I was online yesterday, checking out the local weekend events, when I came across a report on Vancouver’s very first Fan Expo taking place this Saturday and Sunday at the downtown convention centre. While in Toronto, I attended their annual Fan Expo and had a pretty good time walking the floor and tracking down a couple of Randy Bowen supervillain statues to add to my collection (August 27, 2011: Wvrst! Geek Fest!), so I figured this might be a great opportunity to locate some missing single issues in advance of my big reading projects (April 15, 2012: Project Thunderbolts! And others!). “Will we go to geek festival?”Akemi asked me this morning. “Sure,”I said. Why not?
We drove down after lunch, parked, and then made our way on foot the three blocks down to the waterfront teeming with colorful characters.
We quickened our pace. We had a little under two hours of parking and a lot of ground to cover. There was no time to waste.
BEGIN VANCOUVER FAN EXPO REPORT:
We approached one of the guys manning the doors and asked him where we could purchase tickets. He informed us that the Expo was sold out that day. Sold out?! What the hell were they selling that could be “sold out”? Space? Really? They’d sold so many tickets they risked contravening local fire regulations by selling anymore? “You’ll have to come back early tomorrow morning to make sure you get tickets,”he suggested.
Yes, I suppose I could do that. Or, rather than pay for the privilege of buying something, I could simply save the $40 and spend it at Comic Con in July.
END VANCOUVER FAN EXPO REPORT!
OMGosh…what a bummer. On the very bright side, Akemi is stunning!
You mean you didn’t get tickets in advance?? Shame! Shame! LOL My brother buys his three months in advance for Comic-Con. In fact, he wanted me to get in-line too, but I didn’t get the email in time.
Have a great night!!!!
See, you’ve gotta know the trick to getting in… pull the fire alarm, then there will be plenty of space! 🙂
Seriously tho, you should’ve dressed the dogs up like various Avengers, then they would’ve let you in no questions asked.
…and here I was waiting for a stimulating report full of Akemi-isms… I would have done the same thing. I hope you had an interesting culinary experience to make up for the lock-out.
Sorry you didn’t get into the Expo today. (But just look how pretty Akemi is in der dress!) How come you didn’t tell them who you are: producer, writer of television, movies, comic books, short story contributor, etc?
I read Dark Matter 4 today. Loved it!! Love the characters and story. It must be continued in either paper book form or perferably TV. So much they can do and too many questions still unanswered. Like who is that kid?? Probably a child prodigy. Who does he belong to? Good luck bringing Dark Matter to TV!
I just have to ask…on the first page, in the third picture, is that a photo of one of your pugs on the table? I’m sure Garry Brown has loaded that comic with hidden images just for his and your amusement. Am I correct?
Crap. You mean I could’ve spent just one extra day there and had the opportunity to be turned away from spending $40 for the opportunity to buy stuff? If only I knew. Teddy Wilson and Ajay Fry from Innerspace were tweeting that they were on their way to Vancouver. I suppose this is what they were headed there for.
It’s clear that not everyone should wear lime green Riddler question mark tights. And by not everyone, I mean no one.
I’m downloading my Dark Matter #4 from Darkhorse as we speak. Looking forward to it.
Akemi looks great, but that goes without saying!
How disappointing. I guess this tells me I should buy my tickets for Comicpalooza in Houston Memorial Day weekend soon. Chris Judge and Rachel Luttrell (among many others) will be there. Funny thing is that up until last year I never knew our city HAD one. Thanks to the sell-off of merchandise from SGU and extra J.C. Williams, I have my full uniform, and since I’ve lost weight since then, it probably fits even better. I just need to find combat boots now because wearing sneakers would just ruin the outfit.
The third picture seems to be an obese queen Amidala. The other costume doesn’t look like anything I recognize.
HA! There we are…trying to figure out what we want to eat! Hilarious picture!
Too bad you didn’t get in come back tomorrow.
In the picture of the two girls the one in the red is supposed to be Princess Amidala from Star Wars Ep1. (I think)
Hmm…I haven’t pulled a “get in without a ticket” scam in the age of everyone having cell phones. Some versions would fall through. But you should be able to pull off the “too important to need a ticket” attitude. I have a feeling you know the walk.
Calgary expo is next weekend. You could always come to it. And that way you could sign my SG-1 book 🙂
in the second to last picture it appears that the one on the left is in steampunk garb & queen amidala from EP. 1 of star wars.
The person with Queen Amidala looks steampunky, but I’m not sure if she is supposed to be a particular character.
Sorry you didn’t get in so you could buy more geeky stuff. 🙁
Wow. I’m really glad I didn’t switch shifts with a co-worker or took the day off so I could go. I wanted to, but… well, bills.
Bummer, but yeah their loss. And yes, Akemi looked cute so it was worth it surely?
Anyone else going to the Stargate Convention in Burnaby ?
I’ll be the one dressed like……me…….
Didn’t see your name, Joe, on the list of celebs. How come ?
We tried to go to this too! My GF and I were so pissed it was sold out! It was sad to see even people who had dressed up (cosplay) be turned away. We wanted to see the real original Batman and Boba fett and Hercules. This is the first time they have done this event in Vancouver so obviously they planned badly and didnt get enough space. Hopefully next year they will get their act together and maybe spread it out over more days.
I went, had tickets ahead of time, it was pretty cool, i enjoyed the costumes and actors/artists. Here were the highlights, Batmobile, Adam West, Kevin Sorbo, Lou Ferigno, Batmobile, Julia Benson!, Star Wars 501st Legion, Ghostbusters, and the Batmobile. 99% of the merchandise you can get anywhere else. Almost all the shops were handing out their cards to their websites where you can find the aforementioned merchandise AT THE SAME PRICE!!! Seriously, there was only a handful of stalls offering small “fan expo” discounts, 10-20% off, the rest was regularly priced. I purchased a few posters from an artist but thats it. And thus concludes the story of my first and only convention experience.
As it is quite possibly the last SG convention ever, I simply must go! And so with that plopped my credit card # in and I’m going to the Convention on Sunday 🙂
Not to mention a pic with Jewel Staite, as well as a pic with the Hewlett siblings 🙂
Now the question remains what to wear, what to wear… If only I had a stargate shirt…
I might have to agree with the fire chief on this one. Comic book fans are more flammable than the general public.
On a different note, came across this: http://lifestyle.sympatico.ca/FoodandEntertaining/articles/reuters_unusual_eats.htm?feedname=zzz_Reuters_PhotoGallery_Life_38&pos=1&nolookup=true
this morning and was wondering if you’ve tried any of the suggested items. Bugs and rats were bad enough, but dog meat!!! (don’t tell your gang).
Hey Joe,
That did make me laugh. I remember standing in the line at Disneyland…there was a lot of family there and was the last minute for me. My son called to say he was proposing to his girlfriend and all her family was going to be there.
The person in front of me got the last ticket of the day. SOLD OUT! Excuse me…knock knock…what do you mean sold out. I was devistated. One of my children had to go into the park…retrieve her brother and he had to show Miss There Are No More Tickets the engagement ring. (they didn’t believe our story) after the ring arrived and we all swore that was why we were there…another ticket was for sale.
His girlfriend said yes and they were married…they went to Disney World for their honeymoon.
http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/ab253/cherluvya/img_2798-2P.jpg
Best to you Joe,
Always,
Cheryl
It’s not too late to get tickets for Phoenix Comicon. Come on down!!
http://www.phoenixcomicon.com/
Hey Joe, actually next month there’s another new comic show in your town, the Vancouver Comic & Arts Festival – it’ll be a bit smaller and more “indie” than FanExpo, but it’s free to attend and should be full of interesting creators and merch!
Oh and here’s their website: http://www.vancaf.com/
There was several firefighters at the expo, actual ones, and it did seem like they were checking out the size of the crowd.
Next year you apply as press for your blog or a guest, you are Joe freaking Mallozzi, come on, they have no idea what they are missing.
Hi, Joey! Busy, busy, BUSY!
Sorry you didn’t get into the thingy. If it makes you feel any better, the food at those cons usually sucks, so you’re probably better off.
Oh, and I really like your wall sconces. 🙂
@ Akemi – You look adorable in that dress! I can’t wear short skirts, I’m too paranoid. I’m always afraid that if I bend over, I’ll show everyone my hoo-ha. 😛 Or worse…if I don’t sit ladylike I’ll ‘take someone’s picture’, and my grandmother used to say.
It took me the longest time before I realized I didn’t actually have a camera down there. 😳
das
Drat – that was supposed to be ‘as my grandmother used to say’. I really should be proofreading instead of watching In the Heat of the Night. 😛 “They call me MISTER Tibbs!” Love this movie. Love Sidney. 🙂
das
I got in today. It was great. Got my futurama comics signed by the artist and writer. And I met Ken Steacy who used to do Astroboy comics in the 1980s. He drew and awesome astroboy in my sketchpad for me. 🙂 Lots of new up-and-coming comicbook artists and writers were there and it was good to meet some of them and talk to them. The cosplay was great too, some of those girls looked amazing!
I see others have already identified Fat Queen Amidala for you. I have no idea about the other. Are you really going to Comic Con, though? It was hard to get tickets this year, but I managed in the second round.
Ok, the really sad part is, we showed up just before 4 pm on Saturday, and not only got tickets, but there wasn’t even a line.