Who rocked the con?

(Credit: MikeAnthony Moffa)

It’s been four years since exhibition director Michael Herz took the reins of the con, pulling it up by its toy/collectible show roots and replanting it at bigger and better venues almost every year. 2008 is the con’s second year wearing the big boy pants at the massive Orange County Convention Center, and we must say it’s finally filling them out nicely. Last year saw a bit too much empty space between the aisles, but this time around it was all the crowds and chaos we’ve come to love about sci-fi cons. We don’t know exactly what FX is doing right (celebrity guests), or what intangibles might be swaying the masses (celebrity guests), but we like it.

Of course, it helps that FX hasn’t been thought of as a straight “collectors” show for years. Hardcore hagglers can still find plenty of Mego action figures and mint condition first issues, but those of us who like to open the boxes can find plenty of toys to play with. FX fully embraces the pop culture of every decade, and out on the dealers floor there was a niche for every nerd: playable Guitar Hero rigs, anime screenings, and more authentic samurai weaponry than is normally advisable for a roomful of hyperactive adolescents.

Our favorite aspect, carried over from last year, was a schedule that kept the big events out of the side rooms and into the main hall where they belong. There was constant eye candy on and around the dealer’s room stage, from Wasabi Anime’s costume contests to a rotating schedule of wrestling matches that featured people named “Falcon” getting the flab slapped off them. Our recommendation for next year: combine the two! Anybody can make a Power Ranger helmet; we want to see it take a flying scissor kick from Supergirl.

And had we mentioned the celebrity guests? This year brought a whole new batch of “Heroes” heavies, with Greg “Matt Parkman” Grunberg and George “Kaito” Takei making the rounds. (Takei got the lion’s share of fanboys, as he had apparently been on some other sci-fi series with that guy from the Priceline commercials.) Supergirls Helen Slater and Laura Vandevoort were also on hand for your drooling pleasure. But the undisputed rock star of the con was Captain Mal himself, Nathan Fillion (“Serenity,” “Firefly”). Budding actors take note: getting your series cancelled after 11 episodes is your road to obscurity … unless you work for Joss Whedon. Sunday’s “Whedonverse” panel was packed, with hundreds of “Firefly,” “Buffy” and “Angel” fans coming out to see Nicholas “Xander” Brendon (“Buffy”) trade anecdotes with Fillion while Elisabeth “Kate Lockley” Rohm (“Angel”) looked on bemused. If you weren’t there, we’ll sum it up thusly: “Firefly’s” not coming back, Brendon drinks a lot, and none of the three has ever made out with Joss Whedon.

Hope that holds you over until next year, true believers. Check out the photos from FX — we’re off to dry out our excitement-saturated Underoos and wait for Megacon.