Pensacon Pensacola Comic Con (pensacon.com) has turned into the one of the hottest cons in just two short years. While approximately 11,000 attendees participated in its inaugural year and 22,000 dropped in on the convention this year. A full report can be found here: http://850me.com/2015/03/13/pensacon-2015-by-the-numbers/.
The dealer room is located in the Pensacola Bay Center, home of the Pensacola Ice flyers (pensacolabaycenter.com/teams/detail/pensacola-ice-flyers). From the moment the dealer room opened, I was busy, busy, busy. I brought twice as much inventory (renting a U-haul trailer) this year and still ran out of my best selling items midway through Saturday. The crowd was so big they kept closing down the dealer room floor (must keep the Fire Marshall happy). Because the dealer room is located on the ice rink (sans ice), the organizers had attendees fill the stadium seats. As people exited the floor, the staff gave the green light to different sections to walk down the steps to the rink. The number of fans shopping for plushies, figures, hats, key chains, artwork and other stuff was crazy fun for vendors.
On Sunday they announced the dates for next year, February 19 – 21, 2016 with Darth Vader (David Prowse) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) as the first officially confirmed guests. Not surprisingly, V.I.P passes for next year’s convention sold out the same day they went on sale. Bigger crowds on Saturday seem impossible given capacity was maxed out but fans weren’t turned away at the door on Friday or Sunday. However, I have a feeling that may change next year. I can’t wait and I’ve already started purchasing some exclusive items just for Pensacon.
