After attending conventions for more than a decade things tend to get a bit stale if you don’t occasionally branch out and change up your convention routine. In the past my main focus when attending conventions was the general thrill and excitement of running around the show floor collecting the highly sought after convention exclusives and swag as well as sitting in on the major Hall H panels and while I still do those things as has become a bit more normal for me when attending San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) I have started to switch up some of my experiences and explore a bit more of the evening events. Last year that included attending the highly sought after Fandom party as well Den of Geek and Neopets events. This year with a more full slate of programming I did scale back as compared to last year in order to accommodate the more normal convention programming.
As mentioned in some of my previous articles these types of after hour events allow companies to provide exclusive experiences and interact with their fans. These events also provide a way for attendees to cooldown and get a drink and some refreshments after a long day at the convention and catch-up with some friends if they are also there. As I always express to anyone attending a show what makes any experience special is that there is a variety of ways a fan can tailor their show experience so covering these events not only provides a bit more information on the event hosts but also gives newcomers to conventions another way they can look to experience a show.
Just like the show floor, offsites, and other happenings the amount of after hour events continues to rapidly expand with both free and paid experiences and it becomes harder and harder to cover everything happening so while there are a bunch of other events that occurred I’ll just focus on the few I attend, though one year I would like to try to get to a Mosh Eisley or EW event.
The Fandom Party
One of the premier free events to get into for almost any SDCC attendee is the Fandom party. Attendees wanting to get into this exclusive event now have to go through a lottery system and hope they get selected to attend this exclusive event hosted at Float in the Hard Rock Hotel. For the 7th annual party Fandom, the world’s leading platform for in-depth information on entertainment, again partnered Electronic Arts (EA) who were promoting their upcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard game, graphic novel publisher Z2 Comics, and Pinfinity to deliver a night filled with drinks, food, exclusive content, celebrities and a performance by global music sensation Jason Derulo – all For the Love of Fans! This year was also a special year for Fandom as they are celebrating their 20th anniversary.
The space was also decked out to celebrate BioWare and EA’s upcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard RPG. The event also featured the return of a Dragon Age themed scavenger hunt which led to a themed photo booth. Z2 Comics, an American graphic novels and comic books publisher focusing on music-related projects and musician partnerships, also had a themed area showing off their slate of releases. With a full slate of celebrities this year Fandom welcomed celebrities, film and voice actors, comic creators, and sports stars down their red carpet which had a photo line and interviews from media. Some of this year’s guest list included Colin Kapernick, Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, Bella Thorne (The Tower), Jonathan Bennett (Mean Girls, Hallmark’s Finding Mr. Christmas), Jefferson White (Yellowstone), Kevin Durand (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes), Malcolm Barrett, and Felicia Day.
The evening ended with a show stopping performance by this year’s headliner Jason Derulo.
I am again thankful for Fandom opened their doors to me and Hi-Def Ninja to come out and experience this exclusive event. I enjoy seeing the effort put into something like this pay off not only by witnessing fans vying for tickets leading up to the event but also lining up early to get in, and having an amazing time once inside.
Den of Geek
Moving along we have Den of Geek who made their presence at SDCC 2024 known throughout the convention with a wide range of fan events, invite-only parties, activations as well as a SDCC curated special edition of their magazine. Generally a mainstay at most conventions Den of Geek is usually on hand to cover all things pop culture and related to the convention.
As I mentioned I did scale back a bit this year and only attended Den of Geeks Opening Night Power Saber by Goliath’s Launch Party as well as the SpongeBob 25th anniversary bash.
Den of Geek X The Power Saber By Goliath Launch Party
Den of Geek partnered with Goliath Games to celebrate the release of their newest product the Power Saber. This invite-only party was held at a familiar place the Horton Grand Hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter the site of last years Project K party. Fans were treated to some passed hors d’oeuvres consisting of lamb chops, fish, and chicken kebobs. Additionally there were light-side and dark-side drinks to commemorate the release of the two different style sabers.
The first 250 attendees, which included myself, received a Power Saber of our color choice! Also the team responsible for the Power Saber were also on hand to greet fans, discuss the product launce, and even had a small customization station and free batteries on hand. Unfortunately as I really wanted to get some photos of my saber for this article I kept mine sealed at the event and protectively brought it home.
Power Saber
So what is the Power Saber, simply put it is the first-ever saber that fully auto-extends and retracts fully into the hilt of the blade. The saber once powered up extends up to 35”, has an in-hilt LED, features 9 motion-based sound FX, and has a flash on clash feature.
When you first see the saber it will immediately take you back to your childhood of other similar sabers that you would flick with your wrist to extend the blade in steps, the difference being that while there are still the steps in the blade the Power Saber blade not only fully extends and closes on its own but the blade fully nests into the hilt leaving a very clean look. While the hilt and blade are plastic one of the things I was impressed by once I held it was the overall heft to the saber and how sturdy the Power Saber feels in your hand. The swing motion is good and it is very fun to see the blade come in and out on its own. Acknowledging that this is meant as a toy as the company is building on very familiar properties the one thing I would have liked to see from the product would have been a different hilt design based on if you choose the light or dark side version, Other than the blade color the hilts are identical and having a bit more distinction between the two would have broadened the distinction of having a light versus dark side theme. That said for being the first auto-extending saber in the market I give the development team props for making a sturdy product.
Finally it is also nicely packaged in a box that can be re-used for display and the box also has a plastic display stand so you can actually just display the hilt if you would like.
SpongeBob 25th Anniversary Party & Commemorative Issue
The Ultimate SkyBox, another spot Den of Geek likes to use, played host to a 25th Anniversary Party for SpongeBob. The location was turned into Bikini Bottom and this invite-only event featured passed hors d’oeuvres, specialty drinks, and a very fun night of mingling. Cast members including Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke were also on hand to celebrate. Den of Geek also unveiled a special SpongeBob issue which you can check out online or get at stores in the Den of Geek comic store network. Pillows unfortunately not included…
On top of these two events Den of Geek did host a bunch of other events including a collectibles charity auction with eBay Live the BINC Foundation; a special fan meet up in partnership with tabletop lifestyle brand Misty Mountain Gaming; the Den of Geek Fan HQ at Mission Brewing-Downtown featuring drinks specials, live podcasting, and giveaways courtesy of Den of Geek’s official apparel partner RSVLTS; the Wonder Women in Entertainment and Media Happy Hour where women (and their allies!) networked and spoke about their experiences working in media; and finally their Power-Up Power Hour Presented by Daybreak Games where they officially launched Power-Up a new video games focused podcast covering releases, retro titles, game studio, and events.
For their special edition cover along with an Alien: Romulus cover Den of Geek also had a special edition packed with exclusives on Netflix’s Terminator Zero.
All in all it was a very busy show for the people over at Den of Geek and I am again grateful they let me come along for some of that ride.
