Unlock the Con, located in The Outlet Collection Seattle mall in Auburn, is all about bringing the comic book convention experience to fans in a more accessible and personal way. On the daily, the business is a retail store for all kinds of rare and signed media collectibles, merchandise and art. Multiple times a month, events are held in which customers can meet and get merch signed by famous voice actors, artists and more.

“We’re not selling anything anybody needs,” co-owner Barry Weaver said. “But it’s that therapeutic aspect, it’s the collecting, it’s the joy, the connections. Ashley and I bond over a lot of this stuff.”

The idea for Unlock the Con came about when married owners Barry and Ashley Weaver attended some comic cons and thought about what they would do differently about them. By the time their idea and collectible-selling booths turned into the business that is now in the Auburn mall, they had focused on something more specific than being a retail collectibles store.

“We really wanted to focus on the convention aspect of it, because at some point people aren’t going to be buying Funko Pops,” Barry Weaver said. “We want to be that gateway drug for people to feel comfortable to go to a Comic Con.”

In 2023, Unlock the Con hosted about 53 celebrities across 29 events, Weaver said. Next year, they may cut back to one bigger event a month, to lessen overlapping with other conventions happening in the area.

Barry and Ashley have structured Unlock the Con events to be the ideal convention experience; there still might be long lines to meet a certain voice actor, but everyone in line can be sure that there will be access to bathrooms, chairs to sit in, good community, and food—a food truck is a permanent part of the space, which specializes in gluten-free and allergy-friendly foods.

“Emerald City Comic Con is overwhelming,” Weaver said. “If you’ve never been and your daughter’s autistic, and you have special needs and it’s hard to get around, you may just decide ‘I’m never going to go to one because it’s too much.’ But if you come here, and you can get similar products, similar but great experiences, you at least get to experience that.”

In general, it’s comfortable, Weaver said. This is an intentionally mindful aspect of the experience Unlock the Con works to create.

“We hear from voice actors all the time that a lot of fans that come up and meet them at conventions have social anxiety, they have issues with making friends or being in public places, they have autism, and that is very common,” Weaver said. “A lot of people will sit in front of their TV or their computer or read books, and they relate to those characters. And those characters become friends, become parents, become role models, become very influential. And meeting the person even in just a small way helps bring that person to life, and it can mean so much to somebody.”

Regular attendees of Unlock the Con events include a father and daughter who are fans of the anime “My Hero Academia”. At the first event they attended, the daughter didn’t look up or introduce herself, but by the second, she told people her name, Weaver said. “Third event, she’s asking questions. And by the 6th or 7th event they did together, we had an interactive party and she was walking around with kids helping them do stuff, introducing them to people.”

Witnessing this growth, especially for those who may not otherwise have the chance to do so in a comfortable and accepting space, is something that Weaver had no idea he was going to gain from the job, he said, but is so meaningful to him now.

At a signing event for Steve Blum, voice of Spike Spiegel in the wildly popular anime “Cowboy Bebop”, among many others, a nervous “biggest Steve Blum fan in the world” had over 30 items to get signed. “As he was talking to Steve, I see Steve kinda put the pen down and put his arm around him so he was facing away from everybody, and they had a conversation for about 20 minutes,” Weaver said. “What’s even cooler is everybody else that was waiting in line sat there and smiled and said, ‘Wow.’”

“So how do we talk about the convention experience,” Weaver said, “and what are we doing? We’re unlocking it for people, we’re bringing it to somebody who otherwise might be locked out of it.”

Unlock the Con is located at 1101 Outlet Collection Way #1321, Auburn, WA 98001 and can be found online at unlockthecon.com.