Last week I braved the 108 degree heat of the Arizona desert to visit the Phoenix Comicon. It was my first time attending the Southwest’s premiere geekapalooza, which was stuffed with as many attendees as the Phoenix Convention Center could hold. Seriously, check out the crowds in just the one of the convention center’s lobbies in this photo — it’s easy to see why some folks are calling Phoenix the nation’s third largest comic con (after San Diego and New York).

Amidst the numerous film and TV celebrities in attendance — including Adam West, Nathan Fillion, Bruce Campbell, Stephen Amell, John Barrowman, and John Rhys-Davies — were comic book luminaries like Stan Lee, Chris Claremont (fresh off his cameo in X-Men: Days of Future Past), Todd McFarlane, Mark Bagley, and The Walking Dead‘s original artist Tony Moore. But the most eye-catching folks present were, as always, the co-splayers, costumed as Disney princesses, cyberpunks, monsters, elves, supervillains, and superheroes — including Nerdist’s own Holly Conrad (Host of Try This at Home) as the best damn Doctor Strange I’ve ever seen at a comic book convention. But the top prize must go to the clever chap who designed his very own TARDIS Prime costume out of cardboard. It’s the little touches that make this dual love letter to Doctor Who and the Transformers work, like the Tom Baker scarf and the Silence “skin” markings. Well done, sir!