Every year, tens of thousands of people gather at Calgary’s BMO Center for one thing: the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. This is actually the largest Comic and Entertainment Expo in Western Canada. This year, they featured names such as Stan Lee, John Carpenter, Bret “Hitman” Hart, “Weird Al” Yankovic, and many more. Both Tom Felton and Jessica Nigri were supposed to be present as well, but unfortunately, they had to cancel due to scheduling conflicts.

That, however, didn’t faze people one bit. As you can see, it was packed shoulder to shoulder throughout the weekend, but first…

…my day actually started late Friday night. While the expo had already been running all day, I had actually just gotten to my hotel room with my sister and friends waiting there for me.

They were actually finishing up a couple of their own costumes and ended up staying awake well into the night to finish them (even with some last minute fixes done in the morning)!

I was already feeling excited for the weekend’s festivities. Unfortunately, I was unable to post any updates that night due to my laptop charger failing.

While I was a bit bummed, my sister had actually gotten her hands on the brand new Minecraft Micro World kit by Lego. This was made in collaboration with Mojang as well as a few fans! This was too cool and I instantly forgot about my laptop.

The next morning, we made our way straight to the Expo without wasting any time. But first, we had to get our passes. On the way to the Big Four Building, we were greeted with multiple cosplayers such as this Darth Vader that was just chilling off to the side…

…but in the end we had to wait in line just like everybody else. It seemed like standing in line for the Calgary Stampede all over again!

At least there were plenty of things to look at and it kept us occupied while waiting in line.

The first thing that actually welcomed us once we stepped into the Expo were this neat little glass octopi. There were a few variations of them, from these cute mini figurines you see here to earrings and bracelets and necklaces!

Perler Beads! It’s great to see that they’re still around. It’s even better to see what people do with them nowadays. How many different characters can you count in this one image alone?

Another thing where you can let your imagination run wild is with custom pins. Quite digging the Portal trio here!

Alchemix Studios were showing off these highly detailed custom creations using Munny vinyl dolls!

The guys and gals from the concept feature film WolfCop were on hand to display some of the neat tricks they use when it comes to transforming a regular person into something as frightening as, let’s say, a werewolf!

Haven’t seen Sailor Moon in a very long time, let alone on some body pillows. Has anyone else heard about the revamp of the series starting this summer?

As always, there was a plethora of custom t-shirts featuring everyone’s favourite characters, both good and evil and insane.

I thought this anatomy of Minecraft’s Creeper was pretty neat. I, however, absolutely hate these things in the game (especially when you don’t have sound!) as I’m sure many others will agree.

How about something a little cozier like these superhero bath robes?

Sword umbrellas have been around for a while, but this is one of the few times that I’ve actually seen them for sale.

Of course we can’t have a comic convention without the presence of Hello Kitty…

…or of course, Domo Kun!

Cat hats anybody?

It’s been interesting to see how these hats have evolved from the simple cat eared toques to the full faced Snorlax you see here!

Carry your favourite memes with you everywhere you go with these key chains! Forever alone!!

Memes not your thing? Then maybe some itsy bitsy Minecraft key chains!

Minecraft has seemed to have exploded in popularity again. So there were hordes of Minecraft goodies to buy like these foam swords and pickaxes that we initially saw at the Edmonton Expo as well as the default character’s cubed head…

…and these Creeper mugs…

…and Creeper plushies…

…and the brand new Lego Micro Worlds that we saw earlier. The world is split into four rearrangeable quadrants so you can assemble your world whatever way you want! True to the game, there is an upper ground level and a cave system underneath, complete with bricks of gold and pools of lava! To top it off (no pun intended), you can lift the ground section off to have an aerial view of the abyss below!

This Minecraft Diamond Axe was actually hand made for the expo!

Another popular one this year was Valve’s legendary puzzle-platform game, Portal. How could you say no to a drink containing ice shaped as Companion Cubes?

I’m not sure which I dislike more: Minecraft’s Creepers or all the annoying turrets from Portal (and Half Life!).

This, however, is what really does it for me. The famous Portal Gun is actually available in a few different configurations (blue or orange portals), as well as sizes from this miniature “desktop” size…

…to the coveted life-sized version, currently in use by a Royal Guard from Star Wars.

I, myself, used to be quite the collector of Pokémon cards. So it was nice to see that people not only still collect them, but game with them too!

Most of these figurines that will find a home probably will never make it out of their original packaging. Some collectors are so hard core that they’ll do anything to keep their items in mint condition for decades to come!

In case of revolution, break glass – V for Vendetta

How could we forget the comic books? With the presence of Stan Lee, all his fans were doubtlessly lining up to get some of their most prized possessions signed by this legendary multi-talented God of Marvel Comics!

Being a Gloomy Bear fan, it was pretty cool to see these fluffy variations of the violent bear.

Hi-Chew! I can never get enough of this delicious Japanese candy! I need more flavours!

Japanese Gundam themed Pepsi, how cool is that?!

Brick Wares had some of their custom mosaics, which are made entirely out of Lego, on hand like this Futurama trio.

I wouldn’t mind having some of these on my walls actually.

Right next to the Brick Wares booth was S.A.L.U.G (Southern Alberta Lego Users Group) with some highly detailed Star Wars creations.

Here’s a very impressive Lego Lightsaber, complete with a Lego stand.

Can’t forget the Millennium Falcon!

Possibly the largest Lego creation present at the expo was this Star Wars environment, both big and detailed enough to rival Lego’s own creations at Lego Land.

It was fantastic to see the individual scenarios within the large map.

They even had these motorized Stormtroopers on Speeder Bikes doing laps around the gigantic display.

Look at the little Star Wars people!

Unfortunately, I didn’t catch the name of this group, but they will take pages from your favourite comics, create a collage, and plaster them onto pretty much anything! From guitars…

…to purses…

…and even Grandfather clocks! It must require incredible amounts of patience and effort to complete one of these projects, and thus, each resulting product is unique on its own.

Everybody loves the cute and adorable characters of tokidoki. Fun fact: tokidoki’s name and their products are based off a Japanese cartoon style, but the creators are two very Italian men!

Perhaps one of the biggest creators of limited edition toys and apparel, Kidrobot was seen everywhere in all shapes and forms from some of their larger collectables…

…to the ever so popular “blind boxes”.

These are the masterminds behind the very popular Munnys, providing consumers and designers alike a blank canvas to get as creative as they’d like.

They never cease to amaze me so I can’t wait to see what they come out with next!

Not everything at the show was just a collectable; some of them are actually useful like these superhero cookie jars!

Or how about these mugs to get your day started with a cup of coffee?

Are Superheroes not your thing? What about having a drink while waiting for the overdue zombie apocalypse?

Some artists from Artists Alley have gotten a little extra creative as well, now offering different variations of their works on mugs!

Speaking of artists, Omar Doğan of UDON Entertainment was present with several of his original pieces! For those of you that don’t know, Omar also works with big names like Capcom, Konami, and Namco. You can view some of his art as unlockables in various games such as Street Fighter!

I can’t even begin to imagine how rare and valuable these sealed N64 games are!

Limited edition Pikachu GameBoy’s from the new 3DS to the original Gameboy Advance SP!

And of course, here are some of the earlier variations of one of the most important handheld consoles in the history of gaming.

For those not looking to collect, there were still plenty of games to go through for all your old school gaming consoles, such as Super Nintendo and Atari.

And for those who don’t have any of the original systems, there was your chance to get one!

Pop vinyl figures were in high demand with Funko releasing new characters every so often!

Tinker Bell here looking a little off…

C3-P0 not looking too comfy.

I actually keep seeing Cookie Monster wherever I go for some reason…

Pikachu here is looking quite fashionable. Would this be considered cannibalism?

Besides all the comic books, there were plenty of guidebooks for anyone looking to “100%” a game.

If you’re not the reader type, why not watch some famous movies that helped bring modern day Japanese anime to where it is today!

A new release by Domo, DC, and Funko, are these collectable Domo DC Mystery Mini’s, featuring none other than Domo Kun dressed up as everyone’s favourite DC superheroes and villains!

Glad to see the robots are still around, some of them looking older than I am.

This is an incredible poster of the original cover for The Simpsons’ second album release, “The Yellow Album”.

Not all collectables these days are vinyl. Check out this lovely looking porcelain Harley Quinn and the famous Iron Throne from Game of Thrones.

Now this is a version of Monopoly that I have not seen before.

While the expo featured many celebrity guests from all over, one of the main attractions was in fact not an actor or actress, but a car.

The DeLorean from Back To The Future made an appearance at this year’s expo, which had me all excited. It lead the first Expo Parade the day before the show opened its doors to the public.

Not only was the DeLorean present, but so was one of the original hover boards! Oh, the things I would do to get my hands on one of these!

One of the world leaders in visual effects and five-time Academy Award winner, Weta had some of their extremely detailed creations from some of their projects over the years such as Dr. Grordbort’s Triumph.

And boy, when I say detailed, do I ever mean it.

Weta has worked on countless projects over the years ( King Kong, District 9, and I, Robot, just to name a few) but perhaps one of their biggest and most well-known projects would be The Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

We will continue to see their work in The Lord Of The Rings franchise with one of their more recent projects, The Hobbit.

Even creative director and co-founder of Weta Workshop, Richard Taylor was on hand signing autographs!

Star Wars fans will recognize this as Han Solo frozen in carbonite. Unfortunately, the sign next to it reads “Man In Carbonite”. Ouch. Sorry, Han Solo…

I wouldn’t mind having this Stormtrooper chair on my nonexistent patio, although I’m not exactly sure that I’d want to sit on it repeatedly.

After seeing my sisters TMNT crochet doll , it was pretty cool seeing these Katamari themed dolls. You don’t really see too much of Katamari so these were definitely a treat..

Another item that seems to be making a comeback this year is DIY paper figures.

Just print, cut, fold, and viola! Instant superhero!

Just outside, Scion was present with a couple neat cars like this Captain America tC…

…and this Batman themed FRS. Could this be Batman’s next vehicle of choice?

Stay tuned for part two of my visit to the Calgary Expo as we take a look at the next attraction: the cosplayers!

-brandonchua.

Part TWO of The Calgary Expo.

Part THREE of The Calgary Expo.

Click HERE to view the full photo set on Flickr.