Because now that I can, I am definitely going to gather these all in one place. It’s a good excuse to go back and edit things. I’ll be adding reviews as I find them in my archives or as I add them in the future. The same goes for alt-text on the photos - I’m going to be slowly but surely getting that added in there on all prior reviews and will include alt text on all reviews moving forward.
Anime Central 2017
SoyCon 2017
Anime Zap 2018
UChi-Con 2018
Free Comic Book Day 2018
Anime Central 2018
Cogs & Corsets: A Steampunk Happening 2018
Bloomington Normal Video Game Convention 2018
HPLD Nerd Con 2018
Olde English Faire 2018
Anime Midwest 2018
Peoria Geekfest 2018
Ignite Peoria 2018
Springfield Micro Con 2018
Peoria Comic Book Convention October 2018
TFCon Chicago 2018
Anime Zap 2019
UChi-Con 2019
PeoriaCon 2019
QuadCon Peoria Spring 2019
Anime Central 2019
Anime Expo 2019 (Virtual Attendance)
Anime Iowa 2019
Springfield Comic Expo 2019
QuadCon Peoria Halloween 2019
Anime Zap 2020
Sixty-Six Games Expo/BN Video Game Convention 2020
Peoria Comic Book Convention Jan 2020
UChi-Con 2020
PeoriaCon 2020
Cogs & Corsets: A Steampunk Happening 2021
QuadCon Peoria, June 2021
Anime Iowa 2021
Anime Magic 2021
QuadCon Peoria, September 2021
PeoriaCon 2021
QuadCon Peoria, December 2021
Anime Zap 2022
PeoriaCon 2022
Anime Central 2022
Cogs & Corsets A Steampunk Happening 2022
Anime Iowa 2022
Anime Magic 2022
TFCon Chicago 2022
PeoriaCon 2023
Anime Central 2023
Illinois Game Con 2023
Game On Peoria High School Gaming Expo 2023
Otakon 2023
Anime Magic 2023
QuadCon Peoria November 2023
PeoriaCon 2024
Anime Aki Con 2024
PeoriaCon 2025
PeoriaCon 2026
And while not a con review, this post has a list of apps I’ve used to save a little extra change towards events to cover minor expenses.
Well, this is overdue, seeing as we're now in April...
Anyway, PeoriaCon 2026 took place March 7 & 8. 2026 at the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, IL. PeoriaCon is local for me and @lechevaliermalfet, which is a good thing as we now have 2 little ones to either leave with a sitter or tow around. This year, our elder kiddo stayed with Grandma and the younger kiddo came along for the show.
One complaint that I have about PeoriaCon is that there are no weekend badges, even though this is a 2-day con, with panels and events on both days. You need to pay for each day separately. In addition, you're probably going to be paying for parking each day. For two adults, even with our kiddo being free as he's well under the age of 10, that adds up fast.
We attended on Sunday. Getting in was easy - the line was basically non-existent, though people were steadily buying tickets. The venue has a strict bag policy - only small or clear bags unless you have a medically necessary or diaper bag. We had a diaper bag with us, since we had an infant. The bag was subjected to inspection before we were allowed to make our way through the metal detectors and enter the convention hall.
We hung with @shbumi and Cody for the event, though there was a lot of wandering around separately.
PeoriaCon is still largely a vendor con, 8 years in. There's plenty of variety for shopping, some celebrity guests to meet and greet (if you choose), gaming, and a small area for panels. And the cosplay contest, which has grown enough to spread between adults on Saturday and youth on Sunday. I'm going to say now that while it would have been fun to watch, we did not stick around for the contest on Sunday because our son was getting fussy and well, baby's needs come first.
There was plenty of cosplay on display but I don't have any photos of any individual cosplayers from this year. I do, however, have photos of awesome nerdy vehicles.
I think we were at the con for approximately four hours or so. We mostly connected with @someoldmemory who was working the event with another friend. I saw several artists and vendors who have been to PeoriaCon before and who show up to many Central IL events. It was nice to see that many had new artwork available. Unfortunately, having littles constricts the budget quite a bit. Our only pieces of con swag this time around were a UHF poster and a Garrus duck.
There was Pokemon Go, which I did indulge in. Cons are about the only time I play anymore, actually. So that should tell you when I last signed in, lol.
We did not attend any panels this year, seek celebrity interaction, or game, though we have done that in previous years.
PeoriaCon was a fun escape for a day, though I do wish again that they had a weekend pass option and that they felt more like a fully fleshed out con as opposed to a dealer hall with add-ons. Still, I'm glad it exists and I hope it grows. The Civic Center - bag policy aside - is a fantastic venue and the con currently only uses a small fraction of the available space.
In 2024, we only did Sunday. For 2025, we only did Saturday, March 29 (yesterday - yeah, I'm actually doing a timely review for once). I really hope they introduce weekend-rate pricing next year, since it's a bit pricey to buy single-day tickets for 2 adults for both days ($17/person/day this year) when you consider the con is still roughly 85% vendors and artists vs 15% all the rest of con stuff.
Despite that price tag, it's clear there's a demand for the event. When @lechevaliermalfet @pseudospectre , myself, and kiddo arrived at the Peoria Civic Center about half an hour after the con started, there was a decent line to purchase admission.
I love that it shows the event is growing in popularity, because my group got there only like 30 minutes after the con started and there was a steady line for the first couple of hours whenever we looked.
There was a nice, easy-to-understand info table just outside the entry doors, after you got your plain red wristband from the box office. I heard today's were blue and I was relieved to know there were measures in place to prevent people from trying to ghost the con on Day 2.
Once inside, they had an amazing array of vendors. The Civic Center really does have decent space in the exhibit hall for events.
However, any time I've been there for a con, the gaming area sound overpowers everything else. Yesterday was no exception - there were times the audio for the game tournament made it difficult to interact with the vendors next to it as you could hardly hear them.
They did dedicate a decent amount of space to both video gaming and tabletop, which was nice to see - I feel like the two areas were fairly comparable, size-wise.
Also, shoutout to @someoldmemory and another friend of ours, "Bob", who were running a booth for their employer.
We walked away from that booth with a Labyrinth movie poster. Now I need to figure out where to display it!
It was nice to see the Ghostbusters return to the con again, and their vehicle was an obvious photo draw for many attendees. I wouldn't be shocked if Scott Inness' booth also attracted a lot of photo ops, with or without the guest himself. I don't think I've ever been to an event where a guest of honor had such an impressive booth.
Speaking of guests, I did think they had a decent variety within the small handful that they had and I did overhear a group of attendees mention that they'd travelled 3 hours just for one of their members to get a voice actor autograph. PeoriaCon's size means that no celebrity line was ever too long if you wanted an opportunity for a photo or autograph, though I passed on those this year.
The designated panel area was far smaller, maybe with seats for about 25-30ish people? I admit, that's not unreasonable for a con this size, based on my experience. But the curtain walls and microphones for the panelists didn't always do *quite* enough to combat the noise from the gaming tournament. I ended up passing on most of the panels for this reason, only dropping in on the Ghostbusters Peoria one at 2pm. Local author Sylvia Shults was one of the panelists and she has done many local cons over the years. I'll always enjoy hearing her stories on the old state asylum.
But to backtrack before that...kiddo is now 14 months old and she was *not* tolerating the noise-cancelling headphones that she wore at Anime Aki Con in 2024. And she wasn't interested in sleeping through the event, like she did for PeoriaCon 2024. So we had a grumpy baby for the majority of the day. I actually had to take her out of the con floor and into the food vendor / dining area to attempt to quiet her. Our group ended up having an early-ish lunch of overpriced snack / quick food (popcorn, hotdogs, burgers, nachos, you get the gist) as that was what was on hand.
@lechevaliermalfet and I *tried* to get overpriced sodas from the vending machines and that promptly card our cards flagged for fraud.
So that led to a fun 30 minutes on the phone with the credit union in the middle of our con day. In the end, the poor rep couldn't figure out why the machines were flagging as fraud (he had me try using the cards while I was on the phone with him after I verified the transactions). Our debit card was unlocked, the credit card was escalated to the risk team and I was advised to avoid using it and to visit an ATM to get cash out instead.
Well, we tried to find the silver lining that we would absolutely be forced to really consider our con swag for this year and so it was totally fine that we had to keep circulating the vendors to keep the grumpy baby calm. Because it meant we *really* got to consider our options.
Like coffee. Cosplay ducks. Art galore. Local authors. Jewelry makers. And more!
Yeah, it was hard making choices. I did end up with some of that coffee, because the vendors were lovely people and they had free hot samples of many of the flavors. Probably spent a good 10 minutes at their booth talking to them. They're Itasha Coffee and they'll be at Acen 2025 and Anime Magic 2025.
There was a robotics demo in the con hall to observe as well.
Problem is, kiddo wasn't interested in staying still in any area. And at one point, she was cranky enough we again chose to leave the con hall. This time, we decided to attempt an ATM so that I could have some cash on hand.
More bad news. The ATM (which was connected to our credit union) was refusing transactions. Cue another phone call to said credit union, and another 15 minutes on the phone with a rep looking into the issue. Turns out, that ATM had lost signal and wasn't processing *any* transactions. I wonder how many attendees ran into that issue...
Well, we had at least one working card. We went back in and finished our shopping. Then, when the cosplay competition came around, @lechevaliermalfet walked our daughter around the con floor in the stroller while I watched the contest.
I'd say the cosplay contest was probably a personal highlight for me. Saturday's was the Craftsmanship contest. Lots of awesome cosplays on display and many contestants really threw themselves into portraying their chosen character. I love that the contest has grown so large over the years that it can be divided as it was, over 2 days and between Craftsmanship (Sat) and Youth (Sun). And that Craftsmanship was further divided into the Novice, Journeyman, and Master categories. I also appreciated that there was a Judges' Choice and a Best in Show option, in addition to the 1st place for each category. (It was hard to get photos of the winners going up, sorry!)
I was surprised that Best in Show and Judges' Choice went to the same contestant - and that's no shade on them! Their cosplay was very well put together and far surpasses anything I've done over my con attending years. I know every contest has its own criteria and people can win multiple awards; I'm just used to Judges' Choice being awarded to those who didn't meet the criteria for any other award but that the judges still felt deserved a shoutout.
With the contest concluded, PeoriaCon was done for the day. And we were done for the weekend.
On the whole, despite a grumpy baby (who left with con swag of her own, getting a couple free stickers over the course of the day) and card issues, it was a fun PeoriaCon. I'm looking forward to next year, though I really hope they introduce weekend passes by then.
And yes, I did break out the PoGo. I barely play anymore, but it feels like the thing to do at cons.
I'm also sharing an abridged version of this review on the Anime Central discord / Peoria subreddit, so if any of the wording / pics seem familiar to you - that's why.
This year, PeoriaCon had a venue change. They took over one of the expo halls at the Peoria Civic Center. And I think that was probably the right idea. It wasn't quite the wall of sound of prior years and it gives a lot more space for walking around and shopping. You're still somewhat limited on food if you want to stay at the Civic Center all day, however.
We went on Sunday - this was Baby's First Convention for our newborn, and Sunday meant (theoretically) fewer people, less time away from home, etc. @lechevaliermalfet and I are first-time parents, so we're still adapting to taking the baby out in public for things that aren't doctor appointments.
I thought I'd gotten a photo of the schedule of events for the day, but it seems I was mistaken. So I downloaded it from Facebook - but we didn't actually attend any panels.
We spent a lot of PeoriaCon wandering around, talking to friends. @someoldmemory was on hand with her wife, our friend Josh and his wife were there, Cody was there, and others. There were also vendors that we were familiar with and stopped to chat with.
We did enter a giveaway for an incredible amount of stuff, but sadly, none of us won.
Entry was free, so even though most of the prizes in the hoard weren't of interest to me specifically, can you blame me for trying for it? Look at all of that loot! I could have gifted so much to friends or traded in for store credit or sold...
Anyway, moving on...
The Ghostbusters were on hand, as was a Batmobile that had been lovingly created by a dedicated fan.
Spook Hollow were on hand with their booth and photo op setup, so @someoldmemory took a photo with her wife.
There was tabletop gaming and video gaming. We paid to enter a different drawing for some kickass dice towers, but again, failed to win. But the proceeds from the sweepstakes went to charity, so that's ok.
There was also a lot of nice fanmade merchandise for sale.
You gotta have at least one sword vendor at a con - I really feel like that's an unwritten rule at events now.
The Civic Center has always had overpriced snack bars, but now one of them is run by Avanti's, which is a local fast casual Italian restaurant chain. So we were able to grab a tasty lunch from them as the day was starting to draw to a close. It's a good thing we grabbed it when we did, because they closed the booth shortly after we got our food.
We saw the crowd around the youth cosplay contest, but not the contest itself.
Overall, it was a good day - an inexpensive outing where we got to have adult interactions and conversation that revolved around more than just dirty diapers and bottles. Oh, and our daughter slept through all of it until lunchtime, at which point, she had a bottle and grumped for a few minutes.
After lunch, the con was starting to shut down. We ate about 1 and went back in about 2 and the con was due to close at 3, so that made sense.
So our final hour was largely spent doing what we'd done already. And playing a little bit of Pokemon Go.
I split Sunday at the con between my friends Ren and Cody. My main goal on Sunday was to meet Walter Jones. To my surprise, the line was considerably shorter – I waited maybe 5 minutes? I had an old Power Rangers coloring book that I asked him to sign, which he did on both the front cover and an interior page. And I got a photo as well. It was expensive, but worth it to meet someone who was such a part of my childhood. And he was very kind – I was super nervous about meeting him and he definitely has a knack for making people relax.
After that, Ren and I wandered for a bit. They kindly waited while I decided to try out the Simpsons cabinet that I’d ignored on Saturday. They weren’t interested in playing with me, but another congoer joined me at the cabinet, and we did our best together. I recognized him as someone I’d spoken to about the Walter Jones line on Saturday and as we fought our way through Springfield in the game, we talked about our love for Power Rangers. It’s nice having those random moments of connection, whether they’re formed in a line or at a game cabinet or just walking around. It’s a reminder that we really are a community.
After my brief stint at gaming, we wandered the vendors a bit. Ren browsed one of the sword vendors a lot and was eyeing a version of the Master Sword but ultimately decided against it. We also found artists who Ren might commission cosplays or artwork from in the future. I loaded myself down with more prints and some other small items.
After a couple of hours, it was time to part ways with Ren and to meet up with Cody. Cody was also after an autograph from Walter Jones, so I just people-watched and played Pokemon Go.
The 501st and local Ghostbusters unit were on hand both Saturday and Sunday and they were wandering around the con. I noticed that on the whole, there seemed to be less cosplay on Sunday, though I think cosplay photography was still being offered. I did get a few cosplayers, though.
After Cody got his photo and autograph, we looked at the panel list.
Once again, nothing caught my eye, and Cody isn’t as gung-ho on panels anyway. So we went to the gaming cabinets so Cody could get some free play on Ninja Turtles.
And then, yet another round of shopping for me. Cody did far less shopping and far more excited messaging with people about his autograph, but I can’t blame him.
I noticed there was an artist doing caricature work. I had never gotten a caricature before, so I decided, why the heck not?
She and I spoke about her experiences at the con over the course of the weekend while she worked on the caricature. I found out that doing the caricatures wasn’t her original plan, but she decided to offer it just to see if anyone would be interested. As she finished mine, a young attendee and their parent walked up to inquire about getting theirs done. So I know she had at least two caricature customers. I hope she got others – she was very nice to talk to and talented. I also got some prints of her original artwork.
And then it was time to call it a day. Sunday was far less eventful, but since I’d neglected a lunch break, I was more than happy to go when I was done.
But I do need to show off what was probably one of my favorite purchases all weekend, because boy do these miniatures bring back memories of how things were right as I started attending cons.
This year was the fifth PeoriaCon, a small pop culture con at the Expo Gardens. It’s a con that really feels first like a marketplace, and second like a full-con experience. I really feel like part of that vibe is because of their location. The Expo Gardens admin/youth building has a snack bar and bathrooms and the exhibit space, so you’d think it would be perfect – and it is, if all you want is a marketplace. But if you’re trying to add in panels or game tournaments or anything else, well, then it’s just a wee bit cramped and noisy. Which I guess you can sort of tell from looking at the con map.
Still, the con is growing each year and is definitely popular. This year was the second year of the con being a two-day weekend. If you wanted to attend both days, you did have to pay each day -since they’re still relying on hand stamps as proof of admission for regular attendees, there’s no way to get a weekend pass yet.
In an effort to get people in right at the start, PeoriaCon offers limited edition posters each year. Sadly, we didn’t get one this year – there was already a decent line by the time @lechevaliermalfet and I arrived on Saturday morning.
We paid for admittance and did a quick loop of the dealers, just to get a feel for what we might be purchasing. A strength of PeoriaCon’s marketplace is the variety of vendors you’ll encounter.
There were two free-to-play arcade cabinets set up. Lines weren’t terribly long for either during the weekend, which was nice. We played a few rounds on the Ninja Turtles machine before stepping away to let others take a chance.
We then returned to the panel / cafeteria portion of the building. Here, we submitted entries to PeoriaCon’s sweepstakes – every hour, they announced two winners, who would receive something from one of the vendors on-site. We didn’t win any of these drawings either. Guess luck wasn’t with us this year.
I looked into the panel options for Saturday and the space of the panel area. There were topics that caught my eye, but as in years past, I ended up skipping the panels. The limited space and minimal barriers to the sounds coming from the exhibit space, the photographers set up in the cafeteria, and the bathrooms in the hallway next to the panel space just prove to be too distracting for me to easily relax and enjoy myself during the years I have attended panels.
There was also mock fighting going on, but we didn’t choose to do that, either.
With the sweepstakes entries taken care of, we returned to the marketplace to lighten our wallets a little. But I think we got a great haul, honestly – plenty of good artwork, some new books to read, new dice, and more.
We then had to re-up our hand stamps, as they were starting to fade, and then left for lunch. Nothing against the snack bar at the Expo Gardens – their prices are comparable to what you’d pay at other snack bars for events – but the line was long and the seating limited. So, we went to where we could take our time.
Seriously, how do they expect that stamp to last all day?
@el-draco-bizarro met us for lunch and then joined us when we returned to the con. This year, the guest of honor was Walter Jones, the original Black Power Ranger. He had arrived at the con while we were away at lunch and when we returned, we were surprised at the length of the line. After @lechevaliermalfet confirmed with con staff that Walter Jones would be back on Sunday, I opted to skip the line for Saturday. But I look in on the line from time to time. It took approximately 1.5-2 hours for attendees to get through the line on Saturday to get their autographs, photos, and videos.
I thought I had a photo of the line, since it was so impressive, but nope, I guess I don’t.
There was more shopping and people watching. And I played Pokemon Go all through the day, which probably doesn’t surprise anyone.
I ran into one of my cousins and got to hang out with her for a few minutes.
I also had a vendor recognize me from PeoriaCon’s first year, when I cosplayed my original build of the Glow Cloud. I told him I was working on a new build, due to how heavy the old one was. And because I’ve had some ideas on how to improve the smaller build that I made last year.
And then, at the end of the day, it was time for the cosplay contest.
PeoriaCon may be small, but they have a sizable cosplay contest. This could be in part due to their partnership with a photography studio – all contest participants are guaranteed to get their cosplay professionally photographed.
Seeing the cosplay that’s on display at PeoriaCon is impressive. But I do wish those watching the cosplay contest could see it better. The con doesn’t have any kind of stage or platform for participants to stand on to elevate them for audience viewing. Volume is also an issue – because of the acoustics of the room (the cosplay contest is held in the cafeteria area) and the limitations of the Expo Gardens audio equipment, it can be extremely difficult to understand the emcee.
I took photographs during the contest as best I could, but the angle was super, super shitty for most of them. So, I sadly don’t have many I think are worth sharing.
I did end up going on Sunday as well, so I’ll have that write-up soon.
