Calgary Comic and Toy Expo Report (September 30)

[kimik]

Silvermine (Mel) and I were supposed to set up together at the show in Calgary this past weekend, but he had to bail and drywall his basement so I ended up heading down there myself. This is usually a small show with limited attendance so I was worried that it would be a very slow day.

 

While there was low attendance, I was the only seller there with decent GA/SA/BA books and as a result had a small but steady stream of buyers all day. Needless to say, I did very well .

 

In general, the back issue market is strong here in Alberta with my sales of early SA Marvels, a couple of SOTI ECs, and mid grade BA keys going for (well) above guide in grade.

 

I would encourage any dealers/sellers with decent books to attend the big show in Calgary next spring (this year's event was in late May - http://www.calgaryexpo.com/). There were over 6,000 attendees this year, which is up from 3,000 or so the first year (2006). It sounds like the plan is to do a 2-day event next year.

[piper]

This is one Edmontonian, who doesn't pay over guide for SA anymore.

 

 

[aardvark88]

Is this the con that has 1,000 comic fans and 5,000 manga/anime/cosplay fans? Market for anime is MUCH greater than funny books.

[kimik]

This is one Edmontonian, who doesn't pay over guide for SA anymore.

 

 

Then it's a good thing I was selling to Calgarians!

 

Seriously, though, the SA books that went for over guide do that on a regular basis on eBay so they were not getting gouged.

 

I was surprised to see a lack of decent books from the other dealers at the show. Even the sellers that normally have good stuff were peddling cheap moderns or common later SA and early BA books. I was disappointed that I could not find any high grade Neal Adams Tomahawks there as there are a couple of Calgary area dealers that had them in the past.

[kimik]

Is this the con that has 1,000 comic fans and 5,000 manga/anime/cosplay fans? Market for anime is MUCH greater than funny books.

 

I don't know what the breakdown was as I did not go to the show. Mel took some of my books with him to the big Calgary show (sold them all) and I stayed in Edmonton for another con that day. Needless to say the Edmonton show was a complete waste of time - I only sold a few hundred worth of books. However, I did snap up a couple of pieces of OA (Travis Charest Darkstars splash and a Tom Grummet Teen Titans/Wonder Woman with the first appearance of Pantha) for dirt cheap at the end of the day that made it worthwhile.

 

All I know is Mel raked in the dough at the Calgary show - I will be going there next year for sure.