Game over. Fair ends in battles and bargains

A five-day fiesta of wigs, make-up and fake weaponry had a fantasy ending yesterday as thousands of visitors flocked to the Convention and Exhibition Centre for the last day of the 15th Ani-Com & Games fair.

The Wan Chai venue was packed by mid-afternoon as costumed comic and animation fans made a last sweep for books, comics and other goodies - many marked down in the final hours.

Despite a ban issued by organisers last year on the sale of limited-edition merchandise and a toughened trade descriptions law barring aggressive advertising, several exhibitors said this year's fair exceeded their expectations.

"It's our 10th year at this fair and business is up roughly 30 per cent from last year," said Emily Leung, a spokeswoman for Hong Kong-based toymaker Hot Toys.

Diehard collectors were lining up to place pre-orders for four of the company's special-edition 1:6 scale collectible figurines, which include Iron Man: Silver Centurion; Eric Draven from The Crow, and Striding Cloud from Hong Kong comic book series The Storm Riders.

Iron Man was also the draw at Universal Model Limited (UML), one of the city's largest hobby and toy chain stores and manufacturers. "We brought in more than 1,000 or so units of our Iron Man Mark XLII and War Machine figures, and nearly all of them have been sold out," said Adrian Leung business development director at Dragon Models, a UML subsidiary.