Categories: Arts

The 16 nerdiest sights of FanExpo

From closed-casket coffin rides to cross-dressing superhero buffs, the 2010 FanExpo is a mosaic of weird

by Tom Henheffer on Monday, August 30, 2010 5:45pm - 0 Comments

An exhibition of latex masks made to resemble famous horror movie monsters. The people running the booth said they avoided licensing problems by naming their creations, some of which bore a striking resemblance to Freddy Krueger, “Frankie” or “some burned guy.”

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  • Scott D

    Seriously? An astonishly drab collection of photos PLUS snide, condescending captions? This is a disservice to the fun people at the Expo and your readers both.

    • http://www.tedheeley.com Ted H

      Amen–how out of touch is macleans that it still holds the view of Fans and nerds as outcasts? "Nerd culture" is now very much the mainstream, and even looking at the photos shows the cross sections of people showing up at these things.

      While I did not attend this event I saw lineups around the building for it, and people of all stripes in those lines.

  • Josh

    What lame, lazy, snide coverage of a really fun event.

  • Zack

    I'm not bothered by the needlessly snarky captions as much as I'm bothered by the laziness of this photo feature. Really, *those* were the "nerdiest" sights you could find at Fan Expo?

    How about photo essay illustrating the 16 ways Macleans has become irrelevant, starting with a screen grab of this page?

    • Sam

      Absolutely seconded.

  • Marisa Torre

    Yeah … I gotta say: Macleans sucks big on this one.
    I was there all three days. At any given time there was at least 5,000 people on that main floor, many fans in costumes and fan garb posing for photos with total strangers, enduring 2 hour entry waits -during a heatwave AND it was NOT cheap! But y’know what!?! Not one single unpleasant moment! It was fun! No one got pushy, rude, rowdy or stupid … A lotta props to pop-culture creative genius that engages our brain, imaginations and indominable youthful spirit beyond the “normal” ordinary diluted standard of spit-warm-cool into the realm of limitless hyperborean adventures out to the utopian possibilities of other worlds and into the horrifying dark dangerous atrocities of this one … one which also includes putting up with the predictably banal and tepid offerings of this piece.
    Marisa Torre.

  • c_9

    Photo 8: it's "Vaughan", not "Vaughn". http://goo.gl/maps/DolU

    • c_9

      Also, photo 7 corrected is still wrong! Who is Tom Henheffer, and how do I filter out all his work in future? :)

  • c_9

    Alternate title: "Here are some photos from FanExpo which I am not the target market for, and I just barely comprehend."

    • RunningGag

      I guarantee these weren't the nerdiest sites from FanExpo. I know a guy who went and he isn't in any of these pics.

  • Claudia Lemire

    I wish I could have been there, looks like fun!

  • Patchouli

    You're being kind of harsh to the author; the photos are interesting and the captions aren't offensive. It's a photo essay; he's allowed to extend his point of view.

  • Kaleigh

    If anything the picture quality is nice, I have a nice profile shot of me now in my costume.

  • failexpo

    Frankly the picture quality is substandard. OK it's cool to see so many people I know in news type feeds, post con… but I have to say… "nerd bashing" is all the rage these days, isn't it? F'n lame captions and sadly predictable word choices… not to mention really bad shots, I pity the photo editor that paid for those. Another "mainstream media" outlet fails to have a clue.

  • blue

    Being a person in one of the posted pics, I'm going to have to agree with the general consensus that the author simply doesn't understand the hobby, is ignorant to it, and titles it as silly.

    Way to keep it positive, fun, and informative. I'd imagine the author had the chance to see/check out something fun while attending the event-filled convention, but neglected to mention it.

    • http://www.tedheeley.com Ted H

      maybe we should get drunk at a Leafs game and beat the tar out of each other afterwards, then we'd all be "mainstream".

  • http://www.bagelhot.com Derek

    While I concur that these were not the nerdiest things at the FANexpo, the photos do give the outsider a small glimpse into a world that would otherwise go by unnoticed. This is Maclean's afterall not Geek/Nerd World magazine.

    Oh and that "nerd" videographer directing in photo #1 is Ackson Lee.

  • Jane Doe

    Christ!
    how bias….

  • Olaf

    When did nerds get so sensitive about being teased? That's kind of how it works, dweebs.

    • Lord Kitchener's Own

      I think most people just have a problem with these people being deemed the "nerdiest". I kinda doubt most of the people in most of these pics are even in the top 25% for Pete's sake.

      "Nerdiest" is hardly an honorific deserved by these sights from FanExpo. I saw nerdier things on the bus ride in to work this morning.

    • http://www.tedheeley.com Ted H

      nah–it worked that way in the past, when Nerds were perpetually convinced they were in a minority–now that events like fan expo or anime north or a dozen similar events pull in huge crowds while the Leafs and Raptors wallow in mediocrity and the jays are on the verge of folding, Right now, people who actually view ancient, irrelevant remnants of a warrior culture in which the ability to throw a ball is somehow heralded as "important" are fast becoming the laughing stock of the nation

      Go Leafs Go!!.

    • phil jackson

      said by the guy POSTING ON THE INTERNET lmao

  • ahm

    I was only there Sunday, so maybe they weren't there on the Friday or Saturday, but how did you miss the 15 or so Dr. Who's running around? Stormtroopers are a dime-a-dozen at these things – yeah, we know that – but did you venture down to the 501st booth and happen to see the CANADA STEAMPUNK BOOTH?!! You want nerdy? People who make up alternate history for "The Dominion" and start talking about authenticity with NWMP uniforms and redcoats.

  • She

    Yup. Boring piece, for sure.

  • HM3

    You forgot the stupid weeaboos dancing in the main floor once you get in.

  • inuvikphil

    Weaaaak

  • phil jackson

    nerd is a very offensive and racist term

  • Rinny

    I'm sorry, alot of those pictures of "nerdy" things, weren't even nerdy. Like the mother and daughter playing wii for example.

  • http://twitter.com/MarisaTorre @MarisaTorre

    Yeah … I gotta say: Macleans sucks big on this one.__I was there all three days. At any given time there was at least 5,000 people on that main floor, many fans in costumes and fan garb posing for photos with total strangers, enduring 2 hour entry waits -during a heatwave AND it was NOT cheap! But y'know what!?! Not one single unpleasant moment! It was fun! No one got pushy, rude, rowdy or stupid … A lotta props to pop-culture creative genius that engages our brain, imaginations and indominable youthful spirit beyond the "normal" ordinary diluted standard of spit-warm-cool into the realm of limitless hyperborean adventures out to the utopian possibilities of other worlds and into the horrifying dark dangerous atrocities of this one … one which also includes putting up with the predictably banal and tepid offerings of this piece.__Marisa Torre.

  • Jacynta

    No one got pushy, rude, rowdy or stupid? Are you sure you were at the same convention? I wish I encountered a stupid free crowd the entire time.

  • lawl

    I see Macleans still uses point and shoot cameras on default settings.

  • SLM

    Model in photo 9 is Jasmine Elizabeth Bowen http://www.jasminebowen.com

    HOT!!

  • Kaplan

    Photos are pretty bland, and in the photographer's defence, it might have been an editor who came up with the "nerdiest" headline.

    Still, imagine what an enterprising photographer and writer could have come up with had they put some real effort into the work.

  • Kyle Bailey

    It's ironic that so-called nerds didn't realize that headlines are only tangentially related to the story…..and directly related to increasing the click-through rate……

    That said…..I'd say that there would never be any consensus of who the 'nerdiest' folks were or the most noteworthy….so complaining about a particular selection of photos seems rather silly.

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