A Spotlight on the Big City: A Stellar Maze Event Report

I guess the Pokémon Company International couldn’t afford New York Comic Con this year, so they hosted their own event near the venue over the same weekend. Which is great, because I can’t afford Comic Con either! Thus, the stage was set. For the first time in a while, I got to attend a Pokémon event. I picked the 20th to attend, woke up early, packed my bag, and planned to start my expedition to Area Zero (ahem, Lavan Midtown) at 9:00am on the dot. Assuring me I would make it on time was my best pal: Out of Date Google Maps.

Before I could make it in, my route took me past New York Comic Con, funny that. Just being near the venue gave off an air of excitement… and also a haze of cigarette smoke. Which I should really be used to by now, but I swear there was at least one smoking policy sign out front that people flagrantly ignored. There were also an oddly high number of people trying to purchase badges secondhand in the morning. I can only assume there weren’t many sellers.


Despite my best efforts, Google Maps failed to account for my sluggish walk cycle, and so I arrived at 9:05am. The building had a banner and a sign, so I knew I was at the door, but little else on the exterior said Pokémon. Well, no, that’s not true. There was the line. Even at 9:05am, I was not heading in anytime remotely near first. It extended so far back that it skipped over a door, and I asked if the second group was part of the same line. “Yes”. Kept going, and going. All the while, I kept my eyes on the line. Aside from the sheer numbers, there was also a lot of fandom. Ash costumes here, Pikachu hats there, plushies all around, and there was a kid in a Charizard onesie. Honestly, I felt kind of intimidated, walking into such a group of serious fans with only a Kirby T-shirt to my name.

I wound up behind a nice fellow in green; he spent most of the time on his phone but we had brief chats on where I was from, phone models, and that DSi I had on me. It was actually a 3DS, but to misquote them, “they all look kind of similar when you haven’t seen one in a while”. (For the record, this excursion was worth six Streetpasses. The era is over.) I had my phone as well, but generally my eyes were on the antics of the Charizard kid. One memorable moment was when they accidentally removed one of the belts in the crowd control barriers, then put it back on in the wrong angle. It didn’t draw enough concern to get fixed, not even from staff! All this was good, because getting to the front of the line took about an hour.

Once I was finally inside, it was time to… read a disclaimer! Yes I’m okay with being advertising for Pokémon, this article is a testament to that! Only then was it time to get to mazing!

The inside was dark. Not gloomy, but it felt like you were getting by off refracted light rather than the Sun. Well, really it was more the light projectors up above, casting Energy symbols onto the floor below. The mirrors were pretty tall and wreaked havoc on my depth perception. I didn’t really get a crystalline vibe off the surface alone, so it’s a good thing the corners had this pattern to try and sell the material. Eh, they really only demonstrate the fakeness. Good try. There were some good photos to be had… that I refuse to upload. Have some bland peopleless ones, or maybe dig around Pokémon social media and see if you find me without hints!


As much as I’m making fun of this, I did genuinely fall for the mirrors’ trickery. Not enough to faceplant into my reflection, but enough to walk into all the dead ends. What’s a guy like me to do? Actually, “what’s a guy like me to do that isn’t simply take the second path because this maze isn’t intellectually stimulating”? Well, for the directionally challenged among us all, TCPi was willing to compromise on the initial plan of trapping everyone in a building for eight hours. The bottom of some mirrors near junctions had arrows on them. Do the Dance Dance Revolution and you’d be out in no time. Still, I stalled a bit, half to let it all sink in and half to take photos for this.


Once I was out, I arrived at the other side. Other side? Yeah, I don’t have social accounts, so my preview for this was only the Pokémon.com post. Where the Stellar Maze was largely a “by the numbers” promotional activity, the “other side” was a flash that brought Surging Sparks to life. Where the other side felt like a vague approximation of a cave, this area was bright and shiny: exactly what a jewel based beach would be minus the sand. And sand was well and accounted for, projections played out over the walls showing animations of the cards on a beach background. There were palm trees in the corner to give it that 3D effect the mirror maze couldn’t muster, and more spotlights. Off to the side were reflective hexagonal pedestals. They might remind you of those Tera Crystals you’ve heard of.


But the main event was the giant Pokémon cards. Standing taller than even myself were Pikachu ex and Alolan Exeggutor ex, both surrounded with more crystals and further embellished by the spotlights projecting sparkles onto them. Combined with the overall lighting, the scale and grandeur could paralyze people. These were the big ticket photo op, and The Pokémon Company knew it. For people without friends to take photos with, staff were available to hold your phone for you. You knew they were friendly, because they were the ones wearing Hawaiian style Exeggutor shirts. It paid to explore a little, because facing away from the maze exit was a double piece for the new Illustration Rare Latios and Latias ex. Very pretty.


Now now, this wasn’t all fun and artwork. This was an event and there were safety precautions. I was so busy exploring I walked toward a prohibited area behind a card, and got told off by the mean staff. You knew they were mean, because they were burly guys in jet black shirts who did the bomb checks. He did direct me to the actual exit, which was good… because I hadn’t noticed there was one.

On the right side of the room, near that exit, was another less interesting screen. It showed cards, sure, but instead of a themed animation they just scrolled to the right and were usually back face up most of the time. What’s the point of showing the card back there when I can already look at Poké Boulders on the Super Colossal Mega Grand Big Dynamax Hefty Raid-Boss Gigant Titan Industrial Alpha Jumbo cards? Regardless, there were three stations with tablets on crystal pedestals. These were set to the Surging Sparks card gallery, so you could scroll through all the upcoming cards. Boy, this article would be more interesting if it came out before prerelease! Still, the new Dugtrio got a solid laugh out of me, so it was no mere wasted space.

Last leg! After turning the corner from the jumbo card area, I found a line to wait behind. Yes, again. I didn’t know what was around the next corner, but obviously if this many people wanted it, then I did too. Before I took position, I went to the left counter and claimed a goodie bag. These were a “while supplies last” deal, but because I was so early there were basically three full shelves behind the desk. You’d better believe the main reason I aimed for a 9:00am entry was to get one. Design wise, these were simple black bags with logos for Surging Sparks printed on them. The yellow lineart of Pikachu ex lends it a certain shelf presence at the venue and beyond. But enough about appearance, there’s an image below! You want contents? I got you:

• 2 booster packs of Stellar Crown (hey maybe they contain a Galvantula ex! Probably not...)
• 1 Zapdos ex Deluxe Battle Deck (I like Miraidon. Sure.)
• 1 small plastic paper with ads for Stellar Crown and Surging Sparks. (Er, I mean I willingly stood in a line for an hour for Pokémon. Do I need this?)
• 1 small plastic paper advertising Pokémon Center, with a 10% discount code. (No, I don’t change my buying habits for impromptu 10% discount codes. No, you can’t have it either, it expired last Thursday.)

Back on line, the right wall had art to appear as the wood seen in the Surging Sparks banner. Perpendicular to that was a screen looping the Surging Sparks commercial. But next to that, people appeared to be organizing around a pillar to do some TCG trades. Judging from the lack of signs, this was probably just something people started doing rather than a official space. I didn’t pack my own cards, mostly because I don’t have cards I’m willing to trade, but I would have joined if I did.

Once the around the bend, I could finally see what the second line was on about. Staff were offering photos with the Surging Sparks logo on a sort of 3D backdrop with a blue light effect fading into the display. Then they printed them off and gave them to each person/group. It’s a little off theme given the beach was the standout portion, but one last photo is a fitting prize for a Stellar Maze champion like myself. I gave a couple of "Thank You"s to staff, then I returned the way I came: past the Comic Con I still can't afford, and back home.

Additional Event Photos
(Click the thumbnails for full size images)