When considering what conventions to attend for the first time, there are several options to ponder, as there are many, many different conventions across the country that are now available. There are ones like All Monsters Attack, a convention ran by the folks behind noted horror genre convention Days of the Dead Another example, Monsterama, focuses on retro monster and fantasy fare. One interesting event, and focal point of this article, is “Big Monster Con”. We had seen advertisements for it during G-FEST and were perplexed and in what exactly would go down at this show. I was joined by my friend and noted artist, Creacher Preacher, and we set off to check out this newer show.
About Big Monster Con:
Big Monster Con is ran by Andy Bachar of Formula350. Bachar has been going to conventions in the area, such as G-FEST, on a regular annual basis . Ironically, Andy started Big Monster Con because of G-Fest being on the hiatus, due to unforeseen and obvious global events, with the aforementioned show not returning back to the convention scene until July 2022. He knew that attendees were missing the convention scene and needed something to replace the hole that they had in their lives… so that’s when he took the initiative and started Big Monster Con. BMC has been running since May 2021 at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, IL and has remained there since that time.
The Weekend
Preacher and I arrived on Friday to see that most of the vendors were already setting up for the show the next day. That was nice, as the show was just on the one Saturday. Having it just be a one-day show makes it easy to come in, set up, and go home all in about a day. Our good friend, Nate Thomas from Kaiju Days, was just across from us. Nice to see more community folks that we have previously covered on Kaiju United at this event! I knew things were going to get interesting from there on out, with some familiar faces.
Not far from our table, there were the guests’ tables. The guests’ for BMC this year were Christine Galey, who played in the Disney series “The Mandalorian” season 1 and “the Book of Boba Fett”, as a few Droids and Jawa characters. Next to her was Susanna Malek, who also played on the same show (seven episodes of the Mandolorian) as some Jawas, as well as alien creature “Thobodin”. It was cool to see some special guests at an event like this, and I hope they had a wonderful time.
As always, it was a nice time to get to talk with our fellow kaiju peers and catch up with each other, since these are really the only times that we really get to see each other. I think the rise of other kaiju-centric conventions has been great, as in past years, it has usually only been a one-time meetup at G-FEST. I also got to speak with people that have been attending BIG MONSTER CON for the past two years, and get their insight on it. This event seems to be thriving, uplifted by loyal folks in the community that enjoy pop culture, monsters, transformers, and more. There was so much to see and experience at the tables, with cosplayers all around us.
Big Monster Con is not a big show, but it also isn’t a small show. It’s in that middle territory of being just right. It’s niche enough to breathe in, but populous enough for a good time. There’s vendors selling all sorts of items, far beyond the scope of just giant monster movies. We saw booths that ranged from $1 comics, to full display cases of Sideshow Collectibles items. In fact, one of BMC’s sponsors this year was “Legendary Displays”, a company that provides professional display cases for your sentimental or expensive figures in nicer, more pristine display cabinets.
There is a lot of potential for the convention to grow in the community we have currently. As well as befriend others, like Joseph Cruz from All That Stuff and to help them grow! Overall, it was a decent show. I do suggest for ones who don’t like big sweeping conventions to attend this show when it happens again the next year, because they plan on doing this annually, and are working on expanding it too!
