July 2023 was a milestone for this site as it was the 10 year mark of when I first put Legion of Sand together. The original plan was a tumblr account which I created in 2012 and named it Geek in the Desert (which might still be better than Legion of Sand but too late now). I haven’t made a penny from this site however, the countless free passes and perks from networking have been more than worth it. 2023 also marks 10 years since I attended my first Arizona convention (I used to be an SDCC snob) which was Amazing Arizona Comic Con at the Phoenix Convention Center.

I attended 11 conventions this year and the first of 2023 didn’t come until April which was the gaming convention Dreamhack in San Diego and the very last was of the year was UwU Con in Mesa. The full list of conventions this year includes:

Dreamhack San Diego
Phoenix Fan Fusion
AZ Toy Con (June)
Comic Book Arts Festival
San Diego Comic-Con
Game On Expo
Gathering of the Ghouls
Tucson Comic-Con
Saboten Con
AZ Toy Con (October)
UwU Con

Highlight: Finally doing my own panel… ever. I love video game music and really enjoy talking about it, listening to it, and so I decided to hold my very first panel. I applied at Game On Expo and it was approved. I’ve got years of experience attending panels with plenty of things that do and do not work at (plus I have to do public speaking at my job so that doesn’t bother me much any more). The panel was about some of the best soundtracks from the Sega Saturn and I put a lot of time into it and I thought it paid off. I enjoyed it, the audience seemed to enjoy it and I could see myself doing it again down the road.

Needs Some Improving: Anything related to a line at Saboten Con. I know I mentioned it before but I feel like the convention has outgrown its current location of the Sheraton Downtown Phoenix (which I think they realize which is why we saw a separate hotel specific to gaming). The Saturday line to pick up badges and even the line for bag check were not that reasonable in my opinion. 

Highlight: Taking my friend to San Diego Comic-Con for the first time. I’ve always talked about it and so a vacation was planned around San Diego during Comic-Con and I was able to secure a badge for him with some help. It’s such a wild and chaotic experience that I think anyone who enjoys pop culture should go at least once. 

Needs Some Improving: The Mesa Convention Center. I hate it.

Highlight: Gathering of the Ghouls having a monster first convention. I’m not that huge into the horror scene but the convention in its first year was very enjoyable, super well attended and a large amount of vendors and even some guests. Nice to see a new convention that is anime related (nothing against anime cons at all but that seems to be the genre of all the new cons recently) succeed right away.

Needs Some Improving: UwU Con seems like it has a really good foundation, great guest list, big focus on local talent, good food options, and promotes themselves really well on social media. With that said, I’m not quite sure what the disconnect was, maybe the location but attendance seemed to be pretty low. For example, I was at the Ryō Horikawa panel, the Japanese voice actor of Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z/Super and I was one of MAYBE 12 attendees in the audience. Most of the creators and vendors over the two days I attended did not look busy which is unfortunate.

Favorite panel of the year: Mattel WWE Elite Squad Fan Panel at San Diego Comic-Con

This year at San Diego Comic-Con was an odd one where the usual celebrity heavy convention was impacted due to the writer and actor strike, the Mattel and WWE panel provided a different type of celebrity include WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins. I just got back into wrestling a year ago and being second row for this highly entertaining panel was a treat.

Honorable Mention: Nolan North & Steve Blum at Game On Expo

Favorite purchase of the year: Commissioned Ghost Rider Sketch

I don’t really count ACME – Arizona Comic Mini Expo as a con but hey, it’s my article. I have been collecting various Marvel sketch commissions over the years and I was able to add to my collection thanks to comic book artist Scott Godlewski.

Honorable Mention: Virtua Fighter Remix from Game On Expo

Favorite cosplay of the year: Doctor Doom at San Diego Comic-Con

This one was tough as I saw a lot of awesome cosplay this year takes it.

Honorable Mention(s): Sailor Moon at Phoenix Fan Fusion, Pixel Boba Fett at Game On Expo

What I Hope To See In 2024

I recently put up a poll on my Instagram story with a few different options on what people would like to see happen with the Arizona convention scene in 2024.  50% off everyone who voted went with better prices for 2024. This is a good time to mention to give me a follow on Instagram (I’m so close to 1K) if you don’t already. 

I do agree with the prices and while I understand conventions are still trying to recover money from the missed 1 – 2 years because of the pandemic, there has to be a happy medium with price and offerings. Conventions charging more and offering less just leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and leads to disgruntled attendees.

Specific to Arizona, and this probably won’t happen in 2024 (but wish it would) is getting another decent sized comic convention. Arizona has two, Fan Fusion and Tucson Comic-Con and it feels like the community could at least support a third somewhere in the calendar year that isn’t May/June or September.

Lastly, I just want to say thanks to everyone who reads this, reads any of the articles here on Legion of Sand, follows and engages on Twitter and Instagram. I appreciate each and every one of you. See you guys in 2024!