'Dreams come true' at Steel City Con as fans meet celebrities

An Ohio man’s quest to get autographs from as many members of the cast of “The Walking Dead” as he can began Saturday in Monroeville.

Shawn Hubbard of Columbus said a huge poster featuring actor Andrew Lincoln was the only one he could get in time to bring with him to Steel City Con at the Monroeville Convention Center, where Jon Bernthal, who portrayed Shane Walsh on the long-running AMC series, was among the convention’s guests.

“I’m going to get everyone I can from Walking Dead on here. I wanted him to be one of the very first,” Hubbard said after Bernthal signed it. “Being able to do this is a dream come true.”

But as big as it was, Hubbard’s poster wasn’t the largest item a fan brought to be autographed. Gary Hinkle of New Columbia, Pa., drove to Monroeville in a 1995 Jeep Wrangler he has turned into a replica of the Jeeps used in “Jurassic Park.”

Actors Joseph Mazzello and Ariana Richards, who portrayed Tim and Lex in the 1993 Steven Spielberg film, came outside to sign their names on the dash.

He wasn’t sure they’d come outside like that to do it.

“My childhood came to life a little bit,” said Hinkle, who also wanted to see Bernthal for his work as “The Punisher.”

“I really got to nerd out today,” he said. “It’s great.”

Saturday was the second day of the three-day Steel City Con, which began Friday and will conclude Sunday. More than 10,000 people were expected to attend, said convention co-owner Bob Stein of Richland.

“We make dreams come true here,” he said.

Steel City Con is held three times a year, in April, August and December. The next will be Dec. 5 to 7.

This weekend’s event featured 35 celebrity guests that included a reunion of five cast members from the sitcom “Full House” and its sequel, “Fuller House:” Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, Dave Coulier, Scott Weinger and Andrea Barber.

While Weinger was first-billed for “Full House,” the Dell family of Highland Park sought his autograph for his work as the voice of “Aladdin.” Getting his autograph on an image of Aladdin brought a big smile to Sarah Dell, 6.

Sarah’s dad, Paul Dell, said they come to all three conventions every year and look up the celebrity guests to see what else they have done.

Sarah’s mom, Liz Dell, said they were happy to see the convention come back after the covid-19 pandemic, something they weren’t sure would happen.

“We’ve seen a lot of people through this,” she said. “I met a lot of my heroes.”

Kade Greene said he came from Auburn, Mich., to meet actors from the video game Baldur’s Gate 3 — Neil Newbon, Devora Wilde, Aliona Baranova and Jennifer English.

“Everybody’s very polite,” he said. “I appreciate the folks coming out to do signings. I appreciate that they travel to sign autographs and riff with us.”

Matthew Wheatley of Belle Vernon brought Blu-ray copies of several movies featuring actor John Cusack. He had only enough money to pay for one autograph and was going to let Cusack pick which he wanted to sign.

Cusack signed them all.

“It meant the world to me,” Wheatley said. “He seems like such a good guy.”

Actors from the sitcoms “Roseanne” and its continuation, “The Conners,” were also among the guests. Zoe Perry, who appeared on both shows featuring her mother, Laurie Metcalf, attended the convention with Raegan Revord.

Perry and Revord co-starred in the recently concluded sitcom “Young Sheldon,” a spinoff of “The Big Bang Theory,” and have reprised their roles in its spin-off, “George & Mandy’s First Marriage.”

Nebbi Brown of Marysville, Ohio, and his girlfriend, Tara Moore of Columbus, came to see Perry and Revord.

“We love to meet the celebrities,” Moore said. “We’re stargazers.”

“She’s a stargazer,” Brown said. “I’m a nerd.”

After getting Perry’s autograph and her posing for a photo with them, Moore said Perry was “warm and friendly, just how you want it to be when you meet someone you really like.”

Several hundred people are expected to participate in a costume contest on the convention’s final day Sunday, which runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Boxer Mike Tyson and professional wrestler Kane are appearing Sunday only.

Guests who cancelled for this weekend’s convention — David Wenham, Ray Park, Parker Posey and Hank Azaria — are expected to attend in December, Stein said.