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It’s called a science fiction convention, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s about stories, games, art, superheroes, comic books, board and war games, zombies and horror movies. And, it represents the latest explosion in pop culture.
Sci-Fi Valley Con, scheduled for May 15 to 17, is only four years old, and it keeps outgrowing its venues. It will be held downstairs at the Blair County Convention Center – after two years at the Jaffa Shrine Center and its first year in Ebensberg. Tables for vendors sold out two months ago.
“I have absolutely no more space at the convention center downstairs,” said convention promoter and founder Casey Bassett. “Next year, I will book the entire convention center.
“I remember the last day of the first convention in 2012, someone mentioned to me that we ought to put it in the Blair County Convention Center. I said, oh my God, it’ll take 10 years to get there.”
This year’s edition will feature 206 vendors. Last year, the Jaffa Center accommodated about 140. He hopes that by next year he will get more than 300 exhibitors – a number that would surpass the Pittsburgh Comic Con.
Bassett said he thinks the success of the convention is because the phenomenon is hitting small communities in the region, with hobbyists seeing his event as a special, once-a-year experience, while larger cities host multiple similar events.
He said upwards of 4,000 to 5,000 could attend this year, compared with about 3,000 last year. Ticket prices range from $5 for a child for one day to $20 for an adult for all three days.
This year’s exhibitions will include reproduction movie cars, including the Jurassic Park Jeep that Bassett personally built and the KITT, a Pontiac TransAm from the “Knight Rider” movies, as well as the Tardis time machine from the “Dr. Who” television sci-fi series.
“We have a lot of ‘Dr. Who’ fans in the area,” Bassett said.
Actors from George A. Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead,” including Nurse Zombie and Blair Murphy, the director of “Zombie Dream,” are among the featured guests.
Directors have also submitted their sci-fi and horror movies for a film festival.
Vintage video games – from Super Nintendo systems to a Donkey Kong arcade machine – will be there, along with competitions among children, teenagers and adults. A trivia tournament will run all three days.
A charity auction is scheduled for the second day and will feature merchandise donated by exhibitors with the Shriners benefiting.
Vendors will be selling comic books, games, and all kinds of pop culture merchandise. Snake Eyes Gaming of Altoona is one vendor whose owners credit Bassett’s convention with their success.
“It’s because of Sci-Fi Valley Con that we’re even here,” said Bill Olstein, one of Snake Eyes’ five owners.
The five got together about six years ago to form a gaming club, and they opened a store less than two years ago that today features a variety of board, war, video and card games, “a little bit of everything,” Olstein said.
Club members get a discount and a key to the store to come in and play at odd hours.
“We want to build a community that takes care of itself rather than just a store that just sells stuff,” said Olstein.
Are gamers a bunch of nerds who sit around all day and play video games?
Olstein laughed.
“This allows a lot of people to explore their geek side, but the vast majority of us have regular jobs,” said Olstein, a family physician at UPMC Altoona. His partners include an engineer and a chemist.
The fantasy industry has been around for 30 years or so, but it’s gotten bigger, he said, thanks to the explosion of comic books and movies like “The Avengers,” “Bat Man” and “Star Wars.” And, those things are becoming more and more popular in small towns.
Bassett said critics thought his convention wouldn’t fly outside a large city.
“It’s specifically because we’re in small towns which is why I think it’s successful,” he said. “Everyone wants to be a part of it. We have a huge amount of support from the community.”
Mirror Staff Writer Cherie Hicks is at 949-7030.