Ready Player 1 Games Arcade in Glendale,AZ!

Over the weekend we went to check out a comic book shop that also has a retro arcade attached to it & I can tell it is going to be a spot that we visit quite often. If you live near the Phoenix/Glendale area then you should check it out too! It is called Ready Player 1 Games & it is located inside of Jesse James Comics located at 5140 W. Peoria Ave Suite 100 Glendale, AZ 85302. Both sides of the store are worth checking out, there are a ton of comics, collectibles, cards and more to see & purchase. If you get hungry or thirsty they have drinks & snacks available for purchase and there is also a bathroom at the back of the store.

The arcade portion of it ended up being a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be, there were a ton of games to choose from. There were pinball machines, shooter games, fighting games, a air hockey table, old school games like Mario, Donkey Kong, Tetris and more. The arcade was clean, felt safe and almost every game was in working order - there was only one game that was turned off & only one game that gave us an issue with not working properly. The photos I've shown here only have a small portion of the games they had available, there isn't enough room on this page to post as many photos as it would take to show you everything in the store. 

How much is it to play? Every game varies on price, the most expensive is $1.00 per play which is mostly the claw machines and one of the arcade games. The others range in price from $0.25 for the older arcade games to $0.75 on newer games. When we arrived I brought a bag with $40 in quarters with me, we spent about two hours here between playing games and looking around the store and I still had about $6 in quarters by the time the four of us were ready to head home for the day. It was a blast playing the different games & seeing the kids have a great time as well. It was a bonus that I kicked both my husbands & daughters butts at Soulcalibur , I also had a lot of fun playing old school Mario brothers as it has been quite some time since I last played that. My kids had fun playing familiar games & getting to play older games they've never been able to play such as the Simpsons game they had.

The arcade side also has several areas where you can purchase collectibles & you'll also find them in display cases along side the games, on top of the games, etc. this spot is packed with collectibles and nostalgia. We all spotted several things we wanted to pick up and also quite a few things we didn't even know existed, so that part of it was pretty excellent as well. You could spend quite some time just looking at the collectibles, there are so many that every time you look you will find something you didn't notice before. Prices on the collectables vary, I've been to quite a few comic shops along with conventions and have to say that everything in their store has a pretty fair price. 

Before we left we explored the comic book side a little, along side the comics you'll also find some more collectibles, clothing and a card section in the back which has player mats, Pokémon cards, decals & more. The only thing I didn't really see that they had advertised on their sign were board games, as big board game players we enjoy looking for new games to pick up. The staff are friendly & will answer any questions you have or help you out if needed otherwise they will let you be. We really enjoyed this spot & we look forward to going back, it is a great way to spend some time while beating the summer heat. 

You can find a reel that shows more of this arcade by clicking HERE to see the video I put up.

Do you enjoy arcades? What is your favorite arcade game or what type of games do you enjoy playing?

If you live in Arizona or plan on visiting click on this link  "Things to do in Arizona!" or type it into the search bar to find travel destinations, restaurants, & more that are fun to explore.

Ace Comic Con Glendale!

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. I received two passes to the Ace Comic Con in Glendale in exchange for a review free of charge.**

It doesn't matter what fictional world you are a fan of comic con is a blast for everyone! This past weekend a convention called Ace Comic Con was in Arizona at the Gila River Arena for three days. The comic con featured a large number of vendors, different foods, celebrity appearances with photo & signature ops plus is also offered everyone who loves to Cosplay a chance to dress up. Tickets were $65-$75 for a single day depending on which day you went on, $125 for a three day pass and they also offered photo ops, autograph ops and VIP packages that ranged in price from $65-$645 for packages.

This year celebrity appearances included Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Cox, Michael Fassbender, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, David Tennant & More. The nice thing about Ace was that you were able to attend all the Q&A's no matter what type of admission ticket was purchased, the first half of the session we were able to sit and listen to a small interview with the stars then the audience was able to line up and ask questions if they wanted to. The only thing I disliked about the Q&A we sat in was that there we so many speakers in such a small area that there was a echo making it hard to hear both the celebrity speakers, the host and the fans asking questions. The celebrity speakers on stage were having a difficult time hearing as well and had to ask many of the fans asking questions to repeat themselves due to the speakers. You never know what is in store for Q&A's, sadly I had to leave before he came on but when Charlie Cox (Daredevil) was on Tom Hiddleston decided to join him on stage for a bit. It was crazy how far some of the fans came to enjoy the con and see their favorite celebrities.

Along with Q&A's they also had a number of interactive shows and live performances with artists including a thirty minute drawing class with Mark Kistler, A trivia contest, A costume contest, A live crayon carving session with @Mumblestohimself (you may have seen his work on Instagram) and more. Vendor wise there was a ton of art work and comic books with some sculptures, stuffed animals, clothing and more. Each time we visit a con or similar events we always look for a print or a piece of artwork to bring home, this time was no different we picked up a cute Stitch sketch by Jonathan Hallett which will be going on our wall once we buy a frame for it. 

  Photo Credit IG @lv_cosplay_sickness - Two Cosplayers as 
Magneto & Professor X with my husband as a Two-faced 
inspired Nightcrawler/Gambit.

It was nice seeing the assortment of costumes at the con, there is always a mixture of people who do their cosplay's exactly as the characters are and then there are others who have fun with it and put a mix on the costume or come up with a character all of their own. I saw a mixture of costumes from video games, movies, and comics along with people in steampunk and renaissance wear, some handmade some store bought but all fun to see. Everyone has a great time walking around taking photos with each other and appreciating everything the con has to offer. My husband and I attended the event and decided to dress as some of our favorite X-men characters, we didn't get to stay nearly as long as we had wanted. I wore a pair of high heeled boots that went fantastic with my outfit, however I didn't think about the fact that I don't wear heels often so after about four hours of walking around I ended up with some giant blisters on my pinky toes and needed to get out of my shoes so we went home but we has a blast at the con and look forward to future Ace events. Last year Ace hosted events in only four states so keep an eye out for them to head to your state or a state near you! I will post on my FB about any upcoming events I hear about but for now it is only the Phoenix event they have listed on their site.