Caporn says the Avengers tattoo his girlfriend paid for on his 27th birthday is the best present he ever received. Credit:Twitter @capey Mr Caporn began collecting 20 years ago, buying up to 30 comic books each week, and has now built up a collection of more than 10,000. "I actually worked out I've been reading comic books for about 20 years, and that's continually buying them every week," he said. "I have a whole office full of toys and books and pieces and a whole bedroom back at my parents place. "Anytime anyone comes to visit they come have a look at my geek den."

Luke Caporn calls his room of collectables his "geek den". Credit:Twitter @capey Mr Caporn plans to one day open his own store and once travelled interstate to dine with US comic book creator "god", Stan Lee. "He was going to Melbourne to Oz Comic-Con and I booked flights and tickets immediately and fished out a bit of money," he said. Caporn has previously commissioned Mark Brooks (Amazing Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men) to create a piece of artwork for him. Credit:Twitter @capey "The dinner cost about $250 but he's like 90 so I knew it was the only chance in my lifetime to meet him.

"He's pretty much a god." Fans will pay between $27.50 and $780 for a ticket to Supanova. Credit:Twitter @capey The 28-year-old has even been recognised at overseas conventions for the Avengers tattoo he has inked on his wrist. "I've travelled to Singapore for a convention before...they'd seen me online so I was getting recognised," he said. "It's kind of like wearing my 'geekdom' on my sleeve.

"Since the [Avengers] film came out, people love it." Attending conventions allows him to connect with people who share his interests. "The culture is great - people with your same interests and people in costumes," he said. "All different fans and we all get along. "In my general life I don't have too many friends who share those interests."

Cultural studies lecturer Jon Stratton says fantasy and sci-fi are unique genres because they create spaces for fans to escape into. "Sci-fi creates alternative worlds and that fascinates people," he said. "It means you get some people who want to expand on that world and others who want to live in that world rather than this one. "People are fascinated by the kinds of aliens that are created and the potential possibilities with different kinds of alien life." Fans collect autographs and photos of the genres' celebrities because it gave them a special claim to share that experience with others, the Curtin University lecturer says.

"An autograph is something that's specific to a particular individual," he said. "It's something that you can show to people to say 'I met this person'. "A lot of this goes back to the idea of celebrity. "If you've done film or television, because it's a mass medium and so many people can see you, there's that sense that you become something special and people think that you're different." Supanova VIP tickets sell for up to $780 and when Arnold Schwarzenegger visited Perth, fans paid $10,000 for a spot at his private dinner.

"It tells you something about the extraordinary celebrity," Professor Stratton said. "Arnold Schwarzenegger started off as an amazing bodybuilder then he made a number of films, many of which are still very highly regarded. "It's a remarkable career and talk about an immigrant success story in the United States." Professor Stratton said while $10,000 to meet 'Arnie' - or even $80 to meet Carrie Fisher - might seem over the top to some people, the value of tickets, signatures and photos was whatever fans were willing to pay to get their piece of history. "What you have with Carrie Fisher is that history of being Princess Leia, a very charismatic character - one of the characters that people most remember from Star Wars," he said.