This was a first for everyone. Dave Hagan hosted a Monster-Mania event at a brand new venue. Monster-Mania is usually hosted in a Hotel, whether in Cherry Hill, NJ, or Hunt Valley, MD.

This time Monster-Mania was hosted at The Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA.

I had just attended the MMC at Hunt Valley when Dave announced an extra con for this year. Once I saw the line-up of stars, I knew I was going to attend.

I live 15 minutes north of Hunt Valley, so attending that con is a no-brainer.

Traveling to outside Philadelphia was a whole different story. My wife and son went with me, and I took them to breakfast at Cracker Barrel before driving to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center.

The drive was almost 2 hours, but it didn’t bother me because it was a nice drive through Pennsylvania.

I searched the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center online, so I wasn’t surprised when I pulled into the parking lot. The parking lot was packed.

We walked to the entrance doors and entered. To the right was a room where you purchase tickets, and I bought 3 tickets for $105, and we got our wristbands.

We walked into the Expo Center, and my first thought was there was space to move and breathe. I am used to going to MMC on Saturdays at Hunt Valley, where it is hard to move quickly.

At the Expo Center, there was ample space – almost too much.

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What I Liked About The Oaks, PA Con

• It was spacious
• There was plenty of room to sit and watch the Q&A Segment
• I could easily look at Vendor Merchandise
• The lines to meet the stars had plenty of space and formed single lines

I don’t have anything negative to say about the con in itself. It was different, but I loved all the extra space. I was reading on Facebook some comments from the Monster-Mania fans page. Below I will share what they wrote.

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I had a great time. Shopping vendors was easy; getting wristbands and getting autographs was easy based on setup alone.

I hope that attendance proves to make the show beneficial, but I have my doubts.

Make sure you support the show and help keep MM at Oaks. Dave did a fantastic job, as always, putting it together.

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Lots of room is the pro …not very intimate like the hotel is the con.

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I really liked it! It was spacious, you had room to breathe, there was air conditioning, and the parking was great. It wasn’t the same feel as a hotel convention, but I wasn’t expecting the same feel, and change is good.

As long as there will still be a hotel convention, I wouldn’t mind this as an added one!

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I loved all the space; you didn’t feel cramped and claustrophobic like at the hotels, and the parking was great. I am really hoping they do more at the convention center.

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Loved it. I’ve been to sports collectors shows there in the past, and I like everything basically being “right there,” plenty of seating when you needed a break—plenty of room in lines, vendor shopping, etc.

I’m sure some will say it doesn’t have that “feel” you get in a hotel setting, and it’s true. But I personally feel the positives far outweigh any negatives.

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It was cool, def prefer the hotel cons but also really loved the space and ability to browse the vendors without feeling like I was always in the way.

If there were an attached hotel, it would be great. I’d still go again, but the hotels still win. Pros were def parking and space! Cons were lack of the after-hours social aspect.

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It was perfect for a convention.

• Plenty of space

• Autograph setups were great

• Vendor spacing was fantastic.

• Pro photo ops were great

• The concession stand was great.

• The stage was in a nice isolated area.

• Running back to your vehicle was easy to store signatures.

• To me, this was the perfect place for a show.

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I adored all the space and the air conditioning. You had room to move around and breathe without everyone back to back, and you were able to see what line was what and be able to get around the vendor room without being cramped in here.

199% loved this venue and hope they do more here.

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This is my 3rd monster mania this year after years at Cherry Hill. The change was nice, and the space was bigger, the bathrooms cleaner, the parking was great.

I live only 15 minutes away, so that doesn’t hurt either. The only con would be I want them to find a way to show some movies there as well.

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Pros: Lots of space, lots of parking, clean bathrooms, well-organized spaces. You could really check out everyone’s items/art, etc.

The celebrities, their assistants, and volunteers seemed very relaxed, and the convention workers were constantly cleaning the food court area.

Cons- masks were supposed to be required, but not many complied.

No party environment and everyone was just with their own people. I talked to some friendly people, but there wasn’t that excitable, joyous energy. It was more like walking the mall.

The vendors have so much space it’s much easier to see how many things/styles of offerings are duplicated. It just seemed very commercial like convention center cons do, and there’s space for a whole lot more vendors.

I missed the late movies and evening portion for Saturday, and it was banker’s hours, and I like having stuff to do at night at the convention.

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I am 50/50. The parking was great, the space inside was great. But, the venue lacked ‘soul.’ Those terrible industrial lights and concrete floors.

Also, the Expo Center is not an evening venue, to be sure, and it’s more of a ‘get there early, stay a few hours, then head home in time for dinner’ venue.

….The venue was hollow and empty and seemed like a warehouse. The hotels are great because they have personality, and you can walk right up to your room if you want to.

No hotel room to retreat to at Philly Expo. But, this is just my opinion.

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I loved this show! So low-key and didn’t feel claustrophobic. Loved all the options for bathrooms, ATMs, and food inside. Parking was a breeze. A great venue, and I would definitely come back if you have it again.

Who Was At Monster-Mania 48?

1. Christina Ricci – The Addams Family, Monster, Cursed
2. Jackson Robert Scott – IT, The Prodigy
3. Joe Bob Briggs – The Last Drive-In
4. Darcy – The Last Drive-In
5. James Remar – The Warriors, Hellraiser Inferno
6. Nick Castle – Halloween 1
7. James Jude Courtney – Halloween
8. Airon Armstrong – Halloween Kills
9. Tom Jones Jr. – Halloween Kills
10. Don Shanks – Halloween 5
11. Douglas Tait – Freddy vs. Jason, Halloween Kills
12. Kim Coates – Sons of Anarchy
13. Mark Boones Jr. – Sons of Anarchy
14. Tom Arnold – Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
15. Peyton List – Cobra Kai
16. Jacob Bertrand – Cobra Kai
17. Ron Thomas – Karate Kid
18. Tony O’Dell – Karate Kid
19. Ross Marquand – The Walking Dead
20. Omri Katz – Hocus Pocus
21. Tony Todd – Candyman
22. Warrington Gillette – Friday the 13th Pt.2
23. Michael Reid Mackay – Insidious Chapter 3
24. Carl Thibault – The Monster Squad
25. Ryan Lambert – The Monster Squad
26. Andre Gower – The Monster Squad
27. Lisa Fuller – The Monster Squad
28. William Ostrander – Christine
29. Malcolm Danare – Christine

Next Year MMC Dates

The Monster-Mania Con dates for 2022 are:

• March 11-13 Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cherry Hill, NJ
• August 12-14 Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cherry Hill, NJ
• Sept 30- Oct 2 Delta Marriott Hotel, Hunt Valley, MD
• Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, Oaks, PA ?????

I Enjoyed MMC 48 in Oaks, PA

I usually go to Monster-Mania Con to get a couple of autographs and watch the Q&A segments. However, at the last con in Hunt Valley, I did something I never had before, I bought a product from a vendor.

I bought a bottle of lotion from Chris Rowan, the owner of Buffalo Bill’s House. Yes, “It rubs the lotion on its skin.”

So, this time I decided to continue the trend. I bought 4 packs of Fire Beast Jerky, a cool ram skull necklace, 2 Halloween-themed pillows for my son, A Friday the 13th Hoodie, and a custom-made Frankenstein T-shirt.

I also chatted it up with the vendors. Most of the vendors are friendly and talkative without being pushy or annoying. These are the vendors that I am likely to buy from. I enjoy looking at all the horror merchandise when I go to MMC.

A special shout out to Nerd Chamber, who was having a slow day when I chatted with him. He’s from Jersey.

My family and I chatted with a scary Ronald McDonald girl and her Mom at their vendor table. The little girl’s name is Kid Dreadful, and Kid Dreadful’s Mom is her Make-Up Artist, and she does a great job.

Check them out on Instagram.

Yes, I did eventually get some autographs, but after I checked out the Christine Car and The Hospital Station Wagon from Halloween 1.

The first person I wanted to see was Peyton List. My son watched the television show, Jessie, on Nickelodeon when he was younger, and I remember Peyton from that show. Yeah, I watched it too; we only had one TV back then.

I am so impressed with Peyton’s and Jacob Bertrand’s performance on Cobra Kai. Plus, back in 2016, I got a selfie with William Zabka at MMC in Hunt Valley.

Peyton’s line was very, very long on Saturday. So long, I had to skip her – (Unfortunately.)

Her line and James Jude Courtney had the longest lines on Saturday. I really wanted to get a pic with Peyton and Jacob Bertrand, but that would not happen.

I watched Peyton interact with her fans, and she never broke eye contact with them. She listened intently to every word they were saying.

She seems like a total sweetheart, and she may be a contender for the Matthew Lillard Award. Matthew is known for caring about his fans and staying late to make sure everyone meets him and gets their autographs and selfies.

At Hunt Valley, he paid for everyone’s drinks at the Coffee Bar.

He is a class act, and so is Peyton judging from what I saw and read in the comments on the Monster-Mania fans page on Facebook.

I wish I could have met her, but as I stated, the line was long, and I’m an Aries; we don’t like to wait.

So, we went to the following table, who was Jackson Robert Scott. Jackson was at MMC Hunt Valley in 2018.

I remember because he started yelling at a Cosplayer who was dressed as Pennywise. Jackson was so loud shouting at the Cosplayer that the room got quiet, and even the Pennywise Cosplayer was startled.

Lately, my wife has been binge-watching a show called Locke and Key, which stars Jackson. First off, Jackson is friendly and outgoing, and he was easy to get a pic with and talk to. But guess who was just as cool?

His Dad. I chatted with Jackson’s dad for ten minutes. We would have talked longer, but I was cornered between the tables, and other people wanted a pic with Jackson.

There were so many actors that I wanted to get a pic with, but I did spend a lot on the entrance fee and vendor Items. I had one more auto/ selfie to get, but I wasn’t sure who.

It would be Tony Todd, James Remar, or this guy that I wandered over to his table and seemed cool – Douglas Tait. Douglas was a pleasure to speak with. Douglas is best known for playing Jason Voorhees in the final scene in Jason vs. Freddy.

You know, the scene where Jason walks out of the lake carrying Freddy’s head. He also doubled for James Jude Courtney in Halloween Kills and played the part of Sasquatch in Jack’s Links commercials.

I also wanted a picture with Christina Ricci. One of my favorite movies is Sleepy Hollow with her and Johnny Depp. However, I found out that Christina was 8 months pregnant, so I totally understood that she wouldn’t get close to anyone.

She and Omri Katz’s tables were next to each other, and neither of them had giant banners behind them as the other stars do.

Christina was wearing a mask, and you wouldn’t have even known it was her, and I wouldn’t know that it was Omri Katz either because he looks different than what I am used to.

Typically at Hunt Valley, the Q&A is on Saturdays only and usually from about 12-8 pm. This year the Q&A was spread out over three days.

There were a lot of cosplayers there. All of the ones I met were happy to have their picture taken.

All in all, MMC at The Expo was a lot of fun. I will go back for sure. Check out my pictures from the show below.

The post Monster-Mania Con 48 (2021) Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA. first appeared on Mazzastick.