• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

FAN EXPO CANADA™ 2011 - August 25th to 28th in Toronto, Canada - Now 4 Days!

Started by Kevin Boyd,

562 posts in this topic

BeachBum

BeachBum

Posted
Posted

Not too many big shows left in the year and since I'm missing WW Chicago for a wedding I decided to give Fan Expo another try.

 

Hopefully the Fan Expo lines won't be as chaotic as last year, and since I see the Premium Package contains the ASM 666 Exclusive - I hope this year any exclusives given out will be securely bagged and boarded and not destroyed in the swag bag like last year.

 

I remember a lot of disgruntled people over this.

 

Hope to see better line management and no fire marshall. lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites
campued1010

campued1010

Posted
Posted
Not too many big shows left in the year and since I'm missing WW Chicago for a wedding I decided to give Fan Expo another try.

 

Hopefully the Fan Expo lines won't be as chaotic as last year, and since I see the Premium Package contains the ASM 666 Exclusive - I hope this year any exclusives given out will be securely bagged and boarded and not destroyed in the swag bag like last year.

 

I remember a lot of disgruntled people over this.

 

Hope to see better line management and no fire marshall. lol

 

Well it's been a problem the last 2 years, let's see if they can get their act together this year. I look forward to the reports

Link to comment
Share on other sites
VintageComics

VintageComics

Posted
Posted

There is generally a wait on the way down escalators (it's 3 levels deep into the South end of the building) but the room is absolutely massive, there are back ways down soome of the levels if you're observant and it's over all a fun show even if it isn't too big on vintage books. Lots of stuff to see as they have a horror section every year, non comic related displays and plenty of costumes to go round.

 

T.O. is a world class city too, which adds to the fun.

 

College st. (little Italy) is a lot of fun if the weather is nice as it's a stretch of open bars, pubs, patios, restaurants and cafes that is full of people on the sidewalk.

 

China town is literally adjacent to the Convention Centre and full of great food.

 

Yonge St. is always a fun walk. Longest street in North America, starts at the lake and the walk between Queen and Bloor at night is like walking a carnival. Plenty of stuff to see.

 

Queen St. west of Yonge is ultra trendy and fun too. Shops and places to refresh yourself perpetually.

 

There's lots of other great stuff.

 

If anybody needs a map of what to do or where to go, hit me up. I know the city like the back of my hand.

 

(thumbs u

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
drewincanada

drewincanada

Posted
Posted

The part of Queen that's traditionally referred to as "Queen West" - the section from University to Spadina – is mostly the big chain stores now. You've got to head a fair bit further west to get to the "good bits" these days.

 

"Queen West West" (as in west of Bathurst all the way over to Dufferin) is the real trendy part these days, with lots of unique boutique stores and galleries. The hottest part right now is just east of Dufferin, around the Drake and Gladstone Hotels.

 

A block east of the Drake is Ossington St. Ossington runs north from Queen, and is incredibly hot right now. Fantastic restaurants, galleries, etc. Very funky.

 

http://www.torontolife.com/features/block-ossington/

 

Go a bit further west on Queen West West, near Landsdowne, and there are 3 excellent Tibetan restaurants within a block or so of each other, and lots of other cool shops.

 

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/425587

 

Roy, Chinatown ain't exactly "literally adjacent" to MTCC. It's one major intersection west (to Spadina), and then 3 major intersections north (north of Dundas).

 

It's over a mile from MTCC. But it's worth the trip.

 

Go to Swatow on Spadina north of Dundas. It's a little hole-in-the-wall, but has great food. It's frequented by many of Toronto's top chefs when they want "cheap and cheerful" Chinese food.

 

http://www.torontolife.com/guide/restaurants/chinese/swatow/

 

(thumbs u

Link to comment
Share on other sites
VintageComics

VintageComics

Posted
Posted

Roy, Chinatown ain't exactly "literally adjacent" to MTCC. It's one major intersection west (to Spadina), and then 3 major intersections north (north of Dundas).

 

It's over a mile from MTCC. But it's worth the trip.

 

Sorry, after living outside of Toronto for nearly a decade and a half, to me a [country] mile is adjacent.

 

lol

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ares

Ares

Posted
Posted
45 minutes is nothing compared to the problems San Diego had selling tickets this year.

Thats what I meant..

Considering that SDCC had major issues People should not be upset with the 45 minutes Fan Expo outage. You guys did great

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bruno_s4

Bruno_s4

Posted
Posted
45 minutes is nothing compared to the problems San Diego had selling tickets this year.

Thats what I meant..

Considering that SDCC had major issues People should not be upset with the 45 minutes Fan Expo outage. You guys did great

 

Don't think anyone was upset.

 

It's not like an auction house screwing up the sale of your comics with a computer glitch.... or like Ticketmaster screwing you out of amazing seats to see U2 and having to settle for 20 rows back for the same price.... I could go on....

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ignimbrite

ignimbrite

Posted
Posted

I was on the boards the night the tickets were being sold and I didn't sense anyone being upset. For a moment a few people thought that maybe those people with Roger Wireless accounts would advantageously get tickets leaving none left for the rest of us but Kevin quickly told everyone there were plenty of tickets left and informed everyone when the system was up and running.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kevin Boyd

Kevin Boyd

Posted
  • Author
Posted

You should have seen our Facebook group! It was not pretty...! But once things were on track and working things calmed down pretty quickly and everyone was able to get the tickets they wanted.

 

It's one of the problems with e-commerce --- you test and test and things look good, then you go live and servers crash and don't work properly. Thanks to our able tech assists at Ticket Express, Rogers Wireless and the Hobbystar website it was quickly resolved and it's been working properly since.

 

I know how frustrating things can be when a system gives a start time and then doesn't work properly... I was cursing my laptop on Christmas Eve when the Futureshop Boxing Day sale started and the system kept crashing and crashing. At one point I had the item I wanted in my cart and was putting my cc information in when it booted me out. I gave up and went back later and had no problems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ignimbrite

ignimbrite

Posted
Posted

I think for the first time I am going to get an artist sketch this year at the show. Does anyone have any advice of the best way to go about this? Is it as simple as going to the artists table and talking with them?

 

I know this is most likely an obvious answer but I have never done it before and would like to get an Alpha Flight sketch from Dale Eaglesham. What type of medium do people general get people to sketch on (blank covers, etc)?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ignimbrite

ignimbrite

Posted
Posted

Another quick question. I am looking to buy my first piece of OA at some point, is the show a good place to start or is on-line the way to go? It might be difficult but I want to find a page (any page really) from the Speedball Series in the 80's.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
yellow954

yellow954

Posted
Posted

The best tip for you would be get to the artist ASAP before their list fills up for the weekend...Most people introduce themselves and ask if they are taking sketch requests. Blank covers are the norm in the SS forum, most likely the artist will have a bristol pad....

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jason Truong

Jason Truong

Posted
Posted

For Dale Eaglesham, get there quickly. His list fills fast. He usually has a couple options for types of sketches. Head sketch and full figure sketches, are the options. I can't remember if he does bust/torso sketches.

 

Being a guy that collects a lot of sketches, just go up to them (wait in line first, if there is a line), and just ask if they are doing sketches, if they are taking a list, and if they are charging?

 

As for OA, it can be a good place to start looking. Might be tough to find pages from the Speedball series. I'm not sure who does the art for that series, but it can help a great deal, if that artist is at the show.

 

For other pages, I would suggest Leonard Kirk. He tends to have a lot of pages for sale, and at very inexpensive prices.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ignimbrite

ignimbrite

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the info. Maybe I will b-line right to him to start the show. As someone who collects what do you find is best medium for display or is it typically done the same way every time (meaning on their paper). Sadly there has not been an alpha flight blank cover variant that I know of to bring.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nickwire

nickwire

Posted
Posted

its a slippery slope just so you know. ive only been ngetting OA for a year and a half and its taken over. easily 80 percent of money spent at cons is that now, books are secondary haha

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Go to topic listing