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Costume Contests at Retro Con 2023!
The true spirit of costuming is alive and well at Retro Con! And we’ll be hosting TWO costume contests at Retro Con 2023!!
SATURDAY at 1:45PM- Junior & Adult Costumers 14 and over!
SUNDAY at 12:30PM- Kid Costumers 13 and under!
Hosted once again by our good friend Eric “The Smoke” Moran, both contests will be held in the panel area at the show. Individuals and small groups are eligible to participate.
Preregistering for the contest is not necessary and there are no sign-up fees, though we suggest entrants please arrive outside the panel room 15 minutes before contest time for line-up.
Retro Con has a dedicated panel and contest room now, which is connected to our lead-in hallway!
We do a combination of staff judging and crowd reaction to determine our three winners. While craftsmanship will be definitely be taken into account, we will mostly judge costumes on their theme and overall effect. While some costumers are well-versed in advanced sewing and molding techniques, others show their ingenuity through creative glueing, hand sewing, and working with found items. We recognize costuming/cosplay as a hobby for people of all skill sets and budgets!
Please no skits or anything else that might delay the contest. Doing a pose and/or saying something briefly in character is okay. Also please no heckling from the audience or from contestants. Anyone found disorderly will be asked to leave. We believe in a fun and ego-free atmosphere!
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Costumers will have a chance at winning three cash prizes:
Junior & Adult Costumers 14 and over
FIRST place: $150.00
SECOND place: $100.00
THIRD place: $75.00
Kid Costumers 13 and under
FIRST place: $100
SECOND place: $75
THIRD place: $50
Retro Con 2023’s Jump the Gully Karaoke Contest!
Can you hit that high? Then sign up for the Retro Con 2023 “Jump the Gully” Karaoke Contest!
The contest will be held early Sunday afternoon at the show, tentative start time 1:15pm. We’ll have a wide variety of 80’s (and some early 90’s) song classics to choose from. Most will have on-screen lyrics to follow along with, but we’ll also be supplementing these with a few geek-related favorites that will have a *lyrics sheet only*. Consider these “extra credit” choices!
Since contestant space is limited and we need time to get the playlist ready, sign-ups will be required! Listen for an announcement over the PA system around 11:15am Sunday to let you know sign-ups are starting. If interest is high, we might have to go with a “lottery” system to pick our 15 contestants.
First Place (or “01” Place) this year gets the brand new LEGO Icons Pac-Man Arcade set, a $270 retail value! We have other great prizes lined as well, such as a Modern Icons Optimus Prime helmet for 2nd Place, and a Kenner Star Wars reissue figure set for 3rd Place!
We’ll handle the retro, you bring the rock!
The contest rules are as follows:
#1. No staff or volunteers may enter.
#2. Singing in costume is allowed, but will not affect the judges’ scoring.
#3. No skits are allowed. Dancing in place however is just fine (and encouraged).
#4. Songs will be picked on a first-come, first-served basis. Songs will not be held for specific contestants. Also, outside songs will not be allowed.
#5. No instruments will be allowed.
#6. All contestants must arrive at the panel/event room *15 minutes* prior to showtime for check-in and singing order assignment. If you are not present at this time, you may have to forfeit your place.
#7. Please no heckling from the audience or other contestants. Anyone found to be disorderly will be asked to leave the panel area.
#8. You MUST rock.
SEE KARAOKE SONG LIST HERE!
The Angry Video Game Nerd Returns!
He’s been away for a few years, but we’re happy to announce the return of the Nerd! Please welcome filmmaker and youtuber James Rolfe back for Retro Con 2023!
James is best known for his farcical reviews of classic video games as the character the “Angry Video Game Nerd”, which mix together insightful commentary, over-the-top language, physical comedy, and special effect elements. You can find the series on the Cinemassacre channel on youtube, which has over 3.75 million subscribers. The show will be celebrating its 20th anniversary next year!
James Rolfe will be attending Retro Con on SATURDAY ONLY. Signing times are set for 12pm to 4pm. Signatures and photo ops are free! He will also have show and channel merch for sale at his booth in the guest section.
A huge thanks to James for making the trip out for the show!
Return of the Retro Con A-Team Van!
Remember the Retro Con A-Team van? It’s back and under new ownership!
The van had been in a state of disrepair for over three years (kickstarted by the pandemic), but new van owner Ryan purchased it and got it mechanically sound in two months flat! We’re sure a lot of welding and a heavy metal music montage was involved…
Ryan has also been decking out the inside of van to make it more like the show. So look for the NEW IMPROVED A-Team van on the show floor at Retro Con 2023 alongside the DeLorean, Jurassic Park Jeep, and General Lee! Picture ops with the van are free! A big thanks to Ryan for bringing the van to the show. He does local home remodelling, so please check out his page at Steckel Building!
Dukes of Hazzard Cast Pro Photo Op Preorder!
If you’d like to PRE-PURCHASE your Professional Photo Ops for the Dukes of Hazzard cast (John Schneider, Catherine Bach, Tom Wopat), you can do so now! You can also Pre-purchase a pro photo op with actor Greg Evigan from BJ & the Bear!
Purchase all Pro Photo Op options for Saturday and Sunday here: [RETRO CON PRO PHOTO OPS 2023]
You can also purchase pro photo ops and “At Table” photo ops in person at the show!
Retro Con 2023 Weird Toy Contest!
NEW CONTEST ALERT!!
The Retro Con household has an unhealthy obsession with offbeat/quirky toys, and now we want to see YOUR weirdness! Come witness the strange, the bizarre, the unexpected… at the Retro Con 2023 Weird Toy Contest!
The contest will be held in the Panel room on Saturday at the show. No sign-ups are required, you can simply show for line-up with your toy just before contest start time (full show schedule very coming soon). Your toy can be officially licensed, unlicensed, vintage, new, or even bootleg. We’re also allowing “toy adjacent” items to be entered, which are those tie-in items associated with a toy line or brand, such as lunchboxes, gumball machines, electronic toothbrushes, model kits, pharmacy rack toys, and of course… He-Man slippers like the ones shown in our picture!
If your toy involves a gimmick you’d like to demonstrate, you’re welcome to do so. Custom toys however will *not* be allowed as they’re too easy to purposely design “askew”. We also request that your toy be suitable for a family-oriented crowd. We reserve the right to decline any toy we feel is inappropriate for the contest. So leave your Shape-shifter Punisher at home!
Top prize for the contest is a brand new in box Super Shogun Optimus Prime by Super7! Shogun Optimus stands at a commanding 24″ inches tall, has rolling wheels on his feet, and a launching fist just like the old Shogun Warriors! 2nd Prize is the currently sold-out GI Joe Classified Serpentor figure, and 3rd Prize is the Comic Con (or “Cosmic Con”) exclusive ALF figure by NECA!
A big thanks to our friend Mike from The Breaux Show for hosting the contest!
Dukes of Hazzard Cast Shout-Outs!
Paul Eiding to attend Retro Con 2023!
“Ultra Magnus! A cursory evaluation of Decepticon capabilities indicates a distinct tactical deficiency!”
In other words… Please welcome voice actor Paul Eiding to our guest list for Retro Con 2023! =D
Paul is best known to the retro 80’s crowd as the voice of Perceptor on G1 Transformers! The mighty microscope was a regular character in season 2 of the cartoon, as well as appearing in Transformers: The Movie (1986), and was one of only a handful of classic characters to be carried over to Season 3 of the show. He was also known as “That Transformer toy everyone had” back in the day…
Paul also provided the english dubbed voice for Colonel Roy Campbell in the Metal Gear Solid series from 1998 to 2008 (as well as voicing the character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl)! If you played these games, you’ll be well acquainted with Paul’s cries of panic upon your mission failure. “What’s wrong? Snake! SNAAAAAKE!”
You’ve also heard Paul as the voice of cool grandpa Max Tennyson in the popular Ben 10 cartoon series, and numerous alien characters on the show! He also played ‘No-Zone’ on Toxic Crusaders, Scorp on Challenge of the GoBots, Raider Rath on Sky Commanders, Jonathan Kent on several recent Superman OAVs, and numerous other animated roles. He’s also voiced scores of characters in video games series such as Starcraft, Diablo, Ninja Gaiden, God of War, Elder Scrolls, Ratchet & Clank, Fallout, and on and on…
Paul has done on-screen work as well, and played show regular Don ‘King of Carpets’ Miller on the 80’s guilty-pleasure sitcom ‘The Charmings’! Come on, you know you watched it…
We’ve known Paul for a long time, and we’re excited to finally be bringing him to Retro Con!
Retro T-shirt Contest at Retro Con 2023!
Show off those cool geek threads like our gang of cover models here! Retro Con’s very own Retro T-shirt Contest makes its return for 2023!
A longstanding tradition at fan gatherings is attendees wearing t-shirts expressing their favorite characters and brands. We’ve turned this into a unique contest to win free stuff! Retro Con’s T-shirt contest will be held in the panel room on Saturday at the show, and we want to see YOUR Saturday best! Your t-shirt can be vintage, new, or custom made. As long as it’s retro-related (90’s properties and back), you’re welcome to enter!
Prizes this year include a NECA Tokka & Rahzar figure set for 1st Place (a $100 value), a NECA Deluxe Skeletor mask for 2nd Place (a $60 value), and a Transformers DeLorean Gigawatt figure for 3rd Place (a $35 value)! We’ll have some “Honorable Mention” prizes as well.
**Contest Rules**
1: No water will be involved. ;P
2. The contest is open to anyone at Retro Con wearing a t-shirt with a retro-oriented logo or print on it (90’s properties or older). Examples include: movies, cartoons, comics, tv shows, toy lines, company logos, mascots, music bands, and more!
3. There are no sign-ups needed. Interested contestant can line up outside the panel room prior to the contest start time. (Start time to be determined soon!)
4. T-Shirts can be vintage, new, or custom-made.
5. Only actual t-shirts can be entered. Sorry, sweatshirts, jackets, snuggies, jerseys, hoodies, long-sleeve shirts, etc., will NOT be eligible.
6. The Retro Con t-shirt contest is a family-friendly event! Tees with overly sexual imagery or crude language will not be allowed.
7. We’ll allow a small group to enter as one contestant if they have t-shirts associated with each other.
8. The contest will be slated for about 30 minutes. Hosts will ask questions to the contestants on-hand, after which they will pick approximately 10 entrants to be finalists.
9. After our Finalists are picked, they will be asked to go to the front of the Panel area. An additional round of questions, along with some audience participation, will determine our 3 winners!
A big thanks as always to our good friend Mike from the Breaux Show for hosting the fun. And a reminder that Retro Con is in *Hall A* this year and will now have a dedicated panel room! It will be attached to our main lead-in hallway.
Jurassic Adventures at Retro Con 2023!
Just in time for Jurassic Park’s 30th Anniversary! We welcome Jurassic Adventures and their JP18 back on the show floor for Retro Con 2023!
Made from a Jeep Wrangler, this replica has been accurately customized to resemble the staff vehicles used in the original Jurassic Park. Look for it in the car section on the Retro Con show floor, where owners Frank and Monica will have a themed backdrop and jungle set. For a small fee, attendees can get their photo taken with the set, complete with JP-related props for them to interact with. A photo op 65 Million Years in the Making!
A big thank you to Jurassic Adventures for bringing their awesome replica to the show!!
PRE-REG NOW LIVE!
Vendor Table Info Below!
Sponsors!
Retro Con would like to thank all those that helped to sponsor this show!
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98.5 WXPM The Phoenix
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The Retro Network
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Rediscover The 80s
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Friends of Retro Con!
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The Breaux Show
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Fandom Spotlite
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Toy Spotlite
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The Very Best
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retrocons.com 