Toronto Comicon - December 2014

Spent today at the Toronto Comicon, not to be confused with the big Toronto comicon held every March. This is a smaller show put on by the same people who indecently also bring us the Fan Expo each fall. This is a one day event that primarily concentrates on comics although you did see quite a bit of diversification this year. A great little show that we look forward to and also a great way to kick off the holiday season to be sure.

 

Found some really good deals at this show as a lot of vendors had great quality books at reasonable prices.

 

Some great artists peddling their wares at this one day event. These Ironman costumes were incredibly accurate and extremely impressive.

 

Some very cool higher end books on display at the show.

 

As usual there were some really great cosplayers at this show. All in all a very fun day and another successful event, Can't wait until next year.  

 

 

 

 

Interstellar Movie - Official Trailer 3

I'm very much looking forward to this film, I'm so hoping it's not going to suck. As the new Star Wars film draws closer I believe we'll be seeing many studios releasing Sci Fi related films and that's a good thing. Lets hope they spend as much time on the script as they do on the CGI.

Countdown to Star War Episode 7

LOL. I just laughed my ass off when I saw this ... There's no shortage of Disney/Star Wars spoof posters emerging on the internet, many of which are spectacularly well done and just bloody hilarious. For those of you that are not yet aware (and I suspect there aint many), it's Official, the new film finally has a name. "The Force Awakens"...although I think remains to be seen...

 

 

 

I suspect there's a lot more of these to come. I think I'll start posting them just for the hell of it.

Star Trek the Motion Picture - Original One Sheet

Currently for sale at screenused.com (Paramount, 1979) Original advance One Sheet (27" x 41") poster. Artwork by Bob Peak. Folded but in very fine condition. If you want this little gem, its yours for only $129.00.

Gary Kurtz

Gary Kurtz, (Producer: Star Wars) signs my Star Wars poster at the 2011 Fan Expo. I had the opportunity to sit  and speak with him for 10 minutes, surprisingly there was no line up at the time. A very nice man, very friendly and happy to answer my questions. Definitely the highlight of the 2011 Fan Expo weekend. Gary was in Montreal and Toronto looking at movie scripts and was asked by a friend to attend the convention... now if only George would show up...

Halloween Special - 2014

My Latest Comic Book Haul. These fine books were all acquired at the Hamilton Comic Con last weekend. I found some really great bronze age books and one or two silvers as well. Well worth the hour drive to get there.

CGC Expands the Modern Tier

Posted on September 4, 2014 via the CGC website. I thought I'd repost this as it's certainly great news for many of us who like certifying our newer books. Effective September 5th, CGC expanded the Modern Tier to include books from 1975 to the present.  Certified Guaranty Company (CGC)  announced an expansion of its Modern Tier to include comic books published from 1975 to the present. Previously, only books published after 1980 were eligible for the Modern Tier. The change, went into effect on September 5th, allowing CGC customers to submit more books under the company’s $18 Modern Tier, as opposed to its $25 Value Tier. The decision to roll back the Modern Tier threshold from 1980 to 1975 was based on collector feedback and CGC’s recent dealer meetings at key industry shows, including San Diego Comic-Con and Wizard World Chicago

Hamilton Comic Con 2014

Otherwise known as the Hammer Town Comic Con got underway this weekend. This is only the second year of this event but it was twice the size of last year with more fans more vendors and more fun. I scoured the convention floor looking for some really cool books with which I could put together my Halloween episode later this October. I found some nice gems among the Horror genre, looking forward to putting together the episode shortly. For a new convention the organizers did a really fantastic job with this show and in a few year I can see this turning into a major event. Looking for ward to next year already.

 

The 501st Legion was on hand and as usual they did a really great job entertaining the conventioneers.  

The artists peddling the wares at these shows are some of the most talented people you'll ever meet.

 

Like the Fan Expo in late August there were a lot of comic book dealer selling some really cool and hard to find titles. However, the increase in prices, especially for key book has become noticeable. There are still deals to be had, you just gotta look a lot harder.

Some really great costumers on hand for this show. This Batman was particularly impressive. I can't imagine what an outfit like this must cost.  

 

There were a lot of Vintage toys and collectables at this show. I'm a big fan of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century so I thought this lunch box was fascinating. Just wish it had been in slightly better condition and I would have grabbed it.

 

Lou Ferrigno poses with a couple of fans at this weeks Hamilton Comic Con. Lou is just one of many guests that attended this weeks event. Also on hand were Julie Newmar (Cat Woman) , Verne Troyer (Mini Me), Garrett Wang (Ensign Harry Kim), Ken Osmond (Eddie Haskell) plus many others. 

An amazing event in which all who attended had a really great time. Well done Hamilton you now have your very own major event. See ya next year.

 

  

 

What the...

...what the hell did Penny do to her hair. Don't normally comments on stuff like this but Holy S---

Comic Counter Today

678 Books Owned - Value $6,263.00

Fan Expo Comic Haul 2014

I posted my entire comic book Haul in the video below. Also included some cool video I shot at this years Fan Expo. All in all a really amazing event, although it's certainly getting more and more expensive each year. As much as I enjoy it, I think I'll be doing most of my book buying at many of the smaller cons and trade shows in the future, it's getting increasingly hard to find those really great bargain we're all looking for. The great thing about the Toronto Fan Expo is that if you're looking for a really rare book chances are  you'll find it at this show. However the bad side is that you'll pay a pretty penny to get it.

My best pick up of the weekend was definitely the Korak Son of Tarzan number 21. A near mint copy that lists on Comic Book Realm for $60.00 and I found this little gem in the $3.00 dumping bin. This issue was published in February 1968, a nice surprise to be sure. I love the Gold Key painted covers and I have no doubt that these books will continue to appreciate in value going forward. Slowly, and I do mean slowly, my Gold Key collection is taking shape, a long way to go though. Right now I have approximately 10 Gold Key issues in all, as my collection grows I'll keep you updated.

The Future of Superman + Zack Snyder's Batmobile

The latest Episode of DC All Access. The first images of Zack Snyder's Batmobile, the Batman: Arkham Knight release date and Dwayne Johnson's announcement in his new role as a villain in the upcoming Shazam movie. There also some discussion regarding the Futures End books, the 5 years later stories which  I just picked up this week. These really cool 3D covers  are available throughout September and I've grabbed a copy of each and every one. These books are to be the conclusion of a major story DC line that concludes 5 years from now so starting this October DC comics will start publishing the beginning of these stories we've just read. Some very interesting and exciting times ahead, I for one can't wait.
 

The Futures End 3D Covers. Simply Spectacular...

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By Far my favorite cover so far is the Detective Comic Futures End #1. Featuring Batman and the Riddler. Click on the images and you get to see a full size and far better rendering of the cover. Also love the Green Arrow cover, a simply amazing image although also very bleak, could it really be the Green Arrow is Dead !? Honorable mention to the Swamp Thing as well, also a really cool cover and certainly a favorite.  Looking forward to the Harley Quinn release as well. No clue what it will look like, but I'm sure it will be spectacular as well.

I believe the best story line so far is in the New Suicide Squad. This issue above all other thus far seems to provide a pretty clear indication of what is to come, and it aint good. Definitely some rough road ahead for the Suicide Squad.

 

Big fan of the Aquaman story line as well, this issue continues on in a later issue unlike many other Future End books which are one shots.  All in all it wasn't cheap buying all these books at $3.99 a piece they represent a significant financial outlay. So far I've spent $65.00 bucks and there are still more issues to come. Ahh well...it's just money right?

2001 A Space Odessy #3

It's amazing what you can find in the $3.00 bin at some of these comic book conventions. I found a near mint copy of 2001 A Space Odyssey #3. I absolutely love the Jack Kirby covers and for three buck you can't really go wrong. Set aside the fact the entire book is done by Kirby, its also almost 40 years old and in pristine condition. Not a whole lotta respect from the comic book community for this wonderfully illustrated adaptions of one of the most monumental Sci-Fi films of all time. I believe with time this will change so if you can find this book it's definitely worth picking up.

 

 

February 1977

Cover Artist: Jack Kirby and John Verpoorten

Writer: Jack Kirby

Penciler: Jack Kirby

Inker: Mike Royer

Colorist: George Roussos

 

 

 

X-men #129

I picked a lot of books at the Fan Expo last weekend,  the nicest of which was my X-Men #129.  This is latest pick up as I endeavor to acquire  the entire John Byrne X-men run. The copy I purchased was rated as Fine but I believe it's a bit better that that. It was listed at $40.00 but I managed a bit of a discount so it ended up costing me $35.00. They had a N/M copy on display but the asking price was $100.00, still not a bad price considering Comic Book Realm has it listed for #180.00. This is a pretty seminal book so it's unlikely that you'll find a copy cheap. In addition to it being the first appearance of Kitty Pryde, it's also the first appearance of the Hellfire Club, the White Queen (Emma Frost) the Black King (Sebastian Shaw) and many others. I'm extremely excited about owning this book.

 

January 1980

Cover Artists: John Byrne, Terry Austin and Jim Costanza.

Writer: Chis Claremont and John Byrne

 

Katherine "Kitty" Pryde (First appearance)
Carmen Pryde (First appearance)
Theresa "Terri" Pryde (First appearance)
Hellfire Club (First appearance as Hellfire Club)
White Queen (Emma Frost) (First appearance)
Black King (Sebastian Shaw) (First appearance) (Appears in shadow only)
Harry Leland (First appearance) (Appears in shadow only)
Donald Pierce(First appearance) (Appears in shadow only)
Hellfire Club Soldiers (First appearance)
Hellfire Knights (First appearance)
Massachusetts Academy (First mention)

Fan Expo 2014

I've been so busy I'm like a week and a half behind writing this, but better late than never. August 28th - 31st was this years Toronto Fan Expo. an annual multi-genre fan convention and I spent an amazing four days there. It was founded as the Canadian National Comic Book Expo in 1994 by Hobby Star Marketing Inc. It's a four-day event (Thursday through Sunday) held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Up until two years ago they use to use just the North Hall but starting last year they started using both the North and South buildings to accommodate the more that one hundred and fifty thousand fan that are now attending each year. Below I've included some the pictures that I took this year.

 

The Doctor Who society was there in full force. The cast of doctor Who including Matt Smith, Karen Gillian and Arthur Darvill were there to meet and greet fan in a special event Saturday evening at Constitution Hall in Toronto.

 

 

The 501st Legion was also there, one of the biggest and most well organized costuming clubs in the world. Now number well over 6000 member, these guys are among the coolest costumers at the event.

 

 

As impressive as the costumes of the 501st Legion are, I think their display booth was even more impressive. It included two movie accurate Death Star sets which appear to be right off the movie set. Also the hallway form Princess Lea's diplomatic ship was created in every detail.

 

 

 

Although the final attendance number have yet to be released, I'm guessing that they final tally will exceed one hundred and fifty thousand.

 

 

 

As far as comic books are concerned I found the bargains fewer and far in between this year . Comics are starting to get hot again and as a result the prices are going up while the quality is coming down. I still spent some cash mind you, just not as much as I normally do. I found people spending more than they probably should on books of lesser quality.

 

 

 

OK, I just had to throw this one in there, for obvious reasons. For those that have no interest in Star Wars perhaps this will change your mind.

 

 

 

The Horror genre was of course well represented at this year event. Among the guest for this year were Robert England, Ray Wise, Bruce Campbell and the Cast of the Walking Dead.  Rue Morgue Magazine and Anchor Bay Entertainment also had might impressive booth and some really cool free swag.

 

 

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the Fan Expo with more vendors, more artists and more cool stuff for sale than ever before. What ever your into, its at the Fan Expo.

 

 

Like every Comic Con in every city, it's the people and the costumes that make the event so memorable and this year was no exception.

 

 

Another amazing year has come and gone, with the end of the Fan Expo comes the end of the convention season as summer draws to a close. Next year event runs from August 27th to August 30th, I'm already counting the days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing Spiderman # 67

December 1968, a really nice John Romita cover, I just picked up a nice high grade copy of this issue yesterday. With the exception of a small amount of spine roll (hardly noticeable) and a slight yellowing the book is pretty much perfect. It was hanging on the wall with a price tag of $70.00 but I managed to talk him down to $40.00. It's now the oldest Spiderman in my collection. Not a key book by any means, but still a nice book to have.

 

 

Cover: John Romita

Editor: Stan Lee

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: John Romita

Inker: Jim Mooney

Letterer: Artie: Simek

 

Episode 16 - More great books from my Collection

My latest You Tube video, picked up some really great books over the past couple of weeks including a really great copy of X-men #135 and number #35. Kudos to Dynamite Comic and DC comics on the new Batmen 66 meets Green Hornet Series, I'm really enjoying it.  Kevin Smith and actor/comedian Ralph Garman work with artist Ty Templeton to bring these two iconic characters and their famous partners together again.

 

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope 1982 Re-release One-Sheet

In 1982 George Lucas re-released the original Star Wars back into the theatres for a short time. This poster, a Lucasfilm  original 1982 re-release One Sheet (27" x 41") poster is up for sale via screenused.com the seller asking $99.00. While not an original 1977, its still a pretty nifty collector piece at a price that's more than fair. At least I think it is...this is an image the actual poster that is up for sale., where's my credit card...

Treasury Thrull

Magic the Gathering is one of those games that I've always been interested in but just never found the time to learn. I've got cards going back many years which I'm sure have some value but I've not had a chance to go through any price guild to be certain. I bought a few more packs today for the first time in like 5 years and found this interesting little foil card which I believe is quite rare. I may never have a chance to learn this game but I continue to be a casual collector because I think the cards are really cool and the artwork is fantastic. 

 

Treasury Thrull

 

 

 

Set: Gate Crash
Color: Gold
Creature: Thrull
Pwr/Tgh: 4 / 4
Rarity: Rare
Artist: Mark Zug
 

 

DC Bombshell Covers

Been collecting quite a few of the new DC's Bombshell variant covers which feature  DC's most popular babes in the style of '40s and '50s pin-up girls. I've got most of the ones  released this June and so I thought I'd show you some of the spectacular art work.

I'm missing this Bat Woman Cover. Hmmm..another thing I gotta do this weekend.

 

 My favorite DC Girl Harley Quinn from Issue #7

 

 

 Supergirl from Action Comic # 32

 

There are so many more of these I just can show them all. Truth be told I don't own them all. But this gives you a pretty good idea of what our friends at DC comics are currently up to.

X-Men # 35 - August 1967

Picked up X-Men #35 last weekend, not a bad copy and probably the best one I can afford for the time being. In near mint condition this books lists for somewhere around $600.00. However the copy I purchased is probably a VG or VG + at best, giving it a value of somewhere in the $100.00 range. That said I'm very happy with it, I've been looking for this book for quite some time. My local comic book store gave me a killer deal on it.

 

Writer: Roy Thomas

Editor: Stan Lee

Cover Artists: Dan Adkins and Stan Rosen

Penciled: Werner Roth

Inker: Dan Adkins

Letterer: Jerry Feldmen

 

Niagara Comic Con 2014 - Video

Some of the video footage I shot last week at the Niagara Comic Con. This is a really well run event, the organizers did a great job of keeping the lines moving and the venue was ideal relative to the attendance.

Niagara Falls Comic Con 2014

Just spent all day at the Niagara Falls Comic Con this is a very cool convention. Massive lineup when we got there but surprisingly it moved very quickly, only took about 15 minutes to get in. A lot of really great vendors at this show including One Million Comics, Paradise Comics, Comic-Kazi and my personal favorite Big B Comics were I tend to spend a lot of my money.

 

Captain America # 126

Picked up a pretty decent copy of Captain America #126 today at my local comic book store. It isn't perfect but for eight bucks you wont hear any complaints from me. Especially considering that the cover art was done by Jack Kirby. Not an expensive book by any means, in near mint you shouldn't pay any more that $30 - $40

Cover Information

• Penciller (cover): Jack Kirby
• Inker: Bill Everett
• Editor: Stan Lee

Stories

• Penciller: Gene Colan
• Inker: Frank Giacoia
• Letterer: Sam Rosen
• Editor: Stan Lee

Flash Gordon #4 - March 1967

Picked this one up today at my local comic store, not bad for $8.00, I believe the Comic Book Realm has it priced at approximately $30.00 in near mint. As you can see this one isn't perfect but it's still a pretty nice copy.  King Comics wasn't around for very long. They published for approximately a year-and-a-half,  from August 1966 to December 1967. Following their demise a few of their titles were picked up by  Gold Key and Charlton Comics.  Flash Gordon under  King Comics  ran for 11 issues (Sept. 1966 - Dec. 1967) then continued by Charlton Comics.

 

 

Star Wars Blaster

With a little bit of creativity you can turn a toy Hasbro into an almost authentic movie prop. Here's a picture of mine while still in progress. Indecently that my Star Wars poster behind me, signed by David Prowse and Carrie Fisher. I made the mistake of taking over Michael's Craft Store to get it framed. Some asshole glued it to a piece of foam core before framing it. It wasn't until a year later when I tried to remove it from the frame  to get a new signature that I discovered what they had done. If this had been an authentic vintage poster from 1977 I would have gone back to the store and raised bloody hell. But because it's only a reprint I'm only out about $120.00 bucks, plus the additional $200.00 they charged for a piss poor framing job. It's hard to believe that any company or person could possess so little common sense as to do something so stupid. Let that be a lesson to anyone that has anything valuable that they are thinking of framing. Stay clear of Michael's Craft Stores, they're about unprofessional as it gets.

 

 

On a happier note here is my Star Wars E-11 blaster all finished and complete. I used some silver model paint and the dry brush method to give it a weathered look. I think it turned out pretty good.

 

 

At some point in the future I'll post the entire tutorial that take us from beginning to end. The results with a little time and effort are quite astounding.  

The Keep on the Borderlands

If you were in to Dungeons & Dragons in the early 80's then there's a good chance that this is one of the modules, if not the module that introduced you to the game. I found this little gem at "Planet Hobby" one of my local comic stores a few years ago and it's in excellent condition.

 

I'm not certain how collectable they are as of yet, but I expect they will be more so as time goes by. On EBay one in decent condition will run you  $20.00 or perhaps $30.00 if I'm not mistaken. Not easy to find in good condition so I was quite happy to find this little gem.

 

The Keep on the Borderlands was created by Gary Gygax, first printed in December 1979. In the game players investigate a nearby series of caves that are filled with a variety of monsters. The module includes everything you need to get started including Character sheets, Equipment and Weapons lists and Attack charts.  

The maps itself, as well as the booklet are clean, intact and undamaged. A real find if I don't say so myself... I've been meaning to eventually get back into this game soon as I find the time.