A question for Canadians

[Heronext]

There seem to be a lot of comic collectors in the Quebec/Toronto area. A couple of dealers in particular seem to have very large stocks. Does this have anything to do with the fact that comics were/are printed there? By "there" I mean Montreal

[CAMPER49]

Probably not.

Those two cities are Canada's largest with a population of over 6 million for Toronto and over 4 million for Montreal.

This doesn't include the population of the outlying areas.

I'm a 3-1/2 hour drive north of Toronto...every time I am down there, I try to hit at least one comic shop so I can only imagine the volume of customers they must get on a daily basis, huge population to draw from.

Just my two cents.

[comicnoir]

At one time comics were printed in Montreal. The famous "Ronald's Printing". Montreal has always been a gateway to New York. A number of collections have been unearthed in that area.

[shadroch]

Back in the 1970s, long before comics were printed in Canada, there were a number of dealers in the Montreal area. Max Seely, Jerry Ross, and Marcs Comic Room were all advertisers in The Buyers Guide.

[That Ron Dude]

I don't know if there really are a lot of comic collectors here in Toronto. When Paradise Pete tried to put on a series of conventions aimed at collectors they didn't seem to have a lot of people attending. You'll need other opinions. I am not Peter Dixon's accountant.

[Wall-Crawler]

Those comic-centric cons/shows are still going on...

[Brock]

There seem to be a lot of comic collectors in the Quebec/Toronto area. A couple of dealers in particular seem to have very large stocks. Does this have anything to do with the fact that comics were/are printed there? By "there" I mean Montreal

 

Leaving aside the fact that describing a "Quebec/Toronto" area is a little like talking about the "Georgia/Raleigh-Durham" area, you could test your hypothesis by seeing if the same is (was) true of Sparta, Illinois.

[CAMPER49]

Don't forget the fact that the province of Quebec is more than twice the size of the state of Texas.

[Heronext]

Thanks & good points raised. During what time period were comics printed in Montreal? Sounds like not before the 70s, and not anymore.

[Phicks]

I live in Ontario, about an hour's drive west of Toronto. Regarding Montreal, as a kid in the 1970s I used to mail order old comics from a dealer there named Robert Crestol (sp?). About two years ago, I spent an afternoon making the rounds of Montreal comic stores that advertised themselves as stocking back issues. None of them had high grade silver or bronze comics. They were surprisingly bad comic stores for a city of over a million people.

[romanheart]

I think those regions have a lot of potential for collectors who were massive hoarders. This is perhaps why you are sensing dealers from here who can find a lot of collections.

[RockMyAmadeus]

No, Canadians do NOT eat children under the shimmering lights of the Aurora Borealis.

 

That's a myth.

 

They eat them during the day, just like normal people.

 

[porcupine48]

Ottawa used to be a huge comic hub....Maple Con,Aircel comics,Cerebus....

You can still find G.Ross here once a month....

[FineCollector]

Ottawa used to be a huge comic hub....Maple Con,Aircel comics,Cerebus....

You can still find G.Ross here once a month....

 

[porcupine48]

Notice how I spelled it Mon Frere!

[kimik]

During my travels to other major centers in Canada the past few years I have found that the best stores for SA/BA back issues from the availability, grading and pricing perspective are here in Edmonton. My file LCS, Wizards Comics & Collectibles, has a lot of nice stuff as they are actively buying collections. The only problem is that the keys do not stick around long - if you are not there when they put them out you will likely miss out on the best ones.

[Quicksilver Signs]

I've been told by a few people, that because of major dealer/distributors like Joe Krolic, Doug Sulipa and Calvin Slobodian, Winnipeg has the highest comic per capita than any other Canadian city. Also being the central distribution hub in the 60's/70's helped

[Brock]

I've been told by a few people, that because of major dealer/distributors like Joe Krolic, Doug Sulipa and Calvin Slobodian, Winnipeg has the highest comic per capita than any other Canadian city. Also being the central distribution hub in the 60's/70's helped

 

I'll second that... Lots of great shops in Winnipeg, with reasonable back stock.

[bellrules]

I agree with all of the last few posts. Having lived in a variety of cities. Winnipeg has some amazing comic book shops followed by both Edmonton and Calgary. Having come from Ontario, I wasn't used to finding so much great stock in the back issue bins at local shops. Some of the shops are old school shops like I used to visit in the 80's as a kid. Not a lot of toys or statues, mostly books. Awesome places to shop if you ever get a chance to travel.