It’s that time of year in Toronto again. The summer is winding down, there is the first hint of the crispness of fall in the cooling evening air, which can mean only one thing. No not pumpkin spice lattes, it’s time for the CNE, TIFF, back-to-school prep, and the gathering of geeks from all over in that convention known as Fan Expo.

Fans of countless followings descend upon Toronto’s downtown core, overrunning the Metro Toronto Convention Centre with adamantium, lightsabers, phasers, wands, fur, steampunk accessories, and utility belts. They have come for an extended weekend of fun, collecting, shopping, meeting new friends, hunting that elusive signature or collectible, and letting their geek flag fly.

It’s always wonderful to see the mass of costumes, some made with massive attention to detail, and some held together by sheer love. In the south building of the MTCC, the 501st Legion rolls in early, and have practically cornered the market on raising money for charity, though Doctor Who’s TARDIS makes for an exemplary showing as well. Mixed in with them is the Toronto Ghostbusters and the Klingon Assault Group, alongside prop makers and podcasters.

The South Building lays before collector’s eyes as a vast reservoir of geekdom, could that trading card be waiting for you down this aisle? That one back issue of your favourite comic? or maybe you just need a new geeky tee?

The South Building houses the expansive Artists’ Alley, allowing fans, buyers, and sellers from all over to share their inspiration and art. Along its edges, presiding and watching over the coming and goings of fans, are comic book artists, selling their sketches, offering commissions, and yes, signing that issue you just found among the stacks.

The rest of the floor is taken up by all manner of booths, comics galore, anime pillows, mystery boxes, Funko Pops (oh so many Funko Pops), an e-sports competition and viewing area, as well as perennial favourites, Lego, Amazon Prime, and Paramount’s The Lodge.

There’s a Citizen booth showing off the new line of Star Wars watches, Harper Collins and BMV are both around with stacks of books on hand to fill your shelves and share the literary love, and no matter which way you look, there are sights and sounds to delight in.

And the costumes!

Today, for me, was merely about dipping my toe into things, and getting ready for the big weekend. My focus this year is getting Mike Flanagan to sign off on The Haunting of Hill House Blu-ray for me. I love that Fan Expo has brought a writer/director in to meet fans. It happens rarely, but when it does, I feel it always pays off.

But just because today was a quick day didn’t mean that I didn’t see and encounter some amazing things. I got to catch up with fellow members of the media, as we sat down at Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power booth. They’d arranged for artist Jessica Rysyk (you can find her website here and her Instagram is @jessrysyk) to lead fun little workshops all weekend that see visitors creating their own rings of power using a resin template as their base.

She expertly guided us through the injection of paints, the use of UV light to hard up the resin, and then the sanding and polishing so each ring made would be a unique memento for every person who passes through that booth this weekend. Check out her work, and also make your own ring!

It would be hard to top Paramount’s Lodge from last year, I got to sit in the Enterprise’s command chair! But this year, they once again help scratch that Trek itch with a Trek photo op, as you wander into the Alpha Quadrant’s Menagerie (see what they did there with that title?). There are a number of offerings to be found, including a Salt Vampire (the last of her species, I think) the remnants of a Borg Queen, tribbles (all dead I think), a Trill symbiote, and oh, don’t forget Moopsy.

And there’s tons of signage around for the new Beetlejuice movie, they definitely know their audience, and oh so many things I want to add to the collection. And yes, I did a bit of shopping today. I found, on vinyl (cause you know it sounds better) the newly released Indiana Jones: The Complete Collection – the scores for all five films, across ten LPs. GAH!

So before I got in too much deeper (there are a couple of trade paperbacks I’m eyeing, and I haven’t even hit the North Building yet – that’s where Celebrity Alley, the Photo Ops, and more booths can be found) I decided to call it a day. Honestly, I just want to get home and crank some John Williams.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings – I’ll be looking for you Mr. Flanagan!

Oh, and it’s not a con until I’ve taken a selfie with R2.