The start of Collect-A-Con x Metazoo Games
In early May, I received a message from a good friend of mine who is a vendor. He asked me, do I want to come to Dallas for Collect-A-Con. Obviously, I said yes, but also said, I don’t think I can go as it will cost too much for me at the moment. His reply back is what kicked off the summer of travel. But the story doesn’t begin here, it starts In 2021 with a startup company called, PokeConTx. After a very successful first convention, they saw a demand and need to bring the TCG world and other collectibles to the nation, thus becoming, Collect-A-Con! (Collect-A-ConTX).
The doors opened for the creator of Metazoo Games, Mike Waddell, which saw the potential to help his fledgling game reach a larger audience and partner with the Texas-based company. They closed out 2021 on a high note, leaving a very promising looking 2022 ahead.
Summer Begins a little early
This leads us to, “Let the summer of travel begin”! It’s May 28th, 2022 in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas and Metazoo announced a month earlier their plans to hold its largest official tournament, Casters Cup, with grand prizes totaling two hundred and fifty thousand dollars! An unheard-of amount for a start up TCG, but shows how well MetaZoo has been performing.
The event alone would welcome over three hundred players to attend and vie for a chance to take home several levels of winnings. It brought people from all over the country, including our neighbors to the North, South, and as far away as Australia. It was an unbelievable experience for many, including myself as I too made the trek to Texas.
UFOs spotted in Roswell again
Following a very successful event, Metazoo began gearing up for its 4th installment of the Cryptid Nation block- UFO. A much anticipated set by the Metazoo fan base that took the world of cryptids, out of this world you could say. And while the fan base awaited the release, Metazoo decided to announce a release event party would be held, and not just held anywhere, but held where one of the most well-known alien events this world has ever known took place. In the city of Roswell, New Mexico, thus, the summer of travel continues.
After securing a spot for the event for myself and my twelve-year-old son, Ethan, I booked the hotel and a rental car for us, and then we hoped on a plane from Atlanta, Georgia for the three-hour plane ride to the quaint and quiet town of alien lore. However, our adventure took a detour to Albuquerque, New Mexico, three hours North of Roswell, and then a very relaxing yet long car ride thru the mostly desert state.
We arrived in town at 2:30 pm local time and quickly checked into our hotel room, which was just a few minutes away from the Roswell Convention hall, where I then did a live interview with the creator himself. What an amazing trip Roswell turned in for us. We met so many of the strong and passionate community members we’ve become friends with through the official Metazoo Discord group, as well as the social media avenues like YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, and TikTok.
Bringing Metazoo to the masses
The weekend started off with a player’s casual event that we filmed for our YouTube channel. I was a
guest host for Metazoo at the event where I streamed on behalf of Metazoo through our YouTube platform free booster packs of UFO, which was extremely fun and an honor to do. Later that afternoon, we partook in a scavenger hunt that Metazoo had pre-arranged with the town a few days earlier. And I have to say, this was our favorite part of the whole trip as it took us on an adventure that we may not have otherwise gotten to do.
From New Mexico to California
After a successful event in Roswell, the summer of travel doesn’t end there. One month later, I found myself making my way on the four-hour journey to Los Angeles for the third Collect-A-Con convention that was being held in the city of Long Beach, just outside of the Los Angeles city limits.
Once again, Metazoo was the focal point of the convention as they used the stage to show off their incoming fifth set from the cryptid nations block, Seance, as well as they, put on another official event that became known as, “The Clash at Collect-A-Con Long Beach”. Although a smaller crowd this time around, players from around the world still made the trek for the event.
I filmed every aspect of the convention I could, which also debuted an actual Seance tent and reading by a real psychic, also known to many as a fortune teller. If you participated in the experience, you earned a rare and coveted first ever Seance promo card, Crystal Ball. A perfect promo for the event.
Another fun aspect of attending a convention or event with MetaZoo, they bring their artist along for a meet and greets, signings, and special giveaways, and Long Beach was no different. They featured some of their most notable artist, Kelsey Jachino, who is best known for creating the original Mothman artwork first seen in the sample decks, and later during the Kickstarter campaign and first edition sets. Also attending was Kris Kampmann, artist and Art Director for Metazoo, Jett Yates, Lillie, Isaac Sky Lee, Brunes, and lastly, Poncho, perhaps the most sought after artist from the community I would dare say.
Long Beach turned into one of the best trips I had this summer. Once again, it allowed me to connect with so many members from both the Metazoo and TCG communities, and even expand my exposure as a content creator, leaving me with an experience I will take with me for the rest of my life.
But the summer of travel doesn’t stop there for Metazoo or the community, however, I was not able to attend the final two summer events. Just last week, the fourth Collect-A-Con convention took place at the edge of the Midwest in Kansas City, Missouri. Once again, Metazoo’s presence was widely known as the main attraction of the event as they held another tournament that took on the moniker from Long Beach but with a small “city” change to it, “The Clash at CAC Kansas City”. Congrats to Caster Society member, Easton Evans on taking home the “W” from there.
Celebrating a mythical creature
During the same weekend, a small town in West Virginia held is long time annual event, which just happens to be where the origin story of Cryptid Nation took place, Point Pleasant, home to the infamous Mothman creature that was first seen in 1966, and our Metazoo story begins with Sam and Adam.
Metazoo did not disappoint as they attended the popular festival and secured their place in the town’s history of cryptic lore. Many of our community members attended this event and captured its essence by ensuring the town will never forget, Metazoo Games, thanks to Texas Ted, Bob, Dee, Jett Yates, and the many supporters of Metazoo, whom many drove for hours thru the West Virginia mountains to attend this event.
But that concludes the summer of Travel with me, your host for this article. If you enjoyed this article, be sure to smash that like button, subscribe to EpicTube HD, turn on notifications, and have more epic adventures with me, EpicTube HD everyone.
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