7:15 am – We decide to walk off some of the meal and see what’s been set up since we perused the hotel the night before.

8 am – We go back upstairs to our room to catch the end of that Gamera movie. If you’re an early bird (like us), this is the worst time at G-FEST – post-breakfast and waiting for rooms to start opening.

9 am – Although G-FEST won’t be fully operational until 10 am, some rooms have opened at 9. We head back downstairs to visit one of them – “Dojo Studios.” This room is dedicated to costuming and is run by Paul Gavins. When we attended our first G-FEST in 2004, Paul won the trophy for his Kiryu (Mechagodzilla III) costume, which was insanely accurate.

Since then, he’s taken over the costume aspect of G-FEST while raising it to unbelievable new heights.

Where once there was just an empty room for costume contestants to stage their costumes for the Saturday night parade, now there’s a miniature city where fans, young and old, can put on their homemade creations and get filmed rampaging through it. It’s really exciting for young fans who can later watch themselves on video as the star monster in their very own kaiju film. The layout changes every G-FEST, and this year, they created a miniature airport for them to destroy.

The room also hosts panels throughout the weekend specifically for costuming and cosplay. If your jam is making monster suits the old Japanese way, you could spend almost all your time here. Under Paul’s guidance, the kaiju costume makers of G-FEST have become like a family, supporting one another and offering assistance and helpful suggestions when needed. It’s nice to see that despite how enormous this event has become, it’s still retained this aspect. Not far from Dojo Studios was a room for screening people’s homemade kaiju films, and the panel we walked in on was giving tutorials on the best monster movie Computer programs.

Last year, Kurt Carley, the suit actor for the controversial US Tri-Star Godzilla (1998), was a featured guest at G-FEST. It was kind of sad because he mentioned at his panel that he didn’t realize how disliked his version of Godzilla was until he was at a screening of Godzilla Final Wars (2004), where everyone started cheering when his “Zilla” was trashed by the traditional Japanese version. He mentioned how it hurt his feelings, though it was hardly his fault. He’d probably have instantly cheered up if he were here this year and saw the hand-crafted version of his Godzilla that someone had on display in Dojo Studios. Last year, it was here, but only the head was finished; this year it was not only complete but operational. Luke and I watched in awe as a woman unveiled the finished creation and smoke oozed from its glowing mouth.

Later on, I was surprised when my son, Alex, showed me video footage of someone inside the suit and walking around in it. I had assumed that, due to its size, it was just for display, but that was not the case.

Speaking of Alex, he and his girlfriend, Jadelyn, arrived just as Luke and I were leaving Dojo Studios. Jadelyn was indoctrinated into Godzilla fandom via Alex and attended G-FEST last year. 

9:30 am – We notice the line for the Vendor Room already snaking across the hotel. Those who spent the night waiting have begun the thirty-minute countdown. Some have already had the privilege of entering, as G-FEST offered an early-bird VIP pass for $200. There are some serious kaiju collectors here!

Although the event had barely kicked off, the four of us decided to go downstairs and see how many models were on display. Surprisingly, quite a lot. In the old days, the best time to check this room out was on Saturday mornings since some modelers were checking into the hotel on Friday afternoons and not everything was out and ready. But, as mentioned in my last post, Thursday is now the new Friday at this event, so it made sense that just about everything was out on display first thing this morning. My original plan was to share my photos of all the models in this Friday post, but there are just too many, so look for a separate blog this Tuesday with my model photos before my regular convention diaries continue on the usual Friday. It’s worth the wait, as this year’s models were some of the best I’ve ever seen.

9:50 am – I separate from the kids and go back upstairs for the panels. There’s something for every Godzilla/monster fan at G-FEST, but my favorite things are the models and the panels. G-FEST has three main Panel rooms. One is an exceptionally large space also used for opening ceremonies and the costume contest. The others are smaller, but all three were running discussions nonstop during convention hours. In addition to these, there’s the aforementioned costume thread, as well as a small room next to the models that hosts discussions specific to model makers. In many ways, G-FEST is more like being at a conference than a traditional convention

As I’m making my way over, some of the aforementioned costume-makers are walking around and showing off their creations.

9:55 am – I head to Panel Room 1 for a discussion on a 1977 TV movie called The Last Dinosaur. I loved dinosaurs as a kid (still do) and remember seeing this film when it aired. This room is spacious with an impressive stage. LED lights illuminate the space while music plays in the background.

I saw several panels throughout the weekend, but this one and the “70^th Anniversary of Rodan” discussion on Saturday were my favorites. I plan on delving deeper into both of those after this crazy summer convention season is over, so all I’ll say now is that the man running the talk, Alex Rushdy, worked for Seismic Toys, which recently created the only toy version of the film’s T-REX. It’s currently on preorder, but they brought 10 of them to G-FEST, where they were being sold at their table in the Vendor Room for $250. So, if you had the cash and wanted to skip the wait and additional shipping fees, you could physically nab one here. I know this makes it sound like the panel was just a big sales ad, but it really wasn’t. There were a lot of cool insights into the film and, as I said, I am determined to go into greater detail in a future post.

10:55 am – I moved from the main room to the much smaller “Panels Room 3” around the corner. Unfortunately, a sign in front of the entrance stated that all the talks for this room were an hour after what was listed in the program. I found myself with some time to kill. The kids were interested in the vendor room, but all I wanted was a G-FEST shirt and dad hat that said “G-FEST 2026.” Though nothing like the vendor room’s line, there was an ample one for the event’s merchandise as well. This is something I’d never seen before; G-FEST merch was always readily available at past events. I didn’t feel like standing in line and figured I’d return later when there, presumably, wouldn’t be one. This would prove one of the biggest miscalculations I’d make this weekend.

11 am – I head back towards my room and run into Luke, who shows me a poster he purchased in Artist’s Alley. He tells me they still haven’t been inside the vendor room but plan to make an attempt

11:50 am – I return to Panel Room 3 where they are wrapping up a discussion on an Ultraman series I’ve never heard of before. As you may have guessed from the costume photos, Ultraman has a strong presence at G-FEST. My panel was titled “I Can’t Believe it’s Not Godzilla,” a discussion of Godzilla ripoffs like Gorgo (1961) from the UK and Yongary: Monster from the Deep (1967) from South Korea. It was presented by Nathaniel Steitz.

In many ways, this was like two discussions in one, with the first half more cerebral and covering the world’s history of monster myths and their presence in literary history.

Steitz also spoke of how Godzilla became the archetype for all giant monsters, and the only one that seemed to do well enough for movie sequels was Gamera; likely because he was a turtle and different enough from Godzilla to stand on his own (and might I add, dominate this festival’s house channel).

12:50 pm – I stay in Panel Room 3 for a 1 pm discussion on the 10^th Anniversary of Shin Godzilla. In case you haven’t noticed, G-FEST panels and Pickwick movies often focus on films celebrating their anniversaries, which makes sense. Before this one begins, I go to Amazon.com to look for a butt cushion for next year, as these seats are killing me!

1 pm – Unlike the two previous panels, which were solo discussions, “Shin Godzilla: 10 Years Later” has five moderators (Nick Crispino, John Schuermann, Daniel DiManna, Helmi Abdat, and Brendan Morley). This film was a Japanese entry released after Legendary’s successful 2014 Godzilla. It is often overlooked, not least by TOHO Studios, which admits they failed to maintain momentum after its success and have since vowed not to make the same mistake with Godzilla Minus One (2023). Shin Godzilla may not be as objectively good as Minus One but is still a great watch. The film is a satire of Japanese government bureaucracy and its constant bending to the requests of NATO and the United States rather than making their own decisions. It is a direct critique of the Japanese government’s handling of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident.

I had just watched Shin Godzilla the day before leaving for G-FEST, and it was fresh on my mind. I plan on watching it again soon, only this time, dubbed. That’s right: ALL five panelists who are purists like me and enjoy watching Kaiju films subtitled state that this film’s best version is the English-dubbed one (unless, of course, you speak Japanese). They contend that the movie is dialogue-heavy and spoken so quickly that you can hardly keep up and enjoy the movie trying to read it all. However, there is a caveat. You must watch the film’s SECOND dubbed version, which is currently only available on the Shin Godzilla Deluxe 4K/Blu-ray Combo exclusive through godzilla.com. I had the Funimation version, which, according to these panelists, is not the correct one. Unlike most dubbed films, which come off as unintentionally comical, the second dub of Shin Godzilla isn’t goofy and features top professional voice actors. Since this panel, I have purchased the Deluxe version, and my sons and I are anxious to watch it together soon.

2 pm – I’m STILL in Panel Room 3 for the next presentation and, by this time, I feel like I’ve been riding a horse all day. This panel was called “Kaiju on Home Video” so, obviously, I had to suffer through it. I was hoping for an update on future Kaiju film physical media releases and upgrades. Unfortunately, this talk made me feel older rather than hopeful. At one point, the panelist held up a laser disc to show the audience what they looked like, and people actually gasped.

Despite that, the slideshow was fun; remembering all those old VHS tape covers and seeing how other countries marketed them. Alex Rushdy from The Last Dinosaur discussion returned for this one and was joined by physical media collector, Kiefer Beelman.

3 pm – Luke texts that he’s going to registration to check in to his own room. I assume many others are doing the same and make a beeline to the vendor room. My instincts were good; this was the only time I saw they didn’t have a line the entire time I was there. I originally intended to title this post “The Dealer Room vs G-FEST,” but as I was writing, I realized that was better suited for my Saturday post. This should not suggest Friday was entirely smooth sailing. Navigating some sections of the G-FEST dealer room means being pressed against people so tightly you’ll feel guilty for not buying them dinner first.

I was mostly interested in getting a closer look at The Last Dinosaur T. rex figure I mentioned earlier and stopping by the Creative Beast Studios table to see their new mammoth figure up close (in addition to dinos, I love elephants and their prehistoric relatives). Godzilla is awesome but, at the end of the day, I’m more interested in collecting dinosaurs than kaiju.

The Seismic Studios booth offered me a great view, but unfortunately, all 10 figures brought to G-FEST had sold out by then 😪.

I finally squeezed my way to the Creative Beast tables. I’ve seen their setups via their YouTube channel, but by the time I got to them, it looked like they’d been looted, with everything I was interested in seeing having sold out. This year, they were offering a G-FEST exclusive figure which garnered a full page ad in the program. There were still a few left, but I later heard the company’s owner and sculptor, David Silva, had to airlift in more shipments of figures because, by the end of Friday, they’d been wiped out. This was the moment I realized that all those people I laughed at this morning camping out in line might be smarter than I gave them credit for. Apparently at G-FEST, FOMO (fear of missing out) isn’t just an abstract theory.

I spotted a Japanese Showa-era King Kong and Mechanikong figure at one table going for $100 each. I wanted to buy them for Luke, but they only took cash and no credit cards. When it comes to giant monsters, my youngest son is something of a black sheep of the family. He actually prefers Kong over Godzilla, and every time he makes this declaration, the rest of us wince. He told me prior to G-FEST that he was looking for a Showa-era, Japanese Kong (a design I’ve always thought looked terrible), so I was disappointed I wasn’t able to get it for him.

3:45 pm – I left the dealer room (having bought nothing) and went back over to where they were selling G-FEST merchandise. I hoped I’d finally get lucky, but there was not only STILL a line of people, but it also looked longer than the last time I was there. I figured I’d just have to try again tomorrow.

5 pm – We all meet up at the hotel’s Red Bar for dinner. The menu, though sparse, did rename their rice bowls and some of their cocktails to complement G-FEST. We start our meal with a round of “Atomic” cocktails.

Earlier, the kids attended a panel on Godzilla 2000, which I wanted to hear about. To my surprise, Alex’s girlfriend, Jadelyn, told me all the details of the discussion. She also showed off some monster pins she’d picked up in Artist’s Alley. She’s a keeper!

5:40 pm – Jadelyn takes the train home to care for their pets, and the rest go to Luke’s room to play Godzilla video games. I relax in my room, going through the day’s photos while organizing them for these blogs. While I’m doing this, I flick on the house channel and am surprised to see old home movies of G-FEST taken by a guy named Damon Foster, a South African filmmaker who used to attend G-FEST around the time we started going. To my surprise, his videos include footage of the kids and me at Minya’s Place (a room exclusively for kids, with arts and crafts, contests, and activities). There’s still a Minya’s Place at G-FEST, but it’s nothing like what it used to be. Back then, it was run by a woman named Barb, a Vegas Bette Midler imitator and clown) who went all out for the kids. It was amazing seeing how different this event has become in twenty years – not to mention how different WE all are.

7 pm – The kids go downstairs for G-FEST Opening Ceremonies, but I’m too mesmerized by these old videos on the house channel and opt to stay back.

8 pm – My other son, Danny, arrives at G-FEST after his wife drops him off. He’s staying with Luke, and I won’t see him until morning.

10 pm – I’m exhausted and turn in. Some time in the middle of the night, my son Alex shows up to sleep in my room’s extra bed. What a day!

Coming up…A Detailed Look inside G-FEST’s Model Room!

Dave