By Dylon Wells and Gloria Cantu
The South Texas Collectors Expo (STCE) Comic Con at TAMIU was an astounding success. The event began on morning of January 28th and ended with a magnificent cosplay contest on January 29th.
Artists, cosplayers, and even independent wrestlers were in attendance throughout these couple of days. Hourly events were taking place left and right.
Photo ops, signings, Q&A sessions, and a wrestling event took place on both days. Memorabilia and merchandise were also sold on both floors.
Attendees were given the opportunity to meet actors like Blake Foster, Walter Jones, Michelle Harrison, Timothy D. Rose, Kevin Grevioux, Noah Hathaway, and Veronica Taylor.
Former Laredoan and novel author A.J. Mayers and professional wrestlers from Lucha Underground Catrina and Mil Muertes were also in attendance.
Professional cosplayers such Nicole Marie Jean, AZ PowerGirl, Stephanie Storm, Crystal Nesmith, and Leo Camacho hosted and were the judges for Sunday’s cosplay contest.
The unique sight of this event was that an actual wrestling ring was set up at the breezeway between Canseco and Pellegrino Halls.
People who attended the convention seemed genuinely interested as the wrestlers held their matches for two hours on both days.
Unfortunately, the meet and greet was cancelled last minute due to a female wrestler suffering a minor concussion in the last match of the first day.
Despite the setback, the whole convention went as planned for the rest of the day to much of the attendees’ satisfaction.
This pop culture event opened many possibilities to local artists, vendors, and cosplayers who were looking forward to promoting their work. Additionally, it gave people of all ages an opportunity to express their admiration for anything relating to pop culture.
Most of all, it was a great way to come together as a whole within the community to express their fandom and creativity.
You can follow the South Texas Collectors Expo’s page on Facebook for more information and to keep updated for future guests coming along in September 2017.
