Dallas Comic Con January 30-31

Thanks to Matthew Warlick of Space-Gun Studios for reminding me that the Dallas Comic Con happens this weekend, January 30-31, 2010. For those of you in the Dallas/Ft. Worth region, here's the con info:

Richardson Civic Center
411 W. Arapaho Rd.
Richardson, TX
Saturday: 11:00 am to 6:00 pm
Sunday: Noon to 5:00 pm
Admission: See HERE

Artist's Alley, special guests from film and television (Adam West, Sean Patrick Flanery, Charisma Carpenter), and a full schedule of Q&As, and an original art auction are just some of the featured attractions.
Featured artist include Tim Sale, Adam Hughes, Michael Golden, Jim Mahfood, Terry Moore, Mark Brooks, Matt Sturges, and many more. Check out the link above for a complete listing.

If you attend the show, take some pictures and I'll get them posted to the Comics Buyer's Guide site. Enjoy the con!

S.P.A.C.E., April 24-25, 2010

Three comics events on my personal list of Comics-Shows-I-Must-Attend-Someday are (in no particular order) the Baltimore Comic-Con, Mid-Ohio Con, and S.P.A.C.E.

With a little luck and careful scheduling on my part, I have a real chance at attending S.P.A.C.E. because it has moved from the usual March date to April 24-25 this year. It has also changed venues and will be held here:

Ramada Plaza Hotel & Conference Center
4900 Sinclair Rd.
Columbus, Ohio 43229
Toll free: (877) 609-6086
Until April 2, the hotel has a block of rooms at a special convention rate of $79 per night, mention the con.

One of the most unique aspects of this show is that it focuses entirely on small and independent publishers. This is a creator-driven show with absolutely no interest in pop culture -- this show is all about the comics. In addition to the wide variety of exhibitors, S.P.A.C.E. will have special guests and workshops -- the announcements regarding these and schedules for them will be updated to the show site, so become a frequent visitor to stay up on the latest happenings. Check out the S.P.A.C.E. site for the great lineup of exhibitors already comitted to the show because you're bound to find several people whose work you admire and several more that you'll enjoy. Show hours are Saturday 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and Sunday 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Admission is $8 for the weekend pass or $5 daily.

I had the opportunity to talk with S.P.A.C.E. founder Bob Corby, and he was kind enough to share his insights for my next column in Comics Buyer's Guide magazine (issue #1665). It should hit newsstands and your favorite comic shop at the end of February. (If your local comics shop doesn't get CBG, ask them to order it for your pull list -- there's great stuff in every issue.)

Bill Jacobs Chevy Swap Meet

Bill Jacobs Chevrolet in Joliet, Illinois, will host its 37th annual swap meet on Sunday, January 17, 2010. Presented by the Great Lakes Region chapter of the Vintage Chevrolet Club of America, the first swap meet of the year is guaranteed to cure cabin fever.

Show hours are 8:00 am to 1:00 pm, and admission is $4.
Bill Jacobs Chevrolet is located at 2001 W. Jefferson in Joliet.
For more information, contact Jim McDonald: (708) 485-3633 or click the links above.

I attened last year's swap meet and was thrilled to find that the show was completely sold out of vendor spaces. I suspect the same will be true this year. In addition to the car parts -- which aren't limited to Chevrolets, so you Mopar and Ford fans shouldn't stay home -- there are always some interesting varieties of collectibles from Hot Wheels cars to slot cars to the two lunchboxes I picked up last year. (For those of you with long memories, the guy with the California Car Dusters is still attending this show and is still set up in the same spot! I remember him from when I was just a little kid attending the show with my dad.)

A few years ago, I couldn't find the swap meet in the Old Cars Weekly Show Calendar section, so I emailed Jim McDonald and reminded him that the show listings are free. Last year, the show was in the listings, and this year, they have an ad in the Show Calendar section. Thanks Jim, I hope the swap meet is a big success for the club.

Toy Shows: January 8-10

The winter toy show season is upon us, and I'll do my level best to bring you the interesting places to go in the world of toy shows. If you know of events in your area, please add them in the comments below.

Farm Toy Shows
January 8-10, Urbana, IL: 6th Annual Illini Farm Toy Show sponsored by the Illinois Farm Bureau District 12 Young Leaders at the Hanford Inn and Suites, 2408 N. Cunningham Ave.
Hours: Fri. 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.; Sat. 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., farm toy consignment silent auction from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.; Sun. 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. For more info call (217) 247-2644.

January 9, Peotone, IL: 19th Annual Peotone FFA Farm Toy Show at the Will County Fair Atrium, West St. and Wilmington Rd.
Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. For more info call (708) 258-3236.

January 9, Burt, MI: Saginaw Valley Toy Show at Albee Township Hall
Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. For more info call (989) 777-9819.
 
Toy Trains
There are quite a few train events happening this weekend. Classic Toy Trains magazine maintains one of the most comprehensive show calendars in this hobby. Click HERE to see what's going on in your area.
 
Have fun and remember to support your local toy shows!

So Long 2009!

Making a New Year's resolution to blog more often is risky because I'm not a fan of making promises that I can't keep, but I'm choosing to look at it as a challenge. Never could resist a good challenge.

I know that one of the first rules of blogging is to pick one subject and make it your focus. But I completely threw that out of the window to write entries on the stuff I find interesting. That just happens to be a wide variety of topics -- books, comics, art, music, percussion, teaching, old cars, collectible toys, and more. Thanks for reading, I'm having fun writing the entries and I hope you're having fun reading.

Best wishes for a healthy, happy, and prosperous new year!

Train Collectors Information

Around this time of the year, I receive lots of requests for information regarding toy trains. It seems that most families have at least one heirloom train or train set, and most folks aren't sure exactly what they have or how much it's worth. Fortunately, toy train collecting is a well-organized and well-populated hobby -- there are plenty of collectors in all corners of the country ready and willing to assist.

Your first task is to figure out what you have. It isn't enough to know that your train is a Lionel or an American Flyer, you also need to know its model number(s) to identify the train. And it helps if you know approximately how old the train is. Search your local yellow pages and you'll probably find a hobby shop that specializes in toy trains. The proprietor may be able to assist you, but a phone call is recommended before you visit a shop -- if no one there knows trains, you're better off searching elsewhere.

Enter your local library -- one of the most underutilized public structures in any town. There are several good reference guides with pictures that can assist you in identifying and assessing the value of your train, and the librarian can likely obtain any of these titles through Interlibrary loan.

These titles include pictures to help identify your trains:
The Standard Catalog of Lionel Trains 1900-1942 2nd Edition
The Standard Catalog of Lionel Trains 1945-69
The Standard Catalog of Lionel Trains 1970-present
The Standard Catalog of Lionel Train Sets 1945-69
The Standard Catalog of American Flyer Trains
O'Brien's Collecting Toy Trains

These guides are strictly price listings but updated yearly:
Greenberg's Pocket Price Guide to Lionel Trains 1901-2010
Greenberg's Pocket Price Guide to American Flyer Trains

Another great source of information are train collectors themselves. The Train Collectors Association is a train collecting club with chapters all over the continent. Their website contains a variety of links to put you in touch with knowledgable collectors in your area. Club chapters also hold train collecting events that bring buyers and sellers together, so check their site for shows in your area and keep an eye out for show dates in your local newspaper.

And if you're interested in learning more about train collecting, there are a variety of magazines serving the hobby. Start your search with Classic Toy Trains magazine.

Gift Subscriptions for Libraries

It's the end of the year and you're giving gifts and writing checks anyway, so why not give a gift that keeps on giving the whole year? No Clark Griswold, I'm not suggesting the "Jelly of the Month Club," but I am suggesting that you share your hobby interests with your whole town.

Give a subscription to your favorite hobby magazine to your local library.

Budgets are never high enough for libraries, and magazine subscriptions are among the first things cut in order to maintain other services. Opportunities to share our hobbies exist beyond specialty shows and events, and we rarely take advantage of them. Educating and informing others about your hobbies is the first step to attracting new enthusiasts, and that's a vital component to the health of every hobby from bass fishing to old cars to antiques to...you get the idea.

Take a moment to talk to your local librarian -- don't forget to bring in a copy of the magazine -- and explain that you'd like to give a gift subscription to the library. Once you get the green light from the librarian, it's pretty easy to add that extra subscription on to your existing account.

By the way, those gifts are tax deductible for you, and that's always a welcome thing this time of the year.