Do you bring your kids to CONs these days?

[Brian48]

Just curious. I have a 9 and 11 year old that want to come a long to a local CON that I'm thinking about attending. It's been over 30 years since I've been to one so I'm not aware of what the scene is like these days. All I'm sure of, is that the majority of the comic industry does not target this age group any more.

 

 

[jessebrook1]

Sometimes i bring my 5 year old, infact i am taking him to a horror convention this weekend. He hates Chucky, so this should be fun.

 

[Park]

Just curious. I have a 9 and 11 year old that want to come a long to a local CON that I'm thinking about attending. It's been over 30 years since I've been to one so I'm not aware of what the scene is like these days. All I'm sure of, is that the majority of the comic industry does not target this age group any more.

 

 

I have taken my son to the Phoenix Comicon the last two years and he loved it. He is 10 this month.

 

While the industry may not completely target that age range anymore, my son has a blast especially with all the Lego stuff and action figures. He got a sketch done last time and loved it.

 

As long as they like comic books, they should have a good time. I don;t know how much fun they may have if it is a smaller show.

[VintageComics]

I took my kids to the Fan Expo in Toronto last summer. They were ages 10, 12, 14 and 16. It was a busy event though, because I was setting up at the show but they enjoyed it. It's one of the larger shows in North America so there was lots of stuff for them to see and do.

 

At the age of 9 or 11, unless they are avid readers they may not be interested in just looking at comics all day long though.

 

If it's a bigger show with lots of non comic related stuff they might have a lot of eye candy to keep them busy (starts, toys, cosutmes) but I wouldn't count on being able to shop like you normally would, only because their attention span will be much shorter than yours.

 

Another consideration is that if it's crowded, they'll be staring at everyone's torsos and not see much so if you take them, choose days that are less crowded, like opening day or closing day.

 

 

 

 

[Thermal]

I've taken my son to MegaCon the past 3 years, he's 13 and he loves it. This year we stayed for all 3 days. He is not a huge comic fan but loves sketches, steampunk stuff, Dr. Who, Buffy etc., and is a big horror buff. This year he got photos and sigs from B:TVS celebs. That Charisma is easy on the eyes!!! Enjoy.

[the blob]

I have taken my son (now 6) to NYComiccon the last 2 years and one smaller local show. He enjoys them, but isn't that interested in waiting around while dad plows through bins of comics, so that's a problem. He's not that interested in plowing through bins...once he has picked out 5 or 6 he is good for the day and then wants to play video games or have me buy him toys/action figures. Needless to say, the one show I dragged my wife to was easier for me as he followed her around on her hunt for star wars action figures and the 2010 nyccomiccon I brought a friend along with his 7 year old, so he watched my kid for a bit while I bin dove. But last year I had no help and my son was getting annoyed with me. we still had a good time because he scored big on some "end of last day of show" deals on toys ---16 inch ghost rider action figures in their original 1990's packaging for $2 a pop...can't beat that.

 

problem is that sometimes he "forgets" that we're supposed to pay for stuff before walking off and wanders off accidentally holding something and then I have to get him to figure out where he borrowed it from and pay the guy.... honestly, he's not being criminal about it because he says "dad, can I get this?"...meanwhile, the dealer he got it from is 10 dealers away and he has to figure out which one it was. that's my story and i'm sticking to it.

[Trev]

I've taken my 2 year old to WWTX a couple of times, usually in the morning or afternoon on the last day -- which is usually 'kids day'. She's good for an hour or two right now and likes artist alley the most. If anybody here ever does artist alley and there's a kids day on the schedule, make sure you have some kind of inexpensive kid-centric print or cheap sketches of characters -- those seemed to do gangbusters on kids day.

 

She was with me at SDCC last year, but I never took her to the con. Thought the crowd would be too overwhelming for her.

 

Definitely will take them if they want to go, but won't ever force them.

[mschmidt]

Sure - I take my 10-year old daughter to pretty much every single larger show.

 

I always bring her on Sundays - that way things are little quieter, and we can spend the day focusing on what she wants to do (get sketches for her sketchbook, find cheap books for her collection).

[Ringfinger]

Heck, I don't even get to them!

[Icculus308win]

I've taken my 2 year old to WWTX a couple of times, usually in the morning or afternoon on the last day -- which is usually 'kids day'. She's good for an hour or two right now and likes artist alley the most. If anybody here ever does artist alley and there's a kids day on the schedule, make sure you have some kind of inexpensive kid-centric print or cheap sketches of characters -- those seemed to do gangbusters on kids day.

 

That is a neat idea!!

 

We brought our almost 3 three old son last year to the Chicago show. He loved seeing the dressed up and decked out folk, he made a game of spotting comics that "Daddy had" on dealers racks and really enjoyed picking out some t-shirts.

 

Your idea is truly a great one. Definitely will do something like that for him.

[worldsbestcomics]

I've taken my son (now 5) to Emerald City Comicon the past two years and he loves it. He is really looking forward to it later this month.

 

He usually does just one day, dresses up, and spends most of his time looking at people in costumes (especially Star Wars characters). He had big fun last year meeting some of the boardies like Joeypost, Doc Watson and greggy.

 

He picks out a few comics from the quarter boxes for his collection and gets a sketch or two and an action figure toy.

[Brian48]

Well, thank you much, folks. I guess so long as they still want to come, it'll be alright then. Neither one of them are really into comics. Kids these days have video games, computers, and now tablets. They don't understand that back in the day, these books were our ticket to adventure.

[USArmyParatrooper]

I brought mine to NYCC last year. Aside from us walking right by a topless woman with a mustache outside, no issues.

[Brian48]

[BaltimoreLauren]

My dad took me to cons when I was young (starting at age 8). To my young eyes they were amazing. I loved it and lived for it, even now! Whenever I have kids I'm totally gonna take them to conventions!

[VintageComics]

I brought mine to NYCC last year. Aside from us walking right by a topless woman with a mustache outside, no issues.

 

Classic!

 

[asteroid-comix]

My dad took me to cons when I was young (starting at age 8). To my young eyes they were amazing. I loved it and lived for it, even now! Whenever I have kids I'm totally gonna take them to conventions!

 

I took my 8 year old girl to a local show last year. She spent more than I did.

[lambfan68]

I've taken my daughter to a few over the years. She's 12 now. She also usually spends more than me. Toys and action figures mostly.

 

I find that we tend to avoid artists alley because most of it seems to be soft core porn stuff.

[Jeffro.]

Couple years ago, I brought my daughter (then 2 years old) to a con and she was a bit overwhelmed by all the people. It's interesting trying to leaf through long boxes with a munchkin permanently affixed to your leg.

 

I tried again about a year later. She did much better with the crowd but got bored real fast. At one point, she kicked a box and I damn near lost it right there. Now, she stays with auntie or grandma when daddy goes to a show.

 

I'll try again in a couple years.

 

[BrianR]

I plan on taking my kids for the first time this year. My oldest daughter is 11 and not into comics so she may bow out. My youngest daughter, 5, is a huge Wonder Woman fan. She is excited to go with me already. She has a Wonder Woman costume from this Halloween she may wear. Problem is last time I took her to a small con all she wanted to do is look for Wonder Woman comics and toys which leaves little time for me to find stuff for myself