I had the pleasure of attending GalaxyCon 2024 in Raleigh, NC last week. Here are some of this year’s highlights and lowlights.

LOWLIGHT 1 – Giant Weapons. Anime characters in particular seem to favor ridiculously huge weapons, and GalaxyCon is a hotbed for Anime lovers.

Since you may have trouble locating the weapons in the pictures I’ve posted, I added prominent yellow arrows to point them out.

I really don’t understand why people do this. It’s hard enough just lugging one’s own sweaty carcass around a giant, mob-crushed convention center for 8-10 hours, much less doing the same while saddled with such titanic props.

But I’m not a huge anime fan, so what would I know?

HIGHLIGHT 1 – My Daughter’s Weapon is Confiscated. She dressed up as an elven ranger this year and insisted on bringing a real wooden ‘staff’ to round out her costume. After a few hours of getting my ankles knocked with it and sweating bullets every time she approached fragile figurine-seller’s booths, a security guard finally came to the rescue. The staff, he said, was made of real wood, which made it potentially dangerous.

Well, duh, Mr. Guard! Just check out my shins! Where had this guy been a few hours ago?

HIGHLIGHT 2 – Cryptids. For those of you who don’t know what a cryptid is, Merriam-Webster defines it as ‘an animal (such as Sasquatch or the Loch Ness Monster) that has been claimed to exist but never proven to exist.’

Whether they exist or not isn’t that important to me…it’s the not knowing for sure whether they exist that makes them so much fun!

I was pleased to find at least two booths at GalaxyCon selling cryptid-related merchandise. One was called ‘Loft 817,’ and the other ‘Catawampus Press.’ I was particularly impressed at Loft 817’s print of the ‘Beast of Bladenboro,’ North Carolina’s most beloved cryptid.

LOWLIGHT 2 – Cryptids. Believe it or not, neither of these booths featured my favorite Cryptid, the ‘Van Meter Visitor,’ or my second favorite, the ‘Snarly Yow.’

The owners at Loft 817 had vaguely heard of the Van Meter Visitor, but were completely ignorant of the Snarly Yow!

We’re planning to visit GalaxyCon again in 2025, so hopefully by then these two merchants will have gotten their acts together.

LOWLIGHT 3 – Anime. I know this might get me into trouble, but as I’ve already said, I really don’t get anime. And at GalaxyCon, there is TONS of anime action going on.

These anime shows have bizarre names like ‘Scrambled Egg Handsome’ and ‘Go Robot Piltdown’…that sort of thing. They just don’t make sense. Sorry, I’ve TRIED liking Studio Ghibli movies, but after sitting through their most recent cinematic fever-dream (‘The Boy and the Heron’) I’ve vowed never to spend another dime on them.

HIGHLIGHT 3 – The People. What can you say? Thousands of people of every shape, size and age gathering to celebrate fandom! All willing to talk, share pictures, and generally geek out with you!

The Earth must travel another year around the sun until GalaxyCon returns to Raleigh. Until then, there are other quests to pursue…