The Con*Quest journal comes with a sharpie marker and 30 pages for autographs, artist sketches, cosplay photos, panel notes and quotes, favorite vendors, stickers, and comic book style pages to note down all there is a standard convention. In the back of the binder, there’s a spot for business cards, a zipper pouch to hold ticket stubs and other paper swag, and four sleeves for holding comics, art, and photo-ops.
I carried my journal with me on the first and last days of the MegaCon. It was helpful in keeping the business cards for vendors in one place and storing my autograph from Michael Rooker. For the most part though, I put it together at home.
I found that with my comic book shopping, I didn’t necessarily want to take my journal into the convention each day. If I had it to do over, I would have taken just the autograph pages into the convention with me and filled in the rest in my hotel room. I also would have taken my Polaroid camera to print out my pictures and label them while it was all fresh in my brain.
Looking at my finished MegaCon journal, I can see where I have plenty of space to put in another set of pages for another convention. Of course, if I took this to a convention like DragonCon or SDCC, I might have needed two journals.
At the moment, Con*Quest does not sell refill pages, but hopefully that will be an option in the future. If you need more standard blank pages though, you can grab a four pack for $5.
A standard Con*Quest journal costs $40 + shipping. For $5 more, you can get a tote that is perfect for carrying it in. I recommend this because it’s annoying to have to go into your backpack every time you need to pull it out.
If you want to have a little social interaction at the convention, pick up a pack of Con-pliment cards ($3 for a pack of ten). I gave these mostly to children because their faces lit up when someone appreciated their costume.
For those who want something a bit smaller than the regular Con*Quest journal, check out the Con*Panion mini journal. It has some of the same design pages, but in a smaller format.
GeekMom received a sample of this product for review purposes.
