Day 4 – as usual usually our unwinding and kick-back day. No armor or cosplay of any sorts of course – just some good ‘ol fashion comfortable exploring of the last few halls we haven’t quite combed clean yet. This would usually also be our buying day where we hunt down all the nice last-day-deals in the Exhibit Hall, but we rushed in and made the bulk of our purchases yesterday during Day 3.
Anime Expo of course always falls on July 4th weekend, so I imagine plenty of people were unable to attend today due to other holiday commitments.
We’ve wandered around just about every part of the Expo for the past three days – in a giant suit of armor no less – but one key area we kept glossing over was the all-important Artist’s Alley.
Usually this section is in the back of the Exhibit Hall, but the convention has grown larger than previous years so it now has an underground area all to itself. While there was plenty of great artwork, I’ve never been a huge print guy myself.
We came without armor today mostly so we could take it easy and most importantly, browse the Exhibit Hall unhindered.
We only really half-explored the Hall before – it’s kind of hard to really pay close attention to all the wares for sale through green tinted fogged up Gundam eye lenses.
I wasn’t hunting for anything specific, but my comrade sure was. We had plenty of time to scour the entire hall for a good deal on a MG 00 Quanta, but unfortunately didn’t find anything below $45. The kit is $38 on Amazon with free shipping, so my partner simply couldn’t justify paying a premium here for the kit.
We did end up combing the entire Exhibit Hall almost twice over and checked out just about everything there – it was fun literally discussing the value and pros/cons of nearly each piece of merch that caught our eyes.
Some stuff from the God Eater showcase in the center of the main convention floor. I’ve only ever watched the anime, but at least I’m familiar with the story and characters.
I DON’T NEED IT. BUT I REALLY WANT IT.
While there were no MG Quantas, my buddy did end up picking up a nice Evangelion set, which included a really nice-looking EVA Unit 02 figure. I happened to spot it in a deep dark corner while I was shopping for a gift, and we hadn’t seen anything quite as metallic or coolly stylized.
And because a proper display wouldn’t be complete if you had the mech but not its pilot. Apparently this Asuka figure is from Evangelion 3.0, which wasn’t his first pick for character version, but ultimately ended up being the nicest and most value Asuka we found.
And that wraps it up – AX 2016 is officially over – another year until we (probably) meet again. I did say last year that I was more than likely not going to attend in 2016 – I ended up playing myself and obviously did show up again. With that in mind, I really can’t say whether I will or won’t come for 2017.
My previous observations of the convention itself getting a bit dull haven’t changed, and I’m not really in it for the sea of Animu merch anymore (I only spent $27 this year ’round, a personal all-time low record – and $12 of that wasn’t even for myself). The cosplays are always nice and the few panels we go to are usually good enough to mildly hold my interest, but I think my overall interest in the lifestyle is waning a bit – I’m not sure if it’s because my interests are changing or because it’s just been the same old same old for the past few years. All the same, if we end up building another cosplay Gundam next year, I don’t think there’s any way for me to sit out.
Read on the rest of the Expo:
