Fan Expo Vancouver November 11-13, 2016

[aardvark88]

Was a bit surprised that Brian Stelfreeze did not have much of a display (no clear sign with sketch rates) or sample of his comic book work for sale and to sign.

 

Oh well, prepaid for a corner booth at Calgary Expo April, 2017 so hope to see lots of Forumites there.

[Flatliner1313]

Wish there were more comic retailers to pillage.

 

Was there for a few hours yesterday and you are certainly right in that there are actually very few comic book dealers there, relative to non-comic book dealers.

 

Sounds as though there might possibly be at least one less for next year since I overheard one of them saying that this is most likely their last year coming out here as it's just not worth it from a cost versus sales point of view.

 

That would be unfortunate since it would be good to have as many actual comic book dealers there as possible.

 

My observation on the larger shows like these, coupled with my past experience setting up at show of varying sizes is this;

 

Merchandising is very important. The show is so big, and there is so much cool stuff to see, you're fighting for a shorter attention span than you are at smaller shows. Unless someone is really determined to dig in all the bins, people can give up quickly and move on to the many, many other booths in the show looking to sell stuff. If your books are well organized, well presented, and have a tidy and appealing display, you are one step closer to success. The extra effort is worth it, especially at bigger shows. You can't approach these things assuming that just because you are there, you have a license to print money. Too much competition not only for wallet share, but also for attention span.

 

 

[aardvark88]

Always surprises me that some vendors won't spend $75 to attempt to put together a comic wall rack or some sort of display. First thing a collector does is scan the wall racks for some eye candy then go thru that vendor's bins looking for deals else why even slow down at that vendor's booth?

 

One of my buddies was searching for a specific vendor at Fan expo that he knew was set up from Richmond, but could not even see his booth among all the line ups and visual distractions, cosplayers, shiny mylars.

[malvin]

I posted on the art section too but here was my mini haul:

 

1. Kaare Andrews Inhumans Cover featuring Crystal

2. Nick Bradshaw Wolverine Piece

3. Bruce Timm Batman

 

CAF Link to recent uploads

 

Malvin

[aardvark88]

Hats off to Kevin Boyd and team- Change in dates from spring to fall worked good . Look forward to next year same weekend

 

Agreed. Attendance seemed up and guest list strong enough for us to keep pace with the 2.5 day Northland Fan Con in Prince George who has handed out flyers in Vancouver for their May, 2017 con featuring a nice guest list including Karl Urban (Star Trek, Dredd), Kevin Sorbo (Hercules, Andromeda), and artist Jae Lee:

 

growing Pr George Fan Con

 

Over 100 exhibitors which is very good, as population in Prince George city is about 71,000.

[Kevin Boyd]

I walked around one morning early and took a look at some of the setups. Some surprised me at the sheer lack of effort shown by some. At the least try to put the books in alphabetical order.

 

I'm a fan of Hot Toys, but you don't see them at many shows... I found at least three booths with them at FEV. Visible prices on items is always a plus.

[Fan Boy]

Curious to know how many fans went to FEV on all days (weekend)?

[malvin]

I did, but I only pretty much collect comic art, so its stop by in the morning to set up stuff, maybe hang around longer for artists to show up, then go home. Saturday and Sunday I went back end of day to attempt to pick up stuff.

 

So all 3 days but total time at the con was maybe 8 hours max.

 

Malvin

[aardvark88]

By my standards, I was at FEV longer than normal:

 

Thurs. afternoon: 1.5 hrs to figure out the Expo building layout of Halls A,B,C, truck loading zone, pick up safety vest, dealer's badge, move 10 long boxes after I got off work from my day job.

 

Fri. 4 hr, 20 mins to chit chat, take pics, dig thru Harley's boxes, etc.

Sat. morning: 1.5 hrs mainly to get sigs on comics at 11 a.m., chit chat, take pics to post later, and be made fun of by Flatliner, greggy.

[Kevin Boyd]

I didn't see Greggy at all.

 

 

[greggy]

I didn't see Greggy at all.

 

I was there on Saturday for a couple of hours. Then I went home and hibernated.

[aardvark88]

It got to be the table rental fees like usual. I had asked some local dealers how they do. Many said alright for this con, not as great but better than nothing. I get the vibe that it might be about the same for next year maybe?

 

I would say the increase in attendance, buzz and positive energy at FEV was quite a bit better than Easter, 2015 especially if you were selling Pop Fun toys, tattoos, caricature drawings, MLP My Little Pony, and those $20 Fan Expo frames for signed media guest photos.

 

Not sure about the # of comic vendors increasing for FEV for Nov, 2017, as the Vancouver Comic Show is increasing to a monster 140 x 8' table con. Van Comic Show was actively handing out flyers to fresh collector/fans who had never heard of the East Vancouver Feb, 2017 con.

[lou_fine]

Those out of BC vendors just run around and buy as much SA Marvel, DC or nice bronze keys, semi-keys as they can, as the market in TO or Montreal must be more robust than Vancouver/Victoria. My buddy received 5 text messages to bring a short box of SA, BA keys down to the show to sell (at a discount to Overstreet let alone Eastcoast market values) to those aggressive buying vendors from Montreal.

 

 

That's the problem as most of the dealers are awash with the exact same BA and CA semi-keys and near keys.

 

No surprise that they are offering less than guide for these types of common books, and yet turn around and try to sell them raw at what amounts to full slabbed prices.

[lou_fine]

Not sure about the # of comic vendors increasing for FEV for Nov, 2017, as the Vancouver Comic Show is increasing to a monster 140 x 8' table con. Van Comic Show was actively handing out flyers to fresh collector/fans who had never heard of the East Vancouver Feb, 2017 con.

 

Definitely looking forward more to the Vancouver Comic Show as opposed to FEV 2017, since it's much more comic book focused as opposed to a cross media event.

 

Didn't pick up anything which fully met my expectations for this con, whereas I always seem to pick up a few books at the Vancouver Comic Show. Still fun to walk around both, but I do definitely bump into more collectors at the local con.

[Kevin Boyd]

 

 

We obviously got lots of people in, had a fun and relaxed show with some great comic guests, and are in no danger of stopping after five years of doing this. FEV 2017 is November 10-12, 2017. I'll see you guys next year. Perhaps its time for you to hype your 2017 events in the threads for those events.

 

 

[aardvark88]

I walked around one morning early and took a look at some of the setups. At the least try to put the books in alphabetical order.

 

I think the comics may have been in alpha order if you can make sense of the vendor's logic. e.g. $2 or less blow out comics, comics filed alpha by publisher (Charlton, DC, Marvel, Image) and cross-filed by decade (1960s vs 1990s bulk) and/or genre (romance, Westerns) vs prime wall comics $$.

[Kevin Boyd]

It was boxes of trades.... they seemed to be somewhat alpha per box, but the boxes were not in any kind of order...

[Fan Boy]

I know which booth you are talking. I was there getting the sense of his maze logic of order in the boxes.

 

Truth is that he arrived late on the first day.

[aardvark88]

I know which booth you are talking.

Truth is that he arrived late on the first day.

 

Actually that vendor was smart to arrive a bit late on the Thurs. dealer set up, as he missed the 1 hr queue of vans and trucks to get close to the loading dock. Once there, most vendors were only given a scant 30 mins. to unload all their long boxes, wall racks, supplies, signage, mag boxes, Cgc boxes, etc. due to the queue.

[Flatliner1313]

At the show, Kevin mentioned he would take requests for guests for next year, and possibly consider them.

 

Going to throw in 10 of my favourites

 

J Scott Campbell

Adam Hughes

Arthur Adams

David Stoupakis

Jorge Molina

Jae Lee

Menton3

Jenny Frison

Terry Moore

Terry Dodson