SaikouCon 2018 Welcomes Dolly Love Cosplay as Featured Guest
Convention also brings in first Anime Vehicle as Featured Guest for Photo Ops and Welcomes back as a Musical Guest DJ OZNO!
5/22/18 Allentown, PA – SaikouCon, which means "best convention", is the large scale, annual anime convention of the Lehigh Valley. Boasting a dedicated staff of longtime Japanese anime and manga fans, SaikouCon is excited to be the only large scale annual convention dedicated exclusively to anime, manga, and Japanese culture and pop culture in this area of Pennsylvania. The convention grew out of web magazine Anime Ate My Brain Magazine (relaunching in 2019); the sibling to music focused web magazine, Tastes Like Rock Magazine. Both journalistic endeavors fall under the publishing wing of Nerdy Rock 'n Roller Productions.
The convention will always remain very hands on and attendee friendly every year, while also maintaining a safe atmosphere for attendees to enjoy the convention to their carefree fullest. SaikouCon promises to remain an all inclusive event where all are welcome to enjoy the fun, friendship, and saftey the con has offered in the past. As always, Cosplay =/= Consent is a very important issue to the staff of SaikouCon, and the same rules and regulations that made SaikouCon Years 1-5 safe havens for cosplayers will be enforced just as strictly at SaikouCon 2018.
Welcome to SaikouCon 2018, Featured Guest Dolly Love! Longtime SaikouCon attendees will recognize Dolly, she was a guest judge of our Cosplay Contest back in our first and second year, 2013 and 2014 respectively. Dolly has been cosplaying for nearly a decade, also has experience as a model, and is an avid gamer. Dolly is currently designing and selling 3D printed cosplay props and accessories (make sure to check out her table in our Merchant Hall). Dolly is also designing and producing her own clothing line which will be released next year! It has been a few years since Dolly has been able to come to SaikouCon, and this is her first time being a full fledged member of our guest roster, so please share our excitement in officially welcoming Dolly Love to the SaikouCon family!
And from midnight on May 20 until midnight on May 31 (Eastern Standard Time), all attendees that purchase a 3 Day General Admission Badge or 3 Day VIP Badge to SaikouCon 2018 are automatically entered into our Power Rangers 25th Anniversary Raffle! The winner, who will be picked by blind drawing live at the Opening Ceremonies of SaikouCon 2018 on Friday July 27 at 1 PM, will receive a prize basket of Power Rangers prizes valued at $200 altogether! Prizes will include DVD sets, a first printing copy of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #26 (sold out at the publisher level) signed by SaikouCon 2018 Guest of Honor Erin Cahill, aka Jen Scotts the Time Force Pink Ranger from Power Rangers Time Force, Funko Pops, and more!! This raffle is only open to those that pre-register to attend SaikouCon 2018 during the above stated time period, winner must be present at SaikouCon's Opening Ceremonies to claim their prize basket, celebrate 25 Morphinominal Years of the Power Rangers by pre-registering for SaikouCon 2018 and take your shot at winning this awesome prize pack! Good luck!! Visit www.saikoucon.com/registration.html to pre-register!
In a first for SaikouCon, the convention will join a popular con trend and have on-site a fantasy vehicle for exhibition and photo ops! Joining SaikouCon 2018 as a Featured Guest will be the AE86 Toyota Corolla Sprinter Trueno from Initial D! The vehicle will be on-site during the day time hours of SaikouCon all weekend of the convention, the AE86 Toyota Corolla Sprinter Trueno has been painstakingly refurbished and modeled by owner Ray Ramaglia to the smallest detail after series creator Shūichi Shigeno's vehicle design from the fan favorite anime and manga, Initial D. To follow the wherabouts and con appearances of the AE86 follow http://instagram.com/initialdream86.
Also, joining SaikouCon 2018 as a Musical Guest for his second year in a row is DJ OZNO! DJ OZNO will be crafting a vibe with original mixes and feel good tunes in the SaikouCon Merchant Hall and will also be spinning at a special yet to be announced event on SaikouCon Friday! Stay tuned for the announcement soon!
SaikouCon 2018's Guest List (so far):
Guests of Honor:
Christina Marie Kelly Voice, Film, & Stage Actress
Gigi Edgley Film, TV, & Stage Actress
Erin Cahill Film & TV Actress, Pink Time Force Power Ranger
More Coming Soon!
Featured Guests:
Koralene Cosplay
Foxxy Cosplay
Dolly Love Cosplay
AE86 Toyota Corolla Sprinter Trueno by InitialDream86
Musical Guests:
The Adarna
TiA
Kohei Hattori
DJ Awesomus_Prime
REAKT
The Wanderland Tour feat. Gigi Edgley & Jake Edgley
DJ OZNO
Special Guests:
Bfarve Cosplay
8BITAmbitions Cosplay
To Pre-Register for SaikouCon 2018 badges visit www.saikoucon.com/registration.html and make sure to note the returning designations for Teen and Adult badges to attend the convention, the designations do away with the need for parental consent forms for SaikouCon guests age 13-17, attendees 12 and under receive free admission but MUST be accompanied by a SaikouCon Badge Holding Attendee chaperone age 18 or older at all times! SaikouCon is family friendly, but is not designed for young children under 12 to fly solo. Pre-registration closes July 20, 2017 at midnight (the midnight going into Saturday July 21 not 12:01 AM on July 20 to clarify), there will be no extensions this year, so get the pre-reg savings while you can! There will also be no price jumps during the pre-registration period this year! Full registration details at the link provided above, please review before registering to attend SaikouCon 2018. VIP Registration is only available during the Pre-Registration period in advance of the convention once more this year, VIP Registration closes on June 23, 2018 at 12 AM.
The Econo Lodge Conference Center is located at 1151 Bulldog Drive, Allentown, PA 18104. The Econo Lodge Conference Center offers several on-site amenities to SaikouCon attendees; the 904 West Restaurant for breakfast/lunch/dinner, the 904 West Lounge for adult beverages and non-con nightlife, free WiFi, outdoor swimming pool for attendees that book rooms with the Econo Lodge, ambiance for photoshoots, 200+ sleeping rooms in total, and very friendly staff!
Rooms in the convention's block of rooms at the Econo Lodge Conference Center, may be booked by calling (610) 395-3731, and requesting a room in the SaikouCon Room Block; there will be no booking link on their website just for SaikouCon as in years past, Econo Lodge's website is controlled by the master franchise and they are unable to set up specials for individual locations. Booking through their website will not place you in our block of rooms and may result in higher room rates than our Block's $99 plus tax per night for two occupants. Rooms with three or more people will be an extra $10 per person over the initial two occupants (i.e. three person rooms will be $109 per night plus tax, four person rooms will be $119 plus tax per night etc.).
To get the latest up-to-the-minute news follow SaikouCon on http://www.saikoucon.com, http://facebook.com/SaikouCon, http://twitter.com/SaikouCon, http://instagram.com/officialsaikoucon, http://saikoucon.tumblr.com, and SaikouCon's listing on animecons.com: http://animecons.com/events/info.shtml/9619/SaikouCon_2018
5/22/18 Allentown, PA – SaikouCon, which means "best convention", is the large scale, annual anime convention of the Lehigh Valley. Boasting a dedicated staff of longtime Japanese anime and manga fans, SaikouCon is excited to be the only large scale annual convention dedicated exclusively to anime, manga, and Japanese culture and pop culture in this area of Pennsylvania. The convention grew out of web magazine Anime Ate My Brain Magazine (relaunching in 2019); the sibling to music focused web magazine, Tastes Like Rock Magazine. Both journalistic endeavors fall under the publishing wing of Nerdy Rock 'n Roller Productions.
The convention will always remain very hands on and attendee friendly every year, while also maintaining a safe atmosphere for attendees to enjoy the convention to their carefree fullest. SaikouCon promises to remain an all inclusive event where all are welcome to enjoy the fun, friendship, and saftey the con has offered in the past. As always, Cosplay =/= Consent is a very important issue to the staff of SaikouCon, and the same rules and regulations that made SaikouCon Years 1-5 safe havens for cosplayers will be enforced just as strictly at SaikouCon 2018.
Welcome to SaikouCon 2018, Featured Guest Dolly Love! Longtime SaikouCon attendees will recognize Dolly, she was a guest judge of our Cosplay Contest back in our first and second year, 2013 and 2014 respectively. Dolly has been cosplaying for nearly a decade, also has experience as a model, and is an avid gamer. Dolly is currently designing and selling 3D printed cosplay props and accessories (make sure to check out her table in our Merchant Hall). Dolly is also designing and producing her own clothing line which will be released next year! It has been a few years since Dolly has been able to come to SaikouCon, and this is her first time being a full fledged member of our guest roster, so please share our excitement in officially welcoming Dolly Love to the SaikouCon family!
And from midnight on May 20 until midnight on May 31 (Eastern Standard Time), all attendees that purchase a 3 Day General Admission Badge or 3 Day VIP Badge to SaikouCon 2018 are automatically entered into our Power Rangers 25th Anniversary Raffle! The winner, who will be picked by blind drawing live at the Opening Ceremonies of SaikouCon 2018 on Friday July 27 at 1 PM, will receive a prize basket of Power Rangers prizes valued at $200 altogether! Prizes will include DVD sets, a first printing copy of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #26 (sold out at the publisher level) signed by SaikouCon 2018 Guest of Honor Erin Cahill, aka Jen Scotts the Time Force Pink Ranger from Power Rangers Time Force, Funko Pops, and more!! This raffle is only open to those that pre-register to attend SaikouCon 2018 during the above stated time period, winner must be present at SaikouCon's Opening Ceremonies to claim their prize basket, celebrate 25 Morphinominal Years of the Power Rangers by pre-registering for SaikouCon 2018 and take your shot at winning this awesome prize pack! Good luck!! Visit www.saikoucon.com/registration.html to pre-register!
In a first for SaikouCon, the convention will join a popular con trend and have on-site a fantasy vehicle for exhibition and photo ops! Joining SaikouCon 2018 as a Featured Guest will be the AE86 Toyota Corolla Sprinter Trueno from Initial D! The vehicle will be on-site during the day time hours of SaikouCon all weekend of the convention, the AE86 Toyota Corolla Sprinter Trueno has been painstakingly refurbished and modeled by owner Ray Ramaglia to the smallest detail after series creator Shūichi Shigeno's vehicle design from the fan favorite anime and manga, Initial D. To follow the wherabouts and con appearances of the AE86 follow http://instagram.com/initialdream86.
Also, joining SaikouCon 2018 as a Musical Guest for his second year in a row is DJ OZNO! DJ OZNO will be crafting a vibe with original mixes and feel good tunes in the SaikouCon Merchant Hall and will also be spinning at a special yet to be announced event on SaikouCon Friday! Stay tuned for the announcement soon!
SaikouCon 2018's Guest List (so far):
Guests of Honor:
Christina Marie Kelly Voice, Film, & Stage Actress
Gigi Edgley Film, TV, & Stage Actress
Erin Cahill Film & TV Actress, Pink Time Force Power Ranger
More Coming Soon!
Featured Guests:
Koralene Cosplay
Foxxy Cosplay
Dolly Love Cosplay
AE86 Toyota Corolla Sprinter Trueno by InitialDream86
Musical Guests:
The Adarna
TiA
Kohei Hattori
DJ Awesomus_Prime
REAKT
The Wanderland Tour feat. Gigi Edgley & Jake Edgley
DJ OZNO
Special Guests:
Bfarve Cosplay
8BITAmbitions Cosplay
To Pre-Register for SaikouCon 2018 badges visit www.saikoucon.com/registration.html and make sure to note the returning designations for Teen and Adult badges to attend the convention, the designations do away with the need for parental consent forms for SaikouCon guests age 13-17, attendees 12 and under receive free admission but MUST be accompanied by a SaikouCon Badge Holding Attendee chaperone age 18 or older at all times! SaikouCon is family friendly, but is not designed for young children under 12 to fly solo. Pre-registration closes July 20, 2017 at midnight (the midnight going into Saturday July 21 not 12:01 AM on July 20 to clarify), there will be no extensions this year, so get the pre-reg savings while you can! There will also be no price jumps during the pre-registration period this year! Full registration details at the link provided above, please review before registering to attend SaikouCon 2018. VIP Registration is only available during the Pre-Registration period in advance of the convention once more this year, VIP Registration closes on June 23, 2018 at 12 AM.
The Econo Lodge Conference Center is located at 1151 Bulldog Drive, Allentown, PA 18104. The Econo Lodge Conference Center offers several on-site amenities to SaikouCon attendees; the 904 West Restaurant for breakfast/lunch/dinner, the 904 West Lounge for adult beverages and non-con nightlife, free WiFi, outdoor swimming pool for attendees that book rooms with the Econo Lodge, ambiance for photoshoots, 200+ sleeping rooms in total, and very friendly staff!
Rooms in the convention's block of rooms at the Econo Lodge Conference Center, may be booked by calling (610) 395-3731, and requesting a room in the SaikouCon Room Block; there will be no booking link on their website just for SaikouCon as in years past, Econo Lodge's website is controlled by the master franchise and they are unable to set up specials for individual locations. Booking through their website will not place you in our block of rooms and may result in higher room rates than our Block's $99 plus tax per night for two occupants. Rooms with three or more people will be an extra $10 per person over the initial two occupants (i.e. three person rooms will be $109 per night plus tax, four person rooms will be $119 plus tax per night etc.).
To get the latest up-to-the-minute news follow SaikouCon on http://www.saikoucon.com, http://facebook.com/SaikouCon, http://twitter.com/SaikouCon, http://instagram.com/officialsaikoucon, http://saikoucon.tumblr.com, and SaikouCon's listing on animecons.com: http://animecons.com/events/info.shtml/9619/SaikouCon_2018
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