Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! Finally a convention has come and gone and now it’s time for another Convention Impossible! This one is Ranger Stop 2015 and well…it’s hard to say what I think… First I must do this!
DISCLAIMER: This review is based on opinion and observation from the writer herself since she has gone to this convention. Feelings and ideas are based on honesty! If you don’t like it, keep moving!
Location: First is location! This convention was held at the Holiday Inn and Suites across from Universal Studios here in Orlando, FL. All I have to say about the location is that it is very easy to navigate like the Rosen Center. You can find things very easily in the place including the convention! First you have the lobby then go straight and the convention would bbe in its little section near the information desks and then the elevators on the left side. Plus, T. G. I. Friday is connected to the hotel so if you don’t want to go off grounds for food and you can have that take out option with it. I did hear that there were food trucks outside but if I go next year then that would be something I may consider if my kitty belly rumbles. Good choice for a hotel!
Guests: Man the guest list was amazing! There was one cancellation though and that was the Red Light Speed Rescue Ranger cancelling but everyone else was there and glad to meet a good portion of them! Did I get any signatures? I was lucky to get one and the other two were free on my business cards. What am I talking about? Well…the pricing was a bit steep for signatures! I thought MegaCon was bad, especially for Amy Pond’s (which I was sad about that) but I was pretty surprised at how much it was for Austin St. John the most. I wanted to get my copy of Mighty Morphen Power Rangers signed by some of the cast, original and second rank, but nope! At least I had my hand chaken for free the past two days, which I only did two of them due to Sunday not having many panels I wanted to see. Which I am going to get to panels next! Everyone I met was really nice and I was even happy that I got to meet Johnny again and don’t worry, I wasn’t shy as Anri around him but felt like a major fan girl, especially when I got a hug from him. He did sign G. U. Vol. 1 for me since I got his newest C. D. as a nice bit of leeway, erll you can’t find these games again. I did feel bad that I didn’t get Nerdy Shirts’ copy of DMC 4 signed by him and texted him about it being $30 (while other rangers charged a lot) and got the response of “It’s Okay! There will be other chances!” I did meet the SPD cast during the weekend and it was awesome! I will be watching it once I finish watching Time Force, Wild Force, and Dino Thunder again which I am working on Lost Galaxy. Did I meet Melody Perkins if you’re wondering? Yes I did! She is the sweetest person you will ever meet! And in case if anyone who has heard my story about Dan, yes he recognized me from back then! I did ask him about his role as Kenshi in Mortal Kombat Legacy 2 and his he said that he was blindfolded for it. Well, gotta havea way of doing it! I did meet one of the Dino Charge rangers since that is getting a huge fan following lately. Oh yeah…if you guys read my AFO review and how sad I was for not being able to interview him but I did get to meet him and that was Christopher Kaman Lee and it felt good to meet the guy along with many others!
Panels and Events: Can’t have a convention without these! The panels were done by the guests and there was a Smash Brothers tournament in the gaming room but the guest panels on Friday and Saturday kept me busy along with the Dealer Room. I did get clips of some of the panels due to space limitations on my IPad, I did record a good chunk of the DMC Reunion Panel Friday. I also got the Blue Ranger panel, which had a dance off for a print of them all with their signatures if I remembered correctly. I did attend the SPD 10th Anniversary Panel, which sorry for the typo in the Convention Spotlight which I meant tenth not twentieth. And of course, can’t forget the Lost Galaxy and Beyond panel and Resident Evil ReUnion with Jason Fond and Reuben Langdon, which that one also had Dan in it. There was one panel, which they didn’t allow any recordings, that I finally got to go to and that was the Rangers After Dark panel. I have heard so many things about it while it was hosted at AFO when they got a lot of Power Ranger guests but never gone to it even when we stayed at the Wyndham and when I heard about it being at this convention, I had to go and I enjoyed it! I think I felt my ribs hurt a bit from the laughter I did because some of the stuff that went one was very entertaining! If you guys are over the age of 18 and at a convention with this panel, GO TO IT! I guarantee it’s worth checking out with a VIP or regular pass!
There is one fave moment I do have to mention in this section and that was during the Recap panel that started the convention Friday.Wait, I have two moments, anyuway! First, if you guys that are known as TokuTime were doing a Ranger Recap panel Friday afternoon as the convention was officially opening up. They only let VIP members in early and then halfway through regular passes were let in and it felt close to the end of the panel. They were talking about MegaForce as I walked in and I asked if they watched Linkara’s History of the Power Rangers , which Ranger Stop should have Linkara as a guest in my opinion (Hint Hint!) And they did say yes to it and can’t wait on his review on MegaForce as most of us Channel Awesome fans! The guy with the mike in their group did give me props on my shirt which I was wearing the newer Aardvark Tees shirt of Rita Repulsa throwing Rare Candy at Pokemon with “Make My Monsters Grow!” on it! They put the camera on me, so if you watch the video, you will see it! I did tell people about Aardvark as well, so Hello Aardvark Guys! And that was not the only panel point out, the Blue Rangers even pointed my shirt out during their panel, which surprised me while I was recording! Not sure if the IPad recorded that point since it only got twenty-five minutes of the panel that night. Was sad that it didn’t get the point where Austin St. John appeared and did have a bit of a squee since he helped me aside to let him. Still, amazing moments and knowing next year if people got it, they may wear the shirt I was wearing since it has an iconic Ranger villain.One of the guys I met in the dealer room thinks there should be a Lord Zedd version since he did it too when Rita was not in season two. Maybe I should contact Aardvark! Look out for my posts and videos from this year’s panels!
Dealer Room: Can’t have a con without some shopping? Even though I was on a mission to get stuff for Gondras for his birthday and Christmas this year but I felt I got more stuff for myself! I did get him some pretty cool decals for his car for his birthday and may have to go online for his Christmas gifts when Black Friday passes. The dealer room was pretty good sized since they had to fit the meet and greet area in there, I can see why they had to put vendors in the front and some artists in the hallway where panels were being held. Easy enough to get around because it felt like the Omni Dealer Room but with more Power Ranger related stuff. I did find Japanese Snacks Guy which was a major surprise to see him there! I did get a new flavor of Hi Chew from him since he only had Green Tea Kit Kats but hoping we do get press for Holiday Matsuri since he said he will be going back to Japan before then and winter is when they have more chocolate. Maybe I should ask about Melty Kiss! And there was one anime memorabilia stand and got my Vaporeon plushie from him since I didn’t want to go crazy with the cash I had left from AFO. I can still get plushies at other conventions! One item I did get that was being sold at Registration which caught my ears! As celebration of SPD’s anniversary, there were a limited number of SPD badges and got one! Made sense since I am a pin collector and knowing I do have some limited edition pins in my collection, this is one that I won’t let go due to how awesome it is, very well made, and a nice collector’s item!
Verdict: CONVENTION COMPLETE! I almost put Aborted but when you look at it the convention did redeem itself during the two days I was there. Yeah it was preicey during some things like passes for the convention, the photo ops, and autographs but the panels were nice and entertaining! The dealer room also was a reasonably sized room with how much they had to put in. Will I go again? That would be a maybe since I will be trying again for press next year and glad I got to experience it for the price I paid for a ticket. Any improvements?
Needs for Improvement: Yes there is because not all conventions are perfect!
First, posting opeining times! That is the frist need because while looking for convention hours and when it opens there was no definite opening time on their page. I was there before ten and was told that VIP got in at noon and regular holders at 2! That gives a lot of waiting and normally a lot of conventions open their registration at ten to at least set up and everything beforehand. At least I had time for lunch at TGI Friday. Still, it would help if people got notified before convention time instead of coming and then waiting for it to open. I mean everyone and not just the VIP people who got e-mails about it.
Second, opening the convention earlier! This is something that annoyed a lot of us and that the convention didn’t start until 4 in the afternoon on the first day. I understand a lot of people do check-in when they reserve rooms but mostly it’s done the day before or day of, sometimes early in the morning of the first day even happens if there are any rooms available. Still, opening the convention earlier would give some time to kill and enjoy some early panels done by some of the guests or a nice idea to have is do a panel as an open forum with attendees in talking about some of their favorite moments in Power Rangers or about their time meeting the rangers since I heard so many stories from attendees that have meant some of them. Still, it would give us some time to kill and enjoy the convention more that way.
Third, make autographs more affordable! Like MegaCon, it felt like the signatures were a bit steep and I did hear a lot of attendees talking about how they wanted to get someone to sign something but can’t afford all the ones they want a signature from. I even witnessed the ATM in the dealer room being out of order due to so many withdrawals. I did hear that last year, couldn’t attend due to Daytona, that they were in the $30 range but still a little there. It even made me sad that items being brought were being charged a bit more, such as $40 for my Mighty Morphen set being signed by Austin. I think it should be lowered or just do…can’t believe I am bringing this up…charge for the second item at least but at a lower price. I mean, one example, Steven Blum charged $5 for every item after two items were signed which would make pockets and wallets happy. If someone wants to buy a pic or shirt, they can. Also, that can work for the photo ops in not making them so steep in prices, because when I bought my wristband I was surprised at how much those were being charged and even remembered a Facebook comment towards the bottom of the page asking why things are so expensive this year. As said, shouldn’t be expensive nor charge for anything being brought because there is Christmas coming up and some people do budget for it, not a bad idea to think about, aye?
Well, that is it for this review! Ranger Stop is not a bad convention, I notice it’s in its third year and it needs a bit more growth and more stuff to help expand it. I did hear that rumors say Jason David Frank might come next year, which would be cool. I will try again for press and hoping that we do get it because it would be cool to have ranger interviews to add to the many voice actors we’ve interviewed with. Let’s see what 2016 gives us!
What is next? The DMC Reunion Post! Which I better start uploading videos! Stay tuned!
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