Comic con for kids?

[clare8allthepies]

I have seen an advert on FB for comic con in London at the start of half term. My eldest is a massive marvel fan and both of the kids love gaming related stuff. I was thinking about us all going for the day but am worried that my 7 year old might be really bored. Has anyone taken similar age kids that have enjoyed it?

It’s exciting for about an hour unless you are willing to spend a shed load of money in my experience.

It’s quite big to walk round once you’ve queued and the dominant part of it is stalls selling endless amounts of stuff. It’s not like you see at Comic-Con in America with panels and appearances apart from some fairly obscure people.

My DS only really enjoyed half a day if it when he was about 11 and then he’d had enough.

Depends what's on - have a look at the programme. Sometimes they have a good amount of things that would interest kids, sometimes not. When my kids were small I took them to one that was running superhero 'training sessions' and jedi training, and there was one doing space laser quest, gaming area etc. Not sure about now, post covid etc.

If it's just an exhibition hall it gets boring for them after a couple of hours. People watching is always fun, lots of cosplay. I have a picture of DS as a tiny iron man with a bunch of the other avengers. He was about 5 I think & loved it.

Thanks for the advice, do a lot of kids dress up then? I’ll have to try and think of something not too labour intensive, as we’ll be going from my mums.

There are a few comicons about in the UK, so you may be able to find something nearer (and cheaper) as a taster.

Smaller ones can be more intimate but there will be various activities at large and small events.
There will be traders - not necessarily comic sellers. I’ve heard comments about how few comic traders there were at some (they aren’t all titled comicons, they may be ‘film and comicon’ etc) and there are often a lot of Pops sellers.
Each organiser may run different activities but you will find:
Celebrities and/or ‘celebrities’ - Doing signing and photo opportunities (which will cost money)
‘Professional’ cosplayers - on stage, wandering and at their stall. (Plenty of photo opportunities when wandering around, and generally free or a charity bucket)
Star Wars clubs (very often with the charity buckets as the franchise protects its copyright and there are ‘recognised’ societies relying on the ‘good work’ of charity support)

Cosplay societies - clubs of enthusiasts, either as paying customers or with a stand
The ‘paying customers’ will include Individuals in cosplay and in normal clothes. Those in cosplay range from a kid in a Poundland superhero costume, and those in home made naff outfits to those rivalling the ‘professionals’
Some that I think are just in plain normal clothes turn out to be cosplay of a particular show or comic
Props companies / collectors (and set up as sets for photos etc)
You will also find activities such as DIY demos, gaming sections - current and retro computer games/consoles that you may be able to play on, plus possibly board games gaming sections
There could be Lego zones - probably displaying large Lego builds by clubs

There will be some form of cosplay competition, and this would probably be open to anyone willing to walk on stage - especially kids

Children will have fun. But there might be a limit on how long they will be interested, and that could be affected by how much is there for their particular heroes etc

I’ll be with friends trading at Creeds Bath Comcon tomorrow and they have a few more coming up elsewhere:

www.facebook.com/bathcon/
www.creedconventions.com/

Next week they will be at Exeter for Devon comicon

m.facebook.com/events/westpoint-exeter-ex5-1-united-kingdom/devon-comic-con-and-gaming-festival/1388872727919033/

m.facebook.com/ukcomiconandgamingfestivals/

We were at MCM Comicon in London just before lockdown in March 2020. That was sponsored for the then impending release of the latest Bond so had the Aston Martin and a lot of Bond themed promos going on

www.mcmcomiccon.com/

www.showmastersevents.com/

My mistake …. It was Showmasters that we were at in London that was sponsored for the Bond film:

London
www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2668534313256428&type=3

Bristol
www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4207890872654090&type=3

Frome
www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2278060632303800&type=3

Charfest - A tiny comicon in a local club which was a converted house
www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1356097737833432&type=3