REVIEW: Cheltenham Comic Con and Toy Fair

Cheltenham

Venue: Leisure at Cheltenham

Funko Pops… Funko Pops as far as the eye can see… Cheltenham’s annual Comic Con and Toy Fair was held on June 11th 2023 at Leisure at Cheltenham in the midst of the ever-changeable June weather.

For the uninitiated, comic con is a gathering of nerdy folks who are obsessed with all things geek culture, including Marvel, DC, Transformers, Doctor Who, and anime, just to name a few.

 

Upon arrival, we stood in the queue to get in, where we saw lots of people cosplaying (dressed up as) their favourite characters, including Stormtroopers from Star Wars and Deadpool from the X-Men/Marvel franchise. No comic con is complete without these two appearing at some point, so it was a pleasure to see them and have our photos taken with them. An awesome Batmobile parked out the front was an excellent photo opportunity for kids and adults alike.

The climate was boiling hot one minute and thundering with rain the next, so in the wise words of Douglas Adams, bring a towel. As is usual at conventions, because of the amount of people in one room, the leisure centre was so steamy hot that we ended up sweaty and exhausted by the end, but all con-goers know that it’s not a true comic con until you’ve sweated off your cosplay makeup!

The leisure centre was bustling with vendors selling merchandise including collectible action figures and Pokémon cards. The price of admission is in addition to any purchases you make inside the convention centre. In the delirium of the heat, I bought a cute plush toy of one my favourite anime characters. I regret nothing.

 

For those who brought children to the event, there were lots of activities to participate in, namely a cosplay competition, face-painting, a photo studio, and a row of retro computer games. More cosplayers showed up later in the day to participate in the competition, including Namor from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Daphne from Bridgerton. An adorable girl playing Wednesday Addams won the cosplay competition with a very realistic Thing hand on her shoulder.

The heat did start to get to us after a while, so we opted to leave the venue and take a much needed rest at Leisure's lovely cafe. The town centre is also about a 15 minute walk away, with lots of wonderful restaurants in the Brewery.

 

 

Overall, this year’s comic con was a success. We will absolutely be attending next year’s event, hopefully leaving the leisure centre with more bags full of irresistible nerdy goodies. Allons-y!

Review by Leah.

 

 

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