Pop culture fans descend on downtown for 10th annual Collector-Con

Hundreds of people, many of them wearing elaborate costumes, filled the backstage area of Mechanics Bank Arena Saturday for the 10th annual Bakersfield Collector-Con.

Pop-culture conventions — known as "cons" among the initiated — have grown in popularity in the past two decades and in Bakersfield Saturday, fans of all ages streamed through more than 100 vendor stands selling collectibles including comic books, costume pieces and artwork of all kinds.

Cons are also an opportunity for fans to meet some of the stars behind their favorite characters as several celebrities, many of them voice actors, make regular appearances at conventions across the country. The event continues in Bakersfield on Sunday.

Many attendees — fans, vendors and celebrities — couldn't say how many cons they've attended, but all said they loved seeing so many turn out to celebrate a hobby they love.

Nineteen-year-olds Rudy Campagna and Roxzann Gonzales traveled from Visalia to attend this year's Collector-Con and though they had been to previous conventions, this was the first year they had donned costumes.

"We go to a lot (of cons) locally but this is my first time cosplaying," Gonzales said, referring to her costume.

Campagna — dressed as Dejiko from the Japanese animated show "Di Gi Charat" — said she was undecided if she would enter the cosplay contest.

Travis Jossenberger, 40, said he had been to several cons and this was his third time at Collector-Con.

"I like the escapism of nerd culture," Jossenberger said, adding that he was happy to support a local convention. "I like to see a lot of the younger people being really excited for this."

Vendors too, said they enjoy cons, not just for the business but for the vibe.

Fresno-based Magi Alex and her fiance Uriel Moreno manned a station for their business Sherry Rose Art, which sells handmade art including Pokémon figurines made from clay and resin.

"I feel like it's slowly growing. I want to do bigger shows," Alex said.

She and Moreno have gone to cons throughout the Central Valley and hope to travel farther afield.

"The hardest thing is knowing what the cons are for," she said, explaining that vendors have to apply to conventions and are sometimes vetted to make sure their products match the theme.

"It's really exciting to see what does well," Alex said.

Stan Harper of Stanley's Comics, a Bakersfield-based comic book vendor, said he had issues worth approximately $10,000.

"Those are mostly for show," Harper said, explaining the comics he was hoping to sell typically go for around $200.

Harper's friend and fellow vendor Cruz Felix has been working conventions for about five years, he said, and was organizing an upcoming event in Paso Robles.

Felix and Harper said they met and became friends though comics conventions.

"The hobby really connected everybody," Felix said.

Memorabilia at cons can fetch a hefty price, which is why people such as Thomas Macias with SWAU Authentication are on hand to verify signed pieces to ensure they're real.

Macias said SWAU has offices in Florida, Texas and California and there are enough conventions that he and his colleagues are busy pretty much every weekend year-round. The group only authenticates signatures, and has access to a database with more than a million images, with pictures of autographs spanning celebrities' entire careers.

"We have guys that specialize in different things," Macias said. "We all look at the pieces and decide if they're forgeries."

On Saturday, Macias said he had inspected about 300 pieces only a few hours after the doors had opened. There were no forgeries among the pieces that had been bought at this year's Collector-Con, but people can bring outside items for verification as well and of those, Macias said he found four so far.

Signatures of the same size, slanted in the same direction or bearing letters drawn a similar way across multiple signatures can be indicators. At a recent event in Las Vegas, Macias said, he inspected two pieces the owner had paid $4,000 for, but that he and his team determined were forgeries.

Bakersfield's Collector-Con, now in its 10th year, is organized by Nick Avalos, owner and operator of Downtown Toys-N-Comics on 19th Street.

"I love seeing people happy and since I'm in the toy business, I figured putting toys, celebrities and all that good stuff together was a good idea for Bakersfield," Avalos said.

With more than 120 vendors, Avalos said he was pleased with this year's turnout, though he couldn't say yet how many people had attended. He couldn't say exactly how much it cost to put on such an event, but said it could vary depending on who shows up.

"It’s not cheap," Avalos said. "It all varies, once you start bringing in certain celebrities; bigger names, bigger price."

This year actors Phil LaMarr and Billy West, both voice actors on the long-running animated series "Futurama," appeared alongside actors from Disney's "Star Wars" television series; Nickolodeon's "Rugrats" and the "Fast and the Furious" films.

"Cons are great," LaMarr said. "I grew up as a fanboy and going to something that's all about the things you love, it's a great vibe."