Parents, children, couples and friends all came together this Labor Day weekend to share in their love of trading cards games and collecting at the first NoCo Collector Con.
The idea came about when event coordinator Maddy Fritzel said she noticed a gap in the Fort Collins community for collector-specific events after her husband got back into his childhood hobby of Pokémon cards games. To bridge the gap, Fritzel and her family decided to hit the ground running by creating the convention.
“I love event planning,” Fritzel said. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do but really haven’t had the chance to, so we kind of just sat down one night and were like, ‘Let’s do it.’”
General admission entry to the two-day event at The Drake Centre was $5 and included readmission, a component of the experience Fritzel said turned into one of her favorite parts of hosting it.
“I’m loving seeing people that I recognize coming back,” Fritzel said. “Making friends with vendors (and) just kind of putting roots down in the community.”
Fritzel said offering a wide variety of tabling options inside and outside of card collecting was important to her.
“It was also really important to me that I have a mix of vendors,” Fritzel said. “Pokémon-related art, (trading card games), that type of thing … and some just other local art.”
Two of the largest booths were dual collections of superhero comic books and a pop-up tattoo spot near the back. Other tables focused on unique artwork, including specialized jewelry, pins, magnets and more.
One such table was run by Ezmay Newman, founder of The Stained Page Project and creator of custom stained glass artwork.
Newman said they saw a post on Facebook and thought it would be a fun way to push themselves to make new designs that aren’t typically seen in the medium.
“I had a lot of sales,” Newman said. “I sold out of all my Pokémon. I actually had to go home and make a Psyduck to bring in with me today because I needed to have one more little guy in the booth.”
Newman said having everyone together to experience the hobby of trading card games made them feel more connected to the community.
“Hearing people cheer when somebody got an epic pull yesterday was really fun,” Newman said. “ Hearing everybody clap and be really excited for a stranger in the crowd — it’s always really heartwarming.”
Vendor Colt Hinchley said he got into card collecting early on and started vending as a way to sell some of his growing collection. Along with the cards, his table included custom card-holding binders he and his fiance crafted together. He said he enjoys sharing his love of card games, new and old, with the families who visit his stands.
“I loved doing it as a kid, and I love when the kids actually have a good time doing it as well,” Hinchley said. “And we also have a lot of adults experiencing their nostalgia from when they used to do it themselves.”
Looking into the crowded venue would prove Hinchley’s statement to be true, as many of the attendees were parents explaining different aspects of games to their children. Others were people brand new to the world of trading card games and used the weekend to learn as much as they could and add to their collection.
“I play (Magic: The Gathering), and my coworkers actually got me into it a couple of months ago,” attendee Shelby Trimble said. “There’s a lot of cool people here; (they’re) super friendly. … I have actually already bought a couple of cards.”
Fritzel said she hopes to continue hosting the NoCo Collector Con every Labor Day weekend and expand it into January and May next year. She also said she wants more people to show up to be vendors, noting how she would love to bring in anyone who is interested.
“If you have an awesome collection of something, keep us in mind,” Fritzel said. “I would love to get you in front of the community.”
By the start of the second day, Fritzel said she considered the event a success and was ready to keep moving forward in her goal to bring people together through collecting.
“We knew it was gonna be fun, but it’s ended up being even more fun than we thought,” Fritzel said. “So … we’re here for the long run, and we’re gonna keep going.”
Reach Maiya Kreamer at life@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.
