Anime and Japanese pop culture fans descended upon the Sheraton Downtown Phoenix (and the Renaissance) this past weekend for the 15th Anniversary of Saboten Con. Much like I said in this same article for Tucson Comic-Con, I split the weekend between the two conventions so I don’t get the full 4 day experience (hey, I just like to be transparent). My Saboten started on Saturday but it didn’t last long. I was able to pick up my badge elsewhere besides the general pick up area but I did want to acknowledge the long line for badges that went down the side and toward the 12 News building. It sucks having to wait in that type of line but it goes to show the popularity of the convention. That wasn’t the only line of Saturday as the line to get your bag checked and go up to the 2nd and 3rd floors was through the lobby to the outside where the hotel guests can be dropped off, this one defeated me. I didn’t have the patience to wait in the line and to only guess how busy the two main artists/exhibitor areas were going to be.

Before I left Saturday, I walked over to the Renaissance where the first time event SaboSlam was being held. The first floor (for all you OG ZapCon fans, its the same main room where ZapCon was held years ago) was where you would find a handful of artists, creators, and a couple of vendors. In the same room you had a bunch of tvs with consoles along with plenty of seating. The 2nd floor of the Renaissance had several different rooms for VR, DnD, board games, etc. Finally, the 3rd floor was where a lot of the big convention events were held.

On Sunday, I returned bright and early (here’s a little parking tip, if you get there around 10:30 – 11, there are parking meters right behind the Sheraton. If you can snag one, get the full limit parking by paying at the meter. Notate the parking meter number that is displayed and when your time is up, use the parking app to re-up. You end up paying $10 for like 8 hours). Sunday was much smoother, only once did I see a line for bag check and the line was very small to begin with.

Now that the events had been moved to the Renaissance, the room previously used for those at the Sheraton was now home to artist alley and the media guests. I thought it was a really great idea to add a second shopping area to split the crowd a little more and it worked really well as the room was always full of attendees. The main exhibitor hall on the 3rd floor still had quite a bit of artists and creators along with the vendors selling swords, clothing, statues, and so on.

Cosplay is the highlight for Saboten for me, one of the better show of cosplayers at any Arizona convention. I particularly appreciate the cosplayers who hang out right in front of the escalators to pose for photos, makes it easy to grab some good photos. This was supposed to be “quick thoughts” so I am going to wrap this up. Is Saboten a really good convention? Yes, without doubt. Do they have room for improvements as far as handling badges and bag checks? Yes, without doubt. I’m glad I was able to attend and I’ll see you guys at the next convention.