Return of the Newcomer
Last year, the city of Perris, California, in Riverside County, held a small, free, mini-comics convention called Perris Fandom Con, which returned this year under the shortened name of Perris-Con.
This free event, with free parking as well, was held on August 16th at the Perris City Hall building at 101 North D Street, just a few blocks off the 215 freeway. Perris-Con was an earnest little event complete with a repurposed gymnasium as a de facto Dealer Hall, an Artists’ Alley, some free swag, and a few cosplayers, including the Star Wars 501st cosplayers; a worldwide group known as much for their charity work as their impeccable, screen-ready Star Wars costumes.
Several food trucks provided a variety of vittles to the convention-goers–even to Imperial officers and stormtroopers.
In addition, Perris-Con extended onto the City Hall lawn as well; with video game and cosplay tournaments, as well as a few food trucks with enough chow for an Imperial garrison. Given that it was a warm, but not unreasonably hot day for August in California, I saw a few kids in costumes running around like it was an early Halloween. My wife and I didn’t stay too long, but we had a nice-enough tour of the event, and even walked away with a few souvenirs…
The Dealer Hall/Artists’ Alley
The main events, including a de facto Dealer Hall, were inside of the Bob Glass Gymnasium at City Hall.
Walking past the lawn of Perris City Hall is the Bob Glass Gymnasium, which held the Dealer Hall and Artist Alley of this mini-convention. With a small Imperial photo op section near the stage, as well as a photo op area (with props) near the basketball hoop, this homespun local convention had some cool bargains to be found…
This gymnasium hosts everything from basketball and city council meetings to otherworldly merch and cosplay.
Many of the comic books were priced well below what you’d pay at San Diego Comic Con, or WonderCon; booth rentals here at this improvised venue were considerably less than one might pay at of those larger conventions.
This is Southern California, after all, so skateboards are very popular, and Perris-Con had a few interesting horror and anime-themed boards for sale, including Pinhead (“Hellraiser”), Michael Myers (“Halloween”), a short-cropped Chucky (“Child’s Play”) and others.
Lots of collectible figures, including a few from “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” and an exclusive figure from “ALIENS” which featured director James Cameron as an unseen “Colonel Cameron” from the Colonial Marines (!). Some of these figures were a mite pricey, but still less than one might pay at other, larger conventions, or even on eBay.
Dick Tracy and a few of his arch nemeses eye a table filled with Lego play sets, along with classic Batman and Ghostbuster toys.
3D-printed toys based on “Black Panther,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and “Loki,” along with other made-to-order goodies.
Pins from “Avatar,” and “Star Wars,” including an adorably coffee-addicted Grogu from “The Mandalorian.”
Outside was where swag bags were given to the first 100 attendees. There was also a mini roulette wheel, where attendees could spin to win a variety of items, including pins, popgrips for smartphones and a variety of swag bags. I won a pop-grip for myself, and a red bag for my wife; which she wound up using after buying some stickers for her students.
Cosplay
While there weren’t a whole lot of cosplayers at Perris-Con, I did spot a few; including kids in Marvel Halloween costumes and some impeccable Imperial officers and stormtroopers from the Star Wars 501st Legion; a legendary cosplay group famed for their charity works–including visiting sick children in hospitals.
Summing It Up
If you’re a fellow comic book, sci-fi geek living in California’s Riverside County or an adjacent area, you could do a lot worse than spending an hour or two at Perris-Con, with its free admission and free parking, as well as genuine convention atmosphere–albeit on a much smaller scale. With activities for kids as well as a few cool collectibles for their bigger-kid parents, this is an event with potential for growth, and if more locals attend next year, we might someday see a celebrity or two offering autograph signings, or authors signing copies of their books. The best way to grow these sorts of small, local events is to patronize them as often as possible and wherever you can; as I’ve seen firsthand with the Inland Empire’s Comic Con Revolution in Ontario, California. Even the now gargantuan San Diego Comic Con (the size of an airport) began in the basement of San Diego’s old U.S. Grant Hotel, once upon a time…
All 35 of my photos can be viewed on my Flickr page (to be captioned soon).
What a cool little convention. I often fin the small events like these are so much fun. Love those skateboards as well, especially the Halloween one!
Right? If I were forty years younger…. haha.