Last year, my cousin decided to do something about the comic book collection that had been collecting dust in his basement for over 20 years. He brought them over to my apartment.
A comics fan and weekend collector myself, I was delighted—at first. Here were seven boxes (and bags) to rummage through, including a treasure trove of underground comix from the ‘70s, an impressively comprehensive collection of ‘80s “ground-level” books, a potpourri of mainstream (i.e. superhero), comics, and a few dozen zines and comics magazines. I was familiar with many but not all. After amalgamating his collection and mine, then bagging, boarding, and sorting all of his comics, thought, I was ready to sell EVERYTHING. What the hell am I going to do with 40 boxes of comics? Most of them are just taking up space in a costly storage facility anyway, and I have no one to leave them to unless you count my nephew. And he’s probably too busy playing Fortnite to care.
And so this past weekend I found myself at the Vancouver Comic and Toy Show* trying to sell off 50 years’ worth of comics. These are six of my key takeaways, as we say in the thought leader sphere.
1. The weekend is all about the show. Going into the two-day event, which runs from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, I fooled myself into thinking that it would constitute part of my weekend, not the whole thing. Boy was I wrong. Friday night I loaded in, and that took a couple of hours. Then, on game days, I was at my table for seven and eight hours straight, respectively, not counting load-out.
2. The show begins before the show begins. I had barely had time to start organizing on Saturday morning before other dealers started sniffing around my table. They must have sensed a new fish because before the first paying customer stepped through the doors I had sold most of my cousin’s collection of undergrounds, not to mention a stack of collectors’ item Marvels. Like having seven boxes of comics dumped in your lap, at first this was exciting. Then I realized that, given the chance, these guys—they were all guys, 40 and up—would suck me dry, cherry-picking all the valuable stuff and leaving me with nothing but boxes of, basically, junk.
3. Gwenpool is super popular. I’d like to think I still keep up with the comics scene, but I have to admit I was stumped when a young woman came to the table asking if I had any Gwenpool. I’d heard of Spider-Gwen, an alternate universe version of Peter Parker’s dead love interest Gwen Stacy, but apparently there is also a Gwen Stacy version of Deadpool. The Marvel Universe moves in mysterious ways. My favourite interaction though was with someone who told me I had “the weirdest table.” Considering my competition—people selling nothing but Funko Pops, to take just one example—this was an impressive feat.
4. The numbers don’t add up. Over the weekend, I did pretty well—I raked in more than I thought I would, and enough to pay some bills. But if I added up all the hours I spent amalgamating, bagging, boarding, sorting, pricing, and going back and forth to my storage unit, not to mention the costs involved—for supplies like boards, bags, boxes, and price stickers, parking, the table itself—I am lucky to have cleared a loonie an hour.
5. Not one person was interested in my book. Prior to the show a couple people suggested I bring some copies of my book about the history of superhero movies, Superheroes Smash the Box Office, to sell. I brought one copy, just to gauge interest. I needn’t have bothered.
6. I would do it again. Granted, I came out of the Forum on Sunday night hoping to not see another comic book for six months. But I had a blast. I loved talking to the other dealers and the people stopping by the table and having inane conversations about comic books and what was selling and what wasn’t. It was fun being part of the community and pulling the whole thing off without a hitch (well, except for three drinks spilled at my table, and probably getting ripped off on my copy of the first appearance of Deathlok). There’s another show, the West-coast Comic Con Aug. 25 at the Maritime Labour Centre. I may have to rent a table.
*Organized by collector Evan Christensen, owner of Canadian Comics, the show was first held at the Croatian Cultural Center in 2014 and has since expanded to twice a year at the PNE Forum. Note that all locations mentioned, from my cousin’s residence to my condo to the CCC, the Forum, and the Maritime Labour Centre, are in East Van. For what that’s worth.
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