I Greatly Enjoyed the ToyMan Show Yesterday!

I've lived in Saint Louis for a bit over six years now and love going to cons and shows with toys, games, comics, etc. Therefore, it is a bit embarrassing to admit that up until yesterday I had never been to a ToyMan show. Chris, "ToyMan," McQuillen has been doing these shows multiple times a year in the Saint Louis region since the 1990's. The latest one just occurred at the Machinists Hall on Saint Charles Rock Road in Bridgeton and was a stellar time! I arrived bright-and-early as I always like to watch as things are set-up and to chat with vendors plus fans of a show who are passionate enough to be there when the floor opens. At 8AM the, "Early-bird," folk came in and the searching for cool stuff began!

As this is a, "ToyMan," show there of course was a ton of toys ranging from vintage die-cast cars and hot wheels, to Star Wars, Star Trek, classic television programs, old movies, and a ton of Funko Pops. There also was a great deal of classic video-games for sale from vintage Atari up to more recent Xbox and Playstation titles. A healthy helping of vendors were selling comics too, which as a big fan of comic-books was the main draw for me! Everyone was extremely nice and a number of people I talked to said how they like the ToyMan shows because they are very fairly priced in regards to entry fees and have such a wide range of items for sale.

Morning setting-up

While I've mentioned there was an immense amount of cool items atendees could buy, there were creative-type folk as well! In the upstairs, "Artist's Balcony," a number of small-press comic-makers, writers, and craft-creators were present, as well as special celebrity guest Butch Patrick who I previously spoke with at Wizard World and is always very pleasant to chat with. I also met Robert Mays of APG Grading, a newer grading company that will take toys, comics, etc.

I didn't bring too much cash with me, but I did have a number of semi-valuable comics I was hoping to trade with interested parties, and much to my delight I was able to use the combination of my money and somewhat-popular comics to pick up a Mr. PoopyButthole Funko Pop from Rick and Morty, the classic Playstation Game, "Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix," which is a series I've discussed having a soft-spot for, and an assortment of cheap comics in addition to a handful of really cool old, "Epic," magazines from the 1980's which feature Marvel work that wasn't subject to the Comic's Code--e.g. there was more violence, swearing, and nudity, so yah!

A cool Funko I got!

I had a fantastic time at my first-ever ToyMan show and would love to go again to future shows assuming that Chris AKA the ToyMan is okay with me continuing to pester him about what kind of awesome stuff to expect at the next show on November 5th!