Scenes From Flame Con 2023 @ Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel (Part 1)

convention logos, flame con, flame con logo

The PiercingMetal High Command recently attended their fifth “Flame Con” ever and historically speaking, this would have been the ninth such event but the pandemic found a couple of them being cancelled for safety sake. The event is organized by the fine folks from Geeks Out and its the largest LGBTQ+ convention of this type. While not of the community ourselves, I do love a good convention and return once more since I always meet some interesting people. Below you will find one of their “Flamies”, a convention mascot.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

For some reason I began the photo adventuring in their side room off of the main expo floor. This event is held at the Sheraton Times Square Hotel, and takes over one of their ballroom floors with another space upstairs for panels and meetings. This room held assorted community and hobby groups and it was nice to meet everyone. I even got send home with some goodies to dole out post convention,

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

This is probably the most festive Yankee baseball cap I’ve ever seen.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

Hit the beach in style with these shades. There is still a few weeks left in beach weather.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

There be ducks everywhere. I made a donation in order to get a couple that I liked.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

This was the table for “Fandom Forward”.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

And here’s the City Tech Ink Club.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

I got a kick out of this group, they called themselves “To Proudly Go” which is a take on the Star Trek statement “To Boldly Go”. Nice folks and they even demonstrated the puppets seen in the other photo.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

Now it was onto the main floor of the convention where we met Bianca’s Design Shop.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

Here’s Alyssa Wong who is showing off two titles she worked on. “Doctor Aphra” and “Deadpool”.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

There’s Ben Kahn who we’ve seen before at this and the Five Points Festival convention.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

I love Squishables plush because they are so, so uhm, squishable. You should take notice of the Plague Doctor on the table to the left which lets me bring up that everyone here today was wearing a mask. It’s no longer a mandate across the board in more public setting than you can count but the Flame Con is sticking to it. I’m not a fan of them anymore and as many of you know, I worked the COVID-19 Safety sector for about a year in the thick of it but I digress.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

What is Tiny Onion? Well that’s a unique enterprise under the watchful eye of noted writer James Tynion III. He collected a number of creatives who worked with him in this special section. I think this is a great idea.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

Here’s Mirka Andolfo one of the artists on this DC Comics “Punchline” release. In case you missed the news, Punchline is the new GF of The Joker.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

I didn’t spend much time there but the Gaymer Lounge was a popular place to visit during the convention.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

A very on point Xena, Warrior Princess.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

I’ve never seen someone dressed as a hexagonal die before.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

Our friends from “Oddment and Tweak” who we first met at the BroadwayCon not too long ago. They are a fun bunch.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

Here’s a cool Wiccan and Hulkling cosplay.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

These cosplayers were creepy and they’re kooky. Mysterious and spooky. They’re all together ooky. It’s Morticia and Gomez.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

The creators of “Magical Boy Basil”, and probably the first folks that I spoke to when I first started going to Flame Con.

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

flame con, flame con 2023, photos from flame con 2023, ken pierce media photo

That’s going to bring me to the end of the first chapter of our adventuring at Flame Con. Sadly, I wasn’t able to get any one on one interviews this time around and quite honestly I’d like to get that stuff done since I do so many at the New York Comic Con and Anime NYC. I hope you enjoyed this convention review and please stay tuned for the second installment. Remember to follow PiercingMetal on as many social media platforms as you can by using our Linktree which can be found by clicking HERE.

geeks out logo, geeks out

convention reviews, flame con, flame con 2023, geeks out, bianca’s design shop, ben kahn, alyssa wong, squishable, tiny onion, happening inside, to proudly go, fandom forward, mirka andolfo,

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