Hello my fellow Geeks! This year, I attended Wizard World Chicago for the 4th time. Every year, it’s one of my favorite comic conventions to go to. This year in particular, I had a really different experience.

To my surprise, Wizard World Chicago 2018 had an amazing lineup. Although, the celebrities I was most excited about were Holly Marie Combs and Brian Krause (Piper and Leo from Charmed). The panel I was most looking forward to attending was the Boy Meets World reunion panel. Which would be a conversation with Ben Savage, Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle. Also known as, Cory, Topanga, Shawn, and Eric. My 90’s childhood dreams had come true!

Charmed Returns to Wizard World Chicago

The last time Holly and Brian attended Wizard World Chicago was in 2012. Unfortunately, this was a few years before I started attending Wizard World. Of course, it was super upsetting to have missed them. Fun fact: Charmed is my favorite TV show of all time. As soon as I heard they were attending Wizard World Chicago, I decided that I was going to meet them.

I chose to do a Charmed Dual Photo-Op with Holly and Brian, and get an autograph from Holly. In all the conventions I’ve been to, I’d never done a meet and greet with a celebrity before. Heck, in general, I hadn’t met too many famous people in my life. So, I was both super excited, and nervous.

Wizard World Chicago 2018

This year, Wizard World Chicago was Thursday, August 23^rd – Sunday, August 26^th. Usually, my boyfriend Carlos, and I attend Wizard World 1 day out of the 4-day event. Due to my convention schedule, I decided to go to Wizard World Chicago Friday through Sunday.

Day 1 – Friday, August 24th

On Friday, I had a pretty packed schedule. This was the first time I was at a convention by myself. Due to the con being on a Friday, it was hard to snag a buddy to go with me. However, my dad said he would meet up with me later in the day. Although I was riding solo, I was really excited to walk around the show floor by myself.

Upon my 12pm arrival to the convention center, cosplayers galore surrounded me. At comic conventions, it’s easy to get blown away by the creative costumes people come up with. There’s no guessing what characters will walk the convention floor. From classics like Disney Princesses, and Superheroes…to Deadpool on a unicorn. 🙂

I walked the show floor for a few hours before my first panel of the day. Of course, when you have so many geeky goodies at your fingertips, it’s impossible not to buy a few things – just a few. My favorite things to hunt around for would be Funko Pops, comics, and trading cards. While browsing the booths, I bought a Chocolate Frog necklace, Charmed Season 1 Trading Cards, a Gremlins Gizmo patch, and a Walmart Exclusive Hagrid Funko 5 Star.

A Charmed Life

After shopping around, I headed to my first panel, A Charmed Life, which was a conversation and Q&A with Charmed’s very own Holly Marie Combs, and Brian Krause (also known as Piper and Leo). No joke, I was fangirling so hard. When Charmed first aired, I was 6 years old. I’ve been a big fan from the very beginning, and I watched every episode live. Therefore, seeing Piper and Leo in the flesh was a childhood dream come true!

No surprise, the Charmed panel was a lot of fun! Fortunately, I sat only 4 rows away from Holly and Brian. Hey, it pays to show up early to panels, folks! Throughout the panel, the pair had great banter, and frequently poked fun at each other. It was no secret what good friends they are. Together, they reminisced about their favorite memories from Charmed.

When asked what item the pair took from set, Holly said teacups. Brian said his “Evil Leo” pants from the Season 6 finale. Unfortunately, photography and video was not allowed during the panel. 🙁 At the end of the panel, I was allowed to snap a few quick photos of Holly, and Brian.

Charmed Dual Photo-Op

Seeing Holly and Brian at the panel helped me mentally prepare for them at the Charmed Dual Photo-Op. Right after the Charmed panel, I booked it over to the photo-op area. In the photo-op section, there were 2 VIP lines, and 1 General Admission line. Since I arrived to the General Admission line about 30 minutes early, I was first in line. Previous to the Charmed Dual photo-op, Holly and Brian had single photo-ops. Surprisingly, they both finished early, so our photo-op started before their scheduled time.

The photo-op was the most surreal moment of my life, and was over before I knew it. In a matter of minutes, the Wizard World staff got through all of the photo-ops for the 2 VIP lines. If I’m not mistaken, I waited about 5 minutes before it was my turn to take my photo-op.

Meeting Holly and Brian was like an out of body experience. I only had a minute with them. So, I decided to tell them that they were my favorite TV show couple. It was no secret that they were both thrilled to hear that. Especially Brian, who pumped his fist back while saying, “Yes!”. Immediately afterwards, I went to get my print from our photo-op. It was perfect, and it’s proof that it wasn’t all a dream.

A Boy Meets World Reunion

Another show I grew up with in the 90’s was Boy Meets World. As a kid, I watched all of the episodes live. As an adult, I re-watched all of the seasons via box sets. Although Piper and Leo are my favorite TV show couple, Cory and Topanga are definitely couple goals.

Since Boy Meets World is a 90’s favorite of mine, I was really looking forward to seeing the cast reunion. The panel featured Ben Savage (Cory), Danielle Fishel (Topanga), Rider Strong (Shawn), and Will Friedle (Eric). According to the panel moderator, this was the first time the cast had a reunion at a convention. So, this was going to be one for the books! Therefore, the moderator was more than okay with people taking photos during the panel. Thank you, Mr. Moderator!

The Boy Meets World panel was fantastic – a total 90’s throwback! You can tell that the cast is one big happy family in real life. There were tons of laughs, and good discussions amongst the cast and the audience. The cast shared their favorite memories on and off set. They explained what it was like growing up together on the show. My favorite part was hearing about what it was like for the cast to work with William Daniels (Mr. Feeny), and the origin of The Feeny Call.

When asked what it was like to work on a show that covered so many diverse topics, the cast reminded the audience that they grew up with them too, and dealt with many of the same topics that were covered on the show. Boy Meets World was a show before its time. They just don’t make shows like that anymore. It was really special being in a roomful of people who all grew up with Boy Meets World. So many lives were touched by the show – including my own. I’m glad I was able to experience such a historic moment.

End of Day 1

Before leaving for the day, I met up with my dad, and walked the show floor for a few hours. We found some fun photo-ops like posing as a Star Wars action figure. In Artist Alley, we chatted with world-renowned animator, Tom Cook. Day 1 was such an amazing day. I couldn’t believe it was only the beginning of my Wizard World weekend.

Day 2 – Saturday, August 25th

On Saturday, my parents accompanied me to Wizard World. Right away at 10:15am, my mom and I had an autographing session with Holly Marie Combs.

Like the Charmed Dual Photo-Op, the autographing session was a new experience for me, which was really nerve wracking yet exciting. Instead of a photograph, I decided I wanted Holly to sign the box of my Piper action figure. She’s wearing her Valkyrie outfit from the episode, “Vahalley of the Dolls” (Season 6, Episode 1).

An Autographing Session with Holly Marie Combs

While waiting in the autograph line for Holly, I saw so many celebrities. Naturally, Brian Krause’s line was right next to Holly’s. Of course, my mom and I were fangirling over him, while he talked to fans. Later, I was kicking myself for not getting an autograph from him. Brian’s line was shorter than Holly’s, so he had plenty of time to talk to each fan.

Also, my mom and I spotted Ben Savage walking to his autograph booth. I swear, Ben looked directly at us and waved. CORY MATTHEWS LOOKED AT ME! Fun fact: Ben Savage is originally from Illinois, and was visiting family while attending Wizard World Chicago.

When we finally arrived to the front of the line, my mom and I decided to get our autographs from Holly together. Like during the photo-op, it was so surreal to see Holly in person. Mom and I told her how much we loved the shows she’s been on, like Charmed, and Picket Fences. Unfortunately, due to the length of Holly’s line, we didn’t get a lot of time to chat with her. However, we did snag a quick photo with her, and her Wizard World body guard (the guy in pink).

Women of Pop Culture

After the autographing session with Holly, we headed over to the Women of Pop Culture panel. The panel was a conversation with Holly Marie Combs, and Charisma Carpenter (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel). The ladies chatted about their experience being a woman in a male dominated industry – pop culture. For those who don’t know, the women are actually long-time friends. Charisma even guest starred on Charmed.

The conversation was deep, and empowering to all of the women in the audience. Holly and Charisma discussed the differences between men and women’s experiences in the pop culture industry. For instance, being judged by their appearance, and other factors.

In addition, the ladies discussed social media and negativity. As well as, stories and memories from their days on their respective shows. Multiple audience female audience member asked them for advice on starting a career as actress. Although the topic as a whole wasn’t very lighthearted, the panel was still entertaining.

Saturday Morning to The Future, The History of Animation

On Friday, we met legendary Animator and Director, Tom Cook. Back in the day, he animated for Scooby-Doo, He-Man, Ghostbusters, The Jetsons, and other classic Saturday morning cartoons. He was an absolute pleasure to talk to. Tom invited us to attend his panel on Saturday. Of course, my parents and I are animation lovers, so we couldn’t pass it up.

During the panel, Tom shared with us his experiences as an animator, as well as, the history of Saturday morning cartoons. His panel was very enjoyable, and I’m really glad I got a chance to meet him. It’s a shame that kids today will never know the meaning of “Saturday morning cartoons”.

Comics 4 Less

After Tom Cook’s panel, we walked the show floor. Luckily, we had a few hours before our next panel of the day – the Runaways panel. The objective of the afternoon was to visit my favorite comic book vendor, Comics 4 Less.

At every Chicago convention, I always make sure to hit up Comics 4 Less. Like always, I can expect to find my favorite kid’s comic back issues at their booth – for only $2 each! Back issues are past issues of a comic series. Usually, they are sold for retail price or higher, so $2 is quite the steal. My favorite kid’s comics to pick up are Disney, The Simpson’s, Archie, and more. Surprisingly, I didn’t collect a whole lot of kid’s comics as a kid. Therefore, it’s super fun to collect and read comics from when I was growing up.

The Canceled Runaways Panel

After picking up too many comics from Comics 4 Less, Mom and I headed over to the Runaways panel. The panel was going to be a conversation with TV father and son, Gregg Sulkin, and James Marsters. Sulkin and and Marsters play Chase and Victor Stein. Marsters is also known as Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

We were super excited because Runaways is one of our current favorite shows that we are watching together. When Mom and I arrived at the panel room, we discovered they canceled the panel. That was really a bummer! Since Mom was battling a cold, it was a good time to call it a day and head home.

Day 3 – Sunday, August 26th

Sunday was probably the most anti-climactic day of Wizard World weekend. Even though, my lovely boyfriend, Carlos accompanied me. Unlike Friday, and Saturday, we didn’t have much of a game plan. We decided to not attend any panels and meet and greets, since the convention was ending at 4pm. The only objective for the day was to go Funko hunting.

Carlos was on a mission to find some Funko Pop grails, like the Funko Pop Ad Icons. For those who aren’t Funko collectors, a grail is an expensive or hard to find Funko Pop. Lately, Carlos has been really into collecting them. Earlier in the weekend, I scouted out some booths that had a bunch of Funko grails. So when Carlos joined me on Sunday, we would know where to go.

Funko Hunting

This year, we both agreed that the Funko selection was a little weak, and very expensive. That isn’t to say, there weren’t any Funko booths with some great deals. In any case, I helped Carlos find the Trix Rabbit, an Ad Icon he’d been after for quite some time.

Other Funkos he bought were Peter and White from Dodgeball, and Smalls from The Sandlot. As for me, I didn’t buy any Funkos, which was really surprising. Even if the Funko Pops are way over budget, it’s cool to see them in person. Who knows if they will ever be part of my collection? Fortunately, Carlos found some Funkos he really wanted. It’s all part of the hunt!

Until Wizard World Chicago 2019…

Wizard World Chicago 2018 was definitely a very memorable convention. It was a good decision to change my itinerary up from past conventions. When I met Holly and Brian, it was like a dream come true. Without a doubt, I’d do a meet and greet with them again. Next time, I’d definitely get Brian Krause’s autograph. From watching his autograph line from afar, I feel like I missed out on a good meet and greet experience. Hopefully, my favorite TV show couple returns to Chicago soon!

Next year Wizard World Chicago 2019 is August 22^nd-25^th. I can only hope, there are more reunion panels like this year’s Boy Meets World panel. I can’t wait to see the guest lineup for 2019. Maybe just maybe, there are more meet and greets in my future.

Did you attend Wizard World 2018? What’s your favorite memory from Wizard World? I want to know in the comments below!

To learn more about Wizard World, visit their website!

Thanks for reading! See you in my next blog post!

♥ Candis

DISCLAIMER: This post is not sponsored. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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