When my brother and I were kids we loved going to comic conventions. Now these weren’t a big event like Fan Expo or Comic Con, but little, one-day affairs at a local hotel. We paid our $2 (at the time still paper money) and we got to check out various vendors.
We might pick up old books (hopefully at a great price) or new books at American cover no-tax (which meant $1). And, because it was the early 90s, we bought some Marvel cards or whatever holofoil chase card that caught our eye.
It was simple, easy, and perfect. I loved it and I still love shows like it.
That is why I am quite pleased that in today’s day and age of bigger is better Hobbystar still does the simple one-day event. Inflation has hit (it costs $8 now) but it is still a great time for issue hunters and comic book lovers of all kinds.
This is the show if you are looking to complete a run. You will find lots of $1 and $2 books as well as pricier fare. There were a few dealers with trades, toys, and t-shirts but mostly it was all about the issues. If you are having trouble completing your run of Knightfall or Maximum Carnage this is the show for you. This show allows fanboys to easily jump into the quest for that hard to find issue. It is a fun way to introduce your kids to a comic convention without the daunting logistical nightmare that a larger show may be.
The room at the Toronto Convention Centre was packed. It wasn’t uncomfortable to look around but it is definitely reaching maximum capacity. I would guess that it could easily attract a few more dealers and use a slightly larger room in the convention centre.
I am always surprised at Hobbystar’s choice of date though. While I must admit that it was a full room I do question having it on the same day as the Santa Claus parade. Families were already committed to Santa. Sure, there is a possibility that a family could do both but that only helps if you advertise the show far more than they did.
I got an email on Friday “inviting” me to the Sunday event. That is way too short notice if I didn’t already know about the show. Maybe Hobbystar doesn’t really want to grow this little show. They fill a room and are fine with that, but I am sure that fans and dealers wouldn’t mind it growing a bit.
If you didn’t check out this event be sure to visit the February 5th one day show. Oh wait, Hobbystar always puts that on the same day as the Superbowl. Well no worry, I can only assume that their extensive market research noted that no comic book fans also like football or parties.
Well, actually, we’ve always done very well with the Superbowl Sunday show —- kickoff is around dinner time so there’s plenty of time for bin diving before the game. That being said, the Toronto ComiCON show schedule for 2012 is changing… there will be an announcement very shortly.
I am sure that you do well on the Superbowl day, you wouldn’t continue if you didn’t. However, I have known several people over the years who do not attend because of the conflict and wished that the show was a week earlier or later. So the question is while the show is doing well on Superbowl Sunday, could it be doing better if a slight adjustment were made?
It may… or it may not — but the boss selects the hall based on available dates. Most big events at the convention centre use those breakout rooms for various purposes, so we go with the weekends when they are open, not extensive market research.