|
Read More
|
We attended the first Midwest Comic Book Fans show Spring Fling Comic Book Show at Mermaid Entertainment & Event Center, Mounds View, Minnesota, today, May 15th, 2021.
To give you a little background, Midwest Comic Book Fans came out of the ashes of Midwest Comic Book Association (MCBA). It all started with the passing of organizer Nick Post in 2014, and the MCBA organization had an identity crisis, after re-branding itself as MSP Comicon… which sounded like a good idea, as it sounds like San Diego Comicon and to better compete with Wizard World Minneapolis and MN Fan Fest. I’ve mentioned in the past that I absolutely hated the “MSP Comicon” name, and locally, everybody referred to the shows as Springcon and Fallcon anyway… so what was the point?
The remaining organizers at the Midwest Comic Book Association decided to retire and left it to the remaining volunteers. They had a vote and reformed as simply Midwest Comic Book Fans.
MCBF’s main goal is to bring back Springcon and Fallcon, and its original goal of keeping the shows affordable. This is awesome, as one of my biggest complaint about the previous former shows, was that it was expensive ($15 was the price of admission that I paid on the last show) for what it offered. For that price, I wanted a good comic book panels, I want to see non-local artists, etc.
Based on what we saw at “Spring Fling Comic Book Show”, I think they are on the right track! The $5 admission fee was the right price for this kind of one-room show. There were about 15 local dealers, mostly dealing with comic books (some had toys and the usual convention-related things).
There was a small section for artists, as you can see from the photo, local legend Dan Jurgens (Superman), Gordon Purcell (Star Trek: The Last Generation), and Ale Garza (Deadpool), had a table. The flyer (complete with the wrong zip code), did not advertise Jurgens, as there were several fans who were surprised to see him there. In fact, if I had known he was going to be there, I would’ve definitely brought some books for him to sign (even though I’ve met Jurgens and got his autographs numerous times).
Anyway, the turnout for this show was so good that there was a long line of people trying to get in the room (since there was a capacity cap). I think there was a number of factors why there was such a large turnout… one of which is perhaps people were just itching to get back to normal conventions and shows (now that many people are vaccinated). Also, I think the price is right, a show like this should be $5 or less.
I think my biggest complaint is that it was just too small, especially with the capacity limit. If you were collecting comics, this kind of show is good for looking and buying. Prices are about what you would expect, not too overpriced, but not exactly great deals either… but it might be cheaper than what’s on eBay.
Overall, a good start. I’m very interested in checking out their next show… which I am assuming will be Fallcon.
To give you a little background, Midwest Comic Book Fans came out of the ashes of Midwest Comic Book Association (MCBA). It all started with the passing of organizer Nick Post in 2014, and the MCBA organization had an identity crisis, after re-branding itself as MSP Comicon… which sounded like a good idea, as it sounds like San Diego Comicon and to better compete with Wizard World Minneapolis and MN Fan Fest. I’ve mentioned in the past that I absolutely hated the “MSP Comicon” name, and locally, everybody referred to the shows as Springcon and Fallcon anyway… so what was the point?
The remaining organizers at the Midwest Comic Book Association decided to retire and left it to the remaining volunteers. They had a vote and reformed as simply Midwest Comic Book Fans.
MCBF’s main goal is to bring back Springcon and Fallcon, and its original goal of keeping the shows affordable. This is awesome, as one of my biggest complaint about the previous former shows, was that it was expensive ($15 was the price of admission that I paid on the last show) for what it offered. For that price, I wanted a good comic book panels, I want to see non-local artists, etc.
Based on what we saw at “Spring Fling Comic Book Show”, I think they are on the right track! The $5 admission fee was the right price for this kind of one-room show. There were about 15 local dealers, mostly dealing with comic books (some had toys and the usual convention-related things).
|
Artists
|
Anyway, the turnout for this show was so good that there was a long line of people trying to get in the room (since there was a capacity cap). I think there was a number of factors why there was such a large turnout… one of which is perhaps people were just itching to get back to normal conventions and shows (now that many people are vaccinated). Also, I think the price is right, a show like this should be $5 or less.
I think my biggest complaint is that it was just too small, especially with the capacity limit. If you were collecting comics, this kind of show is good for looking and buying. Prices are about what you would expect, not too overpriced, but not exactly great deals either… but it might be cheaper than what’s on eBay.
Overall, a good start. I’m very interested in checking out their next show… which I am assuming will be Fallcon.
Spring Fling Comic Book Show at Mermaid Entertainment & Event Center, Mounds View (15 May 2021) |
| vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic |
Comments