It's never too early...EliteCon, March 12th, 2017...Embassy Suites, USF-Tampa FL 1 1

[mysterio]

2 hours ago, JiveTurkeyMoFo said:

Now that CosPlay Armageddon is slowly unwinding, next year is looking more and more likely.

I haven't been willing to dive back into that morass of BS on FaceBook, were the cosplayers of the world threatening a mass revolt or something?

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

1 hour ago, mysterio said:

I haven't been willing to dive back into that morass of BS on FaceBook, were the cosplayers of the world threatening a mass revolt or something?

They just couldn't accept the fact that a convention didn't want them cosplaying.  We are happy to accept them, in normal attire, if they are there to buy and sell collectibles. But the idea that a Con didn't want them there in their full regalia was something that set them off.  It was an epic meltdown, and thankfully, a lot of boardies and other collectors came to our defense.  But it was very ugly for the first two days.  

[AllStar-Comics]

I think the cosplay viral actually worked out to your benefit .   Free publicity is always good I saw it in Peter David's blog while perusing golden age (somehow got linked to it)   At some point in time the pop culture deal is going to wind down and there will be a mass exodus of cosplayers and "comic fans" who have never bought or read a comic  Curious how quickly the big cons will fold tent who have strictly catered to that audience for the quick easy money.  I dont think its sustainable  There is so much comic/sci-fi/fantasy content out there I smell burn out even with the die hards.  I already see it in the shop will far less casual customers than the past few years.

[mysterio]

The fact that most of those outraged FB posts seemed to discount the importance of the dealer room and play up the importance (in their minds) of panels, autographs, and cosplay tells you all you'd need to know about that crowd. The saying "costumes don't have pockets" became a saying for a reason. If they knew their history, they'd know that comic cons used to be ONLY a dealer room. Personally it wouldn't bother me one bit to see a return to that model, at least some of the time, which is why I'm pulling for your show to succeed. 

[Defjoe]

The whole "this shouldn't be called a con" also shows how entitled they are. They really think they coined that word (which is an abbreviation in itself). To me, they are feeding right into the stereotype. I'm sorry. Buying 25¢ stickers and cat ears doesn't make them collectors or big time buyers. 

Edited March 9, 2017 by Defjoe

[pointfiter]

Are tickets available at the door? If so, you will have a couple of Orlando collectors coming down

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

52 minutes ago, pointfiter said:

Are tickets available at the door? If so, you will have a couple of Orlando collectors coming down

Yes sir, we are absolutely having ticket sales at the door.  $25 for Silver, and $50 for Gold...with Gold badges allowing the attendee to bring up to 2 boxes of material to vend in our Swap Meet area. 

Edited March 10, 2017 by JiveTurkeyMoFo

[mysterio]

Please take a lot of photos for those of us who can't be there to experience it vicariously. 

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

6 hours ago, mysterio said:

Please take a lot of photos for those of us who can't be there to experience it vicariously. 

We actually have someone recording everything all day, and we'll have them edit a nice 10-20 minute video that we'll use for promotional purposes next year.  And yes, there will be pics.

[gcstomp]

Any kind of update on how it went?  I did not hear a word, and did not see any show pics showing vendor set ups.

[HouseofComics.Com]

How many board members attended?

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

We had a few Boardies for sure, including a number who don't really post here anymore.  It was a good start to the day crowd-wise, and things petered off around 2pm.  We had vendors who did real well, some that did okay, and some that didn't do well at all.  Not being a full-time promoter, I'm not going to paint a rosy picture when it isn't warranted; the fact is we need to do things better next time around.   However, there were a lot of positives as well.  We think the buyer's survey definitely helped our vendors better identify what they should bring, including specific items that people were looking for.  Many people loved the Swap Meet area, and while not everyone 'killed it', a few people did real well buying and selling there.

I spoke with several dealers and buyers, and they were relatively happy.  I know money was spent, but I think it tended to gravitate toward maybe 40-50% of the vendors.  There were also vendors who didn't really comply with the $50+ mandate on their items, and I think it hurt them.  Some dealers also priced things very...um....optimistically.  And while I may have been one of them, my nosebleed prices tended to be on high grade Golden Age key books that you rarely see outside of a major auction.  Many reminded me that for a first time concept show, it was a good effort on many levels, with potential to grow.  We received a number of compliments, including a genuine one from one of the dealers that didn't do too well; he said this was the most professionally run show he'd ever set up at.  A great compliment to be sure....my heart goes out to him that he didn't do better.

As for photos, we actually did have someone taking pictures and filming the event, so we should have some soon.  My display of items was pretty awesome, if I do say.  I know I would have loved to have drooled over a few of my own items if I walked into a small show.    Sadly, I was so consumed with promoter issues, I didn't really take the time to take pics of it or the wall display.  In fact, this show reaffirmed what I've always known about smaller shows...slabs don't sell well, which is unfortunate when slabs are 90% of what I brought to the show.  My three short boxes of raw Copper/Bronze keys at 30% off was a hit though...lots of stuff sold there, probably two dozen books in the $50-$200 price range.  I did sell a package deal of 7 slabs to another dealer, but only had one other slab sell all day.  Lots of looks, some trades, a few more contacts, and overall, a good day.

I think next year, and we are 90% sure there will be a next year, my time can be better spent buying.  There was lots of quality material that went home simply because I didn't get to make my usual buying rounds.  Did pick up at least one great book from David Kapelka, Emerald City, and a bunch from Randy Lawrence.  Again, a lot of books went home that I normally would've bought, and I was very pleased with the spread that many dealers laid out.  There was a lot of "quality" in the room, and that was a positive.

Edited March 14, 2017 by JiveTurkeyMoFo

[HouseofComics.Com]

Congrats!  First time is the hardest. If you think you'd make more money being personally able to move around the room you can consider paying someone to be the main "day of" person.  With our Berkeley show Wormboy and I put it on but during the day of, he's the main guy in charge so I can sell, etc.

As for it slowing down by 2 pm, that's not too surprising. I wasn't sure it would happen with your show since there would be a lot of dealer to dealer sales, but most one-day shows I do, it slows by 3 pm, so that's only an hour difference.  For our Berkeley show I wanted to avoid that for the vendors, so we made it a tight 5 hour show and the first time it didn't die until one hour to go and last time, 30 minutes to go.   As our crowds grow we'll have to start extending the hours to thin out the crowds a bit.

Again, this is a great start you've made.

Edited March 14, 2017 by HouseofComics.Com
go to grow

[pointfiter]

I made the trip down from Orlando and am happy that I did. Of course looking through and buying comics is the reason why we go to conventions.

First I'd like to say the show was VERY well run. Everything was as advertised. An unbelieveable selection of comics. I think the only book I didn't see there was an Action Comics #1. 

I will echo your same observations, most of the traffic was around a few dealers, while others dealers unfortunately were passed by. Perhaps a comic book only show in the future?

What you described as optimistic pricing by some dealers is as accurate a statement that can be made. My guess is that those who priced their items this way may not have done as well as those who were more realistic with their pricing. I looked through pretty much every comic in the room, and with the asking price on some of the dealers books so high, I didn't even bother making an offer. Just because this show was geared towards high-end collectibles and collectors doesn't mean I will be willing to over-pay. 

I guess I may be an exception to the rule, but nearly every book I add to my collection is slabbed. You had one of the better displays in the room, and I was definitely in my happy place flipping one by one through all of your graded books. I also enjoyed very much meeting and talking with the two dealers in the center of the room who had I would guess 10 plus boxes of CBCS slabs. We talked about CBCS versus CGC, how they acquired a massive collection from Canada, showed off their beautiful Michael Turner original sketch. They were very friendly and they were willing to make deals so they got the majority of my business.

I would absolutely attend this show again, though more comic dealers would really make it great. I thought it was a fantastic idea having a swap meet area. Perhaps there would be a way to have that area of the show grow.

My results from the show are four graded books including my first golden age and a couple of free passes to the Daytona show next month. All in all, you did a great job. Congrats! 

 

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

5 hours ago, pointfiter said:

I made the trip down from Orlando and am happy that I did. Of course looking through and buying comics is the reason why we go to conventions.

First I'd like to say the show was VERY well run. Everything was as advertised. An unbelieveable selection of comics. I think the only book I didn't see there was an Action Comics #1. 

I will echo your same observations, most of the traffic was around a few dealers, while others dealers unfortunately were passed by. Perhaps a comic book only show in the future?

What you described as optimistic pricing by some dealers is as accurate a statement that can be made. My guess is that those who priced their items this way may not have done as well as those who were more realistic with their pricing. I looked through pretty much every comic in the room, and with the asking price on some of the dealers books so high, I didn't even bother making an offer. Just because this show was geared towards high-end collectibles and collectors doesn't mean I will be willing to over-pay. 

I guess I may be an exception to the rule, but nearly every book I add to my collection is slabbed. You had one of the better displays in the room, and I was definitely in my happy place flipping one by one through all of your graded books. I also enjoyed very much meeting and talking with the two dealers in the center of the room who had I would guess 10 plus boxes of CBCS slabs. We talked about CBCS versus CGC, how they acquired a massive collection from Canada, showed off their beautiful Michael Turner original sketch. They were very friendly and they were willing to make deals so they got the majority of my business.

I would absolutely attend this show again, though more comic dealers would really make it great. I thought it was a fantastic idea having a swap meet area. Perhaps there would be a way to have that area of the show grow.

My results from the show are four graded books including my first golden age and a couple of free passes to the Daytona show next month. All in all, you did a great job. Congrats! 

 

Wow...thank you for the kind words.  Still hard to believe the perception was that the show was well run, since from our perspective there were so many areas to improve upon and so many mistakes made.  As an example, we had a dozen really nice lawn signs that we failed to get out onto Fowler and the Embassy parking area that should've helped people find us, but the volunteer responsible for that never showed, and so no one else picked up the slack to get the job done.  

I think next year we will pare down the offerings.  Legos didn't do well at all, and we failed miserably in reaching the Lego buyers.  It's also a bit of a different animal, in that most Lego collectors are used to buying online to begin with, so traveling to a convention to buy what you want when you can find them online in two dozen different outlets may explain our results to some degree. Some art changed hands, and I think I'd like to keep pushing that part of it since it's often lacking at small shows.  Toys, overall, did okay, but there are lots of places for improvement.  Comics and Pops! were definitely the kings of the show.  I will definitely work harder on getting a broader range of comic dealers lined up for next year.  Vintage Comic Investments were those two gentlemen in the middle of the room with the CBCS slabs, and they reportedly did well, so I'm glad to hear you were one of their customers.  

I also failed to adequately communicate that my stickered slab prices were prices in my eBay store, and I'm generally flexible on those prices 15%-20% because of the lack of fees/shipping costs.  Might have made more sales if everyone looking through them were aware of that cushion.  Lesson learned for next year.

Really appreciate the feedback...we promise to be back and even better next year.

Edited March 14, 2017 by JiveTurkeyMoFo

[mysterio]

Any updates on 2018?

[mysterio]

On 3/14/2017 at 5:16 AM, JiveTurkeyMoFo said:

Really appreciate the feedback...we promise to be back and even better next year.

Any word on next year? I'm pretty intrigued by the concept and would see if I could make it work depending on the dates.