365Flicks does the ‘Cincinnati Comic Expo’

So its been over a fortnight since Chris and myself got back from Cinci and although we shared our experiences on episode #90 of the 365 podcast, I also wanted to do a cheeky little write up for the website…

First off we have said it about a hundred times but we can’t thank Matt and Andrew enough for having us over to the Expo and looking after us leading up to the event. Also to the History of Bad Ideas lads who made us feel so at home, as if we have known them for about 20 years instead of the actual 2 and a bit. Meeting them face to face was honestly something i thought would never happen. Special shout out to Jeffrey Nau for being our chauffeur.

Okay then lets get into this… First off, the travelling there was actually not too bad, we didn’t have movies on the plane but it didn’t feel like it took that long. We wont get into coming home just yet but [spoilers] it was hellish. We had a two hour lay over in JFK before we got on this tiny bucket of bolts plane with actual propellers, hahaha.

We made it safe and sound and got through Trumps customs with no bother. We were met by Jeff who took us to the Cincinnati Millennium Hotel which is actually attached to the Duke Energy Center (where the Cincinnati Comic Expo was taking place). As a way of saying thank you for the lift we asked Jeff if he would like to join us in our favorite British Past-Time. A couple of pints. Let me tell you people for a lower end of the budget Hotel the Millennium was spot on for us. However we only had access to American Netflix, no Rick and Morty :(

We woke surprisingly fresh and decided to head for breakfast which it turns out is not so easy in Downtown Cinci. The Expo was not going to be opening ’til the afternoon on the Friday so we decided to visit a local museum – the museum of Freedom, about Slavery and the Civil War (and things). Then it was time for the Expo… Time to walk the Expo floor, meet HOBI, check out the cosplay and take in some celebrity panels.

Chris couldn’t help himself… On day one he got a photo and autograph from the legendary Miriam Margolyes. BOOOSH!

At this point, on the Friday night, it still hasn’t sunk in. We are in Cincinnati, we are at a comic Expo with some pimp ass Victor Fries Press Passes, Chris has just met Miriam Margolyes, There is awesome cosplay and we are witnessing first hand the History of Bad Ideas podcasting live (its not that impressive really). They are doing trivia and just generally smashing it. Oh hell, guess what? We also got to meet Ape Hands Doug which was super awesome and Jeff’s brother Jim.

We have covered a number of UK conventions in the past and it has to be said that we are really representing in this area – UK cons are going from strength to strength. However this was somewhat mind blowing to me at first, the lay out was incredible, no space wasted. The panel rooms upstairs was a thing of beauty. I loved how many actual comic book artists and writers there were on the main floor (something I feel some of our events lack). There was a ton of awesome geek stuff for you to do aswell, things like the Batman wall, get your picture taken in the G.I Joe cardback case, 360 degree camera shots, an actual remote control Death Star canyon run and so, so, so, so, much more.

On Friday night after the show the guys, Jason and Jeff (notice no Blake yet) took us out to show us there favorite past time, Baseball… Nah just kidding beer and food… Always beer and food.

Day two, Saturday… Wake up once again feeling pretty damn fresh. Now I feel I should explain something to you all, I am a terrible drinker and by that I mean I never wake up fresh it just does not happen for me so that’s why I keep bringing it up! Day two is the longest day of the Cincinnati Comic Expo so we had a pretty packed schedule to go with. A fair few Q & As to attend, some pretty cool activities going on and not forgetting we had some podcast pals coming in, so we were real excited to get into this. First though… Breakfast…

It was the breakfast of champions, coffee and donuts at Greaters… YUMMY!

We get to the Expo and do some floor time. Now would be a good time to talk about the cosplay. We, here in the UK, are definitely on the same level as the Americans, which was something I was wondering but there did seem to be way more people dressed in codsplay at the Expo though. However, you will be happy to know the UK cosplay scene is on the right track and the quality we have is definitely right up there.

After some walking around and some cheeky talks, including one with the guy who takes pictures of toys for a living for the Kenner display cases (I forget his name, shame on me). We head to see the lads and there he is… No not Blake… Scab Jeff Morris the movie man (I use this loosely) and guess what Big Dev is here also whoo-hoo! Again meeting all these guys we know from podcasting but have never met in real life was just awesome. Actually its because of these guys we missed the Wallace Shawn and John Ratzenberger Q & A as they let us humble Brits join in with their favorite past-time… Some beers. Oh and at some point Blake joined us YAAAAAAAAY.

Not even going to lie to you folks… Saturday night got messy when 365Flicks, HOBI and Home Video Hustle Podcast took to Cinci to partake in our favorite past-times. Massive shout out to HVH, they are a couple of awesome lads.

Sunday… Not as fresh but still pretty good. Its back to Greaters before we head back into the Expo for the third day; in which I got to fulfill a childhood dream, that’s right I got to meet and have my photo taken with Kel Mitchell from Kenan and Kel. Sunday was a pretty relaxing day, we took in the panel with Mon Mothma from Star Wars and Kevin Sussman (Stuart from The Big BangTheory). Picked up some merch to bring home including some comic books and Funko Pops for my daughters.

Dev was back so spent some of the day with all the PodBuddies and guess who shows up… Randall Holt makes an appearance which was so cool to meet a guy who we have only ever spoken to on Twitter! That was it for the Cincinnati Comic Expo on Sunday afternoon, but again I just have to say how amazing of a job the organizers did with this event, everything flowed beautifully and made sense. You could not have got bored, there was so much to do and again we are so humbled that they had us over for the Expo.

Sunday night was the WWE No Mercy PPV, and something else we never really thought would ever happen – we got to watch it with Jason and Jeff at Jason’s house, drinking Jason’s beer and we got to have a tour of the glorious BOB Studios, It was beautiful.

Monday was the long ass journey home… A 16 hour, 4 airports, 3 planes, 2 airport buses and a 50 minute drive before we got home… but you know what it was all totally worth the trip to meet our PodPals, to attend an amazing Comic Expo and meet some stars that I have looked up to for some time. Yeah, it was a once in a lifetime experience. Well hopefully not, if they want us back they know where we are ;)

Again thank you to everyone who made this happen. The Cincinnati Comic Expo organizers, Matt the Press guy, HOBI for putting in a word with Andrew, my amazing Wife for not only booking everything but being so understanding and Chris my co-host, without whom I can’t imagine taking this trip. Its been a hell of a 3 years for our humble podcast and this was an amazing cherry on the top.
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