Of course, they go by different names from flea markets to swap meets to toy club events to collectibles shows to toy shows to comic cons – they are gatherings of dealers with merchandise ranging from old school tin toy collectibles to of course, Mattel Pixar Diecast CARS.

In most cases, there’s often no way to tell what kind of show something really is – you can call them and ask or just show up to check it up.

Generally, the more “tables” (or dealers or sellers), the better as you have more people selling, the better your selection but then again, sometimes it’s too many tables and too few people selling what you want. So, for the most part it’s hard to tell if a show is worth attending until you go.

As you all know, it’s not easy shopping for CARS and while you probably don’t have to hunt very hard for Bug Mouth McQueen, good luck finding Dale Jr. or the forthcoming Elvis RV. When both make it to the shelf, it’s a miracle and I’ll bet they last about 4 1/2 on a shelf peg. So, for some or many of you, it might be worth checking out a local swap meet, toy show or comic con.

You probably will pay a few bucks more but you have saved the driving around all day for nothing … and of course, the more you buy, you can negotiate especially when paying in cash.

Besides swapping-trading here, there’s eBay but at a show – you can hold it in your hand – there’s usually some negotiating leeway and the price includes sales tax. Of course, you also have to pay for parking and drive there but if you enjoy looking at pop culture toys and geegaws, it’s a fun way to spend an afternoon in an old bomb shelter 🙂 or condemned Elk’s Club (okay, maybe it’s just me 🙂 ).

In many places (probably warmer places), there are more flea markets and swap meets. Of course, you can never predict what you will find including CARS but you can always check it out.

The next step up are the “club shows” usually put on by the local Hot Wheels Club at a hotel meeting room. They generally are not very large – I’ve been to ones as small as 10 tables and of course, most people sell Hot Wheels. But it might be worth checking out but again, note the size of the room and what they charge for admission because if you’re only interested in CARS and not Hot Wheels, you might feel the price of admission is not worth it but again, the more tables, the better the selection so it might be worth your while to check it out.

There are also small collectible shows. For instance, sort of near me is the 3-4 time a year event at the SJ Fairgrounds is a small show. There are maybe 80 tables with people selling a little bit of everything pop culture – mostly action figures and Hot Wheels but usually enough people selling CARS … except for the one crazy guy selling the Night Vision McQueen & Booklet for $25 – even he couldn’t keep a straight face 🙂 – they are all reasonably price and willing to deal.

Since rent tends to be expensive in the metro Cali areas, we don’t have a lot of these shows but I know in other parts of the country, some places have shows 10-12 times a year that are worth checking out. Shows like these can also be good way to round out a collection … since they are dealers who bought multiple cases, they don’t want to hang onto too much stuff and are quicker to discount a buck off what’s listed for $5 if you buy 4 or 5 CARS. If you wonder why you can’t find any Dale Jr’s? There are usually people with ten on a table 🙂 …

Here is the seperation point between the small time shows and the next step up.

The Comic Cons.

Short for Comic Convention. Most metro areas in the US have one or more in a given area. Outside of the Top 5 Comic Cons you have heard of, these will of course vary in quality and what you are interested in.

For the most part except for two (we’ll get to those next), they are “comic” oriented. D’uh, you might say. Well, just pointing it out because while there are plenty of dealers selling things – some shows are 99.7% comics related (like the San Jose Comic Con) or the Steel City Con (Pittsburgh) or Wondercon (SF Comic Con) where there are many people selling CARS. Of course, if you’re just going to buy CARS, that might not be worth your time & money – you will only get your money’s worth if you just want to check it and take in all the variety of geek pop culture out there and possibly buying some CARS.

So, if you’re going to check out your local metro comic con, drop us a line and some pics and let us know if you like the show and how CARS-worthy it was.

The biggest three shows of the year are in reverse order:

WIZARD WORLD CHICAGO –  lot of dealers. I haven’t been in years so I can’t you how many CARS dealers there are but as the largest show in the midwest, it’s massive with huge amounts of people. Of course, it’s mostly comics oriented. At the Donald Stephens convention center in the Rosemont suburbs, there’s not much else to do out there and not much eating around the convention center other than suburban fare. So, convenient for some people but since it’s not really in Chicago-proper so not as much fun as it could be. (BTW, Wizard canceled their shows in LA & Dallas).

NEW YORK COMIC CON – covered in this post a few days ago. It’s a major show since it’s one of the few where most/many toy companies show up and it’s right before or after Toy Fair so it’s a 2 for 1 deal for most companies. The only downside is it’s in February though as long as it’s not a blizzard, NY City is always fun and just a few (thousand) things to do in a 150 block radius 🙂

SAN DIEGO COMIC CON

But the biggest Con(vention) of them all is San Diego. ONLY at San Diego do all the movie studios show, all the toy companies and every comic company … all together in 3 halls + 100,000 people who show up at 6 AM and do NOT leave 🙂 . And unlike most other shows where there might be one or two exclusives for the entire show? Nearly EVERY company sells not just one exclusive but sometimes dozens of exclusives! (okay, not Mattel CARS … it’s not Martin’s fault!) … and of course, there are the most sellers of any other show in the US.

Or that in most conventions, the panels are generally the dead guy from episode #18 of Galactica – the Turkish edition, nearly EVERY panel and presentation at SDCC sounds interesting … or as the case nowadays, all the movie stars come to sell their popcorn film for the summer coming … should I buy Lightning Storm McQ or see Robert Downey Jr?

Oh yeah, and it’s San Diego on the beach with a great downtown full of great bars, great restaurants and it’s 85 degrees with zero humidity. It’s the SUPER BOWL of pop culture except you get to mingle on the field … the only downside is the MASSIVE, MASSIVE amount of people now.

So, plan early.

And check out our EVENTS CALENDAR (front page – second calendar). If you know of a show or go to a show and think others might want to check out the next addition of it – let us know – or snap some pis and send us a review. have fun!