It’s not often I get to talk about a convention twice in one year, and for the first time, I get to do so with Lexington. This year, they debuted a second event in the same venue, and so it raised a lot of questions for me going in. How is this going to compare with their spring event, and what kind of approach will be taken to differentiate the two?

Starting with the guests, it was a solid guest list. It has a myriad of wrestlers, the original voice of Super Mario, the original voice of Ash Ketchum, actors from Doctor Who, the dog in the latest Deadpool movie, and all kinds of stars from all walks of pop culture. It’s admittedly less than the spring event, but that makes sense given it’s their first go at a fall convention. The lines were spacious, and it was easy to meet anyone I wanted to see. Unlike the spring event, all of the guests were placed alongside the vendors on the top floor of the convention center. Though the crowd was way easier to navigate around, it was really nice to be able to sit back and take my time with everything.

Moving on to the vendors, there weren’t as many here compared to the spring event. With that being said, there was still a lot of variety. I ended up finding lots of new-to-me fan-made Nintendo merch and spent quite a bit of money. More than I honestly expected. Combined with other vendors I frequently shop at, such as Loading Crew Crafts, I suddenly have a good weight loss plan for the wallet. I was here all three days and had no issues walking around and taking my time to really look at each booth.

Panels took the biggest hit when it comes to the comparison of both Lexington events. The spring event had multiple panels going on each hour, but here we had one. The entire focus here was on Q and A panels with the guests and a cosplay competition. All of this was nice, but it also meant that a vast majority of the time spent at the convention was at the vendors/guest area. I did go to one panel with the voiceover guests and had a lot of fun. I ended up going late because I was getting an autograph, but I still managed to get a seat towards the front.

I splurged and went VIP this time because I really needed a weekend getaway. Since Lexington is so close to home, it was a very convenient choice. I liked what came in the swag bag as I got to pick a T-Shirt of my choosing (I’m wearing it now), a Thundercats comic, and a Lexington Convention-themed autograph book, which I plan on using at future events. It also granted front row access to panels, but as you’ve read earlier wasn’t a huge perk when I could go to a panel late and still sit towards the front. I also got access to the VIP after-party, which was a lot of fun. I had drinks, listened to a Kiss tribute band, and hung out with people for a couple of hours.

Overall, the fall Lexington event is basically managed like the spring one, only smaller. This does mean you have less of everything, from guests to vendors and panels. However, the same can be said for the crowd, as it was far easier to walk around and see everything I wanted to see. To me, that’s the most important thing because as long as a convention has someone I want to see, ease of access takes top priority. I probably won’t do an entire weekend next time, as it really didn’t take me long to do what I wanted to do, but I do want to go back next year. I had so much fun, I’m actually considering making a weekend trip for the next spring event. Where I’m shifting my focus to conventions closer to home, having a second Lexington convention falls perfectly in line with what I want to do.