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Very brief, photoless WW Toronto con report - Day 1

Started by drewincanada,

36 posts in this topic

drewincanada

drewincanada

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Posted

Great to have Wizard World in cahoot with Paradise staging the best con in Toronto in ages.

 

My office is a few minutes walk from the Direct Energy Centre, which is in the Canadian National Exhibition ground, spitting distance from the lake. Nice that it's by the water, but on the other hand, it's a fair distance from the downtown hotels, restaurants, pubs, etc. There's really nothing to do around the convention centre at this time of year.

 

The show opened today at noon, and I arrived closer to 12:30. I had purchased an advance 3-day pass, but even if I hadn't, I wouldn't have had to wait in line. There lines were nonexistent. In fact, attendance throughout the afternoon was really sparse. On the one hand, it was great for the collectors who were there, because you didn't have to fight to get at the long boxes, and the dealers had plenty of time to chat. On the other hand, I felt bad for the dealers - and especially for the "celebs" like Gil Gerard, Erin Gray, Ernie Hudson and The Iron Sheik, who spent most of the afternoon staring into space and talking on their cell phones.

 

I said to a few dealers that I thought it might pick up after 5pm when people got off work, but actually there were even fewer people. By 6:30 when I left, you could have shot a cannon through the place and not hit anyone.

 

I'm really hopeful that Saturday and Sunday are different and the crowds come out in force. I want this con to be a smash success so the US dealers come back again. As it was, the show floor was probably 30% comics - at least a dozen top-notch dealers.

 

Speaking of which, it was great to meet Bob Storms, Ted VanLiew, Stephen Ritter and Matt Nelson, the folks from Comiclink, Barry from Heritage, the CGC team, Harley (who's at every Toronto show), etc... and to meet a few more board people like DrWatson, Rob Allan, Sanj Mitra... and the usual Toronto con suspects like Roy, Jim (cgcworld), bruno_s4, eccomics, etc.

 

Everyone was down to earth, easy-going, and a pleasure to talk to. I had especially good conversations with Ted, Stephen and Matt.

 

I'm heading back to the show tomorrow afternoon and will take some shots. But in the meantime, if anyone else wants to add their 12 cents worth, or add some photos to this thread, feel free.

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MattAllen

MattAllen

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Yeah, it was really dead. I hope it's a lot better tommorow. I got some great sketch covers done though and it was nice not to have to spend the whole day in lines. Some of the dealer tables were AMAZING, they had some epic books in the room. One table had three AF 15 in mid-grades, a Hulk 181 9.8 and three Hulk 1s that all looked beautiful. And that was the smallest dealer table in the place. Still, every dealer I saw looked desperate for attention, wish I was looking for books.

I posted pics of the sketch covers in the other WW Toronto thread for those interested.

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Ty_

Ty_

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Posted
Great to have Wizard World in cahoot with Paradise staging the best con in Toronto in ages.

 

My office is a few minutes walk from the Direct Energy Centre, which is in the Canadian National Exhibition ground, spitting distance from the lake. Nice that it's by the water, but on the other hand, it's a fair distance from the downtown hotels, restaurants, pubs, etc. There's really nothing to do around the convention centre at this time of year.

 

The show opened today at noon, and I arrived closer to 12:30. I had purchased an advance 3-day pass, but even if I hadn't, I wouldn't have had to wait in line. There lines were nonexistent. In fact, attendance throughout the afternoon was really sparse. On the one hand, it was great for the collectors who were there, because you didn't have to fight to get at the long boxes, and the dealers had plenty of time to chat. On the other hand, I felt bad for the dealers - and especially for the "celebs" like Gil Gerard, Erin Gray, Ernie Hudson and The Iron Sheik, who spent most of the afternoon staring into space and talking on their cell phones.

 

I said to a few dealers that I thought it might pick up after 5pm when people got off work, but actually there were even fewer people. By 6:30 when I left, you could have shot a cannon through the place and not hit anyone.

 

I'm really hopeful that Saturday and Sunday are different and the crowds come out in force. I want this con to be a smash success so the US dealers come back again. As it was, the show floor was probably 30% comics - at least a dozen top-notch dealers.

 

Speaking of which, it was great to meet Bob Storms, Ted VanLiew, Stephen Ritter and Matt Nelson, the folks from Comiclink, Barry from Heritage, the CGC team, Harley (who's at every Toronto show), etc... and to meet a few more board people like DrWatson, Rob Allan, Sanj Mitra... and the usual Toronto con suspects like Roy, Jim (cgcworld), bruno_s4, eccomics, etc.

 

Everyone was down to earth, easy-going, and a pleasure to talk to. I had especially good conversations with Ted, Stephen and Matt.

 

I'm heading back to the show tomorrow afternoon and will take some shots. But in the meantime, if anyone else wants to add their 12 cents worth, or add some photos to this thread, feel free.

 

Dude! I'd hate to see what your "worst con" experience is like.

 

 

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drewincanada

drewincanada

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Dude! I'd hate to see what your "worst con" experience is like.

 

 

Hey, I said it was great for ME... not for the dealers and guest stars. lol

 

I LOVED the fact that you could look through long boxes without half a dozen guys smacking you upside the head with their massive back packs.

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drewincanada

drewincanada

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A "classic" moment today: I was talking to Ted VL when a guy asked him if he had any Classics Illustrateds. Ted just cracked up laughing like a little kid. He said he did, but unfortunately it got a little paint on it.

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VintageComics

VintageComics

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Dude! I'd hate to see what your "worst con" experience is like.

 

 

Hey, I said it was great for ME... not for the dealers and guest stars. lol

 

I LOVED the fact that you could look through long boxes without half a dozen guys smacking you upside the head with their massive back packs.

 

Some dealers I spoke to did pretty well.

 

I think tomorrow will be busier.

 

 

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Subliminal

Subliminal

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Dude! I'd hate to see what your "worst con" experience is like.

 

 

Hey, I said it was great for ME... not for the dealers and guest stars. lol

 

I LOVED the fact that you could look through long boxes without half a dozen guys smacking you upside the head with their massive back packs.

 

Some dealers I spoke to did pretty well.

 

I think tomorrow will be busier.

 

 

I sensed a bit of desperation in the talk of some of them when they saw the lack of crowds. They were looking to bring in some bucks and pushing for you to buy more books.

I hope the crowds get bigger because I want to see a healthy second major con in this town

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VintageComics

VintageComics

Posted
Posted

 

Dude! I'd hate to see what your "worst con" experience is like.

 

 

Hey, I said it was great for ME... not for the dealers and guest stars. lol

 

I LOVED the fact that you could look through long boxes without half a dozen guys smacking you upside the head with their massive back packs.

 

Some dealers I spoke to did pretty well.

 

I think tomorrow will be busier.

 

 

I sensed a bit of desperation in the talk of some of them when they saw the lack of crowds. They were looking to bring in some bucks and pushing for you to buy more books.

I hope the crowds get bigger because I want to see a healthy second major con in this town

Ditto!
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drewincanada

drewincanada

Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

Dude! I'd hate to see what your "worst con" experience is like.

 

 

Hey, I said it was great for ME... not for the dealers and guest stars. lol

 

I LOVED the fact that you could look through long boxes without half a dozen guys smacking you upside the head with their massive back packs.

 

Some dealers I spoke to did pretty well.

 

I think tomorrow will be busier.

 

 

I sensed a bit of desperation in the talk of some of them when they saw the lack of crowds. They were looking to bring in some bucks and pushing for you to buy more books.

I hope the crowds get bigger because I want to see a healthy second major con in this town

Ditto!

 

Double-ditto! (Is that tritto? hm )

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