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Are Comic Book conventions really Comic Book conventions?
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Started by VintageComics,

302 posts in this topic

thehumantorch

thehumantorch

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, CrazyQuinn said:

Eh, maybe not silver and bronze...I fancy myself more of a Gold gal, actually. I was at the Cleveland con yesterday. So if there had been some booths displaying Gold, I would have definitely been browsing-- in my costume and all.(thumbsu Perhaps it "didn't have pockets," as people like to say, but I had my purse and was ready to use it! 

I have read the last 8 pages and some very valid, great points were brought up! I have cosplayed the past 2 years at the Cleveland con. I also appreciate collecting as a hobby and I have a little collection I am proud of, mainly gold but a mixed assortment! I personally only saw maybe 4-5 actual comic booths yesterday, (one of which had a "BUY 10, GET 20 FREE" sign on a few long boxes--heck of a way to move some books! Haha)

I suppose I just wanted to say hello and respectfully bring up that there are indeed cosplayers who enjoy collecting and aren't total jerks at shows and who would also appreciate to see more book booths!!:foryou:

 We have a couple regular customers who cosplay, so yes, cosplayers do buy comics.  But most cosplayers are worried about their outfits, posing for pics, navigating the aisles, trying to see out of their masks, it's generally not condusive to shopping.

Cosplayers aren't the enemy.  They're evidence that our hobby has gone mainstream.

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Mercury Man

Mercury Man

Posted
Posted
53 minutes ago, batman_fan said:

My son and I drove from CO to Wyoming to attend the Cheyenne Comic Con about a year ago.  I figured it would have a some part time dealers with maybe some interesting stuff.  There were a total of two people with comics, all of it drek.  All the other booths were foam weapons, cosplay costumes and accessories, and toy guns.  It was $75 per person to get in.  To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.  I don't think they should have used the word "comic" in their advertising. 

$75 ?!?!?!?!   In Wyoming of all places?  

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batman_fan

batman_fan

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, 1950's war comics said:

What a horror story

Lesson learned, never attend any show that doesn't list the dealers attending the show.  Only way to know if they are worth attending.  The Denver Comic Con was actually pretty disappointing last year as well.  May try it one more time.  It was about 5% comics and 95% other crud.

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Mercury Man

Mercury Man

Posted
Posted
28 minutes ago, batman_fan said:

Lesson learned, never attend any show that doesn't list the dealers attending the show.  Only way to know if they are worth attending.  The Denver Comic Con was actually pretty disappointing last year as well.  May try it one more time.  It was about 5% comics and 95% other crud.

I mean the New York City Comic Con is $50, and that is in Manhattan prices, and they have a couple hundred artists, actors, writers etc.  show up.   How can this Wyoming show even justify those admission charges?  

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jimhouston1

jimhouston1

Posted
Posted

This is an old concern. I was Phil Sueling's first convention, DC Comic Con and sold comics at Creation Con. 

My favorite part of the conventions were the costume parades. My non-collector friends enjoyed that part of the convention program the most. I dressed as Conan one year and had photos taken with "Red Sonja" and Roy Thomas. 

Back then "Heidi" would wear costumes that offended older collectors. Then professional strippers started dressing as Vamperilla to win the best dressed competition. New catogories were added to the competition  

I took my 3 kids to cons. My daughter won a competition dressed as Captain Janeway. 

Anyway. I buy golden age and silver age comics and I don't mind seeing cos play costumes. I appreciate the work that they put into their costumes. 

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batman_fan

batman_fan

Posted
Posted
27 minutes ago, Mercury Man said:

I mean the New York City Comic Con is $50, and that is in Manhattan prices, and they have a couple hundred artists, actors, writers etc.  show up.   How can this Wyoming show even justify those admission charges?  

No idea how they justified it, but it was so packed in the dealer area you could hardly walk.  The isles were pretty narrow.

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comicwiz

comicwiz

Posted
Posted (edited)

As much as Facebook can be a great place for collectors to congregate, it can also be a cesspool of madness, and the groupthink mob aspects can quickly take on the life of a social experiment that proves stupidity multiplies when wise men are silent.  For this reason I'm cautious about suggesting anyone use Facebook as a co-branding strategy to promote/market.

Regarding the subject/topic , I'm of the opinion that ticket sales are too reliant on geek culture/sci-fi mash-ups for a focused show to be sustainable over the long-term.  I'd sooner exhibit than attend just because I hate standing in line for anything, and 9 out of 10 times, it's the same let down experience as night club making you wait in line to find an empty room, expensive drinks, slow bar, etc.  I think toy shows are probably running in rarified air these days, as they tend to be run as less complicated, dressed down to the essence events. They don't draw in these competing interests or drama, and even though I do see people getting dressed-up, most of the attendees are there to buy.

There's also something to be said about the benefits of non-comic shows as I've done well at antique and toy show focused venues, both in terms of finding comics, and doing well selling them.

Edited by comicwiz
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1Cool

1Cool

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, comicwiz said:

As much as Facebook can be a great place for collectors to congregate, it can also be a cesspool of madness, and the groupthink mob aspects can quickly take on the life of a social experiment that proves stupidity multiplies when wise men are silent.  For this reason I'm cautious about suggesting anyone use Facebook as a co-branding strategy to promote/market.

Regarding the subject/topic , I'm of the opinion that ticket sales are too reliant on geek culture/sci-fi mash-ups for a focused show to be sustainable over the long-term.  I'd sooner exhibit than attend just because I hate standing in line for anything, and 9 out of 10 times, it's the same let down experience as night club making you wait in line to find an empty room, expensive drinks, slow bar, etc.  I think toy shows are probably running in rarified air these days, as they tend to be run as less complicated, dressed down to the essence events. They don't draw in these competing interests or drama, and even though I do see people getting dressed-up, most of the attendees are there to buy.

There's also something to be said about the benefits of non-comic shows as I've done well at antique and toy show focused venues, both in terms of finding comics, and doing well selling them.

I find that selling at non-comic cons are great for impulse "I had that as a child" purchases.  Those people do not have a price guide and don't spend 4 hour researching prices of every book they want to buy - they just pony up the $5 for a low grade bronze Fantastic Four since it's something they want.  I set up a small table of books at my wife's garage sale last year and sold a nice chunk of drek at good prices. Old guys following around their wives all day seemed to like something different to look thru.  At Cons even the kids seem to be able to quote e-bay prices.

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JiveTurkeyMoFo

JiveTurkeyMoFo

Posted
Posted (edited)
21 hours ago, Red84 said:

All of these cosplay complaints are valid for a large show. Everyone seems to be ignoring that this show was in a hotel. This is not SDCC or even C2E2; it's a hotel conference room. You weren't going to have throngs of cosplayers blocking aisles. I'm actually surprised that no one has complained about the idea of paying $50 to someone who rented out a space in a hotel. He must have made a killing. 

It's clear that you've decided to take issue with anything and everything done by our show, so this response is not for you, since your mind was made up long ago and you clearly have a bone to pick.  

However, for everyone else reading this, no, we did not make a killing at this show.  Renting out conference space in a four star hotel during peak season in Florida is not cheap.  5,000 sq ft for 8 hours, with 70 tables rented from the facility (@ $15/table), plus the mandatory 23% service fee (tacked onto the room and table rental), plus the 7% Florida Sales tax (on top of the room & table rental, AND 23% service fee) was a hefty number to swallow.  Neither our dealer booths, nor our admission was cheap, because, frankly, none of our costs were cheap. Its one of the reasons you don't see more smaller shows in the 3rd most populous state in the country, because quality space just isn't available at a low cost in a major metropolitan area and promoters have to front that money weeks, if not months, before the show begins.

As for the $50 admission, that included the ability to bring up to two boxes of material to vend in the Swap meet area.  For one of the attendees that did over $1k in sales plus made some significant trades, an extra $25 over the Silver badge was clearly worthwhile to use that space to his advantage. I know the gentleman next to me did $300+ in sales, and he started two hours into the show....so was it worth the extra $25?  Yeah, to him it probably was as well.  Since our show is focused on buying and trading of quality collectibles, we wanted to give our attendees the option of doing a little wheeling and dealing themselves.  But make no mistake, like any promoter, we are in the business of renting and sub-letting space.  So, yes, if you bring in boxes and use our rented tables, it was going to cost you extra.  Again, no one who actually took advantage of that option complained. 

Lastly, we are gathering feedback from our vendors and attendees this week and into next to find which areas we need to tweak.  We are also exploring moving to a different venue, so that we can lower costs for all involved, vendors and attendees alike.  Neither my business partner or myself have any delusions of making money, we just want this show to be self-sustaining and serve those collectors who find what it has to offer compelling.

Edited by JiveTurkeyMoFo
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Red84

Red84

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, JiveTurkeyMoFo said:

It's clear that you've decided to take issue with anything and everything done by our show, so this response is not for you, since your mind was made up long ago and you clearly have a bone to pick.  

However, for everyone else reading this, no, we did not make a killing at this show.  Renting out conference space in a four star hotel during peak season in Florida is not cheap.  5,000 sq ft for 8 hours, with 70 tables rented from the facility (@ $15/table), plus the mandatory 23% service fee (tacked onto the room and table rental), plus the 7% Florida Sales tax (on top of the room & table rental, AND 23% service fee) was a hefty number to swallow.  Neither our dealer booths, nor our admission wasn't cheap, because, frankly, none of our costs were cheap. Its one of the reasons you don't see more smaller shows in the 3rd most populous state in the country, because quality space just isn't available at a low cost in a major metropolitan area.

As for the $50 admission, that included the ability to bring up to two boxes of material to vend in the Swap meet area.  For one of the attendees that did over $1k in sales plus made some significant trades, an extra $25 over the Silver badge was clearly worthwhile to use that space to his advantage. I know the gentleman next to me did $300+ in sales, and he started two hours into the show....so was it worth the extra $25?  Yeah, to him it probably was as well.  Since our show is focused on buying and trading of quality collectibles, we wanted to give our attendees the option of doing a little wheeling and dealing themselves.  But make no mistake, like any promoter, we are in the business of renting and sub-letting space.  So, yes, if you bring in boxes and use our rented tables, it was going to cost you extra.  Again, no one who actually took advantage of that option complained. 

 

No bone to pick here.  I only heard about your show from this thread.  I've gone to plenty of small local shows at hotels or fairgrounds and the admission has been $5-$10 and people have always been able to bring a few books to trade or sell to dealers (obviously that is different from what you offered at $50 which was actual space for people to set up and sell or trade with other attendees).  I will leave it at this: I disagree with how you did the show regarding cosplay but like I said before I am happy it was a successful show.  I enjoy comic conventions and the more the merrier.  No hard feelings and good luck with your future shows.

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OldBooty

OldBooty

Posted
Posted
On 3/17/2017 at 3:20 PM, VintageComics said:

What really got me about the discussion was that there is a legitimate feeling among an ENTIRE GENERATION (probably 10,000's of people over all) that truly believe that it wasn't a 'Con' unless it had cosplay. :screwy:

That's how far we've come.  

You mean that's how far we've sunk.

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OldBooty

OldBooty

Posted
Posted
On 3/17/2017 at 8:32 PM, Red84 said:

Yes, that would be overdramatic on their part.  I just don't understand why you have such a problem with people in costume walking around (and buying books).  The vast majority of cosplayers dress up and then shop.  

What is your proof that cosplayers buy more than we think? I believe you are just speaking out of your posterior.

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