Fan Expo Boston - My Full Report 1 1

[darkstar]

On 8/12/2022 at 8:21 PM, n2wdw said:

Thanks for your report.  For me, the pandemic taught me that I could find anything I needed on the internet, and at better prices.  I'm not sure I'll ever go to a comic con again.  Too many lines, too much crowds, and I can surf from my fav chair with NFL (or whatever) on the TV.  I wonder if others feel this way?

No, I have to put hands on books. 

[Dave2739]

On 8/12/2022 at 10:39 PM, darkstar said:

No, I have to put hands on books. 

I'm kind of in the middle here. I'm kinda old school in that I do like to shop in person, but the older I get the more I realize and accept that I hate comic conventions. They've evolved into this thing that I don't like and it also makes me feel old. I like to shop for old comics. I don't like to shop for Funkco Pops or swords or fudge or elf outfits. I have zero interest in cosplay and get annoyed when they clog up the aisles at shows. I don't even care to stand in line to get autographs from creators. I just want to shop for and buy old comics. The rest gets in the way... so then there's the internet. 

[BlowUpTheMoon]

On 8/12/2022 at 7:10 PM, Ryan. said:

I took 0.0 pictures. 

This was your best comic show report ever. 

[Coverless 9.8]

On 8/12/2022 at 10:33 PM, Robot Man said:

I still love to box dive, see people I know and get some  excercise.

I'm right there with you, but I thought this was a comic book forum!    

Edited August 13, 2022 by Coverless 9.8

[Ryan.]

There's no doubt that, should this show continue on this path, it's entirely possible there will be no comics dealers there at all in a few years. The number of celebrity guests has gone way up, which I have zero interest in. There were plenty of comic creators there but, between extremely limited signing windows, ticketing systems and charging hundreds of dollars for head sketches, my interest in roaming artist alley has basically died as well. 

My primary motivator for going to this particular show these days is for the handful of old school dealers that still show up and shooting the chit with people I know.

Oh, and hanging with the two dorks I go with every year.

[Ryan.]

On 8/12/2022 at 10:33 PM, Robot Man said:

I still love to box dive, see people I know and get some  excercise. Problem is going to a “comic show” with enough decent comic dealers.

At least this promoter is smart enough to call their shows “Fan Expos”. No comic wording. I know if I see one of their shows listed, it won’t be for me. 

The slow death of Fan Expo has given rise to several comics only shows in this area. The best part of shows is finding stuff I wasn't necessarily looking for. For instance, as a LB Cole collector I've always wanted a Patches 1 but I wasn't exactly seeking one out aggressively. One of the dealers at the Boston show happened to have a nice copy at a decent price on his wall. After some discussion I worked out a trade+cash deal for it. I almost always bring some books to trade. This never would have happened online.

[Ryan.]

On 8/13/2022 at 12:20 AM, BlowUpTheMoon said:

This was your best comic show report ever. 

The best there was, and the best there ever will be!

[namisgr]

On 8/12/2022 at 9:21 PM, n2wdw said:

Thanks for your report.  For me, the pandemic taught me that I could find anything I needed on the internet, and at better prices.  I'm not sure I'll ever go to a comic con again.  Too many lines, too much crowds, and I can surf from my fav chair with NFL (or whatever) on the TV.  I wonder if others feel this way?

The social aspect of conventions has always been a major part of the enjoyment for me as well.  Over the years I've gotten to know dealers and other collectors, and cons are a great way to reconnect not just about comics but life in general.

That and getting to see books live and in person kept me going to local cons.

[Ken Aldred]

On 8/13/2022 at 12:10 AM, Ryan. said:

One end-of-aisle booth sold fudge. Just fudge. Yup.

Sensible convention food to provide an energy boost if you're running out of steam after hours of hectic box diving and still have plenty to do.

Quinoa would be less effective.

[1950's war comics]

fudge and comic books are a bad combination

[Ryan.]

On 8/13/2022 at 9:20 AM, 1950's war comics said:

fudge and comic books are a bad combination

There was an ice cream vendor there too. Now THAT mixed with long boxes is a combo rife with potential disaster. 

[GACollectibles]

On 8/12/2022 at 7:10 PM, Ryan. said:

There were more booths selling potions and potion-related accessories than booths selling comics. I don't know exactly what these potions were meant for. Healing and invisibility I'm assuming. 

One end-of-aisle booth sold fudge. Just fudge. Yup.

LOTS of Funko Pops.

There was barely any activity at the Black Flag booth, though there was plenty of floor conversation about them.

For the 7 or 8 actual comic dealers, prices ranged from reasonable to outrageous. Every year there are more and more slabs. Even just a few years ago there were hardly any slabs at this show, with raws being mostly preferred. That's changed a lot the last two years.

I took 0.0 pictures. 

There were no @greggysightings.

It took longer to read your report than it did to go through all the comic boxes.

[Ken Aldred]

On 8/13/2022 at 12:10 AM, Ryan. said:

One end-of-aisle booth sold fudge. Just fudge. Yup.

Sure I remember a large booth at the LSCC London conventions that sold imported American sweets, sorry, candy.

[Ryan.]

On 8/13/2022 at 9:53 AM, GACollectibles said:

It took longer to read your report than it did to go through all the comic boxes.

I heard they are toying with the idea of renaming the show Fax Expo and Farmer's Market Boston. 

[Robot Man]

On 8/13/2022 at 3:49 AM, Ryan. said:

The slow death of Fan Expo has given rise to several comics only shows in this area. The best part of shows is finding stuff I wasn't necessarily looking for. For instance, as a LB Cole collector I've always wanted a Patches 1 but I wasn't exactly seeking one out aggressively. One of the dealers at the Boston show happened to have a nice copy at a decent price on his wall. After some discussion I worked out a trade+cash deal for it. I almost always bring some books to trade. This never would have happened online.

Exactly. I love to dig out stuff I’ve never seen before. Lots of cool impulse buys that I probably wouldn’t do on line. There is always the ability to being able to check out books in hand and deal with a human. Not to mention just a fun place to go to escape reality. A place of positive vibes where everyone is smiling. 

[cgcsketcherz]

On 8/12/2022 at 10:25 PM, Robot Man said:

Oh, Lordy! What’s next? And people still flood them with comic submissions. They have us right where they want us…

I can see the desire for graded pops at least if they also start signature series pops. Personally, I am waiting for them to grade and slab records. Surprised that hasn't happened yet. 

But in all honesty, can't they grade treasury books one of these days. 

[Dick Pontoon]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with everything Ryan said. Since the show changed hands years ago there’s been fewer and fewer comics and this year saw the smallest amount yet. Regardless, I had a good time mostly thanks to the company I keep.

The floor was filled with table after table of utter crap. Hundreds of bad prints of bad drawings, bad prints of bad drawings on reflective plastic or metal, toy swords, incomprehensible stuff, tchotkes and impulse buy crap, crap, crap. Plus overzealous dealers of crap. Avoiding eye contact was a necessity to avoid a sales pitch. I honestly don't understand how these folks make money given the expenses of setting up, but I guess somebody is buying it.

I did manage to pick up a few things like some nice WWBN upgrades:

[Dick Pontoon]

A low grade X-Men #5 placeholder:

[Dick Pontoon]

I don’t usually spend much time in Artist Alley, but with so much time on my hands due to the lack of dealers, I strolled though and discovered Japanese artist Hirsohi Kanatari. I was unaware of his work, but as a big kaiju eiga fan I picked up an Ultraman Sketch comic of his, on which he drew a portrait of Pigmon for me on the inner cover. (And licensed by Tsuburaya Productions! Along with his prints.) He also had a Bandai Shin Ultraman figure I bought to add to my son’s collection, and an Ultraman Mephilas face cloth for the heck of it. He was very gracious and a pleasure to meet.

And that's bout it! I used to write rather lengthy show reports but gave up a few years ago. I may resurrect a few of those to illustrate what the show used to be like.

 

Edited August 13, 2022 by Dick Pontoon

[Robot Man]

On 8/13/2022 at 7:52 AM, cgcsketcherz said:

I can see the desire for graded pops at least if they also start signature series pops. Personally, I am waiting for them to grade and slab records. Surprised that hasn't happened yet. 

But in all honesty, can't they grade treasury books one of these days. 

Please, don’t give them any more ideas. I’m getting to the age where I might not get my submissions back before I die…