Over a couple of weekends ago, a trio of our writers here at Blast Away the Game Review was invited to Wizard World in Oklahoma City for the weekend. Over the course of Saturday, they took quite an adventure through it, and what came from it was quite an experience.

Dustin, David, and Jeremy (our photojournalist and newest member of the team) had a blast adventuring through the show, talking to some of the highest-end cosplayers out there, and even talked with a few celebrities – we enjoyed the chat with you John Barrowman!

But what did they think? What did they do? For Dustin and David, this was their first time through, so our team decided to sit down, write down a couple of questions, and interview David and Dustin about their experience.

BATGR: You two had a busy weekend a couple of weekends ago with our newest member Jeremy, right?

Dustin: You know, it was a busy weekend. I’d never really been to an event like that. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve been to an event – we’ve been to QuakeCon a few years in a row now, but it’s nothing like this. You don’t see cosplayers walking around, collectibles everywhere, nor do you really get to see big, big, big name celebrities that you grow up cheering on through television shows. So it’s definitely a change of pace for me. I think David was just as awestruck as I when we saw Sam Jones there next to Jason Mewes, Lou Ferrigno, and even Jewel Staite. So it was awesome.

David: It was really. I had to babysit Dustin. It was like watching a toddler run around causing mayhem. I’m kidding, well kind of, but it was fun. We got to see some big names of Hollywood and even a few really cool cosplayers that did outstanding jobs – so it was a great time. Just wear walking shoes.

BATGR: I know I saw a picture of Dustin, which we put up above, that you got to meet someone you absolutely always dreamed of meeting.

Dustin: Haha. I did. I actually met one of my absolute favorite cosplayers. He’s a huge inspiration to me and he should be – really – to everyone. He shows no matter your skin color, you can do amazing things, and even cosplay amazing characters. I saw his portfolio and couldn’t stop admiring his dedicated work. KnightMage is an absolutely awesome guy and a gentle soul. I really enjoyed his company while I was there.

David: Jeremy and I actually had to drag him away. Not once, but twice. He was over there quite a bit chatting. But overall, it was pretty rad seeing some of the stuff we saw there.

BATGR: I was told, well the pictures told me, you guys got to see some VR games and a PlayStation 4 gaming area. What was that like?

Dustin: Y’know, I really wanted to try out the new Ace Combat. Bandai Namco – one of the teams we work with here at BATGR – had a dedicated VR area. So it was cool, but no, we didn’t get to play it. Trying to get in was actually pretty tough. Some of those kids were absolutely hooked on the VR experience.

David: The VR area was pretty cool. Like Dustin said, we didn’t get a chance. We had a lot going on to try and experience.

BATGR: I know we talked briefly about this Dustin. What would you have liked to have seen more of there?

Dustin: Quite honestly? I’d love to have seen more dedicated stages. At times, it was almost too loud trying to see what was going on or even hear it due to all the noise going on. There were times I had to go into the bathroom just to breathe. I don’t do well in crowds that are that concentrated. But overall, I would’ve love more dedicated room for each vendor type and the overall sections.

David: The only change I would have made is more spacing, but that’s about it. Mostly due to how difficult it was to get around from time to time.

BATGR: You guys said the show was evenly split between the vendor types, can we talk about that a bit? What did you all see while there?

Dustin: We actually saw quite a bit. There were some awesome artists there. One of them was Jeremy Clark who has appeared in quite a few comics as an artist. His works are absolutely astounding. We actually snagged a few of his. We even snagged a few from another artist who was there with his prints as well. Can’t lie – there were a lot of very talented artists around. Some of them had amazing cross-over art that we wanted to get our hands-on, but it was just hard to pick, so we settled down with Jeremy Clark’s works.

David:  Jeremy Clark definitely one of the ones we watched. The guys work in action was awesome. He had one that we were eyeballing that was being sketched right there and then, but we didn’t want to break the bank. I’m pretty sure it’d have cost us several thousand or hundred even.

BATGR: Sounds pretty rough, but awesome to hear that those features are there. Besides artists, what else did you guys see there?

Dustin: I think David spent more time than I did looking for Pops! figurines and wall prints. Being as guilty as I am, I was looking at collectibles such as games, vinyl prints, and.. Well… Anime. Definitely some anime.

David: He said it for me. I spent quite a bit of time checking out the old school collectibles and Pops! Vinyls. I am still trying to find my last few Bethesda Fallout 4 ones. I’m down to only a handful such as the Feral Ghoul, Hancock, Paladin Danse, Codsworth, and Piper. I have to blame Dustin, he’s got me started on this, and now I’ve got to finish my collection.

BATGR: Sounds like a pretty good reason to look around. Do you guys intend on going back to Wizard World?

Dustin: I certainly hope so. I’m looking forward to going back if they will have us. With how long this has taken us, I’m sure it may be a slow consideration, but we did have 300+ pictures to go through. Jeremy did an awesome job with them and we just touched up a few as far as brightness goes.

David: I think we will go back. We’ll be a bit more prepared next year since we know what to expect.

BATGR: It sounds like you guys definitely like covering it. Are there any last statements you two would like to make?

Dustin: For sure. I definitely want to give a huge shoutout to Wizard World and their press guy Jerry Milani for allowing us to attend the event. Thank you, we look forward to seeing you all again. I also want to thank Jeremy Clark for talking to us for a bit about his art and of course Knightmage. Thank you so much for talking to me as long as you did, it was definitely fun.

David: Definitely a thank you to Wizard World. I definitely look forward to going back next time or to another event. I definitely had a blast while we were there.

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Closing Thoughts

As you can see, Dustin and David had a lot of fun while they were there. They got to spend quite a bit of time with each other and even see just what Wizard World 2017 had to offer. You can expect a bit more coming up later this week now that our photos are ready to go live.