DALLAS ALL-CON 2012

This weekend was the 8th Annual Dallas ALL-CON! All-Con is one of the largest growing conventions in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, supporting fans of Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Anime, Art, Renaissance Faires, Comic Books, Movies, Gaming and much, much more! The convention featured all kinds of celebrity guests, panels, competitions, cosplay, contests, vendors, and workshops! This years' theme of course was The End of the World! (2012!) "Because if it really is the end of the world...go out the All-Con way!" I have been an All-Con attendee since 2006, an independent vendor in 2010 and this year I became a volunteer. The thing I like best about All-Con is it isn't as big as some of the other conventions during the year like A-Kon or AnimeFest and of course Dallas ComicCon. But being a small con also means less crowds, lines and a more personable and fun experience without getting too exhausted.

The best events in All-Con is always the Saturday Costume Contest (I won for my Ghost Rider costume back in 2007!), the Ms. Star Wars Competition and of course the 501st Droid Hunt run by the 501st Star Garrison. The celebrity guests this year included Troy Denning, New York Times Bestselling Author of Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse, voice actor Neil Kaplan, and character actor Camden Toy.
To go along with the End of the World theme All-Con was literally taken over by ZOMBIES! There were many people in zombie make-up and costumes and even a few "heavily-armed" zombie hunters roaming the halls! I especially loved the costumes during the con (you can see some of my pictures from this year's con on my Facebook page) I am always amazed at the level of ingenuity and creativity that goes into so many of the costumes. My favorite has to be one man in a very elaborate costume of Kurt Russell's character (MacReady) from The Thing (1982). As an amateur (VERY amateur!) cosplayer myself, I was very impressed by many of the costumes this year, especially this years Grand Champion winners' World of Warcraft costumes: (See video:)

The only critique I have of this year's All-Con is that I was surprised of the lack of variety of vendors at the con and that every other vendor featured mostly Steampunk paraphernalia (although I do like Steampunk). It varies year to year and usually whatever is popular that year is more prominent. Next year I hope there are more gaming opportunities as well. Other than that it was a great convention and I am looking forward to next year's All-Con! If you enjoy conventions and are into seeing some great costumes or participating in some very special events and can't stand the larger, more crowded conventions, than All-Con is for you. Hope to see ya'll  next year! (Next year's theme is A Fracture In Time!) http://www.all-con.org/