph & Photo Op areas, we stopped by one final booth that went by the moniker of ‘Koala Tea’ (pronounced: “quality”) where a small team was hard at work creating custom bubble teas by blending customer selections together for a sweet concoction with an adorable anime-adjacent plastic travel lid. Naturally, we had to try this tea for ourselves - and we were even able to top our concoction off with sweet boba beads to emphasize the ‘bubble’ of the tea! We also passed by the convention’s portable ‘Pop-up lockers’ in an area set aside for storage. Since we had a large backpack that had already cleared security, we didn’t feel that we were in need of an additional merchandise storage solution…but it was nice to know that the option existed!
It was then on to the Celebrities - often our favorite part of the convention scene. Contropolis may be in its infancy as a convention, but that didn’t seem to hurt its ability to net some big names as celebrity guests! Katie was largely interested in meeting the headliner, Cary Elwes, who is known for his leading roles in ‘The Princess Bride’ (1987), ‘Robin Hood: Men in Tights’ (1993) and ‘Saw’ (2004) among many, many other films. We had pre-purchased both a Photo Op and an Autograph prior to the show, but the latter option was cash only for those who were walking up day-of.
Our celebrity photo op with Cary came first.
Typically, these photo ops (powered by Epic Photo Ops) are incredibly quick and do not allow for lengthy conversations, gift exchanges, autographs or any other meet-and-greet staples. It is meant to be a three step process - 1) “Hi!” 2) “Say Cheese!” 3) “Thank You!” - which lasts mere seconds. However, since Cary’s photo op line was uncharacteristically short, he was spending a little extra time with each guest in between photos. I actually tried to sneak past him so that Katie could have her desired solo shot with Cary, but Cary was having none of it! He stopped me mid-flight, shook my hand and introduced himself saying that I ought not ‘sneak away so quickly’ and that it was truly wonderful to meet me. He then took his position next to Katie for the professional photo op she had long been dreaming of, and we exited the pop-up studio and circled around to the printers to collect our instant 8x10 of the photo.
From joining the queue to collecting the photo, this whole process took about ten minutes. This would, believe it or not, be the longest we spent in line for a photo all weekend! Throughout the rest of the day, and the day to follow, we would also purchase photo ops with Gigi Edgley (‘Farscape’) and Samantha Smith (‘Supernatural’), the former of which would take a special interest in how we got together and what our wedding was like, and the latter of which would be very receptive to a fun ‘hugging’ pose for our professional photo. In both cases, ours were actually the only professional photo ops sold for those particular women on the corresponding event day, so we had a lot more time with the stars in the pop-up studio than we were used to! Before returning to the show floor, we made sure to get all of our celebrity photo ops signed by the celebrity featured in each one (at additional cost), and made a point to stop in on voice actors Lucy Christian (‘My Hero Academia’) and Loren Lester (‘Batman: The Animated Series’) on our way out of the area.
After that, it was back to the show floor.
At 1:00pm, we made our way to the Malachor Temple booth to participate in adult lightsaber training. This session lasted just about an hour and featured genuine self-defense maneuvers that were pulled straight from the mythos of a Galaxy Far, Far Away. These Pennsylvania-based Jedi knew their craft well, and were carefully watching our every move to be sure that we didn’t strike our opponents too hard. Although, it’s worth mentioning that we did sign waivers releasing the staff of any liability - just in case!
Above: A life-sized ‘Appa’ straight from the animation cells of ‘Avatar: the Last Airbender’ was the dominating presence of the show floor at Contropolis, PA.
Katie was also able to live out her lifelong dream of riding on a life-size ‘Appa’, the sky bison from the animated series ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’, created and maintained by John Marks of Brazen Monkey Props. This massive beast, crafted from a multitude of different metals, wood and foam, simply had to be seen to be believed. It was as if Appa had jumped right out of the screen and onto the show floor! Katie couldn’t help but let loose a giddy ‘yip yip’ as she mounted Appa’s neck for a proper photo. Next door, we claimed a few more photos with an incredible replica of a jeep from 1993’s ‘Jurassic Park’, complete with replica costumes and props to suit the scene, and - not to be forgotten - we posed with a screen-used ‘Pyramid Head’ stand-in from the 2006 nightmare fuel known as ‘Silent Hill’. And these were just some of the most notable exhibits for photos and videos with film history…our second day on the con floor would also see us hopping into the 1966 Batmobile and chatting it up with Oscar the Grouch.
Above: This photo op with the 1966 Batmobile was not to be missed!
Although there was a bustling food court at the Expo Center, hunger was never a pressing issue at this con. We were able to snag hand-painted truffle chocolates from Copper Coast Confections and a delightfully sweet treat from For the Love of Toffee, LLC. Having said this, sometimes something more substantial is warranted when the stomach is rumbling! We did stop at the Food Court order window for a Philly Cheesesteak, a Meatball Parmesan sandwich and an ice-cold bottle of Coke Zero. Our main courses weren’t extraordinarily tasty, but they did their job in keeping us going!
Both days of our Contropolis, PA event were full of celebrity encounters, sweet merch, props and photo ops like the ones we’ve described. But it wouldn’t be a proper fan convention if we didn’t wrap up our visit with the amazing cosplays featured in the con’s adult costume contest! Nothing draws talented creators and seamstresses together quite like the opportunity to wear their favorite fandoms. Highlights included original and hybrid creations rooted in the Mandalorian mythos, Resident Evil, Power Rangers, Young Justice and Chainsaw Man! We also had a chance to catch up with the magnificent (professional) cosplayer AlisonBirbz, who was rocking a different handmade costume for each day of the con and played a role in judging the adult costume contest itself.
All in all, I think we can definitely say that Contropolis put on a great inaugural show, and we can’t wait for year two! In the meantime, you can check out our latest vlog below to get a closer look at how this event went down…
