Fan Expo Canada – Sept 1-4, 2016
Ah, the Fan Expo Canad. Held in Toronto every year, Fan Expo always strives to be Canada’s best and biggest comic show. They always do a great job in bringing in the top celebrities, artists, and creators. And 2016 was no exception as they pulled out all the stops!
The list of superstars in attendance was phenomenal. Take a look a just some of the names below:
Actors:
- Mark Hamill (Star Wars)
- William Shatner, George Takei & Brent Spiner (Star Trek)
- Kevin Smith & Jason Mewes (Jay & Silent Bob)
- Gillian Anderson (X-Files)
- Charlie Cox & Elden Hensen (Daredevil-TV)
- Adam West & Burt Ward (Batman-TV)
- Sonequa Martin-Green, Michael Cudlitz & Scott Wilson (Walking Dead), and more and more and more…
Comic Book Artists:
- Stan Lee (in his very last Canadian appearance!),
- Frank Miller, Joe Quesada, Andy Kubert, Brian Azzarello, Margaret Atwood, Klaus Janson, Greg Capullo, David & Meredith Finch, Dan Slott, Tim Sale, Greg Land, John Tyler Christopher, and many more…
When you have this kind of line-up, the fans will come out in droves. This year, they came out in droves. I believe the total number of attendees passed the 124,000 mark. That’s a big crowd! Sure, it’s spread out over 4 days, but there are times when you will likely feel a bit claustrophobic. There are pockets throughout the floor that don’t have a ton of people, but there are lots of other spots that are so congested that it can take a long, long time to get to where you’re going. If you can deal with the crowds, you’re going to have a great time!
Aside from the special guests, the show offers large set ups by some big companies. Lego, Ubisoft, DC, Hasbro, and EB Games all had impressive displays, some of them quite extravagant.
Last, but not least, were the vendors. The small guys (like us!). We make up a huge portion of the floor space, but we are no longer the main attraction. Nevertheless, year after year, we set up and take these 4 days as a chance to sell as much as we can of our treasured collectibles. This show is usually right up there among my most successful. I always bring a ton of good material for sale, and the comic fans know to seek me out. Forest City Coins is known for setting up with killer books at decent prices, and always willing to listen to offers. With this in mind, the show is always a good one. Listed below are some notable sales from this weekend.
CGC and CBCS graded comics:
- Amazing Spider-Man #129 (9.4)
- Werewolf By Night #32 (9.2)
- Flash Comics #7 (4.5)
- World’s Finest #30 (7.5)
- Wolverine #4 (9.6)
- Incredible Hulk #181 (7.0)
- Batman #1 9.8
- Batman #1 Variant Cover (9.6)
- New Mutants #98 (9.6)
- Amazing Spider-Man #23 (7.5)
- Amazing Spider-Man #361 (9.4)
- Y the Last Man #1 (9.6)
- Daredevil #168 (9.6)
- Avengers #57 (9.2)
- Avengers #24 (9.2)
- Avengers #12 (9.0)
- Hero For Hire #1 (7.5)
- Sub-Mariner #1 (9.2)
- Star Wars #1 Action Figure Sketch Variant (9.6)
- X-Men #50 (9.2)
- Incredible Hulk #271 (9.0)
- Avengers #4 (5.0)
- Green Lantern #1 (1.0)
- Avengers #1 (6.0)
- Detective Comics #441 (8.0)
- Funnies #64 (3.0)
- Forever People #1 (9.2)
- Invincible Iron Man #7 (9.8)
- Mystic Comics V2 #1 (7.0)
- Fantastic Comics #5 (1.0)
- Action Comics #1 – reprint (9.6)
- Annie Oakley #2 (8.5)
- Strange Tales #110 (8.0)
I also sold a lot of trades, kids comics and a few higher end raw books. I actually did really well with WW2 Canadian helmets, believe it or not! We sold 24 of them over the course of four days!
Again, this is a show that I enjoy very much, and I always look forward to it every year. This year was no exception, it was a success. I look forward to seeing you at Fan Expo 2017!
