Category: Comic Books

What’s up CHU, Mel V. here with my review of Mike Carbo’s Big Apple Con 2016. When I first started back into collecting back in 2013, I attended the Big Apple Con and Winter Con (both done by legendary NY Comic seller Mike Carbo). I was like Luke Skywalker in A New Hope. Young and new to the game and knowing nothing. Now in 2016, I’m like Luke in Return of the Jedi, I know how to maneuver the crowds hitting the bins and dealers like a pro. But more of that later here we go.
Big Apple Con was held this past Saturday, March 5th, at the Penn Pavilion here in Downtown Manhattan. Like last year it was a tremendous crowd with lines extending around the corner of the venue. The NY comic scene is booming right now, more and more Cons are being packed to the brim with fans, and that’s a good thing. I had no problems getting in as the staff working the door were quick and courteous with letting the fans in. I would like give a huge thank you to Captain Zorikh, assistant administrator for the Big Apple Convention for the press pass to the event.
My first stop was at the CGC booth, which will be a shocker to those why know me know I hate getting books graded and the concept of grading books, but my buddy Midtown Martin talked me into getting my A-FORCE BROOKS VARIANT graded. I said sure why not. The CGC people were moving fast and handled books with care and took care of all the paperwork quickly, so it was a painless process.

After that, I headed upstairs to the main vendor area, the reason why I love Carbo shows so much is the fact that it’s a real throwback to how conventions were when my dad use to take my brother and I, where there was a true Vendor/Fan connection. The first vendor I visited was Larry and Josh from Larry’s Comics. They had a prime space right in the middle of the floor, and man, were they wheeling and dealing. Larry was a man of his word and brought me a copy of Gore Shriek #2 for a very nice price, I also picked up Walking Dead 100 3rd print and got a very sweet deal on Danger Girl JSC red foil. Larry had tons of great books on sale for lower than eBay prices. If you ever happen to run into his booth at a con, stop by and say hi, he’s a good guy and takes time to talk to all the people that buy from him so it’s not a “HERE GIVE ME YA MONEY, HERES YA BOOK GET OUTTA MY FACE” experience.
The book of the show was Del Otto Winter Soldier and anything Del Otto (Shout out to Trey K and our fine friends at CBSI for the heads up) as vendors could not understand why there was such a rush on Del Otto drawn covers. One vendor name Al told me “It’s been a long time since I had so many people come to my booth and ask me for the same particular artist”
From my understanding, there were only 2 vendors who carried Del Otto covers for Winter Solder and they moved those very quickly.
Some of the other hot books of the show were Silk #1 Stacey Lee variant, multiple vendors had these listed at $80, I forgot how lovely this cover was. Also, the beautifully drawn X-23 on the cover of Wolverines #3 by Gerald Parel is of interest, I saw one at a vendor for $120. I would keep my eye on these two books in the future.
As most of you know I’m an avid collector of Funko Pops, and like Anthony, a huge Jason Voorhees fan, and when I see the Toytastik booth and they still had the “Unmasked Jason” from SDCC Pop for sale, I did not hesitate to buy it this time.

Funny thing about this is they had them for sale for $75 at Baltimore Con and Anthony and I both balked on it saying it was too high. Fast forward 7 months later I ended up paying $115 for it here. Moral of the story is if you’re a fan of something and you want it, BUY it then and don’t wait. Toytastik should really be considered for all Pop fans looking for older and harder to find pops. They are super nice guys and also will work with you on prices
I also took the time to stop by Kristen Gudsnuk’s booth, creator of Henchgirl, she is very down to earth and cool person. We spoke about how she was so shocked on how the prices of Henchgirl #1 shot up on eBay the 1st week of release and it was a surreal moment for her. If you guys have not read Henchgirl I suggest picking up a copy, it’s a hilarious, fun well written laid back comic, Support the Indies! I predict HUGE things from her and Henchgirl stay tuned. Trust me, sworn to secrecy.

COSPLAY was definitely in the building this year. Every year it seems like the costumes get better and better, the creativity of some of these people is INSANE. Much props to all who create their costumes,I can’t even put a Lego set together let alone construct a cosplay uniform lol. The best in show for me was The HELLCAT, man her costume looked like it jump straight from the pages Avengers #144. And of course Jason Voorhees, he did the Friday The 13th Part 7 version with the chain around the neck and the ax mark in the head from Part 3 intact. It’s all about details and he nailed em both.


Once again Big Apple con proved why they have been in the business so long. This was another fantastic con, full of vendors and deals, great comic minds, great conversations, Cosplay, everything you could hope for.
So here is the final wrap up
PROS: GREAT VENDORS A GREAT SELECTION OF BOOKS
DIVERSE CROWDS (COSPLAYERS AND COLLECTORS)
LINES MOVED FAST OUTSIDE
CONS: DEAD SPOTS FOR CELL PHONE COVERAGE, MADE PAYING WITH CREDIT CARD DIFFUCULT FOR
SOME VENDORS
CROWED, NOT REALLY THAT BIG OF A DEAL, I JUST HOPE FOR A BIGGER VENUE
Overall I give the show 9/10. Picked up some great books, met a ton of great people, and as I stated before, a great throwback to shows of the past. I love Cosplay and all but a comic convention is, to me, something that should focus more on the comics, and that’s what The Big Apple Con Does. Perfect. See you next year!