New Jersey Collector Fest (Spring 2021)

On February 28, New Jersey Collector Fest had an amazing show to kick off the 2021 convention season. As a one-day show, it always pulls out all the stops by bringing in great vendors, artists, and celebrities guests. But especially in current times where conventions hardly assemble (let alone bring in celebrities), seeing actors, voice actors, and stars was a sight for sore eyes!

Vic Mignogna (Fullmetal Alchemist / Dragon Ball Super), Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 & 5), Kathy Coleman (Land of the Lost), Marty Grabstein (Courage the Cowardly Dog), and David Harris (The Warriors) are just a handful of the guests who were at Collector Fest this time around. Fans were safely gathering to line up for a chance to meet their favorite celebrities for autographs, photo ops, or just an opportunity to say hello!

One enthusiastic fan even cosplayed as Edward Elric, the protagonist of Fullmetal Alchemist voiced by Vic Mignogna, and Mignogna even signed the shoulder-piece!

If you’ve never attended a show like this before, the celebrities will usually have printed photos available for autographs but you’re more than welcome to bring your own memorabilia to get signed. In fact, you can even bring items in to be signed by some of the fantastic artists at the show as well!

With artists like Rudy Nebres, Chris Batista, Keith Williams, and Ink Master Season 10 tattoo artist Christian Masot, you could easily bring in a published comic book or art print to get signed by the original creators.

In addition, there were several local artists in attendance like Will Torres, William Olmo, Jason Baroody, and Christian Espiritusanto. Fans could pick up original art like sketch covers & trading cards or even some of their self-published comic books like Will Torres’ “The Tweeting Trump” or Christian Espirtusanto’s “Warriors Amongst Realms”.

Commissions are always an option too! Simply get on your favorite artist’s waiting list so that they can sketch something completely original and one of a kind for you. Timing will vary for each artist so you might want to contact them prior to a one-day show to simplify the pickup process!

But with a name like Collector Fest, you just know that there’ll be tons of collectibles! We’re talking about all things vintage & modern like action figures, statues, Funko Pops, trading cards, DVDs, Matchbox cars, video games, and with the resurgence of the comic book hobby (thanks to popular movies and shows like the Disney+ series WandaVision), plenty of vendors had key issues, first appearances, CGC graded books, and so much more.

If you can collect it, it’s at Collector Fest!

If you’ve been looking for the latest wave of toys to hit retail, you’re probably frustrated that shipments haven’t been coming in consistently. But at Collector Fest, I’m always able to see vendors with all the hottest items in stock! Whether it’s NJ Toys and Collectibles for the newest Star Wars figures or Mike Carbonaro (of Big Apple Comic Con) with that hard to find comic book, both adults & kids can find what they’ve been looking for!

With nearly 50 combined vendors, artists, and celebrities, you’ll need all the time you can get! Luckily, New Jersey Collector Fest offers a special VIP hour at 9am that often includes an exclusive art print. Otherwise, general admission gets a solid 6 hours or so to get your hunting done! All the necessary safety measures (like masks, capacity limits, and social distancing) were in place and the Wayne PAL was a great venue to host the event. If you’d like to see more from the first Collector Fest of the year, check out the full photo album here or the video below!