Calgary Expo April 28 - May 1 2016

[MetalPSI]

Calgary Expo was my first comic con experience. The better half and I got up at 5am on Saturday morning, loaded up the car with some stuff to take to my mothers house, warmed up the car and away we went.

 

We got on the road at about 615 (meaning past Leduc) and it was smooth sailing all morning. I've been driving this highway 10+ years and it still amazes me how the amount of traffic continues to increase. While there weren't any holdups, a few years ago driving at this time in the morning would pretty much guarantee you would see maybe 20 passenger vehicles during your travel, and lots of tractor units. The traffic was pretty steady.

 

I love driving this time of year, you get to see the farmers out doing their thing, the slight tang of manure and fertilizer brings good memories for me. Happy to know north of Red Deer is cow/horse manure season. Wasn't as pleasant just north of Olds, it's pig manure season there Never liked the smell of pig or sheep manure for some reason.

 

Anyways, got to my mothers house at about quarter to 9 in the morning. (Stopped in Red Deer for the usual break) and after parking next to the Saddledome, we found ourselves standing in line across from the BMO center quarter to 10. I hadn't driven down to the Stampede grounds in over 15 years, nice to see not much has changed (other than the downtown core, which is just spectacular. If you have lived in Calgary less than 15 years, you just wouldn't understand the changes it's been through, it just keeps getting better and better)

 

In line there was a lot of movie talk, jumped into a conversation someone was having behind me about the new spiderman in Civil War. I had asked if they liked the Romata look better than the McFarlane look. They said they werent sure, but they were more concerned about why they keep changing Spiderman and that they thought Tobey Maguire was the best one so far I suppose we all hold on to what we see first when we are young...

 

Now the problem with Calgary Expo being my first con is that it's just huge. Having never been to a con before, I did a little research before hand (Special thanks to HumanTorch and Artboy for their past con threads, just a wealth of information) not to mention they split things up. The Stampede grounds are huge (and my details fuzzy, everytime I ever went to the stampede, I was severely impaired in one way or another, ah youth) and the better half being from Sundre, wasn't as familiar with the grounds as I was. We managed to get some information from the hoard of event workers (bless them and their constant shouting) on where things were taking place. My first stop was to find Fiona Staples booth. I had promised a boardie I would get a free sketch if possible. So basically, we ended up cutting the big area in half, skirting the outsides till I finally found artists row. I was disappointed to find that not only she wasn't at her booth, but she wouldn't get there till 2 and sorry, no sketches on the weekends. With that information gained, we set off, trying to find the shirt stall where my wife found a shirt she liked.

 

I took an scientific approach to seeing most of the booths. By cutting the building in half, I wondered up and down the isles in a S pattern till I got to the other wall. We must have spent two hours looking at all sorts of figures and artwork. The wife spent time looking at handmade jewelry and amassing a collection of contact cards. I was disappointed to not see that much OA, most vendors were selling prints of their stuff instead.

 

Finally around noon we found where the comic vendors had set up and I did some browsing, leaving the wife to people watch, which she loves. I found browsing to be difficult at some booths. Some people just marked their boxes in alphabetical order and that was as far as they went to organize anything. Frustrating to say the least, I skipped over quite a few booths because of it. Harley Yee's booth caught my eye, and looking at his back wall, I began to realize why this man is a legend in his own time. While I was standing there ogling, he passed by and commented to me, "Get on back here, there is room, don't stand there, come, take a close look" He is just an awesome guy. I didn't get back there, nervousness set in being that close to triple digit books After asking him if he had any Maxx ashcans (of course) I left his booth and wandered off.

 

Found myself at another booth that took up quite a lot of space. Caged Comics. Found myself a Wizard #2 Maxx ashcan and a Transformers #6. Both were marked $10 and after talking a bit about Maxx ashcans with Georgio and his wife, ended up paying $10 for both picks. I then found myself wandering by Forest City Coins, who I knew was thirdgreenham's booth. Andy had picked my donation to the March Madness grading competition, which is how I knew him. Was great to say hello and behold his booth. He has some very nice books and the display was wonderful, it was unfortunate the event was so busy. Around the corner I dropped in on Dave and Karl's booth, which was just as nice. I these guys definitely know what they are doing. Take corner was doing HUGE amounts of traffic and it seemed like every cosplayer made their way down that aisle at one point or another. Beside their booth was a group of boardies that Dave mentioned. I am not sure who they all were, but I recognized Greggy and Joeypost. Everyone was in deep conversation, so I made a mental note to head back when it was less crowded. How wrong I was Seems like around 1 pm the con swells to max proportions, and now I understand why Fiona Staples shows up in the afternoon. The morning was pretty packed, but there was lots of space between people and people were moving quite freely. By about 1230 or so, moving around was not so easy anymore. The place filled right up. We ended up finding the booth the wife wanted to get the shirt at and we were ready to head back home. On trying to find the exit I came across a booth selling Transformers reissues and bought a set of those. It was with our hands full I realized that we should just head out, I wasn't wandering around gawking like that. So we ended up leaving around 130.

 

It was an amazing experience and I will be attending again, this time more prepared. I learned that you should probably go on slower days to really browse the inventories, by Saturday it seemed like most booths have already sold quite a few of their good inventory. Also, if planning to make purchases, have storage ready. I bought my books early on, and it was hindering to be carrying them in hand the whole day. I think bringing a knapsack with a lunch would have helped us out. Not to mention water. The food was not great. Saturday was just too busy, I think Friday morning would have been a much better bet.

[Artboy99]

Calgary Expo was my first comic con experience. The better half and I got up at 5am on Saturday morning, loaded up the car with some stuff to take to my mothers house, warmed up the car and away we went.

 

We got on the road at about 615 (meaning past Leduc) and it was smooth sailing all morning. I've been driving this highway 10+ years and it still amazes me how the amount of traffic continues to increase. While there weren't any holdups, a few years ago driving at this time in the morning would pretty much guarantee you would see maybe 20 passenger vehicles during your travel, and lots of tractor units. The traffic was pretty steady.

 

I love driving this time of year, you get to see the farmers out doing their thing, the slight tang of manure and fertilizer brings good memories for me. Happy to know north of Red Deer is cow/horse manure season. Wasn't as pleasant just north of Olds, it's pig manure season there Never liked the smell of pig or sheep manure for some reason.

 

Anyways, got to my mothers house at about quarter to 9 in the morning. (Stopped in Red Deer for the usual break) and after parking next to the Saddledome, we found ourselves standing in line across from the BMO center quarter to 10. I hadn't driven down to the Stampede grounds in over 15 years, nice to see not much has changed (other than the downtown core, which is just spectacular. If you have lived in Calgary less than 15 years, you just wouldn't understand the changes it's been through, it just keeps getting better and better)

 

In line there was a lot of movie talk, jumped into a conversation someone was having behind me about the new spiderman in Civil War. I had asked if they liked the Romata look better than the McFarlane look. They said they werent sure, but they were more concerned about why they keep changing Spiderman and that they thought Tobey Maguire was the best one so far I suppose we all hold on to what we see first when we are young...

 

Now the problem with Calgary Expo being my first con is that it's just huge. Having never been to a con before, I did a little research before hand (Special thanks to HumanTorch and Artboy for their past con threads, just a wealth of information) not to mention they split things up. The Stampede grounds are huge (and my details fuzzy, everytime I ever went to the stampede, I was severely impaired in one way or another, ah youth) and the better half being from Sundre, wasn't as familiar with the grounds as I was. We managed to get some information from the hoard of event workers (bless them and their constant shouting) on where things were taking place. My first stop was to find Fiona Staples booth. I had promised a boardie I would get a free sketch if possible. So basically, we ended up cutting the big area in half, skirting the outsides till I finally found artists row. I was disappointed to find that not only she wasn't at her booth, but she wouldn't get there till 2 and sorry, no sketches on the weekends. With that information gained, we set off, trying to find the shirt stall where my wife found a shirt she liked.

 

I took an scientific approach to seeing most of the booths. By cutting the building in half, I wondered up and down the isles in a S pattern till I got to the other wall. We must have spent two hours looking at all sorts of figures and artwork. The wife spent time looking at handmade jewelry and amassing a collection of contact cards. I was disappointed to not see that much OA, most vendors were selling prints of their stuff instead.

 

Finally around noon we found where the comic vendors had set up and I did some browsing, leaving the wife to people watch, which she loves. I found browsing to be difficult at some booths. Some people just marked their boxes in alphabetical order and that was as far as they went to organize anything. Frustrating to say the least, I skipped over quite a few booths because of it. Harley Yee's booth caught my eye, and looking at his back wall, I began to realize why this man is a legend in his own time. While I was standing there ogling, he passed by and commented to me, "Get on back here, there is room, don't stand there, come, take a close look" He is just an awesome guy. I didn't get back there, nervousness set in being that close to triple digit books After asking him if he had any Maxx ashcans (of course) I left his booth and wandered off.

 

Found myself at another booth that took up quite a lot of space. Caged Comics. Found myself a Wizard #2 Maxx ashcan and a Transformers #6. Both were marked $10 and after talking a bit about Maxx ashcans with Georgio and his wife, ended up paying $10 for both picks. I then found myself wandering by Forest City Coins, who I knew was thirdgreenham's booth. Andy had picked my donation to the March Madness grading competition, which is how I knew him. Was great to say hello and behold his booth. He has some very nice books and the display was wonderful, it was unfortunate the event was so busy. Around the corner I dropped in on Dave and Karl's booth, which was just as nice. I these guys definitely know what they are doing. Take corner was doing HUGE amounts of traffic and it seemed like every cosplayer made their way down that aisle at one point or another. Beside their booth was a group of boardies that Dave mentioned. I am not sure who they all were, but I recognized Greggy and Joeypost. Everyone was in deep conversation, so I made a mental note to head back when it was less crowded. How wrong I was Seems like around 1 pm the con swells to max proportions, and now I understand why Fiona Staples shows up in the afternoon. The morning was pretty packed, but there was lots of space between people and people were moving quite freely. By about 1230 or so, moving around was not so easy anymore. The place filled right up. We ended up finding the booth the wife wanted to get the shirt at and we were ready to head back home. On trying to find the exit I came across a booth selling Transformers reissues and bought a set of those. It was with our hands full I realized that we should just head out, I wasn't wandering around gawking like that. So we ended up leaving around 130.

 

It was an amazing experience and I will be attending again, this time more prepared. I learned that you should probably go on slower days to really browse the inventories, by Saturday it seemed like most booths have already sold quite a few of their good inventory. Also, if planning to make purchases, have storage ready. I bought my books early on, and it was hindering to be carrying them in hand the whole day. I think bringing a knapsack with a lunch would have helped us out. Not to mention water. The food was not great. Saturday was just too busy, I think Friday morning would have been a much better bet.

 

If you go to the show to buy comics I recommend the first day. It isn't as crowded and most vendors will have most of their stuff still ( what hasn't sold to the other vendors before opening ). Many would argue that you should go on the last day, I disagree as by then a lot of the books have sold.

 

There is a myth that dealers will give better deals on the last day depending on how the show went. Myself, I do 12 shows a year so I see no reason to discount my books when I have another show coming up within a month. I am likely to sell it there.

 

Also at the beginning the event organizers hand out these extremely large carrying bags for stuff. You and your wife could each get one.

 

[joeypost]

I am not sure who they all were, but I recognized Greggy and Joeypost. Everyone was in deep conversation, so I made a mental note to head back when it was less crowded.

 

You should have joined the conversation. No one ever minds another board member introducing themselves.

 

p.s. Our conversations are never that deep.

[MetalPSI]

I will definitely keep that in mind for next time, Joey

 

Thanks for the info Karl, I totally agree, I think getting in early on the first or second day would be best for comic purchases, and maybe going mid afternoon for signings, depending on the artist. Next Calgary one for sure I will be coming on a Thursday morning.

[gyro-1]

I will definitely keep that in mind for next time, Joey

 

Thanks for the info Karl, I totally agree, I think getting in early on the first or second day would be best for comic purchases, and maybe going mid afternoon for signings, depending on the artist. Next Calgary one for sure I will be coming on a Thursday morning.

Set up morning is fun to you can watch the venders raid reach other and there is a lot of conversation time

Don't forget red and white club show ( this year I hope )

[aardvark88]

Red and White con is usually middle of Sept, 2016 but Phoenix Comics's Marty has to review the Calgary Stampeders football schedule 1st to see when he can squeeze his con in on a Sunday.

[kimik]

Red and White con is usually middle of Sept, 2016 but Phoenix Comics's Marty has to review the Calgary Stampeders football schedule 1st to see when he can squeeze his con in on a Sunday.

 

We already paid for it so hopefully they have the date finalized soon.

 

That being said, the next big Alberta show is the Edmonton Expo September 23 - 26. I found that there was a better selection of GA/SA/BA books there last year than at the Calgary Expo.

[joeypost]

Red and White con is usually middle of Sept, 2016 but Phoenix Comics's Marty has to review the Calgary Stampeders football schedule 1st to see when he can squeeze his con in on a Sunday.

 

We already paid for it so hopefully they have the date finalized soon.

 

That being said, the next big Alberta show is the Edmonton Expo September 23 - 26. I found that there was a better selection of GA/SA/BA books there last year than at the Calgary Expo.

 

[Fan Boy]

Red and White con is usually middle of Sept, 2016 but Phoenix Comics's Marty has to review the Calgary Stampeders football schedule 1st to see when he can squeeze his con in on a Sunday.

 

We already paid for it so hopefully they have the date finalized soon.

 

That being said, the next big Alberta show is the Edmonton Expo September 23 - 26. I found that there was a better selection of GA/SA/BA books there last year than at the Calgary Expo.

 

Not sure if I can go to Edmonton Expo this year. I have 2 big shows in Vancouver and is enough. And also couple of small shows.

 

Maybe next year I will decide what con show I want go.

[kimik]

Red and White con is usually middle of Sept, 2016 but Phoenix Comics's Marty has to review the Calgary Stampeders football schedule 1st to see when he can squeeze his con in on a Sunday.

 

We already paid for it so hopefully they have the date finalized soon.

 

That being said, the next big Alberta show is the Edmonton Expo September 23 - 26. I found that there was a better selection of GA/SA/BA books there last year than at the Calgary Expo.

 

 

There tends to also be one new seller with sweet books each year at Edmonton. The key is beating Harley to them.

[greggy]

Red and White con is usually middle of Sept, 2016 but Phoenix Comics's Marty has to review the Calgary Stampeders football schedule 1st to see when he can squeeze his con in on a Sunday.

 

We already paid for it so hopefully they have the date finalized soon.

 

That being said, the next big Alberta show is the Edmonton Expo September 23 - 26. I found that there was a better selection of GA/SA/BA books there last year than at the Calgary Expo.

 

[lou_fine]

Can u see the GA key that Harley sold on Sat. for $99,000 to a hi-roller who flew in from Vancouver to Calgary expo?

 

 

I discussed this with Harley, he did not sell the book at the show. He did in fact sell it online.

 

Well since Harley doesn't really have much of a direct online presence for selling books, would it be the following sale that was done through CC last summer:

 

http://www.comicconnect.com/bookDetail.php?id=605836

 

[aardvark88]

I thought some hi-roller named Dean might bring a suitcase full of US greenbacks from Vancouver to Harley at Calgary expo to save the 5% gst on $125,000 declared value of 1 comic.

 

 

[Artboy99]

I thought some hi-roller named Dean might bring a suitcase full of US greenbacks from Vancouver to Harley at Calgary expo to save the 5% gst on $125,000 declared value of 1 comic.

 

 

Harley said it was sold via the internet but I don't really know what happened.

If Harley did get a suitcase full of bucks he didn't spend much of it. He bought nothing at our booth this year which is unusual.

 

 

[thirdgreenham]

I thought some hi-roller named Dean might bring a suitcase full of US greenbacks from Vancouver to Harley at Calgary expo to save the 5% gst on $125,000 declared value of 1 comic.

 

 

Harley said it was sold via the internet but I don't really know what happened.

If Harley did get a suitcase full of bucks he didn't spend much of it. He bought nothing at our booth this year which is unusual.

 

 

ditto. which is ditto

[Fan Boy]

Red and White con is usually middle of Sept, 2016 but Phoenix Comics's Marty has to review the Calgary Stampeders football schedule 1st to see when he can squeeze his con in on a Sunday.

 

We already paid for it so hopefully they have the date finalized soon.

 

That being said, the next big Alberta show is the Edmonton Expo September 23 - 26. I found that there was a better selection of GA/SA/BA books there last year than at the Calgary Expo.

 

 

Only if you can out-nap Harvey on the books!

[kimik]

I thought some hi-roller named Dean might bring a suitcase full of US greenbacks from Vancouver to Harley at Calgary expo to save the 5% gst on $125,000 declared value of 1 comic.

 

 

Harley said it was sold via the internet but I don't really know what happened.

If Harley did get a suitcase full of bucks he didn't spend much of it. He bought nothing at our booth this year which is unusual.

 

 

Harley told me it was a high roller from Edmonton that bought his MF #73 along with a B&B #54 that picked the books up at the show. He said we would recognize the guy if he came by.

 

He also said that the buyer passed on his B&B #54 when he initially offered it to him and then paid ~$1000 more for it in auction a month later.

[aardvark88]

What are the official dates for Calgary expo April, 2017? End of April still?

[MetalPSI]

Hasn't been posted yet, I'd look again in 6 months or so

[kimik]

What are the official dates for Calgary expo April, 2017? End of April still?

 

Yes. April 27 - 30, 2017.

 

Looking forward to another fun and profitable show!