Fan Expo Canada 2013: the best costumes, longest lines and most egregiously expensive autographs

Fan Expo Canada 2013: the best costumes, longest lines and most egregiously expensive autographs

Fan Expo Canada 2013

Toronto’s 19th annual mega-fan convention was even more dizzyingly diverse than years past. In the span of four days, Sailor Moon celebrated its 20th anniversary; the convention launched a sports component featuring Hulk Hogan and former Blue Jays Roberto Alomar and Paul Molitor; and Doctor Who fans surpassed the world record for the largest gathering of Daleks. Of course, we also spotted thousands of Canada’s most impressive cosplayers dressed up as everyone from Adventuretime’s Finn to Princess Mononoke. Here, a collection of the best costumes and most noteworthy happenings from the weekend of geekdom.

• Biggest Downer: exploitation of superfans 
Celebs treat these occasions as a chance for some easy cash, charging anywhere from $50 or $60 (David Hasselhoff, Stan Lee) to $80 (Zachary Quinto) for an autograph, plus an extra fee for photos. Several vendors also took advantage of attendees’ enthusiasm: we saw Princess Mononoke DVDs priced at $79 and cheaply-made printed tees going for $30.

• Most Eloquent Activist: Zachary Quinto
When asked about his views on recent anti-LGBT policymaking in Russia, the Star Trek actor rose to the occasion, congratulating his celeb friend Wentworth Miller (who recently came out publicly) and urging the world to stand up and and show Russia an “inevitable wave of equality.”

• Most Popular Costumes: Adventuretime characters and Deadpool
It felt like at least 50 per cent of 100,000 attendees were dressed as Adventuretime’s Finn, Jake, Princess Bubblegum, Flame Princess, Lumpy Space Princess and Earl of Lemongrab. Those who weren’t Adventuretiming celebrated the recent release of the Deadpool video game by dressing up as the red-suited anti-hero. 

• Best Drag: Pokemon’s Misty
One fellow took drag to a new level with his interpretation of Misty, a protagonist from Pokemon. He donned cut-off shorts, suspenders and mini Pokeballs and, facing the limitation of his short hair, instead tied his beard into Misty’s signature knot. (That wasn’t the only beard styling we saw, either.)

• Toughest Cosplay to Master: steampunk
Steampunk’s blend of Victorian, Wild West and fantasy and horror motifs is hard to pull off, and not everyone managed it—especially not the misguided soul we saw wandering around in a makeshift corset made out of a blouse and a garbage bag.

• Hottest Product: ultra-cute T-shirts
Tee Turtle Designs had a steady stream of buyers and gawkers, thanks to their cutesy takes on everything from the Firefox logo to Nyan Cat and Pokemon.

• Longest Line: Hulk Hogan
Everyone loves a free snack, which is why people (us included) were waiting 20 minutes to get a box of Lucky Charms. But that was nothing: the lineup to meet Hulk Hogan was two hours long—and he didn’t even have Brooke with him.

See the photos from Fan Expo 2013 »