TrotCon 2022 · 4:20am Jul 25th, 2022
TrotCon 2022 has come and gone. Memories were made, ponies were purchased, and fun was had. As you can see, this time I didn’t make this road trip ‘70s style… mainly because working air conditioning is a plus in July. So for this road trip my not-so-little pony came out to play.
Getting there was a bit of an adventure. I don’t have a cellphone, so once I leave my house it’s radio silence. Which is why when I hit two random traffic jams in Pennsylvania (literally random – no accidents, no construction, just traffic at a dead stop on the interstate for no reason!) and then construction around Wheeling, West Virginia and again in Ohio I had no way to communicate that.
I made a pit stop at an exit in an Ohio construction zone… only to discover that the return entry to I-70 westbound was closed. I was given directions at a Cracker Barrel… only to immediately discard them when I got to the first intersection (where I was supposed to turn left) and discovered that turning right was my only option. Turning right led to the eastbound onramp and I just backtracked an exit. I was already running late, and probably lost another half hour on that fiasco.
Which meant I arrived to the hotel two hours later than anticipated. Many apologies to Admiral Biscuit and Shachza, who were waiting on my arrival. I found them in a line that had materialized around them, as registration got a later start than planned. I was only two hours late; I understand registration was three.
Biscuit and I were supposed to be at the overflow hotel (Ramada) but the hotel canceled the reservation. Instead we ended up rooming with Shachza and Bad Horse, cramming four of us into a room for most of the weekend. While this may seem like a bad turn of events, I really think this worked out for the best, because it meant we were in the con hotel. Big thanks to Shachza & Bad Horse for sharing their room with us! Also, big thanks to all three of them for putting up with me for an extended weekend.
Of note, my Mustang wasn’t the only one there, and I found two that parked as close to mine as possible (at one point before I took these photos, the yellow 2015 50th anniversary ‘Stang was directly next to mine).
Got to meet a bunch of folks, and reconnect with others I met back in December, and of course I was glitterbombed by Elley-Ray because that’s how she rolls. I left the glitter in place for the rest of the day because that’s how I roll.
I only attended two panels this year, as I missed all the others I was interested in for one reason or another. The first I attended was aintnobuffalo’s custom seminar, which I had previously attended in December so it was a rerun, but worth seeing again. I don’t have the talent for customs, but… well, let’s come back to this.
The second was Bad Horse’s panel on FimFiction.net, the slides of which can be found here.
While the data is a few years out of date, I found it a fascinating look into FimFiction, at a point when the community was still thriving.
And my personal favorite:
The circus posters were awesome. I was really hoping they’d turn up in the charity auction, but no such luck. ‘No such luck’ turned out to be the theme of the charity auction. I didn’t bid on anything, as everything went out of my price range almost instantly.
I haven’t seen this art posted online anywhere, but I’d like to give a shout-out to the artist who produced it, because it fit the theme perfectly. Shachza told me the artist's screen name but I've unfortunately forgotten it and could use a reminder. I'd definitely like to look up more of their work!
Moving on to a different kind of art (fanfiction)...
Back in December, Admiral Biscuit bid on (and won!) an Anon Filly plush at the charity auction, and she’s joined him at all cons since. Meanwhile, I got a free Tide Pod with a new package of socks I purchased and I remembered that one of my roommates had written a certain story.
Filly Anon & Tide Pod. Reunited and it feels so good! I ship it.
I found a cat that may or may not be Garfield face down in a puddle, presumably after a weekend-long lasagna bender.
Actually, the puddle was directly behind the dunk tank. I’m assuming that the plush was the victim of being repeatedly dunked, but it was raining most of the day Saturday so I never saw any activity at the dunk tank and hence I cannot confirm this theory.
Of course it wouldn’t be a trip to a con without pics of the swag.
Back in December, Gleamy Dreams & her sister inspired me to start a con tradition by adding buttons to my con badge. This year’s lanyard is a bit of a hot mess with buttons, a pair of mascots, and the badge itself. I ‘won’ one of the mascots by drawing a passable picture of Chancellor Neighsay, then bought the Cozy because why not?
There was someone going around giving out ‘Have you seen this child?’ badges with Cozy’s pic on them and I didn’t get one. I was just never in the right place at the right time, so if someone out there has one they're willing to part with, let me know!
The other thing visible in the above image is a pillowcase, with the below image featured:
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/2466852
Because if ever there was a pony you could trust not to kill you in your sleep, it’s Cozy Glow. Look at that sweet, innocent little angel!
Who wouldn’t want to cuddle Cozy Glow?
You know, aside from people with a good sense of self-preservation. I drive a Mustang, so it’s fairly obvious I don’t have one of those, so we’re good. This is actually going to be wall art.
The New Gray Mare knows what I like – mint in box G3 ponies. She also helped fill in a gap in my G1 herd with Fizzy. The other Basic Funs were all purchased during my trip there, or in the case of Lickety-Split and Tootsie, by Admiral Biscuit on a Meijer run to get an air mattress. That means I’m only missing Cherries Jubilee and the Mane 6 set. Also, Biscuit got them on Thursday evening right after we registered. You would think at some point during the next three and a half days we’d remember to settle up, but alas, I never actually paid him for the ponies. So this is a reminder to myself to pay him before he busts my kneecaps. I like my kneecaps. I find them very useful for such tasks as walking, crouching, and other such activities related to having functional legs…
Skipping G2 entirely to G3, we have Daisy Paisley, Twirlerina, Garden Wishes, Autumn Crisp, and Peachie Keen. With the exception of my Minty and Basic Fun G3 reissues, I’ve gotten all of my G3s from The New Gray Mare.
I was pretty good about keeping up on G4 releases so there aren’t a lot of holes to fill in my collection, but she managed to fill two of them: Princess Sterling and Princess Gold Lily. I saw them at stores years ago, and never picked them up because I didn’t like the different-colored wings. I’ve been kicking myself ever since, but now I have them!
My remaining G4 brushable gaps: Buttonbelle, Holly Dash, Octavia, Sweetsong, & Zecora. Blind bags are an entirely different story, and suffice it to say many of my favorite characters were in wave 2, which was never released in the United States…
Official G3 framed picture. I saw this and at $20 it was a no-brainer. Yes, my wall really is Minty green. I may have bought more Cozy Glow merchandise than Minty merch, but that’s because of availability.
Speaking of best pony, here’s a Minty mousepad by Gleamy Dreams. Please note that I’ve added a watermark since the art doesn’t belong to me. This watermark is not on the actual mousepad.
Cozy Glow shirt.
Stickers, charms, and even more buttons.
Keeping the Cozy Glow train going, a Cozy Glow brushable.
If your first reaction was ‘wait a minute, Cozy never got a brushable release’ you’re absolutely right. This is a custom I commissioned back in December. Remember back when I talked about aintnobuffalo’s panel I mentioned we’d come back to it? I wasn’t expecting Cozy to come in a cage, but it seems appropriate and I fully plan to display her this way. But I keep her cage open, because she’s a very trustworthy pony.
I’m absolutely floored at the quality of work here. She’s currently closed for commissions, or I’d have thrust more money at her because this is incredible and I can’t believe it’s mine. Cozy was on display for the entire panel. If she ever reopens commissions I highly recommend. Seriously, these pictures speak for themselves!
There are two things I’ve been hoping to find at the cons I’ve gone to – a Cozy Glow plush, and some of the miniature ponies I see people using as shoulder ponies at the conventions. I know what you’re all thinking: that I’d put Cozy Glow on one shoulder and Minty on the other. But you’d be wrong. While I’d certainly buy both if available, if I was going to put a pony on my shoulder at a con, it would be the most appropriate one: G3 Rainbow Dash. Because Rainbow Dash AlwaysDressesInStyle. Duh. So far though I've had no luck with either. Maybe next time!
It was nice meeting you there!
Nice meeting you. Hope to catch you again next year.
Great G3 collection.
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Likewise! I hope to see you again next year!
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Likewise! I plan on being there again next year and hope to see you again!
And thank you!
UGH I NEED THAT SHIRT!
Did Ramada give an explanation for why they cancelled the reservation? That sounds like a really not-great situation to be in; glad you were able to actually find somewhere on such short notice.
Glad it sounds like you had a good con. :)
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Admiral Biscuit made the reservation, so I never talked with the hotel directly. If I remember correctly, it had something to do with him checking in a day early.