Wizard World Chicago -- August 20-23, 2015

[mysterio]

Really good buying day for me. I picked up two really nice ASMs from Bedrock and Torpedo, and several other cheap raws from some box diving. The sushi dinner was a great way to cap the day, I'm glad I was able to make it this year and will definitely plan on it for next year. See everyone tomorrow!

[Red84]

Sold a couple books to a dealer and made 1 purchase.

2 original Bob Kane sketches purchased at Graham Cracker. They still have one of Penguin if anyone's interested.

[jsilverjanet]

For folks asking about burgers near rosemont

 

The Ram restaurant on Higgins is pretty good

[Ferdelance]

Al Stolz sold a Shazam 28 out of his bargain long boxes for $2, as he forgot to pull that comic out but did manage to pull X-files #1 which is starting to heat up due to the 6 new episodes being shot for Jan, 2016 release.

Had dinner at Giordano's. OK quality, not crowded like on the weekends. (thumbs u

 

Not Al, it was from Greg Reece's comics

[aardvark88]

Reminder that there is a whole other hall filled with lightsabres, toys, media guests from Walking Dead, Knight Rider car II, Mad Max's 'Last of the V8's' prop car across the foyer on the same floor. U do not need to pay extra admission like for the upstairs Horror Festival.

 

Hotflips is selling in that other hall but no mylites. Some decent back issues without the crowds in the main Wizard Chicago hall.

 

Had $10 lunch special at Giordano's right before 3 p.m. when the deal expired. Lunch portion of lasagna, side bread, house salad and pop or coffee of your choice for better quality meal (thumbs u than you would get at McD's next door for $10.

 

I was a bit surprised that Wizard would not let vendors in Friday morning until 10 a.m. while fans/collectors were admitted at noon to 7 p.m. Sat. con also closes at 7 p.m.

 

Vendors already starting to lower mag prices from $10 to $5, decent raw back issues from $2 to $1.50 in bundles , <3 and $1 overstock down to 50c by the second day of con.

[jsilverjanet]

does anyone know if CGC is still taking on-site submissions? I looked at their webpage and the onsite form is gone.

 

 

[Ant-Man]

I think they'll accept it, but not for on-site grading. Overheard someone today say that they'll be getting their books mailed back. I heard the onsite stopped about 45 minutes into the show on Thursday.

[grunter]

If anyone wants to relive the "magic" of Wizard World St. Louis 2015, just pretend Exhibit Hall F at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center is the WHOLE CON.

 

It's practically the same toy dealers in the same configuration.

 

It just lacks a few massage chairs and a bathtub re-finisher.

 

Even the same Lasik people were at the show -- granted they were across the hall. But still.

 

If you're at the show to actually buy comics, you can COMPLETELY skip Exhibit Hall F.

[mysterio]

Reminder that there is a whole other hall filled with lightsabres, toys, media guests from Walking Dead, Knight Rider car II, Mad Max's 'Last of the V8's' prop car across the foyer on the same floor. U do not need to pay extra admission like for the upstairs Horror Festival.

 

Hotflips is selling in that other hall but no mylites. Some decent back issues without the crowds in the main Wizard Chicago hall.

 

Had $10 lunch special at Giordano's right before 3 p.m. when the deal expired. Lunch portion of lasagna, side bread, house salad and pop or coffee of your choice for better quality meal (thumbs u than you would get at McD's next door for $10.

 

I was a bit surprised that Wizard would not let vendors in Friday morning until 10 a.m. while fans/collectors were admitted at noon to 7 p.m. Sat. con also closes at 7 p.m.

 

Vendors already starting to lower mag prices from $10 to $5, decent raw back issues from $2 to $1.50 in bundles , <3 and $1 overstock down to 50c by the second day of con.

 

I thought that Wizard had said that a con admission would get you into the horror thing too. Not that I went, or had any desire to, but I thought I'd read that it was included. I would think it'd be bad PR to have separate admissions for those.

[Logan510]

Reminder that there is a whole other hall filled with lightsabres, toys, media guests from Walking Dead, Knight Rider car II, Mad Max's 'Last of the V8's' prop car across the foyer on the same floor. U do not need to pay extra admission like for the upstairs Horror Festival.

 

Hotflips is selling in that other hall but no mylites. Some decent back issues without the crowds in the main Wizard Chicago hall.

 

Had $10 lunch special at Giordano's right before 3 p.m. when the deal expired. Lunch portion of lasagna, side bread, house salad and pop or coffee of your choice for better quality meal (thumbs u than you would get at McD's next door for $10.

 

I was a bit surprised that Wizard would not let vendors in Friday morning until 10 a.m. while fans/collectors were admitted at noon to 7 p.m. Sat. con also closes at 7 p.m.

 

Vendors already starting to lower mag prices from $10 to $5, decent raw back issues from $2 to $1.50 in bundles , <3 and $1 overstock down to 50c by the second day of con.

 

I thought that Wizard had said that a con admission would get you into the horror thing too. Not that I went, or had any desire to, but I thought I'd read that it was included. I would think it'd be bad PR to have separate admissions for those.

 

It does get you in. I went today for a few minutes and it was pretty lame. I hope no one paid to go to just that part of the con.

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

Broke my record for most I've ever spent at a Con....have several boxes of goodies to ship home.

 

Highlights include (all high grade):

 

Giant Size X-Men 1 (2).

Hulk 181

New Mutants 98 (3)

X-Men 94

FF 45

FF 112 (2)

ASM 300 (3)

 

...and many, many more Copper and Bronze keys. Chicago really is one of the highlights of the Convention season if you are a buyer.

 

On a side note, this show had an abnormally high number of young women under 30 who are actually looking at comics to purchase, and not just cosplaying. Very high rate of female attendance overall, which I think is an excellent sign for the hobby's future. The entire atmosphere of the Con was very positive and female-friendly; I didn't see a single booth with openly explicit material that would normally sour women and families from attending...kudos to the promoters for keeping it clean and fun for everyone.

[AndyFish]

[quote=

On a side note, this show had an abnormally high number of young women under 30 who are actually looking at comics to purchase, and not just cosplaying. Very high rate of female attendance overall, which I think is an excellent sign for the hobby's future. The entire atmosphere of the Con was very positive and female-friendly; I didn't see a single booth with openly explicit material that would normally sour women and families from attending...kudos to the promoters for keeping it clean and fun for everyone.

 

I agree, I was happily surprised by this shift, I've seen it years past in Charlotte and now here in Chicago at a Wizard show. The industry is changing for the better.

 

It's on the artist side as well, with Fiona Staples, Annie Wu and my wife on the ARCHIE relaunch (which is good) and writers like Kelly Sue who are now leading the charge to get us to an industry that is healthy and focuses on good stories rather than scantily clad women in heels fighting crime.

 

I'm all in.

[1Cool]

I think they'll accept it, but not for on-site grading. Overheard someone today say that they'll be getting their books mailed back. I heard the onsite stopped about 45 minutes into the show on Thursday.

 

Wow - I knew it filled up fast but 45 minutes is crazy! Guess I'm going to be at the front of the line at Baltimore.

[Monster's Lair Comics]

 

On a side note, this show had an abnormally high number of young women under 30 who are actually looking at comics to purchase, and not just cosplaying. Very high rate of female attendance overall, which I think is an excellent sign for the hobby's future. The entire atmosphere of the Con was very positive and female-friendly; I didn't see a single booth with openly explicit material that would normally sour women and families from attending...kudos to the promoters for keeping it clean and fun for everyone.

 

I've seen this at a ton of the shows I've done down in Texas. For my dollar boxes, I can't keep the female centered comics in stock. Wonder Woman, batgirl, cat woman, black widow, and especially Harley books fly out of the bins, and off the wall. They aren't afraid to buy up more expensive books too. It's a great sign for the hobby!

[mschmidt]

I think they'll accept it, but not for on-site grading. Overheard someone today say that they'll be getting their books mailed back. I heard the onsite stopped about 45 minutes into the show on Thursday.

 

Wow - I knew it filled up fast but 45 minutes is crazy! Guess I'm going to be at the front of the line at Baltimore.

 

CGC usually caps Thursday subs at this show and leave spots open - there's a good chance they were taking submissions Friday as well.

[oldmilwaukee6er]

I think they'll accept it, but not for on-site grading. Overheard someone today say that they'll be getting their books mailed back. I heard the onsite stopped about 45 minutes into the show on Thursday.

 

Wow - I knew it filled up fast but 45 minutes is crazy! Guess I'm going to be at the front of the line at Baltimore.

 

CGC usually caps Thursday subs at this show and leave spots open - there's a good chance they were taking submissions Friday as well.

 

After queueing up in the general admission line and being allowed to enter at ~1215pm FRI, I bee-lined to CGC and got in line. They stopped on-site grading within 5min of me hitting the line (maybe 1220-1225pm) and had a SS witness come down the line to tell us. There was much chagrin as at least two people behind me heard the same message within minutes THURS. The SS witness suggested that they 'may open it up later' and 'you can try again tomorrow' but the general impression that I got from the line was that on-site grading is generally becoming inaccessible to the little guy. I wrote in my journal that the pattern there appears to be:

 

Queue up

They cap it after 25-45min

And the message is try again

People get pizzed

CGC reps take a ration as the line progresses

Then the mad-rush clears after 1.0-1.25hrs

 

THAT SAID, I overheard twice from adjacent reps that CGC will honor a much faster TAT once the books hit Sarasota (for on-site grading tier after cap).

 

They did still accept 'normal' on-site submissions, which is what I did.

 

My advice for 'normal' on-site submissions would be to wait 1.0-2.0 hrs and then just walk right up.

 

[joeypost]

Still finding amazing books at cheap prices even today. Plan on looking a little more this afternoon.

 

Some purchases of note.

 

FF 67 5 copies from 9.2 to 6.5. Most raw with the exception of the 9.2 slab

Warlock 1 in NM/NM+

Star Wars 68 all 9.4 or better. 20 copies

Silver Surfer 44 5 copies

Silver Surfer 34 5 copies

Thor 193 3 copies

Rai 0 3 copies

Warlock 178, 179

Hulk 179 in 9.8 for me.

Godzilla 1 3 copies

Thor 137 in 9.4

ROM 1 3 copies

 

A bunch of other bronze books I cannot remember

[jsilverjanet]

My best find of the day was a copy of swamp thing #20 with an interior signature of Moore

 

[aardvark88]

I was 1st in line for Simon Bisley's (Heavy Metal, Lobo) sig. He was charging $5 to sign but would then cavalierly toss the comic back at you. Tim Vigil (Faust) walked by and they were discussing what latest obscenity Vigil was commissioned to sketch. Too obscene for this family oriented forum.

 

Arthur Adams (Godzilla, X-babies) and Stuart Sayger (Batman: bit of a cross btwn Neal Adams and Sienkiewicz brush style) were friendly and at their booths most of the weekend. Nice chat.

 

I love these old time Chicago dealers who refuse to buy the latest Overstreet to check pricing on hot SA comics so that they can save $$ upfront. Scooped up original owner <3 raw nm FF 52, 53 (Panther) and Strange Tales 168 (Magus) nm/mt for cheap then walked them over to Joeypost in his suit helping out at the SB grading booth. Very convenient.

 

Walked to the Blue line metro station. Rode the shuttle to casino for free. Lunch buffet was $20 less 10% for joining their free casino club. Decent quality roast beef, apple pie, Asian food, wonton soup, excellent BBQ pork ribs and flavorful salmon. Over 12 items to choose from for desert and your choice of refillable coffee or pop.

Bought a Doug Schmell SA collection HA catalog for reference. Not sure why greggy was examing hi-grade Comic Reader zines. Must be the top secret 1st app. of somebody on the BA or CA comic prototype cover?

[Jimmy Linguini]

Wizard world is bs.

Pay $300 for a vip ticket to get Burt Reynolds or no Burt Reynolds. Using computers and buying your tickets online before the con is the matrix. Wizard world is the matrix.

 

Byeeee