Toronto Fan Expo 2012 Plans

I enjoyed Fan Expo on a Sunday so much last year that I decided to go to the convention on a Sunday again this year. Here's my "to-do" list for Fan Expo 2012:

- Play FE BINGO

- Take Pokémon Snap Pictures

- That pose

Fan Expo Canada's Facebook page posted a "what to expect at Fan Expo" BINGO card on their wall, which I really want to play with. Hopefully I'll get Bingo. :P I also need more Pokémon snap points. May as well get them at Fan Expo.

I haven't decided what common pose I'd like to share with you and the people at the convention yet. I guess it will have to be a surprise.

Fan Expo 2011: Friday

Fan Expo started at 10 AM on Friday, but Oie Lin, Carlton, and I arrived at the convention center around 4:00 PM. What I like about arriving [super] late to a convention is that there is no line-up to get in. It was hard to find the box office though because it was moved to a location that could hold a large population of people in a line. Signs around the convention center that gave arrow directions to the box office led my friends and I to a long descending tunnel. It was a bit sketchy in a it's-a-zombie-apocalypse-time kind of way.


<sub>A sign!



The long tunnel to the ticket booths.



The entry way next to the box office.



What I got from the box office and entry way.



First glance of the show room.</sub>


There weren't as many people as I expected at the convention, but then again, it was Friday and it was almost dinner time. Most people who attend Fan Expo every year probably go on Saturday too.

Many of the booths in the main attraction room had interesting displays. The Real Steel movie display area held three models of its robot characters. There was also a Lego Hagrid and a Lego Optimus Prime. Ubisoft had a display wall of Rabbits and Assassin’s Creed figures. One booth had the original model of Abin Sur from the Green Lantern movie and another had My Little Pony toys. There were many awe-inducing things to see.














_{3D street art outside the South building.}





A man who went by the name of Dr. Phil was offering cinnamon-smelling medicine. His name tag said he was a synthetic digestion analyst.


_{Dr. Phil--Synthetic Digestion Analyst}


There were many different waste bins around the convention center. I had to wonder what people did with the waste that doesn't go in any of those bins.



We met up with Gurjit and her gang later, but our time was cut short due to a "Please do not touch" sign under the Harry Potter "It All Ends" poster board.

At some point I started asking cosplayers for pictures and to do poses for me. It was mostly pointing at a sign. (Excuse me for taking blurry pictures: my hand tends to shake these days.)


<sub>This cosplayer seemed a little confused about my request for a "life's good" pose.



Bronies unite!



Suki from Avatar: The Last Airbender



Anthony as Inuyasha</sub>











I love the Lego table that was open to anyone who wanted to play with Lego. It was really small though. I was glad that there weren't many people around the time we were there, otherwise there would have been a big crowd around it and we wouldn't have had the chance to play.


_{I like to build upside down pyramids with Lego.}

Outside of the showroom was a table with touch screen monitors where people could enter a contest/draw. (The monitor looks so nice! Don't you just want to grab it and take it home?)



Out in the hallway there was a gorgeous red carpet and background screen. A few Fan Expo staff/volunteers were stationed next to it surveying people (well, they did with my friends and I) and offering people help with taking pictures.



And so...



That's all I have for Fan Expo 2011. Thank you for reading!

Fan Expo 2011 Picasa album:

Fan Expo 2011

Fan Expo 2011 anyone? II

Change of plans: I will not be going to Fan Expo on Thursday, but on Friday instead. Will be lining up to get my ticket at 3 PM.

Fan Expo 2011 anyone?

>> Fan Expo
>> Thursday, August 25^th, 2011
>> 4 PM - 9 PM

I'm not sure what I'll be doing other than walking around looking at merchandise and taking pictures of people. We'll see, we'll see.

I wonder if it will be crowded on Thursday.



-edit-
I will be at Fan Expo on Friday instead of Thursday.

Where did TAC go?

I was checking out Hobbystar Marketing's website for events and I didn't find any Toronto anime con listed. The website didn't look like it was updated since the end of Fan Expo 2010. I then checked the convention list of Canada at anime cons and Toronto anime con wasn't there either. I guess there's no December TAC this year.

I realize I missed Fan Expo this year. I wasn't even in the province of Ontario anyways. I was looking forward to it, but people told me that the number of visitors this year exceeded Hobbystar's expectations. I heard the event was a semi-bust [in the fun level] for a few people because of the long line to get into the building. I understand if people who were lined up weren't allowed into the convention hall because of fire hazards. The organizers knew they were having more popular special guests at their event this year and they had commercials of Fan Expo on television and ads at random places in the media. The geek culture has rose over the past few years too (on experiencing the Internet and market). Did they miss something, or is it because geek culture has become bigger than I thought?

Fan Expo 2009 Pictures and Comments Part 2

The artist alley had some neat stuff there. Many things were expensive, some were well priced, and few were free.



Hand-made capsule people? So cool.

This couple on the left was popular at the convention. I saw them a few times as I was walking around. When Gurgit, my family and I got outside the South Building we saw them walking towards the convention building and asked for a picture. We kept taking videos and pictures of them because we thought they looked awesome even though we didn't know what they were dressed as (so we asked them). Turns out they are original characters (with great designs).

Best cosplay group I saw was the Beyblade crew:



Video extras while observing people:



I liked the Cardcaptor Sakura pair's costumes and the Ash Ketchum so much I had to comment on their actions.

Conclusion: Cool story, bro.

Fan Expo 2009 Pictures and Comments Part 1

I resized the images so that most of them are small. Let's look at some pictures from Fan Expo now.

The one on your right is a picture of a Neko cosplay and Mr. Kitty (?). I'm unfamiliar with the characters from the video game The World Ends with You. I just know what they look like because of its popularity. I haven't played the game myself.

Okay, so the first thing I look at is whether or not the cosplayer themselves fit the character. That's a yes for these two. Is the costume well done? Yes. Do they look like the characters they are trying to cosplay as? Yes. Bonus points for the hair and the giant cat suit. I like giant cat suits. Oh yeah, I'm not actually using points here. It's just that it sounds good when you use "bonus points."


Dharshi was dressed as Tonbury (sp?) from a Final Fantasy game. She got into her character and went around pointing her knife at random cosplayers. Damaged 9000 health points out of each of them she did. I should have made this picture bigger. Oh well.

There was a statue of the Silver Surfer (I think that's what he's called...) made out of I don't know what but I want to know. Is he made out of metal or wood? Maybe it's plastic.
He could be a real person hired to model for the convention. That would mean he's been on that one spot without a washroom for more than 6 hours. Wow. If that's true, he must be a professional model. I wonder if a model would have back pain from having to pose like that for hours...

There were dolls in the horror section in the dealer's room. We took a look at them and began the nose picking frenzy.







Give the caption "grr..." to the last one there. Heh heh. People were looking at us when we were doing that.