MedicAR Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 It's official! Mile High Comics won't be at SDCC. Chuck has finally bowed out. Will other big dealers follow suit in the coming years? Chuck laments the same things that have been said again and again by both dealers and fans, SDCC ain't what it used to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrangeNemesis Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 Totally not surprised. It's not a comic book convention. zosocane and ComicConnoisseur 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakman29 Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 I stopped going 3 years ago. I used to bring a boat load of dough, now...... ComicConnoisseur and kav 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justafan Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 12 minutes ago, MedicAR said: It's official! Mile High Comics won't be at SDCC. Chuck has finally bowed out. Will other big dealers follow suit in the coming years? Chuck laments the same things that have been said again and again by both dealers and fans, SDCC ain't what it used to be. Too bad. I finally got to go this year and was looking forward to checking out his booth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aardvark88 Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 (edited) Not surprised. Booth rates at multi-day cons are very expensive even though SDCC has mega-attendance looking for Pop toys, film/tv signatures, action figures, latest video games, cosplayers, and the peak hotel rates are obscene at about $600/night for a suite x 7 nights. e.g. The biggest local back issue dealer is bowing out of his 14 tables at Vancouver Fan Expo, as he sells well at the local one (1) day comic-centric Vancouver Comic Show that is expanding to 170 vendor's tables in Feb, 2018. Edited July 6, 2017 by aardvark88 sp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justafan Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 8 minutes ago, OrangeNemesis said: Totally not surprised. It's not a comic book convention. Seriously? So why the heck am I going to this thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicAR Posted July 6, 2017 Author Share Posted July 6, 2017 I went in 2006 and was shocked how little it had to do with comics. The movie studios and toy companies were edging out the comics dealers then and by all accounts, it has only gotten worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatsby77 Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 I've always wondered about the break-even rates for comic dealers at San Diego. What is it, like $25,000 in sales? More? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Agent 007 Posted July 6, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted July 6, 2017 45 minutes ago, MedicAR said: It's official! Mile High Comics won't be at SDCC. Chuck has finally bowed out. Will other big dealers follow suit in the coming years? Chuck laments the same things that have been said again and again by both dealers and fans, SDCC ain't what it used to be. I'm glad. They sucked. Overpriced books, poor customer service. Variant covers they had they marked up, went to other dealers who sold it at the face value. How comic book dealers should do it. Mile High was a joke. That is how I feel. oakman29, TheRealVenom, Readcomix and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paperheart Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 (edited) 59 minutes ago, oakman29 said: I stopped going 3 years ago. I used to bring a boat load of dough, now...... i think i bailed 4 years ago after having attended 19 years in a row Edited July 6, 2017 by paperheart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Shepherd Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 I used to dream of going to the San Diego Comic Con in my younger days, now I could care less. The convention scene has turned me into a crabby old man and I'm still in my 30s! It can be hard to side with Mile High Comics but personal opinions aside, Chuck makes a good case here. NP_Gresham, Mercury Man and ComicConnoisseur 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FineCollector Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 Did anyone here actually buy from his booth, or was he relying on pop culture tourists who didn't know what things cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhcomics Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 As bad as some say SDCC is for buying comics I have found it the best place to get items for my collection. It seems the dealers that do show up all try and outdo the other guy and bring items they might not take to other shows. This show definitely has quality over quantity. As for all the other non-comic related stuff I love seeing that as well. It does help that I get free room at my son's apartment and we both have a blast. However even though I sell at a few big shows like C2E2, Wizard Chicago, Baltimore and Heroes I would never consider setting up at SDCC. Crazy expense and hassle when I have closer shows in my midwest area. Sad to see Chuck go but I could never figure out how he made any money at SDCC. I would scan over his booth in about 30 minutes and leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan Boy Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 1 hour ago, aardvark88 said: Not surprised. Booth rates at multi-day cons are very expensive even though SDCC has mega-attendance looking for Pop toys, film/tv signatures, action figures, latest video games, cosplayers, and the peak hotel rates are obscene at about $600/night for a suite x 7 nights. e.g. The biggest local back issue dealer is bowing out of his 14 tables at Vancouver Fan Expo, as he sells well at the local one (1) day comic-centric Vancouver Comic Show that is expanding to 170 vendor's tables in Feb, 2018. Same with me, not surprised to see Chunk leaving from SDCC. Yes, booth rates are super crazy these days now in SDCC. I am not crying in missing out ... I already had went in the past and had great times before these toy/film/ what have you hawkers took over that show. My last time in 1995, I had saw the beginning of the changes inside the show. At the point, I feel I am done with SDCC. Then shift to smaller more fun comic cons since. You say, peak hotel rates at $600/night for 7 nights? Dang, and I thought when I had paid $125 for 3 nights at Motel 6 was steep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01TheDude Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 This thread won't be complete until we get the obligatory Chuck rant about how terrible the SDCC treated him etc etc and how he is such a brilliant business man for ending his relationship with this con (basking in the self-gloss of his own glory). You know it is coming or out there -- and in the end, that is the real story of this thread. How the world is unfair to poor Chuck and he never gets a break. Right. nocutename, Readcomix, Buzzetta and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumantorch Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 1 hour ago, justafan said: Seriously? So why the heck am I going to this thing? There's still comics there, lots of them. They just pale in comparison to the endless booths of other things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumantorch Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 10 minutes ago, 01TheDude said: This thread won't be complete until we get the obligatory Chuck rant about how terrible the SDCC treated him etc etc and how he is such a brilliant business man for ending his relationship with this con (basking in the self-gloss of his own glory). You know it is coming or out there -- and in the end, that is the real story of this thread. How the world is unfair to poor Chuck and he never gets a break. Right. "The final straw, however, was the utter indifference of the San Diego Comic-Con management to the fiasco that we endured at the beginning of last year's show, when the freight handlers that they hired failed to deliver our comics to our booth. So how could this awful thing happen? It beats the heck out of me. Our trucker was in line at the convention marshaling yard at 6:30 AM on Tuesday morning. At 9 PM that evening, with almost all the other vendors around us unpacked and completely set up, we still did not have our 40,000 lbs of freight. I had twelve workers scheduled to help us set up that day (included Will, Lynne, and Norrie who flew in from Denver that morning...), but all we could do was to sit around all day in our totally empty booth." To be fair, if I flew in and flew in a bunch of staff and we waited all day for my inventory and got no explanation from con organizers I'd be pretty upset. This would speak to organizers being focused on nothing but maximum profit and no appreciation of long term partners/vendors or relationships. aardvark88, jsilverjanet and Artboy99 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Sinescu Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 The company I work for has set up there for years. The convention center has union workers in place to do the "heavy-lifting" for you, you're not allowed to touch anything from the loading dock to the booth. It's a racket and you have no say in it whatsoever. It's also a very expensive show to set up at and its quite frustrating to get pushed around like a nobody when you get there. I'm not a fan of certain practices of his, but I absolutely understand and have a lot of respect for Chuck for being strong enough to stand up for his business here MedicAR and Semicentennial 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philflound Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 I think Chuck does enough internet business that SDCC will be no biggie. I think other big comic dealers should also bail and then we'll see if it's still called a COMIC con. Should be called SD Media Con Artboy99 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batman_fan Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 I haven't attended San Diego in probably 20 years. When I was in the Bay area, I always attended Wondercon but it was sliding down hill abet slowly. The first year on the convention in Denver was great, second year as good but decent, last year pretty bad, this year I couldn't tell you as I didn't attend. For me, it just isn't worth traveling to a con when I typically find nothing to buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
