New York Comic-Con is one of the biggest conventions in the United States and the biggest on the east coast, and this year Con attendees will be treated to an extra day, as the Con expands to four days this October.

For 2011, the event will be running Thursday to Sunday, with the first day serving as a preview night, much like the Wednesday night at San Diego Comic-Con. This will accommodate more attendees, as well as more programming for artists, retailers, and exhibitors, as the Con opens to the public for the first time for three full days. This also means more hours for the Cultyard and New York Anime Festival, which was a major draw for cosplayers at the convention center in 2010.

This is a big move considering how young NYCC is, but it shows the growth of the convention since its inception in 2006. The 2011 NYCC will be held from Thursday October 13, 2011 through Sunday, October 16, 2011 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City.

At conventions filled with costumed geeks, they don’t have regular competitions of athleticism. No, they do something far better, such as the first ever Tauntaun Sleeping Bag Race at Dragon*Con 2010, which is planned to be an annual event.

For those that aren’t familiar with the reference, online retailer ThinkGeek produces a sleeping bag that resembles the creature Han Solo slices open and places Luke Skywalker into for warmth on the planet Hoth during the first classic Star Wars sequel Empire Strikes Back [Read Must Own: The Famed “˜Star Wars’ Tauntaun Sleeping Bag Is Now A Reality!]

Organizer geeky costumer Juliette Vincent decided to contact ThinkGeek about sponsoring a race, which they agreed to do if Dragon*Con would officially recognize it in their programing.

The top three winners of the race received prizes and a small legion of respect from onlookers. We of course captured this epic display of athleticism in the shaky videos embedded below.

Check them out and offer your play-by-play opinions in the comment section.

In terms of cosplay at fan conventions, Dragon*Con is by far the cream of the crop — so much so that I barely pay attention to those who dress up at San Diego Comic-Con and San Francisco’s WonderCon. For instance, the guy decked out as Kratos from God of War stood a good 6 1/2 feet tall and painted every inch of his exposed skin.

Unfortunately for those who prefer the masculine of the sexes, Kratos is not the norm among men. Most male geeks who dress up opt for costumes that don’t celebrate their gender in the same way that their female counterparts do. Still, Geeks of Doom photographer Derek Deweese staked out the entire convention area to find some of the best at this year’s event.

Check out the thumbnails below for 20 Men of Dragon*Con. Also, check out our earlier posts featuring this year’s Cosplay Babes of Dragon*Con: Part 1 & Part 2.

There are certain things people should just avoid doing at a convention, like not showering, invading personal space of others, and publicly wearing a fury costume. Since the anal retentive geeks in attendance usually choose to ignore any rule that isn’t explicitly stated, it can very well ruin the experience for everyone.

The guys from Dragon*Con TV, who also produced the “Vaderex” parody we reported on last week [READ: Watch Now: “˜Vaderex’ Is A Prescription Drug Proven To Reduce Dark Side Flare-Ups In Jedi], decided to make a public service announcement at Dragon*Con to target just those types of geeks.

Think of it as sort of a “Best Practices” or Con Etiquette for the masses.

The video is playing in between panels and addresses religious conversations, personal hygiene, inappropriate random sounds, Robots, Zombies, and much more…

Check out the video embedded below and share with friends who’ll be at a convention in the near future.

Some depressing news for Star Trek fanatics worldwide. In an interview with The Toronto Sun, Leonard Nimoy apparently revealed that he now intends to retire from acting and even from all of those crazy conventions that have been such a huge part of his career.

Nimoy, who was finishing up his last episode as Dr. Bell on the popular J.J. Abrams TV show, Fringe, basically just explains that he’s been doing this longer than most of us have been alive, and it’s time for him to step away and enjoy his life.