ArchRivals Collector Fest was Superb Fun!

The latest ArchRivals Collector Fest took place today, and it was an extremely fun time! There were tons of vendors with trading cards, comics, toys, and other collectibles. The guests were very snazzy as well; I definitely enjoyed myself.

Jessica Mathews

Early Bird entry kicked off at 8AM with a crowd eager to check the show out. I immediately said hello to my good friend Jessica Mathews. She had many of her awesome books, and we discussed how at the upcoming ToyMan show (July 12th) she would have some new titles for sale! I then spoke with Bruce Renyolds and met his brother, Alan, who was visiting Saint Louis and had brought a wildly cool mix of comics, both older and newer. There were a ton of card vendors and one with neat creations I was impressed by. This is their sign:

Guest of the show and popular colorist, Alex Sinclair, was speaking with fans and working on various pieces at the show. We nerded out together over fun history facts about Saint Louis, as we both love interesting trivia. He was kind enough to pose for a picture:

My chums from Go Getter Gamez brought a ton of awesome video games and consoles that many attendees enjoyed checking out. Mr. Makebelieve's Kiss Kollectibles were a hoot to look at, as he always has tons of neat things. Heroes for Kids was raising funds for charity and promoting their own upcoming show on July 18th & 19th! A company called STL Slots was selling real slot machines that had been tweaked to be legal for home use, so people could put them in a little basement bar area or such to have fun games to play (without losing any real money). They let me snap a picture of their sign:

John Gremillion is a voice actor for a number of popular shows (including the, "One Piece," anime) and we talked about voice acting and how he was enjoying the show. He was cool with me taking a picture of him and his banner:

As I continued navigating the show, I caught up with Brian Lan, who was helping promote the Hero Initiative, which assists comic creators in need. I ran into my friend Caitlyn McCarthy, who had some cool crafts for sale at a booth with her friend and skillful crocheter, That Crafty Witch. They posted for some photos:

A cool artist named, "The Wobbly Duck," was selling fun artwork and prints, and I chatted with my friend Nate Nauert and browsed his cool comics. I ran into Naked Man Creations again and admired his fascinating creations. Here he is with some of his works:

This Archrivals Collector Fest was packed with cool vendors, awesome guests, and was a great way to spend this Saturday! I want to thank the show for inviting me to attend as press and look forward to future events!

The Latest Shriners' Collector Fest Was Immense Fun!

I attended the Shriners' Collector Fest and had a great time today. There were a ton of vendors, notable celebrity guests, and everyone was excited and having fun! Popular voice actress Emily Bauer had a long line of fans as soon as the show kicked off, and near the entrance, I saw my friends from Heroes for Kids. They were kind enough to pose for a picture:

My friends from Go Getter Gamez were present with a ton of cool wares, and they were fun to catch up with. I proceeded to enjoy chatting with Magnitude 10 Comics about the various series we'd been enjoying reading and how hard it can be to prioritize what we want to collect! He let me shoot a pic too:

Justin Mosely had cards and comics for sale too, and it was fun to see him as we hadn't bumped into each other for some time. My friend, author Jessica Mathews, had all of her superb works available for attendees to browse and purchase. Here she is with her setup:

As I continued exploring the show, I checked out Mack's 3D Creations and their neat wares and saw a ton of cool comics for sale from The Lions Realm. I snapped an image of their sign:

KMO's Corner was selling a bunch of interesting die-cast cars and collectibles, which were neat to see. Plus, Collector Fest had a ton of folks with trading cards, sports cards, TCGs, and more. One of the vendors had a really neat logo and let me get a picture of it--Blorg's Hobby Shop. Here it is:

After I wound my way around a table full of Funko Pops, I ran into DeathCapStories, who had a bunch of interesting horror-themed books for sale; their stuff was cool! Then, I met Car'Bored, a business of two fellows where one is skilled at fixing cars and the other loves trading cards. I loved the name, with a doubt. Here is that table:

Mr. Makebelieve was present with his immense array, "Kiss Kollectibles," for sale. I always enjoy speaking with him. I then saw Larry from Bug's Comics and browsed his wares. Plus, The Hero Initiative is always doing fantastic work for comic creators in need, and they had a table with wares raising funds for the non-profit:

There were even more vendors I did not get the name of (the area was packed with awesome stuff), and tons of friendly folks at the show. The Shriners' Collector Fest today was highly enjoyable, and I can't wait for when the next one occurs!

Guests, Cosplayers, Vendors, and Creators, Oh My!--GalaxyCon Saint Louis 2025 in Review

A Show's Debut

Lou Ferrigno cutting the ribbon for the show as Sean Gunn and Ashley Eckstein assist!

Time for a post about my experience at GalaxyCon Saint Louis 2025. This post--which you're reading--will focus on the guests/cosplayers at the show as well as the snazzy vendors and creators, along with the wares/creations they were selling. There is no exact order to the people I met in this post, at least other than the order I recall meeting and talking with them. Keep in mind that there were tons of guests and some had lines too long for me to get into/were more open to simply saying, "Hello," and having a photo taken to promote their websites than others (which is perfectly understandable). For that reason, while someone such as Weird Al Yankovic was there, I did not wait in his long line to meet him, but I heard he was lovely from those who did see him. I'll close the post with some general thoughts on the show as well.

All Kinds of Cool People and Stuff

Christopher Priest

One of my favorite comic-book creators, Christopher Priest, was at the show! He was extremely friendly and eager to chat about how much I loved his recent-ish run on, "Deathstroke," among other great works he's done. It was a treat to meet him!

Jade Brightwind

The Jade Brightwind booth had some amazing nature-themed artwork. It was gorgeous stuff and they were incredibly friendly and ready to talk about their creative process!

Astravoid Cosplay

Astravoid Cosplay was excited to be at the show when I talked with her early Friday. We discussed how all the attendees seemed very excited, and the overall mood for the show was peppy!

Cartoons by Andie

My friend, Andie, was at the show doing commissions. I've had her draw Moon Knight for me before, and I'd highly recommend her work!

Minz

Readers of the blog may recall how I met Minz for the first time at the Shriners' Collector Fest some months ago. It was awesome catching up with her at this show and hearing how great things had been going in her life!

The Art of Anne Elizabeth

Anne Elizabeth was selling a mix of cool prints, postcards, and stickers. I loved her illustrative style!

Tatertot

One of the comic-book vendors at the show was the awesome crew from Tatertot Comics and Collectibles. I discussed with them how I am excited for their upcoming show (which I recently blogged about).

Bindi Smalls

Cosplayer Bindi Smalls had a bunch of cool items for sale, including fun keychains!

The Hero Initiative/Kevin Nowlan

The Hero Initiative (and my friend, Brian Lan) were raising funds to help comic creators in need. They had a bunch of creators present to assist with this, including Kevin Nowlan, who was selling a really cool limited sketchbook! Check it out:

Cantraip Press

Cantraip Press had a cool assortment of fiction and nonfiction for sale. They were excited to discuss the creations of their various writers at the publisher!

Heartless Aquarius

Heartless Aquarius had a bunch of cool crafts for sale and was kind enough to let me take a pic!

Ben Templesmith

Ben Templesmith is an amazing illustrator behind a myriad of works ranging from many of the, "30 Days of Night," comics to, "Wormwood: Gentleman's Corpse," and more. He was kind enough to sign and personalize some comics for me and pose for the above photo.

Cinematic Scribbles

I was impressed by the creations of Ben/Cinematic Scribbles; he makes pictures out of words from movies, and the results are gorgeous!

Morgan Le Foy

Morgan Le Foy was rocking a cool outfit and selling lots of photo prints!

Crypt of Heroes

The gents behind, "Crypt of Heroes," were selling their cool comic (of that name). Every issue features self-contained stories about monstrous heroes in a shared universe. I was intrigued and bought the first two issues that they had for sale!

Master Chief

This gentleman posing as Master Chief was polite enough to pose for a pic!

Fantasy Chibi

The mix of adorable and saucy creations of Fantasy Chibi were fun to observe. I was impressed by the artistry!

Carey Means

I met Carey Means back at the Hannibal Comic-Con, and it was exciting to see him again! We chatted about how life had been between when he was signing autographs for fans excited to meet the voice of Frylock!

Phaseknight

Another awesome cosplayer, Phaseknight was happy to pose for the blog!

The Laggy Gallery

The Laggy Gallery had some absolutely adorable creations for sale.

Jason Aaron

Comic book writer Jason Aaron had collections of his, "Absolute Superman," Volume 1, and the first volume of, "Bug Wars," available. He was lovely to speak with as well!

Effin' Birds AKA Aaron Reynolds

Aaron Reynold and his swear-prone birds were as impressively drawn as they were salty in their language!

Overall Thoughts on the Show

A busy moment from the show's floor.

I had a lot of fun at the first (of hopefully many to come) GalaxyCon Saint Louis! All of the guests and cosplayers I spoke with were a joy to interact with, the creators and vendors all beamed with energy as well as excitement for the show, and the crowd was chill (big shows can get crowded and tense at times). There was a good mix of fandoms represented in the celebrity/comic-maker guests, the multiple bathrooms ensured lines were never too long for a toilet, and I would probably only have one minor quibble. 

There were only two full-scale comic-book vendors at the show focused on selling comics--my friends from Tatertot and another booth. While I loved seeing the various other vendors, crafters, and indie comic creators, I would've enjoyed having some more shortboxes or longboxes to dig through for some comics in the hopes of finding a cool treasure. That observation aside, I had so much fun at GalaxyCon Saint Louis, and it is actually still happening with the show running Sunday from 10AM to 8PM, so try and get over there tomorrow if you have a chance, it's a great time!

Concluding September With an Excellent ToyMan Show!

As September comes to a close, I attended the ToyMan Show today (in addition to stopping by the GAS Card Show as I blogged about earlier). It was, as always, a great time, and I found some cool things!

The show's first floor as it began.

I started the show off by saying hello to Tim Metzger and the fellow from Tatertot Comics and Collectibles (who have their own show coming up this October 18th). I also had a chance to chat with John from Bigfoot Comics about how he'd been doing. My good friend, Jack, of Fortress Comics was at the show and had a ton of great comics too! I picked up a cool, "Spectacular Spider-Man," issue featuring the first appearance of Tombstone, as can be seen right below:

During the show, I enjoyed browsing a bunch of Hot Wheels one vendor had brought in addition to the latest Pokémon release. I ran into my chum, Spike, and he had some awesome promotional pins from when, "Alien Vs Predator," came out back in 2004. I picked them up to add to my pins on my tote bag I often carry around at shows. Take a look:

As I continued exploring the show, I enjoyed seeing Brian Lan and discussing how I'll see him with other folks representing the Hero Initiative at the upcoming Galaxy Con St Louis. I enjoyed looking at Bruce Reynolds' comics as well and had the chance to say, "Hello," to Tom Milister, too! In the upstairs area, I caught up with author Debbie Manbe Kupfer about her latest book and enjoyed seeing Lindsay Hornsby and hearing about her latest art creations! I enjoyed seeing the latest creations of Cayd from Tri Fox Shoppe, as well! I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff Wise, AKA The Tentacle Monster artist. His creations were very cool! Lastly, I bought the latest book from my friend, Jessica Mathews, and she was kind enough to write a note for Clarkson and Gibson in it! Here it is:

Today's ToyMan Show was a delight, and I am happy to have been able to attend. There is always so much stuff to examine, dig through, and (potentially) purchase! I always say to people, if there is a collectible item you're looking for and you didn't find it at ToyMan, you must not have looked hard enough, as it is most likely there! I am excited for the next show on November 9th and encourage you to put it on your calendar to attend as well--I'll see you there!

The Shriner's Collector Fest Was Great Fun!

The show as it kicked off.

I wrote a week ago about how I was excited to attend the Shriners' Collector Fest, which just happened today! I met a variety of new folks, saw some old friends, and had a ton of fun. Let's discuss how it went!

I began the show by trading some stuff I brought for a really cool Punisher comic, you can see it above. I was then lucky enough to run into my friend, author Jessica Mathews. We talked about some new books she had in the works, and I can't wait to read her new series! The always-awesome John Chaffee of Bigfoot Comics had an assortment of wares, too. I made the acquaintance of a group of friends who sell new and vintage video-games--Go Getter Gamez--as well! I met a video-game streamer Minz, who was really friendly and fun to chat with. She can be found on Tiktok, Youtube, Twitch, and more! Here she is at the show:

I continued to enjoy wandering around the show floor, where there was a wide range of cool stuff for sale. Everything from sports cards, to vinyl records, old model kits, and other vintage toys were all on offer. I also saw my old friend and creator, Lorenzo Lizana. We had fun catching up! Here he is:

As I kept exploring, I had fun conversing with various vendors--it was fun to see new folks at this show as well, younger and older, who love collectibles. Creator Brian Atikins was showcasing his superb comic too, and I also saw the awesome individuals behind Heroes for Kids raising funds/awareness. Plus, The Hero Initiative was present as well. I traded some cards with a nice fellow named Mike, whom I told about the best Moon Knight comics to read when I expressed interest in checking the character out. I met William, "Andy," Bove, a gothic horror author, who chatted with me about our love of horror-themed stuff. He was kind enough to pose for a photo as well:

Between the creators/authors, an ample number of vendors, and an energetic crowd, this Shriners' Collector Fest was a great deal of fun! I want to thank the Arab Patrol Unit of the Moolah Shriners for putting on such a great event, and the main event planner, Jason Shell, for allowing me to attend as press. I hope they plan another event in the near future, as I'll be sure to go to it as well!