Toronto ComiCon has wrapped up and finished for another year.
For the most part Sunday felt the same as Saturday did. There were lots of people. Some parts of the convention floor were very congested and very hard to navigate. Other parts of the floor were barren and you’d think that there was nobody there.
Since there was a huge lack of interesting panels I wanted to cover, most of my time on Sunday was just walking the floors to see if I could scoop up any last deals before the end of the day.
Some retailers began to slash their prices. One vendor slashed their price to 50% discount, which prompted other vendors to follow suit.
I searched a couple of the vendors tables looking for Marvel Legends and Marvel Universe figures. I was able to track down a new release Ultimate Captain America Marvel Legends figure. The vendor offered it for $20, which was cheap in comparison to other tables. I tried bundling it with a Marvel Universe Commander Rogers figure. The pair of figures came to $27, and I offered $25 but the vendor declined. We both knew I was getting a great deal as it was, but it never hurts asking for an extra discount.
After talking to several vendors, artists and convention attendees, I got the general sense that everyone had a decent show. One vendor told me she broke even for the show on the first day, and the second day was pure profit.
I also spoke to artist Michael Walsh and he said he did very well selling his prints at the show. I had met him in 2012 when he was doing a signing at my local comic book shop. At the time, my kids were flipping through his sketch book and found a sketch of Beta Ray Bill. Michael told me he was impressed that my kids knew who Beta Ray Bill was. I then told him about my “Beta Ray Bill Rule” (I have to buy everything Beta Ray Bill).
I also spoke with Jason Loo. You may have seen him at ComiCon on Saturday. He had an amazing Multiple Man costume. He is also a member of X-Men of Toronto. I first met Jason years ago at a Canadian G.I. Joe Convention. He was the artist for the CanJoeCon exclusive comic. I am also a huge fan of his comic series, Awol’d. It was great to touch base with him again. He will be at Canadian ToyCon in Burlington on March 17th. Make sure you get out there and see the X-Men of Toronto. I will be there covering the show for Comic Book Daily.
All in all, I thought Toronto ComiCon was a good show. I think there was too much focus on Science Fiction for this show. But it is understandable when you have the cast of Star Trek Next Generation there. In the future I would like to see more panels focused on comics, and to see more “superstars” of the comics world attend the show. There were some grumblings about the tickets selling out on Saturday, but in comparison there wasn’t a line getting into the MTCC on Sunday afternoon.
I look forward to the show returning next year, and the big event of the summer… Fan Expo.
