Clones, Nostalgia, and the Great Funko Hunt: My Highlights from FAN EXPO Canada 2026
Another year, another incredible day at FAN EXPO Canada. This year’s fanfest was packed with massive panels, incredible cosplay, and a convention floor that was essentially a pop-culture treasure hunt.
After covering the expo for years, sometimes the best convention memories happen when you’re just wandering the floor with your friends. Here’s a look at my favourite highlights and finds from this year’s event.
The Ultimate TMNT Funko Pop Hunt
I went into this weekend on a mission: track down my missing Funko Pop! Retro Toys Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (#16-19). I had picked up Leonardo years ago, and despite the endless waves of different TMNT lines that have come out since, I was determined to complete that specific line.
Honestly, I didn’t realize back then how hard these would be to come by. I managed to find Donatello and Michelangelo at one of the booths fairly early, but Raphael was nowhere to be found. I must have searched every single vendor in the South Building. I was even contemplating heading back to the North Building, but I couldn’t bring myself to get on those elevators just yet! Eventually, I hit up the MyPops.ca booth, and sure enough, someone on their team managed to find a Raphael tucked away behind a bunch of supply. Leave it to MyPops.ca to come through! Between this score and finally receiving my Spice Girls set earlier this summer, my Funko shelf is looking pretty fantastic. Also, I cannot believe I have a Funko shelf.
Custom Merch at STACKTV
A fun activation of ours was at the STACKTV booth. They were celebrating their animation catalogue by letting fans build personalized, custom keychains.
For my central piece, I had to go with Rick and Morty. We then got to dig through a massive collection of stickers to customize it further. I naturally ended up decking mine out with Superman, Ghostface from Scream, and a Super Star from Super Mario Bros. It was a surprisingly relaxing break from the convention crowds and left me with a truly unique piece of merch.
Entering the Bobiverse
The most technologically impressive setup on the floor goes to Audible’s The Infinite Extent activation. To promote the newest installment of the Bobiverse series, they allowed fans to step inside the Heaven Vessel and undergo “consciousness replication.”
They were dealing with some technical issues earlier in the day, but it was absolutely worth the wait. They did a facial scan and generated a whole army of digital clones of myself! The “replicants” were amazing – I got to take a selfie with the medieval version of myself, a cottage country clone, a space mechanic, a wizard, an astronaut, a hipster librarian and one just chilling at the beach.
Bayside High, Plinko, and the Big Comfy Couch
The most fun we had all weekend was easily at the Retrokid booth – and it was all totally unplanned. If you grew up on Canadian television, this booth is always dangerous for your wallet. I immediately spotted a Saved by the Bell Bayside Tigers sweatshirt and had to buy it.
Making a purchase got me a token to play Plinko, with a chance to win stickers from a mystery chest or a secret package. I won the package, which turned out to be an amazing Téléfrançais Alumni sweater that I gifted to my best friend. Also fun – my initial purchase came with an invite to return later in the day for a photo op with my crew on the actual Big Comfy Couch with Molly.
