This was our third time attending this local comic, game and toy convention. It’s always great to see how hard everyone worked and how it all came together. It was great to get out and mingle with some familiar face and meet some new ones.
We did our rounds and checked out all the amazing vendors. We brought our two youngest kids this year. It was fun and both of them (plus the Mr.) left very happy shoppers having found some treasured comics and must have video games.
I think the highlight for all of us this year (aside from going to begin with) were the cosplayers walking around. Incredible jobs done on their costumes and being in character just put the cherry on top. They’re always also so friendly and welcoming to take a picture! We ran into a Jawa, Darth Maul, and we also saw the capital ghostbusters among many other characters. So fun!
Thanks to the team at Fanaticcon for hosting us! We had a great time! A day well spent! Stay tuned for future announcements about Fanaticcon 2024!
It’s that time of year again folks, when Mr and Mrs Toybox start getting hyped up for some summer collecting and also summer events happening in our local city!
This summer, geeks and nerds alike will be gathering in Ottawa, Ontario for our favourite local event: Fanaticcon 4!
Fanaticcon is described as a fan-driven convention for nostalgic toys, collectors items, games, art, cosplayers and more! It’s a day to get together and celebrate all things geeky with other enthusiasts like you!
What happens at Fanaticcon?
Vendors
Fanaticcon will have over 33 vendor booths to check out featuring some of the Ottawa areas finest nostalgic toys and games vendors, collectibles, artists and much more. There are also games and prizes throughout the day. Make sure to stop at Flacs Collectibles and Kaboom Comics stations!
Flacc’s Collectible’s!
Cosplay
Expect to see the unexpected! Fanaticcon attendees have amazing cosplay skills and they will definitely be on display once again this year for us to be in aw of! Plus, there’s a contest and you have a chance to win a prize if your costume is judged THE BEST of Fanaticcon!!! So fun!
Celebrity encounters
Come and rub elbows with some spectacular special celebrity guests like Abby Hagyard (You Can’t do that on TV/Carebears), Ken Sangoes (Nightmare on Elmstreet 3), Kurt Lehner (Celebrity Artist) and more including Lance (the loser) from Canadas Worst Driver 6 for pics, chats and fun!
I did actually meet the real Abby but this prop was too fun to pass up!
There is just a whole lot of awesome going on at Fanaticcon, it’s impossible to write it all here in the blog. Seriously, you walk in and it’s like 🤯 – mind blown, where do we start!!!
If you get VIP tickets and come early you get first dibs on all the vendors. Plus, kids under 12 get in free and have the chance to get a surprise bag (first come first served).
How much is it to get in Fanaticcon?
$15 at the door 11am-5pm or $20 early bird VIP 10am-5pm. Kids under 12 are free!
When and where is Fanaticcon?
August 13th 2023 at the Ottawa Conference and Event Center
Mr and Mrs Toybox have been collecting items of nostalgic interest their entire lives and now do it as a serious hobby together. Mr Toybox has always been a huge fan of Transformers and he doesn’t collect just any Transformers collectible figures, he has been focussed for over ten years with no end in sight. Aside from
Something that always grabs our attention when it comes to collecting toys is artwork themed with our favourites. The best kind of fan art is always the handmade kinds, fans really put their hearts and soul into their crafts for their favourite nostalgic characters. Sometimes, reprints are also fun to get your hands on.
hello Etsy!
Mrs Toybox is an Etsy seller and from time to time she enjoys helping out other small businesses like the print shop Patere on Etsy who sell patent blueprint prints. You can get them on cardboard, map or regular paper and in different sizes depending on your needs. The shipping is fast and the product is superb! We highly recommend them for your print needs and they make a great gift for the collector in your life!
Optimus Prime ‘85
The first addition to his new Transformers Prints collection was of course Optimus Prime from 1985. I believe there is more to this print, perhaps description of the numbers and more detailed toy instructions but having something like this hanging in the Transformers collection area is really something. It brings authenticity and nostalgic value to the look of the collection of bots.
Other choices of Transformers Patent Prints
Thanks to Damon for going out of their way to find us some other Transformers blue prints and putting them up to order. Considering the price of true prints plus the cost of shipping and also purchasing an 8×10 frame, these prints are worth it from a decorative perspective.
Other Transformer Patent Prints Available
Soundwave
Megatron
Starscream
Buzzsaw
Grimlock
Ironhide
Perceptor
Visit Patere on Etsy
Visit Patere on Etsy to see his full library of patent prints available, he’s got more than just Transformers. He also has patent prints of cartoons, movie characters and vehicles.
*Not sponsored or endorsed by Etsy or any mentioned shops. Honest review and opinions are those of the Authors of The Toybox Collection and are a reflection of our experience and impression of the product and brands mentioned.*
It’s not often since covid 2020 that The Toybox Collection has gone to any major events, except Fanaticcon 2 last year. We had a great time and just had to do it again. Fanaticcon 3 happened this past weekend and what a time was had by all! We went. We saw. We bought some comics and met some really cool people.
The event
Fanaticcon 3 was a smash, we would say. The place was packed with people of all kindred collectors, cosplayers and folks of all kinds. You could feel the excited energy in the room as soon as you walked through the doors.
There was so much to do and see, the first stop we made was to Ka-Boom comics where Mr. T picked up some Transformers comics missing from his collection. He did good knocking several off his list in one shot. The owners of Ka-Boom Comics are pretty awesome too. While they aren’t a store per-say, they do have a warehouse but you need to be on their list to shop. Call it the VIP treatment. Make sure to follow them on social and keep with the latest!
Political comics
This next artist was so awesome! His name is Marc Roy, (@cartoonist_CAC on instagram) and he hails from Montreal, drawing political parody comics. We at the Toybox Collection don’t usually like to bring politics into our toy collecting but this guys work is not only funny but honest and so creative, we couldn’t resist not sharing his work. Marc is such a genuine guy too who took the time to answer our questions, talk about how he started in cartooning and also signed the copy of his comic we picked up! Check his work out via Instagram!
Meet n Greet with “You Can’t Do That on TV” MOM
Mrs T went to Fanaticcon on a mission: to meet the one and only Abby Hagyard (@abbyhagyard on Instagram) of Care Bears (Teddy Ruxpin, For Better or For Worse), You Can’t Do That on Television fame. You can read about her entire experience here. Abby is the sweetest and funniest, she made the meet and greet comfortable and fun! She was down to earth, our TV Mom! You can tell she truly loves what she does!
Friends of The ToyBox Collection
This next mention is an old friend of Mr T. We had to stop by and check out Flac’s Collectibles! He and his Mrs sell super hero action figures and other collectibles. You can follow @FlacsCollectibles on Instagram!
Mr T with Mankind!When there’s something strange in the neighbourhood…
While we didn’t get a chance to stop and say hi (sad face), or get a picture (sadder face) with the man of the hour, Lance aka @TheToyTimeMachine, we would like to thank him (and his team of hero’s) for giving us the opportunity once again to join in on the geeky fun and rep our blog at his super awesome event! We hope to do it again next year, maybe with The Toybox Collection t-shirts? 🤔
We would love to sit here all day and write about all the amazing people and things we saw at this year’s Fanaticcon but I don’t think WordPress has enough drive space so we’ll end it with some awesome video to remember.
Fanaticcon 4
Fanaticcon 4 is already in the making!!! Check out the Facebook events page and click GOING. We already did!
Somewhere in a galaxy far, far away, an awesome brand we love sent one of their biggest fans a huge box of awesome to check out! We couldn’t believe the SIZE of the box first of all (14 lbs anybody?) but what was in it…incredible!
We knew new toys were coming out soon but weren’t expecting this…Thank you HASBRO for the “out of this world” surprise!
To celebrate “Triple Force Friday” we created an awesome video showcasing the latest and greatest from Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premium collectibles (The Black Series, The Vintage Series), toys (Galaxy of Adventures 5″ action figures), RC Robotic Droids and the all-new Scream Saber Electronic Lightsaber.
Follow @Hasbro on Twitter and Instagram using hashtags #StarWars and #TheRiseofSkywalker to get in on all the Star Wars celebratory fun! May the force be with you!
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