Annual Atlanta G.I.Joe and toy convention held at Marriott Century Center

The 2015 JoeLanta and The Great Atlanta Toy Convention was held at The Marriott Century Center in Atlanta on March 14 and 15. The event for toy collectors and pop culture enthusiasts featured costume contests, action figure dioramas, guest panels and a two-day toy show.

The first 100 children who arrived on Saturday morning will received a free toy, and attendees who pre-purchased special packages for the convention gained exclusive access to special activities held on Friday and Saturday nights.

Among the many panelists this year were critically acclaimed Atlanta artist Tom Feister whose work has appeared in IDW Publishing’s G.I.Joe: Origins; Larry Hama, creator of G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero; and Rob Springer and Brian Kilby, hosts of Transformers podcast Radio Free Cybertron.

There were also panels on The Walking Dead, the business side of the comic book industry and the basics of cosplay, the practice of dressing up and roleplaying as pop culture characters.

Originally held as two separate events founded by the same core group of Atlanta-area collectors and enthusiasts, the combined convention has become one of the largest annual toy shows in the Southeast region, according to Martin Jallad, the convention’s director.

“There are very few ‘just toys’ shows. We’re very passionate about the fact that we’re really driven, and the focus is really around toys. So, the panels and the guests, we try to have them with a big presences around toys.”

Since 2008, 100 percent of the convention proceeds have gone to Cody Lane Foundation, a Lilburn nonprofit to create the Cody Lane Memorial Toy and Diorama Museum. Dr. David Lane, a toy collector and a professor of counseling at Mercer University, created the foundation in honor of his late son, who was also a toy collector and a member of the Atlanta G.I.Joe Collectors’ Club, and who had passed away at 17 in 2007 after a long battle with a degenerative neurological disorder.

The foundation and museum are aspects of the convention that attendees often overlook, according to Jallad. “Everybody comes to JoeLanta, and they really enjoy the show, they love the show, but this aspect of it has never really hit home.”

However, Jallad hopes to see greater movement in making the museum a reality in the coming year.

“We’re going to be focusing much more in the next year on starting to look for space and approaching sponsors. Our far range goal would be about four or five years out, but we definitely would like to make it happen before then.”