Collect-A-Con Chicago Pop Culture Convention

Collect-A-Con lands in Rosemont this weekend, bringing a two-day pop culture and trading-card convention to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center on April 25 and 26. (collectaconusa.com) The show is scheduled for Hall A at 5555 N. River Road, with hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Children 7 and under get free admission, according to the event site. (collectaconusa.com) Collect-A-Con is pitching the Chicago stop as a large-format fan event built around collectibles, with more than 900 vendor tables listed on its website. The lineup includes trading cards, comic books, vintage toys, video games, anime merchandise and live programming. (collectaconusa.com) The convention center’s public calendar lists Collect-A-Con on both April 25 and April 26, putting it in Rosemont’s spring run of major convention business. Anime Central is also booked there in May, and the National Sports Collectors Convention is on the calendar for summer. (rosemont.com) That mix helps explain why Rosemont keeps drawing fan and collector events: the Donald E. Stephens complex is built for large halls, hotel traffic and suburban access near O’Hare International Airport. Collect-A-Con’s site also points attendees to the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont as its event hotel. (collectaconusa.com) For Chicago-area fans, the timing puts the show into a crowded April 24–26 weekend that also includes concerts, theater and other festivals across the city and suburbs. FOX 32 included Collect-A-Con in its weekend roundup published April 22. (fox32chicago.com) The event’s own pitch shows how far these conventions have moved beyond old comic-book show formats. Collect-A-Con markets itself around celebrity guests, anime voice actors, cosplay, panel schedules and card-game brands including Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Magic: The Gathering, One Piece and Lorcana. (collectaconusa.com) By Saturday morning, the draw will be simple: a convention hall full of cards, toys and fandom merch, open for one weekend in Rosemont before the schedule moves on. (collectaconusa.com)