Awesome Con -DC 2017 1 1

[jbeez909]

Awesome Con -DC 2017

Hey guys! Just got back from Awesome Con here in DC. I'm new to the boards and wanted to give you daily reports from the con.

First of all, Scott and Greg were extremely professional and took time with fans individually.

BUT

the comic sketch art guys changed the signing/fee policy. They had Scott and Greg signing only 3 books for free and the rest at $5 each.

Shame on them!

Tom King, very nice and had the same signing policy as above but came late and left early.

On the positive side, lines for all were not that long and reasonable. It didn't take long to get in the show. They did a good job with crowd control.

[Agent 007]

I'm there Sunday, 1st time there.  looking forward to seeing what they have.  Stan Lee meet at noon today, can't wait!!!

Edited June 18, 2017 by Agent 007

[Agent 007]

Great show - like how it use to be (comic book conventions) before the big shows became big shows.  Highly recommend to go.  Also Stan Lee was there and CGC (no lines).  Stan had his collectible show.  I took a few photographs before my memory was full.  Great collection he has.  I really would love to see everything he has.  Just amazed.  Only 30 minute wait and you can take your time in there.  I did a full hour.  No crowds.  I really loved the x-men 137 OA.  Stan really loves Spider-man.  I loved all the commissions artists did for Lee and all the hero movie props.  

 

 

 

 

[justafan]

This is the year that Awesome Con truly lived up to its name for me.  I've been going since the first show a few years ago and that first one was a disaster organization wise but I was just happy to have a large scale comic show in DC. Still, it has always been more media and swag oriented with less of a comic presence than other shows.  I was really bummed it was on the same weekend as Heroes con which is a show I really enjoy.  Each year the show has gotten better both with logistics, lines, and vendors.  This years was the biggest yet despite being up against one of the biggest comic shoes in Charlotte.  And of course being on father's day weekend made attendance more stressful as I had to be back home in time for a Father's Day dinner with the family Sunday at 5pm.  I want to bring my family with me but the wife isn't into this sort of stuff, my daughter of 3 has no patience and the last time I took my son I was barely able to shop for comics.   I had originally intended on just going to awesome con on Friday to get a photo op with Stan and his sig and then spend 2 days in Charlotte for Heroes con and do the bulk of my buying there and head back after lunch.  Well that plan got inverted. 

Friday at AwesomeCon:

Stan Lee collectibles happen to have hoarded a ton of the HTF con variants, JSC variants, and his own Stan Lee variants over the years that I'd been chasing in uber HG.  I spend 2 hours at both booths filling in a bunch of ASM con variants I'd been hunting for over 3 years.  The staff at his booths were very professional and courteous and patiently allowed me to cherry pick the best copies from the ones they had already clearly cherry picked from the cons.  I was able to snag easy 9.8's for over 15 books and pressable 9.4 and 9.6's for a few of the others.  After checking ebay prices, I found most of them were under ebay BIN's and sold items not even including shipping.  So it was a no brainer for me to blow a quarter of my weekend's wad there.  I can't say enough good things about his staff and the folks that work there for helping me out.

I did the photo op with Stan which has been the most well organized photo op session I've had yet, anywhere.  The tickets were sold in groups.  You didn't have to wait in line 3 hours before to guarantee a decent spot.  You bought your ticket which assigned you a group number which had a specified time and recommended gathering time.  When that time approached, the staff had a large wait area that was sufficient to accommodate the number of people for multiple celebrity group sessions.  they called VIPs first, medical badges 2nd, then families with children and then the regulars which all worked out so orderly and quickly.  I only spent 15 minutes in the gathering spot and then another 15 at the line for my group when they called us in.  when the photos got under way it was a rapid fire conveyer belt of pose and go photos.  The handlers and staff made sure everyone was aware of the ground rules and rules of engagement for the photo op with Stan
1. No hand shakes or fist bumps

2. No hugs or leaning on Stan or sitting on him (it was assumed he wouldn't be allowed to sit on you.)

3. No kisses

4. No extended conversations: only quick comments and exchanges

5. No selfies

6. No autographs

7. You could ask him to do the spidey web shooter hands

8. You could ask his personal handler for any specific requests which were at the sole discretion of him to approve or deny.

9.  Only small props or items would be allowed in the photo: comic books, costume props if non-lethal or potential to fall on stan

10. Don't talk about Stan Lee Fight club

Honestly I can say that I was both elated and saddened when I got my turn.  Stan is 94 and he is on a ridiculous show schedule marathon doing back to back weekends.  His crew is exhausted and they are only in the middle of their con tour.  Stan had just finished 3 autograph sessions and 2 photo ops and midway through his last for the day.  I couldn't help but notice how frail and fatigued he appeared.  They have him seated on a high chair (not the most comfortable either so not sure what's up with that) but he barely moves and basically just sits and smiles but will engage and respond to you with banter and compliments.  Don't get me wrong it was definitely an honor and amazing experience to meet him and get his photo.  But at the same time it is somewhat bittersweet seeing just how close to the end he might be and how much of himself he tries to give to his fans.  It has definitely begun to take its toll.  I know he rakes it in at these shows but it clearly isn't just for him as he's likely trying to set something up for his family and friends. One thing we as fans must understand is that he is in the middle of his con tour that lasts from March to November.  In many cases these shows are on back to back 3-4 day weekends with little to no downtime for him and his staff.  They are already feeling beat and have a bunch of big shows coming up.  I know we keep hearing that this con or that con is supposed to be his last but Stan is going to keep doing this until he or his handlers say he's had enough or needs a break.  He loves these shows.  He loves his fans and of course he loves the attention but despite his superhuman like stamina for these shows, he is still very old and not getting any younger so his capacity may begin to wane especially later on in the cons season.  He is a signing machine and its no disrespect to you if he doesn't have much time for chit chat as he is merely trying to respect and meet the obligations of all the other fans in line who are waiting to get his signature.  So we have got to respect the organization rules and cutoff times. My advice, if you want to meet him or get his autograph.  Do it the next chance you get and bring your kids.  Buy the autographs in advance at the show even if you're not sure you're going to get something signed.  Get the early sessions if possible as that's when he's most fresh and personable.  And for those getting multiple items to resell signed, please respect the younger fans and families by not buying so many multiples of tickets because by doing that you're preventing the next generation of collectors from getting to meet and be inspired by Stan.

The only critique I have about this show's organization this year is with the photo-op vs autograph sessions with Stan Lee.  The photo ops and autographs go through 2 different companies.  buying 1 doesn't guarantee the other.  And the problem I had was that they scheduled the photops after each autograph session meaning that if you were in the last photo-op session of the day, guess what, you don't get another chance that day to get his autograph on your photo like sooo many folks including me wanted to do.  it's a great way to force people to come back the next day IF they were already aware of that fact and had the opportunity or planning to return the next day - BTW you got totally screwed if you were in the last photo-op of the day for Sunday.  So bummed as I was I figured I was satisfied with getting my photo taken and off to Heroes con. 

Saturday at Heroe's Con

5.5 hours drive Saturday morning, checkin and registration and I was at Heroes con and...well...disappointment for what I was looking for.  They had lots of great artists and the lines were flowing.  Lost of dealers as usual with a good selection of books.  Just not all of what I was really after.  Dave and Adams offered me a great cash deal on an ASM12 but the condition was just outside what I was looking for.  Dale Roberts and Bob Storms had some decent 6.5+ raw SA spideys for very fair prices.  I nearly pulled the trigger on a few but hadn't finished seeing all the booths and have a hard time comparing each dealers books in grade.  Bedrock City hadn't brought the one I was really looking to buy off his site but I have to hit him up this week about it.  By the end of the day I had to pull out some cash and after going back and forth on what I wanted to buy. I couldn't resist the 9.8 W ASM 194 I found from the dealer to the right of Harley's booth.  It had a perfect wrap and centering with the UPC code not cut off and looked better than some of the 9.9's I'd seen online.  So I negotiated a deal with him. Found a HTF HG variant at ComicKings and found some very HTF HG variants at Jason's booth at the end.  The hall was closing and I had a bulging wad of cash in my pocket making that area look more impressive than normal planning to come back Sunday and haggle hard for Dave's, Dales' and Bob Storms books I had my eye one when I had a change of heart.  I was speaking with Jason about Awesome con and about missing out on Stan's sig and how old he was.  I mentioned that if my son hadn't been in school I might have taken him with me to meet him.  That's when he mentioned that if it were him he'd probably try to go and catch him on Sunday.  The more I thought about it the more it made more sense.  All of the comics I was looking to buy were not one of a kinds nor even 2 or 3 of a kinds especially in their 6.5 to 7.5 grades.  They'll always be there but Stan won't always be and nor will the opportunity for my 6 y/o son to meet him and share that experience with him.  So back at the hotel I bought tickets for me and my son to awesome con for sunday and verified Stan was still going to be there.

Sudnay back at AwesomeCon:

6 hours drive Sunday morning, switch cars and picked up my son and we were off to awesomecon.  I knew we'd miss his first 2 sessions but figured at worst we'd just get his autograph and get to meet him.  After a quick discussion with my son on the "rules of engagement" mentioned above and additional ground rules for behavior at the con we were ready to meet Stan.  We get to Stan Lee's collectibles booth in time for the last autograph session of the day and....<if you care to hear the story of what happened once we got there PM me>  Otherwise I'll just say that I'll never forget the look on both my son's and Stan's face as they met and exchanged a few words.  We wished him a happy Father's Day and thanked him for his contributions and for the cool SA Spidey stories my son will be practicing his reading skills on and I thanked him for his legacy and co-creations/stories that helped inspire an attitude change in me at an early age helping me to become the good and responsible person I am today.  For providing examples of flawed but believable heroes that we can aspire to even if we don't have super powers.  My son told him he wants to hear more about Galactus, thanked him for the Lego Marvel video game, and Spider-Man. 

The whole ride home we were both beaming and talking about how cool that was.  He kept asking me to tell him more stories about Galactus and the Fantastic Four and the other heralds of Glactus so I may have to begin collecting those now.  This has been the best father's day yet and I learned that my son is now mature enough to go to cons with me. I also learned what was probably more obvious to many of you in that I should start sharing these experiences as a family rather than just buying trips for me.  Sorry Dale and Bob and Dave and Adam for not returning to complete some sales.  I'll have to try again next time but might have an extra collecting consultant with me that might require a bit more patience.  But this year, AwesomeCon truly was awesome for me and my son.

 

 

 

 

 

[comicstock]

Nice, nice report.  Thanks!