Just returned from Anaheim were I spent the weekend attending both Disneyland and DesignerCon. The convention wasn’t really on my radar until last year when I saw photos on social media and saw a few exhibitors attend that I was familiar with, it looked like a convention I might be into. Also, any excuse to visit California for a few days and throw in a trip to Disney doesn’t hurt the prospect of attending either…

The DesignerCon, or DCon, is officially described as “an annual art and design convention that smashes together collectible toys and designer goods with urban, underground and pop art!“. With that description in mind, I was hopeful of an exhibit floor that was one part comic convention and two parts art show. My expectations were met, DCon offered a very unique exhibit hall with plenty of interesting visuals, lots of different merchandise, and big crowds! In the first 5 minutes of being on the exhibit floor, I saw two time NBA champion and current Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant with a small entourage doing some shopping which brought out all the cell phones of the near by attendees.

The con did offer a small amount of panels, a featured art show that celebrated the many voices of Mark Hamill (as well as two exclusive Hamill Funko Pops), and other unique visuals just for the convention. I saw some of the usual comic convention merchandise such as retro toys, Funko Pops, stickers, and pearler bead creations but they were no where in the amount you would see at your average comic book convention. Hand created toys and non comic book/anime art clearly dominated the space which was a nice change of pace for myself. The convention also had a few high profile vendors that I rarely see outside of a convention like SDCC such as Mondo and Johnny Cupcakes.

I will be putting this con on my list for 2020 as it offers enough cool to stuff to warrant a trip out of town for. If you’re okay experiencing a convention that doesn’t have celebrity panels, no cosplay, and no long boxes to dig through, then I’d suggest looking into DesignerCon 2020!

One last note, the random basketball court in the corner of the convention was a nice touch!

 

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