Non-Sport Update‘s Editor-In-Chief Alan Biegel, Production Manager Harris Toser, and Friend of NSU Bob Hulsart made our annual trip to Wizard World Philadelphia this past Saturday and we spent the entire day walking the show floor speaking with collectors, artists, dealers, and of course celebrities which were well represented at the show.
The celebrity guest list was impressive, and headlining the list was Chris Hemsworth fresh off his role as Thor in The Avengers which just hit screens last month, not to mention Snow White and the Huntsmen, opening the same weekend as Wizard World. The line for his autograph was longer than the Bifrost Bridge to Asgard! All five Star Trek Captains were gathered at one show for the first time and were popular with the fans as well, and others of note included Stan Lee, Norman Reedus, Sam Witwer, Bruce Campbell, Hayden Panettiere, Dean Cain, and Melissa Joan Hart, all of whom have signed for various non-sports sets!
Chris Hemsworth, Stan Lee, and CM Punk (photo courtesy of Wizard World Philadelphia)
There were many sketch card artists set-up including Brian Kong, Bill McKay, Kate Bradley and Sara Richard, who will be appearing at the next Phiily show in Allentown, and they all had an impressive display of artwork available. Brian, Bill and Kate will be set-up at Pop Art Con next week so be sure to mark that on your calendar! Dealers Derek Woywood and TBear were on-hand with non-sports cards and we did see some vintage cards such as Mars Attacks at a dealers table.
Many attendees were dressed up for the show and it’s always entertaining to see the variety of costumes, some are quite impressive and some are amusing, such as a pink Galactus with a helmet made from a trash can and hockey sticks! Be sure to take a look at the Wizard World photo gallery and check back shortly for coverage of the Star Trek Captain’s Panel which we attended. It was an enjoyable show and we are ready for next year already, as the NSU crew can never have enough road trips in our exploration of all things in non-sports and popular culture!
