Phew. Even though we only started at 2pm, our feet are worn to stubs and there’s so much sugar/caffeine/carbs in our bodies that we’ll probably be awake for hours, but it was all worth it. Fan Expo Vancouver day one was a blast!

First of all, it should be mentioned that we were pretty vocal about the problems with the venue and ticketing system last year and it’s clear that the organisers have worked hard to remedy all the issues. Just by opening  the wrist band booths a day early and moving to the larger, newer Convention Centre, the waits and crushes from last year are now just a distant memory.

And it’s just as well, as the moment the preview time ended, the aisles between the myriad of stalls selling collectibles and clothing filled up with a whole stack of excited people. And with them came the amazing cosplay, many of which you’ll see in an exclusive photo gallery that’ll be uploaded soon. Makes me want to have the skill and patience to make a suit myself.

The hardest part of the first few hours was fighting the urge to blow all our spending money on all the shiny things. From hyper limited Transformers to amazing art prints, it would be so easy to drop a couple of hundred dollars and walk away with a heaving stash, but I managed to restrain myself (for the most part). Not sure that the restraint will last over the next few days, though.

Find of the day was a limited, numbered DVD release of *Evil Dead 2*, all nestled in a custom tin, which will be used for an autograph when I find Bruce Campbell tomorrow. I’m just trying to buy things this year that have personal meaning for me, so apart from the latest hardcover issue of *Nemo*, I commissioned a sketch of myself by one of the amazing young artists. Instruction: space pirate, mid combat. With lasers. She underlined “lasers”. It’s going to be epic.

However, the more…permanent…part of the day was taken up my our photographer Mark getting a tattoo of the Jedi symbol around a Rebel insignia scraped into his arm, which soon led to Matt getting a *Star Trek* badge on his. It might lead to further tattooing tomorrow. Maybe.

After a much-needed break for the kind of self-destructive thrill that can only be found at the bottom of a McDonald’s bag, we finished the day in Morena Baccarin’s Q&A. I *may* have been asked to leave the microphone after turning one question into three, but it was worth it. Sigh. What’s nice is that the cast of *Firefly* still seem to love it as much as the fans, which is just as well, as 90% of the questions (including mine) were about it. And apparently Nathan Fillion likes to break in his co-actors, but she wouldn’t expand on the details!

So, it’s time for whisky and tea and a bath and bed to prepare for twelve more hours of Fan Expo tomorrow. Keep watching our [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AwesomeFridayCa) feed for all the updates as they happen (as far as their overburdened data connection will allow) and give us a shout if you see us. Excited!